older sys, older linux...

[PhoenixMDM]

I have a 200@233 with 3 gigs of space. What do you think the best linux distro would be for it? It used to have mandrake 8, but it was waayyy too slow, so i got mandrake 7, installed it (flawlessly), but i don't really like the speed it's going now. It used to run much smoother a few days ago, but now it's like a snail. What's the fastest distro that could run on this box?

[Yodums]

How much ram? It should have some what 64mb minimum.

[PhoenixMDM]

it has 80mb ram. How could i be so stupid as to forget that? :D

Also, i don't care if it's a graphic installer or text, i've done slackware successfully on a different sys, so i've gotten a taste of text-only.

*edit* Also, it does not have a modem in it, but it does have some sort of DEC nic card (installation ususally picks it automatically). Video is integrated, and it'd be nice to have either KDE, Enlightenment, or Gnome.

[PolyPill]

My favorite flavor is Debian, especially the development release version Sid. apt-get is the best package managment system in linux. I have it running on both my desktop and notebook. It doesn't install all the extra crap like Mandrake, which is bad for a newbie, good for anyone that knows what they're doing and wants to conserve system resources.

If you don't want to give up your obsolite rpm system than I recomend Redhat, but do a custom installation. I've got Redhat running on 1 production server in my office and a test server. The test server is a 266 with 64mb of ram and it runs fine with KDE, if you really want things to fly use blackbox as your window manager.

If you're not going ?ø use it as a workstation then don't have the gui load at boot and only use it for administration purposes, and if you know enough about linux don't even bother installing the gui.

[PhoenixMDM]

so u recommend debian? and as a second choice redhat? What version distros should i get?

hmm, blackbox is that much faster than the rest? i always thought that windowmaker, icewm, and enlightenment were the fastest... well, i'll install both blackbox and enlightenment and take my pick, lol.

[XWRed1]

Enlightenment is regarded in most circles as being slow but good looking.

If you are trying to make things run fast on a slower computer, Enlightenment usually isn't a good idea.

[PhoenixMDM]

Ohhh... hehe, i thought it was FAST and good looking... Well, it'll probly still work. What version distro should i get of debian? should i just pick some random one that says it's compatible with i485 machines? That's probly the right answer, lol...

[XWRed1]

i586? That should be right. You've got a pentium in there, no reason to be running 486 stuff

[PolyPill]

Well, Debian's stable version hasn't been updated in a while (Potato). The testing version (Woody) is pretty stable, I've never seen a problem with it, but since it is testing you might run into a few bugs. There's also the unstable version (Sid) which is what I use on a daily basis, with this you've got to update it at least once a week and sometimes something works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't reccomend this unless you know what you're doing and what to do if everything goes to hell.

So I guess my oppinion is Woody.

As for Redhat, I'd go with the latest 7.2. This isn't Microsoft, just because it's newer doesn't mean it's bloated and you need a faster computer to run it.

I've got KDE running on a test server in my office on a P266, it's a little bit sluggish, but does the job well.

Also Blackbox is the fastest window manager out, It isn't as pretty or have as many options as the others but that's what makes it faster. I switch to Blackbox when ever I want to play 3D accelerated games, it just makes them run so much smoother.

[David]

Go with debian or slackware. If you can get a stable text mode minimal system then you can update it maually ie. download an older verision of X, which is probably the biggest mem hog.

[PhoenixMDM]

I know it sounds dumb, but i can't manage to DL a debian ISO. And, my slackware 7 disk is sorta screwing up, so i'm going with RedHat 7.2. As of this second, it's installing nicely, and hopefully it'll stay that way:D