At 02:42 AM 1/16/00 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote [in part]:
>I just purchased a Compaq LTE 5000 which has Windoze 97 installed on a Pentium
>486 with 32 Meg mem., 3.2 gig hd,
>... I am soliciting opinions about what flavor
>of Linux to install on this ancient little lap top.
>Slackware was offered as a suggestion...
You might want to check the system a bit more carefully. There is no such
thing as a "Pentium 486" and there is no "97" version of Windows.
That said, in choosing among distributions, the big issues are memory and
disk capacity. Yours, as you report them, are both ample for any of the
modern full-size distributions. People can give you their opinions about the
relative merits of the different distributions (I like Debian, personally),
but there is nothing special in your configuration to dictate the choice ...
... with one possible exception. You don't mention a CD-ROM drive or an
Ethernet card. HOW do you propose to install Linux on the laptop? If you
need to use floppies, I'd suggest you try Slackware, the only major
distribution that still lets you do a lot of the installation (the A and N
series) from floppies. Or Debian, which will at least let you install the
Base from floppies. Even with these two, you'll need a network connection
(or a CD-ROM drive) to do more than the basics, but they should be able to
provide a ppp connection (at least Slackware A+N will; I've never tried this
with Debian).
And if you DO have a CD-ROM, you might allow for the possibility that it is
an oddball one, as many laptop CD drives are. Finding a distribution that
supports your particular drive (try Slackware first; it still supports more
odd drive types than anyone else) may matter more than finding the best
distribution.
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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