[Xastir] Which version of Linux for older computers?

[Curt, WE7U]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, Josh Keller wrote:

> I've been slowly working on a radio logging app (sort of an app, it's
> PHP/MySQL based) that interfaces with Xastir for my SAR group and one of
> the other local ARES groups has taken interest in it also. They have
> some older donated laptops that we are trying to get setup with Linux,
> Xastir, and my radio logging system. The laptops they are using are
> Pentium 133, 233, and 333 systems. I *think* they have 64MB RAM in them.
>
> I personally have run RedHat for many years but only have discs left
> over from RH9-FedoraCore 3. RH9 runs extremly slow (granted, everything
> will be extremly slow on these machines from my point of view, but this
> is coming from the people that have been using them with Win98 for a
> couple years). Which version/flavor would be suggested for these machines.
>
> Thanks,
> Josh
>
> P.S.
> The purpose of this question is not to start a battle over which flavor
> is better I don't want any of those kinds of responses. I just need to
> know how far back to go for a good OS on these older machines.

Chicken.

I'll tell you what I installed on some limited-disk/memory SAR
laptops:  ZipSlack, which is part of the Slackware distribution.  It
was intended to fit on a zipdisk when uncompressed, so it was
something like 92MB last I checked.  I was running it on PP200
laptops with 32MB memory.

I took that distribution and installed it, then added some from the
"X" series of disks in order to get X-windows on there.  End result
was a development-capable Linux system that fit in very little disk.
I also used the FVWM2 window manager 'cuz it's light on memory and
fast.

--
Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
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