[NCLUG] Little Lunuxes anyone?

[Darrin Goodman]

-----Original Message-----
From: nclug-bounces at nclug.org [mailto:nclug-bounces at nclug.org] On Behalf Of
Mica Fine
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 10:15 AM
To: nclug at nclug.org
Subject: [NCLUG] Little Lunuxes anyone?

Which is your favorite for old laptops, and why?
----  ----  ----  ----

Xubuntu has become my favorite distribution for running on old or new
machines.  I like that it comes with only the essentials, and gives the user
the choice of installing additional software.  For me, the concept of "less
is more" goes a long way.  Xubuntu is easy to configure and allows you a lot
of customization.  The XFCE desktop environment is easy to use and is light
weight.  The Synaptic Package Handler works great for installing most
anything you might need, and apt-get fills in whatever gaps there might be
otherwise.  Disclaimer: I have found that there is a limit on how old of a
machine you would want to install Xubuntu on.  One of my P2 machines would
not run X properly while using this OS.

For much older machines, I have had really good luck with Damn Small Linux
(DSL).  I currently have it running on a 400 MHZ machine with 64 MB RAM and
a 2 Gig drive.  Wireless is a bit more difficult to configure, but Ethernet
works great.  DSL comes with all of the basic essentials that you might need
and fits into a nice little 50 MB package.  Although it is set up as a
live-CD, it's actually pretty easy to install after you have
formatted/partitioned your hard drive.  The latest version is also visually
appealing, and I like the simplicity of the Fluxbox desktop environment
(file under: myOpinion).  There are too many icons located on the desktop
for my taste, but that can be easily fixed.

An older P2 ThinkPad that I have was able to run FedoraCore3, but X would
not work after I upgraded to FC4.  FC3 worked pretty well back when it was
on there; not sure what this system is running now.  

Hope this helps.  If you have questions specific to my reply, please feel
free to email me off of the list.

- Darrin 


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