[ale] Best Choice for under-powered System

[Greg]

Check out OS Pueblo.  It is a Linux install that includes xfce ( a nice
somewhat lite window manager), OpenOffice (based on Java), and Opera.
Otherwise I would recommend Slackware, Debian, a BSD (in that order).
FreeBSD has recently had Java ported successfully to it with success.
However, be warned that Java on anything is a drag somewhat.  Having
developed Java I have seen it drag down a modern Pentium upon compilation
and running.  I personally don't care for Java enabled on a browser, but
that is just me (too much distraction and a security hazard).

Good Luck,

Greg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of John
> M Trostel
> Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 5:52 PM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: [ale] Best Choice for under-powered System
>
>
> I've cobbled together a system for my son from an old 100 MHz Pentium
> (I) wt. 64 MB of RAM.... 4 M of that RAM is used by the on-board SIS
> video chip.  It's got a whopping 1 GB HDD, a cd drive and a 3.5"
> floopy.  An old SMC 10BT ethernet card rounds out his $0 cost system.
> (Actually $5, as I needed a PS2/AT keyboard converter dongle.)
>
> Right now I have the system running RH 7.1. Do you realize how many
> upgrades there are out for the stock 7.1 distro now? ;)
>
> He needs a system that will run Netscape/Mozilla/Galeon with Java
> support.  It barely runs on the system set up now.  (Mozilla and Java).
> Would I be better off running Debian on this box? (Leaner, meaner,
> slightly less than glacial...) Or even something like Vector Linux,
> which is supposedly for just such a situation? The ISO of Vector I
> burned seems to have trouble... Has anyone else tried Vector or another
> small distro for old machines that includes X, a nice windowing system,
> and a java-enabled browser?
>
> --
> John M Trostel <jtrostel at mindspring.com>
>
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