Warning For Linux Users with Old Computers
Testing Computer NetVIsta IBM
Graphic Card GeForce 400 series
RAM 1GiB
Results
1. Ubuntu Studio 10.10 - No fonts Sound OK (not a Live DVD).
(Took 55 Minutes)
2. Foresight (Redhat based) - No Fonts No sound (not a Live DVD) -
(Took 25 minutes)
3. Slackware 13.37
Lilo could not detect Mepis and Lilo Could not install itself with variety of partition types and grub boot record (No Live DVD)
(45 minutes even though it boasts rapid install)
4. Debian Mint XFCE No fonts
(30 minute)
5. AntiX 486 series.
Only five minutes to install.
Altogether 3 hours of my Sunday free time equivalent to one CD download in torrents if seeders are plenty.
AntiX
Booted Live and I installed it in 5 minutes Desktop Flux Box.
Mepis was detected and in healthy condition.
You may be wondering I am gone mad.
I am sane.
I am just finishing my testing of Live CD/DVDs soon.
I tested those well advertised distributions but without Live DVD to complete my writing. I am going to put all my views in a book. If I fail to do that lot of Linux guys using old computers will have nowhere to go for any information with tablets hitting the market.
My advice.
1. Do not bother to download any CD/DVD without Live (CD/DVD) script.
2. Boycott all distributions old and new which do not have both Live Script and a Install Script.
For example I downloaded Russian Live ALT Linux which is OK. Took half an hour to find a site that had an English Version which was located in Ireland.
Now I have to waste another few hours downloading the CD with Install Script.
3. Please do not change to new versions if your current version of whatever distribution is working for you.
4. Very important you keep the Install CD/DVD safely.
(Ideally two copies)
I of course keep an image in a hard drive.
Why?
You won't be able to find any old version even in archives.
Only www.LiveCDList.org has a good collection.
Distromania is defunct.
iBiblio has a very poor collection and very slow to download.
After LinuxTracker was attacked it was humanly impossible for them to archive old distributions.
Fortunately I downloaded over 200 old distribution for archiving in physical form (not digitally in a web site-I have no resources especially time to upload).
5. You may have to update only your browser with the cloud computing hitting the scene.
JoliCloud does not support old browsers.
6. Use Abiword.
7. You may use old versions of PCLinux (2009 to 2010) but do not go for current or the latest if your system is working OK. They drop modules for old hardware.
8. Avoid KDE
FlushBox and XFCE are good alternatives.
In fact Flushbox uses little over 50 MiB and Firefox uses nearly 40 MiB and with it plugging may be over 100 MiB.
IceApe suite only uses about 66 MiB which is pretty good.
Only Mepis and Antix (Swift Linux a derivative) support old computers as at present and they are time tested Debian derivatives.
