Linux distribution for an OLD laptop

briN_s

Hi just wondering if anyone can recommend a linux distribution for an old laptop. My brother is just using it for college so will only need to be able to browse the web, use open office and thats about it.

The laptop is currently running Windows 98, but needs to be reformatted and I would be interested in putting some form of linux on it this time round. I dont have the exact specs of the laptop with me, but i think its a 266 processor, maybe 64mb RAM so I presume my options are limited.

So any suggestions of which distribution might be best, or how to get the older versions of it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Brian

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Slackware should run on it reasonably well, maybedefinitely not KDE though, but it comes with a good few Desktop environments by default. Something like fluxbox would run nicely and should be installed by default (at least it was in 10.1 which I was running up until recently on a celeron 333)

stylers

openoffice won't have a hope on that machine, but some other office apps might, e.g abiword, gnumeric spreadsheets etc. I Reckon DSL (damn small linux) would do the job, at only 50 Mb, it will fit on the tiniest of hard drives. I have also tried Vector Linux and Zenwalk, which worked pretty well on some old boxen I tried. There are a few distro's out there suited to running on older stuff. Have a root on the web, but do try DSL first..

DavidLive

I'd say a Ubuntu disto would work well for you.
Anybody agree?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

DavidLive wrote: »

I'd say a Ubuntu disto would work well for you.
Anybody agree?

Far too bloated.

DavidLive

Really?
Hmm, suppose you are right.

Sorry, just trying to help!

briN_s

First of all, thanks for the quick replies, must check some of that stuff out.

stylers wrote: »

openoffice won't have a hope on that machine, but some other office apps might, e.g abiword, gnumeric spreadsheets etc.

Would older versions (possibly the very first) of open office run on the machine? I know MS office 2000 runs fine on it. Would the other office apps you suggested be compatible with MS office?

Thanks again
Brian

BaconZombie

Ubuntu is nothing but bloated crapware.

For an old laptop try SLAX, DSL or PuppyLink.

DavidLive wrote: »

I'd say a Ubuntu disto would work well for you.
Anybody agree?

DavidLive

I've learnt the errors of my way.
Okay, I won't use Ubuntu again. Done.

* Get the Point *

An Fear Aniar

BOFH_139 wrote: »

Ubuntu is nothing but bloated crapware.

For an old laptop try SLAX, DSL or PuppyLink.

Bit harsh on Ubuntu...:)

For 64MB it looks like you're limited to Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux.

You might be better off getting more RAM.


.

An Fear Aniar

DavidLive wrote: »

I've learnt the errors of my way.
Okay, I won't use Ubuntu again. Done.

* Get the Point *

Ubuntu is a fine OS, it's a bit bulky so that noobs like you and I don't have to do a whole load of configuring and compiling. He sounds like one of those old Linux fanboys who really held back the spread of Linux by being hostile to noobs by answering their genuine questions with "RTFM!"

Ubuntu is doing a lot of positive stuff to undo that negativity.

.

DavidLive

Nicely put. You are a noob yourself, eh?

An Fear Aniar

DavidLive wrote: »

Nicely put. You are a noob yourself, eh?

Oh yes. I have learnt a bit since April though, when I first started using Ubuntu.


.

Orion

An Fear Aniar wrote: »

Ubuntu is a fine OS, it's a bit bulky so that noobs like you and I don't have to do a whole load of configuring and compiling. He sounds like one of those old Linux fanboys who really held back the spread of Linux by being hostile to noobs by answering their genuine questions with "RTFM!"

Ubuntu is doing a lot of positive stuff to undo that negativity.

.

I agree entirely. My boss has recently installed linux on an old PC to try it out. He commented today that he was reading some forums and noticed quite a bit of what he called "linux snobbery". Perfect example right there.

As for the OP - Puppy or DSL are the best bets for an old laptop. Ubuntu is bloated - but it's aimed at newer desktops so the bloat isn't a problem on them.

stylers

peace men ! :cool:

fair play to the OP for thinking about trying to recycle some old gear. There is plenty of it lying around, and to that end there are distros out there specifically designed for older hardware.. such as DSL, SLAX, puppy, vector etc. etc.. just try one of them and see how it works on the old box..

as for openoffice, well you could try an early version, but really memory is going to be your issue.. its a cross platform application, and so tends to be a bit of a resource user..

Ubuntu (and derivatives) is a fine OS, and getting better all the time, and really is giving the best of both worlds, works out of the box, but you can still tweak and play to your hearts content..


Ubuntu... bloat ?. sounds like someone hasnt tried using vista.

niallb

I'd add another vote to puppy.

If you really want to try ubuntu on it, take a look at the page on ubuntulite.
Don't think it's quite lite enough, but it'll be closer. Might need a bit of perseverance if you're new to linux.

Slitaz is likely to be the best performer. I've booted this on some old systems, and although it's pretty bare, it's plenty fast. The link here is to ways of booting it with 64/32/16 MB of RAM.

Tinymelinux is meant to need little enough RAM too, though I haven't tried it.

If you can get the laptop up to 128M of RAM, you'll have much more options.
At 192MB of RAM, many of them will run well.

Puppy is great though. Definitely give it a try.

boidey

puppy, nuff said

Capt'n Midnight

+1 for puppy , even looks a bit like windows 95/98

telecaster

Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a miracle worker for very old, very slow computers if you just want it to do the basics.

briN_s

Thanks a mil for all the replies, i think I will go with the popular vote and try out puppy on it.

Thanks again
Brian

Nichololas

Throwing in a vote for Vector Linux.

Had it running reasonably on a 32mb ram, 166mhz pentium. Think the dodgy hard drive let me down a bit (10GB quantum fireball ).