[Tfug] which linux for really old laptop

[Claude Rubinson]

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 07:45:56PM -0700, Chris Hill wrote:
> Jeffrey Clark wrote:
>> it's an ibm thinkpad with the following specs:
>>
>>     * celeron 550 mhz
>>     * 48 mb ram
>>     * 5 gb hard drive
>>
> I'm pretty sure that 48mb of ram is the downfall for Ubuntu. I'd  
> definitely look at using Damn Small Linux or a similar small-footprint  
> version. Regardless of the distro tho, much modern software (Firefox,  
> etc) will have a hard time fitting in smaller memory reqs, but best of 
> luck!

Chris is spot on.  The RAM is a bit a low for Firefox, OpenOffice, and
their ilk.  But you should be able to run any of the lightweight
distros (DSL, Puppy, etc) without a problem.  Debian should run
without a problem too.  Just install the base program, a decent wm
(flux is pretty, fvwm is powerful),  dillo or other lightweight
browser, and stay from DE's, OOo, etc.

Claude