New to linux, old computer.

Glazun

Yup.. I've HAD it with window's. Now, this Linux thing.. what would be the best.. user freindly version of Linux? to work on my computer..

Stats

- AMD k6 II mother board (380mhz)
- HD - 9gig's
- Ram - 96mb


I know, it's a quite terrible computer, but I got it in 1998 or 9, I'm going to get a iMac soon anyway. but in the mean time I need an alternative to Window's.. Also, a list of usefull programs would be nice.. <_< not needed but nice.

zAbbo

Ubuntulinux

http://www.ubuntuguide.org/

http://ubuntuforums.org

Lots of info on ubuntu here already, searching only works at the weekends.

Read up on it, and you'll be flying

Cake Fiend

I've heard good things about Ubuntu, and I'd say Red Hat Fedora Core (whatever the latest release is) would be another newbie-friendly distro to check out. Whichever distro you get will no doubt come with hundreds of handy applications.

dahamsta

Modern versions of the big distros are really too fat to run on a machine that old, unless you run them with a minimalist window manager (which isn't ideal for a newbie because they won't be set up very well by default). I'd suggest looking at some of the minimalist distros that have been mentioned here before. A google for "site:boards.ie minimalist linux" should turn up a few recommendations.

(Save your money on the iMac btw. Buy the cheapest Dell (or equivalent) you can get your hands on, and install SuSE 10. It's the tits.)

Glazun

bazH wrote:

Ubuntulinux

http://www.ubuntuguide.org/

http://ubuntuforums.org

Lots of info on ubuntu here already, searching only works at the weekends.

Read up on it, and you'll be flying

Will ubunto work on my computer?

Glazun

Ken Shabby wrote:

Modern versions of the big distros are really too fat to run on a machine that old, unless you run them with a minimalist window manager (which isn't ideal for a newbie because they won't be set up very well by default). I'd suggest looking at some of the minimalist distros that have been mentioned here before. A google for "site:boards.ie minimalist linux" should turn up a few recommendations.

(Save your money on the iMac btw. Buy the cheapest Dell (or equivalent) you can get your hands on, and install SuSE 10. It's the tits.)

Meh, I rather have a good OS with a good system.. that looks good, cba building my own computer.

dahamsta

Up to you fella. The OS is built on FreeBSD and the owners are assholes that trample on people's rights nearly every day, but up to you.

(Yes, Ubuntu will run on your rig. All of them will. Just not very quickly.)

zAbbo

I've a 20" imac g5, sometimes you deserve one of lifes luxurys, and an imac is one of those things.

Ubuntu will run on that pc, installed it a few days back on a Celeron 300mhz / 64mb ram.

Your first install won't be your last, you could end up installing it a few different times, changing a few advanced settings as your knowledge progress's.

But for first time, bang the cd in the drive and thats it more or less, installs in 20-30mins(depending on cd drive speed etc.)

niallb

Hi,
Damn Small Linux is a great place to start with
a machine that age.
It'll have it running faster than you remember
it ever running, and it's a livecd, so you won't actually need to install it (though you can).

Vector Linux is also very fast, with more up to date applications if you need an office suite.

You can't beat Ubuntu for ease of use though.

NiallB

mp3guy

http://ubuntulite.org/

light version of ubuntu for older pcs

osmethod

Ken Shabby wrote:

Up to you fella. The OS is built on FreeBSD and the owners are assholes that trample on people's rights nearly every day, but up to you.

A good choice of OS for a newbie. straight forward to install and will look, feel and perform like linux.

The linux OS is not built on FreeBSD.... OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD and Linux* had a common ancestor... then they branched... Linux on the SYS 5 branch and *BSD's on the BSD branch.

osmethod

Thomas_S_Hunterson

I'm currently running (and making this post on) a Celeron 333MHz CPU with 192 Megs of RAM. Its got Slackware installed on it and runs really really well. I was surprised by the speed of it. It'd be a great choice IMHO, and doesn't really warrant its reputation as being difficult to install, and you'd also learn a lot about linux

aidan_walsh

osmethod wrote:

The linux OS is not built on FreeBSD

I'm pretty sure he was refering to OS X, which is.

Glazun

OS X? As in Mac OSX ? or something else.. >_>;

Anyway.. I must get myself down to a BB connection and download some of these Lynux OS's.. then just dump 'em on my mp3 player and get back. I kinda need office suites.. >_>; like Microsoft access, if I got lynux, I'd still be able to switch back and forth to windows?

aidan_walsh

GlazunOS X? As in Mac OSX ? wrote:

OS X? As in Mac OSX ?

Yes.

Glazun wrote:

I'd still be able to switch back and forth to windows?

Yes, its called dual-booting.

dahamsta

aidan_walsh wrote:

I'm pretty sure he was refering to OS X, which is.

Yup.