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Minumum spec for linux?

  • 25-12-2003 1:54pm
    #1
    Clod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23 ✭


    Is there a minumum spec needed to run linux? I was thinking of installing it on my old PC: 120 MHZ 24MB RAM, 2 GB hard drive.


Comments

  • #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 93,599 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    That will run Linux without the GUI

    If you want a GUI you might need more RAM or a light distro - seem to remember someone posting a lighter GUI on one of the other threads recently..


  • #3
    rob1891
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,038 ✭✭✭rob1891


    Minimum PC spec is a 386, so you should be fine!

    You might find that running a GUI like Gnome 2 (what will come with redhat 9) on your machine will make it far too slow though, (edit: or not at all). You could always get a distribution from the same era as your machine, redhat 6.x or 7.x would probably be useable (I had 6 on a 90Mhz pentium and it could web-browse and spreadsheet even, though boards would probably have it in fits!).


  • #4
    SkepticOne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,718 ✭✭✭SkepticOne


    Originally posted by Clod
    Is there a minumum spec needed to run linux? I was thinking of installing it on my old PC: 120 MHZ 24MB RAM, 2 GB hard drive.
    Similar spec to my first machine exept I had 16MB ram, not 24. You will be able to run X easily enough but avoid KDE, Gnome, Mozilla etc. If you do run X use a lightweight window manager like fvwm or ion.


  • #5
    BenH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 157 ✭✭BenH


    Well the minimum spec for Linux is a 16 bit processor with 4 megs of RAM (aka Linus's first PC) . However the commercial distros have now all been optimised for pentium level processors, and usually P2+ at that.

    24Megs is really too small to be running X, it really requires 64Megs, even with one of the lightweight windowmanagers. you should also have at least a 4 meg video card.

    I'd suggest trying one of the minimalist bootable distros such as Bootable Business Card linux to see if the hardware is supportable.


  • #6
    rob1891
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,038 ✭✭✭rob1891


    I don't know what his first PC was, but Linux was first released for 386/486 platform, i.e. 32 bit. Search "linux history" and you can read through the first announcement emails he sent on usenet.

    Linux does not support 16 bit processors, though there is a port of a subset of the linux kernel to 16 bit processors. It is called ELKS. (thankyou google).


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  • #7
    BenH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 157 ✭✭BenH


    Theres uC Linux for 16 bit processors, as well as a few others (mostly commercial for running embedded systems, flightlinux would be an example but for 32 bit); not to mention Alan Cox's side project to port the kernel to 8 bit processors (actually possible now, if you remove everything that makes linux, linux and the patience of a stone).

    Also uC has just been incorporated into the 2.6 vanilla kernal.


  • #8
    Clod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23 ✭Clod


    I was planning on installing Fedora (latest version) that came with this month's Linux format magazine. Is that distribution too demanding for my crappy old PC?


  • #9
    BenH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 157 ✭✭BenH


    In a word, yes, although you could strip it down; I really dont think you have enough ram for it to generate a ramdisc, which makes the installation really not fun.

    Go and take a look at the distros available here:

    http://www.distrowatch.com

    Ask yourself what do you want from the machine; do you want a terminal for learning the shell, a firewall, a proxy or whatever. There will be a distro there that will do it.


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