Ubuntu- Linux ?

[ms]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

Mike Sa

BTW, there is a Mike, and Mike S on ACF, different from Mike Sa

 

[NoWhereMan]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

I'm using it, and I like it

 

[Bernard Peek]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

If you want to try Linux then Ubuntu is a perfectly good starting point.
There are many different Linux distros and all of them have good and bad
points, Ubuntu is one of the better general-purpose distros. The latest
release is 5.10 "Breezy Badger."

Linux has a reputation for being able to run on low-spec hardware but
these things are relative. Ubuntu Linux might run on a 486/50 but I
wouldn't recommend it, particularly as a 486 probably doesn't have much
memory. A faster machine with at least 256Mb of memory will give
Ubuntu's Gnome desktop room to work. If you really want to use Linux on
a 486 then you would need to set it up carefully, and probably limit it
to text-only without any GUI. That is possible with Ubuntu.

 

[Andy Axnot]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

Mike Sa

BTW, there is a Mike, and Mike S on ACF, different from Mike Sa

I would forget about the 486 for Ubuntu.

I'm not sure what you mean by "or P2.5 GHZ", nor how much memory it has,
but the Ubuntu Wiki has a page for installation on low memory systems
which they further specify as "(Pentium II and III Processor, 32-256 MB
RAM)". That should give you some idea of what you need for a regular
install. If they have any clear listing of hardware requirements I missed
it.

If you have a P4 there should be no problem. Incidentally, there are
*lots* of free distros (Linux versions) available for download. They tend
to run just under 700 MB in size so they will fit on a CDR. Many are
"live CDs" which will run from the CD-ROM without actually installing to
your hard drive so that you can see if they play nice with your hardware.

Naturally they run faster once actually installed.

If you don't have a broadband connection to download them, perhaps a
friend would do it. Visit Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/
and read about the various distros and visit the distro homepages. These
distros are all variants of Linux, some tweaked to run on older hardware,
some for speed on newer hardware, some especially optimized for multimedia
or security testing or whatever.

Seems like every Linux geek in the world has his/her own distro

Ubuntu is fairly good. Some people love it and there is a friendly
community that likes to help newbies, which is important.

Good luck!

Andy

 

[ms]

If you want to try Linux then Ubuntu is a perfectly good starting point.
There are many different Linux distros and all of them have good and bad
points, Ubuntu is one of the better general-purpose distros. The latest
release is 5.10 "Breezy Badger."

Linux has a reputation for being able to run on low-spec hardware but
these things are relative. Ubuntu Linux might run on a 486/50 but I
wouldn't recommend it, particularly as a 486 probably doesn't have much
memory. A faster machine with at least 256Mb of memory will give
Ubuntu's Gnome desktop room to work. If you really want to use Linux on
a 486 then you would need to set it up carefully, and probably limit it
to text-only without any GUI. That is possible with Ubuntu.

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast machine. Any idea
how much disk space to allow for it?

Mike Sa

 

[meow2222]

I would forget about the 486 for Ubuntu.

I'm not sure what you mean by "or P2.5 GHZ", nor how much memory it has,
but the Ubuntu Wiki has a page for installation on low memory systems
which they further specify as "(Pentium II and III Processor, 32-256 MB
RAM)". That should give you some idea of what you need for a regular
install. If they have any clear listing of hardware requirements I missed
it.

If you have a P4 there should be no problem. Incidentally, there are
*lots* of free distros (Linux versions) available for download. They tend
to run just under 700 MB in size so they will fit on a CDR. Many are
"live CDs" which will run from the CD-ROM without actually installing to
your hard drive so that you can see if they play nice with your hardware.

Naturally they run faster once actually installed.

If you don't have a broadband connection to download them, perhaps a
friend would do it. Visit Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/
and read about the various distros and visit the distro homepages. These
distros are all variants of Linux, some tweaked to run on older hardware,
some for speed on newer hardware, some especially optimized for multimedia
or security testing or whatever.

