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Denton He wrote:
>
> I'm looking for a Linux Distro that contains the following things:
> 
> - gcc (for compiling C/C++ files)
> - vim (for editing C/C++ files)
> - web browser
> - ability to access network drives (possibly without using 
> ftp/telnet/samba) 
> ----> so i guess NFS is my only option?
> 
> I have a 386 with 4MB RAM and 40MB harddrive space

GCC with be very slow (unless your source code is short).
GCC will also need swap (at least 8mb of your 40mb HD).
You can install GCC from Slackware on BasicLinux.

Vim is no problem.  Slackware has a package for vim.

BasicLinux already has a web browser.

BL1 and BL2 have NFS built in.  To do NFS on BL3 you need
to replace the kernel with the bare.i kernel from Slackware 7.1.
You might also be able to use mc to access network drives.

Your main problem is the 4mb RAM.  Very, very few Linux
distributions will work with so little RAM.  

> so i don't want any X Desktop thingys, console/shell 
> based would be fine by me. 

BL1 does not come with X.  It would be able to run the GCC from 
Slackware 3.5 on your system.  

BL2 is too big.  That version of GCC would not fit on your system.

BL3 comes with X but it can simply be removed by deleting everything 
in /usr/X11R6.  BL3 would be able to run the GCC from Slackware on 
your system.
 
> This might be pushing it a bit, 

Your CPU, RAM and HD are all very limited.  It is possible
to find useful Linux applications that will run on such a
system, but it will not be easy.

> but I was wondering if I could read Word Documents which 
> are in Chinese with a Linux Distribution, 

It is possible to read English Word Documents with your
system, but I doubt that it will be possible to read
Chinese ones.

> and maybe even have a graphical web browser? 

The browser in BL1 can display GIFs (but no other graphics).
To run a proper graphical web browser, you need a minimum of 
a 486 with 12mb RAM.

Cheers,
Steven