Aloha, If you really want/need to run Linux on old hardware and it is mainly for learning, I would suggest using one of the small Linux distributions, like Monkey Linux. I used to use Monkey and it was great. It is very old, hasn't been updated since 1997, but it works, it doesn't require much space or memory, and it is Linux so you can learn Linux with it. It comes with everything you need including X. You can even use it as a web or mail server. What is doesn't have is the latest and greatest software or support for the latest and gratest hardware, but it is designed to run on a 386 with 4mb ram, so it should do just fine on your 486.
Monkey Linux http://www.pslib.cz/monkey/docs/english.htm Tiny Linux http://tiny.seul.org/en/ Power Up To Bash Prompt http://www.netspace.net.au/~gok/power2bash/ This is exactly what you need right here. 4mb Laptop HOWTO http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/4mb-Laptops.html Hope this helps, Dusty
