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sebas1234 AT ono.com wrote:
>
> I am planning to install BasicLinux in my 486. 
> could I try to compile the sources of applications 

Yes, you can install the compiler packages from 
Slackware 4.0 (that's what I use to create the 
add-on packages for BL3).  BL3 includes a command
for installing Slackware packages.

> What do you BasicLinux users have compiled on your 
> box? 

As you can see from the recent discussions on this
list, several users are doing quite a lot in the 
music/sound area.  Personally I've been compiling
a mixture of applications for the add-ons: browsers,
word processors, file managers, optimized kernels, 
a variety of games, etc.  

> I am more interested in apps similar to Matlab for
> DOS

I'm unfamiliar with that program, but there are a
lot of mathematical utilities/applications that will
compile on BL3.

> Notepad, Write, Works for DOS, MicroCap for DOS, etc...

A variety of text editors are readily available for BL3.  
As for graphical WYSIWYG wordprocessors, AbiWord is an 
excellent choice (a pre-compiled package for BL3 will 
soon be available).  There is also a compatible version 
of Word Perfect 8 that should work on BL3 with a bit of 
tweaking.

Until recently we were having a problem with Xvesa, 
which refused to work with some applications.  This 
limited what we could use (and made compiling X 
applications very frustrating)

> is there any utility in linux able to configure the 
> Parallel Port in order to communicate two pc's, 

This is included in BL3.  You can create a TCP/IP network
between two parallel ports (PLIP) or two serial ports (PPP).  
The included send/receive utility does file transfers over 
the network.  

BTW, you can use the same network to play multi-player
games (like Matanza, which is a BL3 add-on).  

> Would I be able to run X on my 486? 

Yes.  BL3 comes with some X applications (and there are more
in the add-on section).  Most of them work fine on my 486-40
with 12mb RAM.

> For example, Ice, or Blackbox, or twm?

BL3 comes with swm.  icewm is available as an add-on.

> Is there something like dBase, or Works database, available?

Linux has some very good databases, but until now nobody
has run one on BasicLinux (AFAIK).  It shouldn't be too
hard to find one that will work.    

> I only have a little 200MB hdisk. Plus 8MB ram.

200mb is plenty.  8mb RAM is OK for non-X applications, but
the heavier X applications will crawl.  I strongly recommend
you create a 16mb swap partition.

Cheers,
Steven

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