Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[froglips AT sprintmail.com]

David,

Viva La 486

I run Slackware Linux (yes, good old slackware) on 486 machines with no 
problems since '94.

I've got an old compaq laptop 486-SX25 with 16M ram.  I even run X (basic 
window managers of course).

It also works great on my 486DX4-100 pc.

You are giving up performance on some of the high end stuff, but it works 
fine.

If you can live without X, the sky's the limits.

Don't forget, anyone can install new stuff on new stuff, but it takes a true 
masochist to shoe horn linux on old equipment.

Why, I remember a time when an install included complete physical disassembly 
of my pc and hand drawn maps of motherboards.....

GUI Install?  I laugh in it's general direction!

I've not tried Mandrake or RedHat on my 486 boxes, but I'll give it a go and 
let you know what happens.

Enjoy!

Jim Campbell

---------------------
Subject: Linux on 486 machine?
From: David Wagoner <dbwagoner AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 14:17:13 -0700 (PDT)
X-Message-Number: 20

Linux gurus,

Is it still true that I can run Linux (e.g. latest
Mandrake or Red Hat) on an old 486 machine, say with
64 MB RAM?  I know this was the case not too long ago.

Here are the requirements for Mandrake 8.2 listed on
BestBuy.com:

Minimum PC System Requirements:  
Processor Type: Intel® Pentium® processor, AMD Athlon™
processor 
Operating System: Linux 
System Memory: 32MB RAM 
Hard Drive Space: 500MB 
Video: VESA 2.0-compatible graphics card 
Drive Type and Speed: CD-ROM


So my old 486 processor won't cut it?!  Anyone tested
this?

david

 


=====
David Wagoner
dbwagoner AT yahoo.com