--- In [email protected], Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 03:05:50AM +0000, spencex333 wrote:
> > I have a NEC Versa 6230 with 130 megs of RAM and a 3 gig hard drive.
> > Right now it is running Windows 2000.
> >
> > I'm wondering if I would see a speed improvement with Linux. I only
> > want to use the machine as a wireless internet device.
When I converted an IBM Netvista 6841 (1Ghz P-III CPU, 384MB RAM) to
Linux, I noticed a speed improvement. In fact, that machine's twin,
which is still running Win2K, is matched speed-wise by a Linux box
with half the CPU speed and memory (450MHz P-II, 192MB RAM)!
> > I'd be grateful for recommendation for a Linux light that
> > is easy for a newbie to install.
>
> Vector *might* fit the bill. It was originally intended to run on older
> hardware. It's pretty newcomer friendly friendly.
SpenceX333, if you can handle partitioning the hard drive manually, go
ahead with Vector 5.8 Standard; once you do that, install's a snap. I
love Vector's bootup "gas gauge" display.
With only 3GB of HD capacity, I would not recommend any partitioning
scheme that creates a separate partition (and mountpoint) for /home.
If you come across a Linux installation script that creates such
by default, back out and re-do it manually! You really only need two
partitions: your Linux partition (ext2 or ext3) which would take up
nearly all of the drive (~2.8GB) with a mountpoint defined as the
catchall "/", and a "swap" partition of about 260MB(which could be
defined as either hda2|sda2 [primary] or hda5|sda5 [extended]). Note
that existance of ?da5 does not require existance of ?da's 2 thru 4!
Vector, IIRC, also liked a really old-sk00l partitioning scheme. hda1
(size=100MB) mountpoint = /boot; hda2 = swap, size=(2xRAM); hda3
size=(rest of harddrive), mountpoint = /. What this meant is that
the boot files went into the first partition (with plenty to spare for
later expansion), everything else into the third. Don't know if I
*had* to do it that way, though.
Looking through my LiveCD collection, I'd also suggest PCLinuxOS [as
I'm sure someone else around here would ;)] for both ease of use and
modest hardware requirements. Very XP sort of "look and feel".
Ubuntu-based LinuxMint ("Cassandra" or "Celina" distributions) is also
easy to use, but uses Ubuntu's "rootless" administration structure,
which I consider a flaw, but may be fine for someone acclimated to
Windoze. Distros derived from other distros tend to work out better,
in my experience; rough edges that may be present in the base distro
get smoothed out when someone else goes over it.
"Bloated" is NOT a word I'd use for Ubuntu in general. I personally
found the "Feisty Fawn" series of distros (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and
Xubuntu) to actually be, if anything, a tad *sparse* in terms of
provided apps. If the distro fits on a single CD, and still manages
to be a complete (or at least usable) install, it's not bloated. DVD
distros like Fedora 8 or Sabayon are possibly another story, but I
digress....
Puppy Linux 3.x has very modest hardware requirements, good hardware
detection (especially considering how small it is), is easy to use,
and has a decidedly Win2K "look and feel" to it. It will run
completely from RAM if you have enough, or from the CD otherwise. You
can also create a swapfile on an existing DOS partition for the LiveCD
session to use.
SimplyMEPIS (I have release 6.5.02) is another Linux that straddles
the line between "easy" and "intermediate", which suits me just fine,
and might be worth investigation by you. I really like it as a
desktop install, but don't know if its wifi support is as good as
you'd need. It can (in theory) draw on both Debian and Ubuntu
software repositories (though is itself much more Debian than Ubuntan
in overall style).
Side note: Before you reformat the drive for Linux, preserve copies
of the *.inf files currently used by the Versa for your wifi card! If
the Linux you choose lacks native support of your wifi, you can
acquire and use a program called ndiswrapper to use those *.inf files!
And if you *know* that exact *.inf worked before, that prunes down
troubleshooting if it somehow *doesn't* work.
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