On Fri, Jan 21, 2000 at 02:02:15PM -0400, M Taylor wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Jan 2000, Terry Dawson wrote:
>
> > > And is there also a performance improvement visible? Even if someone could
> > > assure me that these kernels do not slow down older hardware I would be glad.
> > > Then, I could even use a Pentium 133 (w/o MMX) with 32 MB RAM that I
> > > assembled from spare parts with Linux 2.2.14 - that would be not bad at all.
> >
> > The new kernels do not slow down older hardware, be reassured.
> >
> > > But, a 386 DX 40 with 8 MB should rather stick to 2.0.38, shouldn't it?
> >
> > Only if you don't want the benefit of all of the improvements that have
> > been introduced into the kernel since then.
> >
> > Terry
>
> The main reason to upgrade is that it makes maintance easier. The
> programmers who maintain the kernel ax.25 code, and the related userland
> code will be more productive if they do not have to spend part of
> their time fixing bugs in "legacy" versions for older kernels (2.0.x).
>
> A Linux machine (i386 or better) with at least 8MB of RAM can run the
> 2.2 kernel which is the current stable kernel. With merely 8MB of RAM you
> will not want X running, but otherwise for light networking typically in
> amateur radio setups, the machine will be fine.
>
> With 8MB of RAM, compiling the kernel is very slow (I'd guess around 12
> hours for a 386 with 8MB of RAM), so access to a faster machine just to
> compile new kernels is nice.
With 350 MHz K6-2 motherboards going for ~$100 US or so, including
built-in IDE/serial/parallel, it's getting hard to justify putting much
effort into 386/486 machines.
>
> I'd recommend upgrading to 2.2.x. For smaller setups, Debian 2.1 or 2.2
> (unstable) is my personal preference of distribution. I find it allows a
> smaller install easily.
Especially if you don't choose any of the pre-configured profiles for
installation. Debian 2.2 (potato) is now "frozen" and 2.3(?) aka
"woody" is "unstable", although I doubt that it differs much at this
point.
--
Bob Nielsen, N7XY (ex-W6SWE) (RN2) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tucson, AZ DM42nh QRP-L #1985 http://www.primenet.com/~nielsen
