by clearmind | Oct 19, 2004 | Computers and Technology
The linux world, in its fight to act like a point-for-point rebuttal to the Windows and Mac worlds, are busily adding features and bloat to desktop offerings. However, in the process, a regular mainstream Linux distribution like Mandrake or Red Hat take as much, and at times more, memory and processor speed as a Windows XP distribution does. This came as something of a shock to me. Fedora just doesn’t run very well with 128MB, and barely does with 256MB. Yet, part of my reason for getting involved in the Linux services world is my belief that Linux is an excellent fit for older hardware. In other words, all those dusty computers from two generations ago, those Pentium Ones with 64MB RAM, could still be productive machines today. Well, maybe so, but not with a recent mainstream distribution. Those distributions will occasionally work with older machines, especially if all you need is a really slow httpd or mysql server, but not (or not really) with a windowing environment. And if you can’t deal with something other than Gnome or KDE, well, forget it. To figure out what to suggest to clients, I did a search on the state of the art in lighter-weight distributions. PUPPY LINUX Over at http://www.goosee.com/puppy/, this developer decided he wanted to take his operating system and his personal files with him in a USB 128MB pen drive. Along the way, he ended up making a fast and functional linux distribution. It is especially usable for newbies, since it uses the MS Windows ‘clone’ Fvwm95. Much else is nice about it, and there is plenty to...
Recent Comments