Seems like every Linux geek in the world has his/her own distro

Ubuntu is fairly good. Some people love it and there is a friendly
community that likes to help newbies, which is important.

Good luck!

Andy

for downloading: blaiz's 'dead simple downloader'
for linux tryouts: http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
Various 50-60M live distros there, up and running very quick.

FWIW W95 would almost certainly work on it.


NT

 

[ms]

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 10:32:46 -0800, ms wrote: ed.

If you don't have a broadband connection to download them, perhaps a
friend would do it. Visit Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/
and read about the various distros and visit the distro homepages. These
distros are all variants of Linux, some tweaked to run on older hardware,
some for speed on newer hardware, some especially optimized for multimedia
or security testing or whatever.

Seems like every Linux geek in the world has his/her own distro

Ubuntu is fairly good. Some people love it and there is a friendly
community that likes to help newbies, which is important.

Good luck!

Andy

Thanks, Andy. Good info.

 

[Bernard Peek]

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast
machine. Any idea how much disk space to allow for it?

How long is a piece of string? If your W2K system has a FAT32 partition
then both Windows and Linux can use it for data. The support for NTFS
under Linux is definitely iffy, I wouldn't use it. The Linux system
itself will probably take a few Gb, and more for its data. How much
space you need for data depends on what you intend to do. If you have
the space then I would suggest that you give Linux around 10Gb for
system and data, less if you have a FAT32 partition for your data.

Don't forget that you can legally put Linux on both machines, there are
no restrictions on how many machines you put it on. A 486 machine would
be adequate as a simple file-server and perhaps a web-server too. Just
leave out all of the graphical stuff. Having a second machine as a
file-server is something I would recommend. It makes it easy to do a
backup across a network, and that makes it more likely that they will
actually get done instead of deferred. It won't protect against a house
fire but it can protect against accidental deletions.

 

[Whirled Peas]

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast machine.
Any idea how much disk space to allow for it?

Mike Sa

Mike,
This guide may answer your questions about setting up a dual boot system:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/

You probably want to allow a couple gigs to give it some elbow room and
also so you can download and try out various packages.

I am currently using Ubuntu 5.10 and have found it to be very stable. I
don't miss Windows at all

 

[Mark Carter]

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast
machine.

Don't forget to backup your data first. Seriously!

 

[Morten Skarstad]

Andy Axnot skrev:

I would forget about the 486 for Ubuntu.

That depends.

For desktop usage, yes. Such a computer is barely suitable for running a
simple X desktop, and most certainly not for running any desktop
applications you would want to run on a desktop machine (OOo, Firefox
etc). Also, I doubt that a 486 will support hard disk sizes that makes
it suitable for a file server nowadays.

However, for learning basic Linux from a command line perspective, it
should do just fine. At least if it has enough RAM. 16 MB should
probably do in a pinch, but more is obviously better.

Also, on a more permanent basis, it could potentially do just fine as a
personal web server, SOHO firewall or similar. I have an old pentium
running at home, and unless I'm recompiling the kernel the CPU usage is
usually nominal to none.

If you have a P4 there should be no problem. Incidentally, there are
*lots* of free distros (Linux versions) available for download. They tend
to run just under 700 MB in size so they will fit on a CDR. Many are
"live CDs" which will run from the CD-ROM without actually installing to
your hard drive so that you can see if they play nice with your hardware.

I believe Ubuntu can also be run as a live CD. At least the DVD edition can.

If you don't have a broadband connection to download them, perhaps a
friend would do it. Visit Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/
and read about the various distros and visit the distro homepages. These
distros are all variants of Linux, some tweaked to run on older hardware,
some for speed on newer hardware, some especially optimized for multimedia
or security testing or whatever.

Or get Ubuntu to your doorstep free of charge.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

 

[Mark Warner]

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast
machine. Any idea how much disk space to allow for it?

Dunno how well versed you are on partitioning, but if you don't have an
extra chunk of free space or an actual partition you can sacrifice, then
shrinking your existing NTFS partition must be done, and I don't
recommend trying to use the partitioner included in the installation
disk. BootIt NG in demo mode (running from boot disk) is what I would
recommend.

