It is maxed out on memory -- can't support any more than the 32MB it has. Wonder how many floppies it would take to port Debian to the box -- it has no CD capability. Might be able to get a parallel port CD to run.....
Guess I could hook an external modem to serial port. Looks like a challenge and learning experience. At 08:25 AM 11/26/03 -0600, you wrote: >Hmmm... that's a tall order. The small amount of memory is going to make >running a GUI painful. You should definitely shop around on Ebay for >laptop memory for it. And of course the small hard drive will limit you. >There may be larger hard drives available. > >You probably want to read these: >http://www.linux-laptop.net/ >http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Laptop-HOWTO.html >http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/4mb-Laptops.html > >I recommend a minimal install of Debian and tell it _not_ to install >everything and the kitchen sink at the first reboot. There are other Linux >distributions out there: TinyLinux, PeanutLinux, etc., that are suited for >old laptops but they require more Linux knowhow than Debian to add >software. Use Blackbox|Openbox|Fluxbox as your window manager. > >Even if you don't add any new hardware to it, you should first decide >which word processor and spreadsheet apps you will want to use. OpenOffice >won't run well at all with 32MB as it needs Java running, which is a >resource pig. I'd say you need at least 64MB for OpenOffice. And running >Gnumeric will require Gnome, which is another resource pig. > >If I were you, I would look for a text mode word processor and spreadsheet >app, which will run great on such an old laptop. And the text mode browser >"links" does a good job at correctly formatting HTML. You could even run >the old DOS version of Lotus123 under dosemu. > >Using text mode apps means you won't have to install X, which will save >you a lot of room. I've done similar installs in the past on old laptops, >so keep us in the loop about how it goes. You will definitely learn alot >about Linux trying to squeeze it on this laptop! :) > >Good Luck! > >John Hebert > >Chopin Cusachs wrote: >>I was blessed with an early Christmas present, >>an IBM ThnkPad from the early 1990s. It is a >>486 33Mhz with 32MB of memory and a roughly >>300MB hard drive. Does not support CD, but >>has 2.88 MB floppy drive. Battery is bad, but >>it runs DOS. No network, but does have serial >>and parallel ports. >>Would like to find a distribution of Linux that I >>could install from floppies to support word >>processor and spread sheet. Anyone know of >>something that might fit this need? >>Choppy > >-- >John Hebert >System Engineer >I T Group, Inc. >225-922-4535 > > >_______________________________________________ >General mailing list >[email protected] >http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
