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chkdsk
09-24-2004, 03:51 AM
Hi all :-)
I got an old (but nice all-in-one) Compaq PC (should be a Deskpro 433 but can't remember exactly). It has a small HDD and no CD-Rom. I don't think its BIOS supports more than 528MB so it is impossible to attach a CD drive.
I fitted a NIC so I would try to install Linux via FTP. Problem is I need a fully functional distro with a decent GUI (IceWM?) and advanced package manipulation for easy install of applications. I discarded the "dumb terminal" option because it's impractical for my needs.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Based on the specification you gave I think it'll have to be a minimal install of something like Slackware (http://www.slackware.org/) or
Debian (http://www.debian.org/) .
Debian probably has the easier package management tool in the form of apt-get, having said that Slackware has swaret or slapt-get which do basically the same thing though they aren't officially part of Slackware.
With regard to window managers I'd think you'd be going for fluxbox or IceWM as you mentioned.
linux12414
09-24-2004, 10:17 AM
Originally posted by chkdsk
Hi all :-)
I got an old (but nice all-in-one) Compaq PC (should be a Deskpro 433 but can't remember exactly). It has a small HDD and no CD-Rom. I don't think its BIOS supports more than 528MB so it is impossible to attach a CD drive.
I fitted a NIC so I would try to install Linux via FTP. Problem is I need a fully functional distro with a decent GUI (IceWM?) and advanced package manipulation for easy install of applications. I discarded the "dumb terminal" option because it's impractical for my needs.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Try Peanut or Vector Linux. Vector's based off Slackware and comes with XFCE as the desktop environment. These distros are very compact--I think Peanut only takes up about 500MB.
HTH
linux12414
09-24-2004, 10:20 AM
OOPS...sorry, I didn't read about the cdrom debacle (advanced age...:D)
Anyway, you may like to use zipslack as that's very small and requires no disk.
Are you able to network another computer? That way it'd be simple to transfer the file from one machine to another.
Sgood1971
09-24-2004, 10:23 AM
I run Damn Small Linux (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org) on a 486 and it is pretty responsive. You can do a floppy install, and it only takes 50MB. It uses Flux for a WM and if you don't have floppy you can do a network install as well. I really like what they have done with it.
mrBen
09-24-2004, 10:28 AM
From what you are looking for (network install, good packagemanagement, GUI, etc) I would say that your best bet is likely to be Debian, although Slackware would be a close second. Although it will depend slightly on the amount of memory - neither are particularly happy with <16MB RAM.
Damn Small Linux (as mentioned) is also a good choice, but I'm not sure it has the package management you are looking for.
Sgood1971
09-24-2004, 10:30 AM
Originally posted by mrBen
Damn Small Linux (as mentioned) is also a good choice, but I'm not sure it has the package management you are looking for.
You can install apt on DSL if you have the room for it.
ph34r
09-24-2004, 10:42 AM
Debian or Slackware. Read the 4mb-Laptop-HOWTO at www.tldp.org for some ideas on how to get it on there.
chkdsk
09-26-2004, 04:47 AM
First, thanks guys for replying! Your suggestions are great help for me :)
Since I have no other Linux machines on my LAN, can I put up a simple FTP server on,say,a Win98 machine and do a FTP install? How to manage CD-swapping?
Thanks again...
Sgood1971
09-27-2004, 10:40 AM
I did it with an FTP SuSE install. Cerberus (http://www.cerberusftp.com/) FTP server is a real good simple and free FTP server for Win.
Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379
09-27-2004, 03:03 PM
Debian's probably going to be your way to go, especially if "advanced package management" is one of your needs. You can install Debian over FTP no problem using apt. You don't need to switch any CDs, either-- once you've installed off of the first CD, you can install anything else you want/need off of an apt source (either HTTP or FTP) located on the Internet.
As for a window manager, Good luck! Flux and IceWM are going to work, but not too quickly. If you absolutely need a GUI, you might want to look at OpenMotif, or MWM, or even something so minimal as ion or Ratpoison.
What applications are you planning on running in a GUI, anyways? Basic file management and administration are always going to be more efficient on such a slow machine when run in the Command line.