The easiest way to learn is to install it to a slave drive and hammer
away. To answer your initial question, I just yesterday did new
installations of Ubuntu and MEPIS on 5G partitions on my laptop. Ubuntu
took just less than 3G and MEPIS just over 3G. These are fresh installs
with no data archives.

I don't claim to be any kind of guru by any means, but I dove into this
stuff head first about six months ago and have learned a lot -- the hard
way, believe me -- in the process. Feel free to contact me privately
(note the munge) and I will help you where I can. Most likely I'll just
point you to the same resources that were pointed out to me. The Ubuntu
forums and Wiki are great.

 

[Craig]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

Mike Sa

BTW, there is a Mike, and Mike S on ACF, different from Mike Sa

I've Ubuntu 5.10 dual-booting w/win2k on a P4 2.8.

There are a lot of Linux distros for which the 486/50 would be fine.
Most "desktop" Linux's (ie Ubuntu) need a lot more horsepower than that.

Give it a whirl. And please give us some feedback here.

Compared with Debian (Ubuntu's daddy) and Suse (non-free version), I'd
say Ubuntu is pretty care-free. For surfing, emailing and office
productivity, it's ready to go. One quirk about Ubuntu is that they
disable (or hide) direct admin access. Instead, they use 'sudo' which
is fine for most instances but not all.

(For the record, to get around this, in the console, type 'sudo su'.)

The last point I'd like to make has to do with Linux distos in general.
While admin'ing a standalone desktop w/direct-connect devices is
pretty straight forward for the Winderz-literate, doing so in a lan'd
environment makes for a pretty steep learning curve. For example,
network-attached devices or mapping networked drives.

Yes, they're doable and yes, after doing them a few times, it'll be
fine. But it's a new way of doing things and, as in the case of Ubuntu,
there are often disconnects between what's possible w/the gui and cli.

-Craig

 

[El Gee]

Thanks, will probably then use it on dual-boot with W2K on the fast
machine. Any idea how much disk space to allow for it?

Mike Sa

I am dual booting Ubuntu 5.10 and WinXP.

Allow minimum 3 gigs of space (I am using 35 gigs) for the Linux OS and
any programs you wish to install.

 

[mike]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

Hello, mike

I'm _not_ a linux person - I'm far too thick.

Howver I recently (I'm B/B now, wahaay) d/l'd ubuntu, and it's the only
distro that's worked for me. So that's a big plus!

Just one prob, I can't figure out how to make it work with my ADSL modem,
and I don't think it will talk to my winmodem.

I bought an external modem in my earlier attempts at linux, but as I have
to pay for dialup, this stops me trying to take it further.

HTH

mike

 

[Daniel Mandic]

Linux has a reputation for being able to run on low-spec hardware but
these things are relative. Ubuntu Linux might run on a 486/50 but I
wouldn't recommend it, particularly as a 486 probably doesn't have
much memory. A faster machine with at least 256Mb of memory will give
Ubuntu's Gnome desktop room to work. If you really want to use Linux
on a 486 then you would need to set it up carefully, and probably
limit it to text-only without any GUI. That is possible with Ubuntu.

How about older X-Window versions?
NetBSD?


(As I would install a NT3.5 or a Windows 95 for a 486/50 rather, than a
NT5.1, even it is possible to do so. - it would be probably lame )




Best Regards,

Daniel Mandic

 

[ms]

I have a free CD of Ubuntu

I have available to use it on a 486/50 or P2.5 GHZ.

There are some Linux people here, any opinions on this?

Mike Sa

BTW, there is a Mike, and Mike S on ACF, different from Mike Sa

Thanks to all for good info. The CD I have is Ubunto 5.10, it will be a month before
I can run it, will save this data for later. I will just run it as a trial along with
W2K which I will have to learn. I hope most of the utils here on ACF that I've used
in W98SE will still work in W2K.

Mike Sa