os query

rammster

what operating system to install on a 1ghz pentium 3 with 128 mb ram, which should also be okay for networking

Marty_J

Can't you buy more RAM?

You'll need it even for running Linux.

rammster

thinkpad a30 where to get it cheeply

[Deleted User]

Windows 2000, although it's probably going to be hard to find.

Marty_J

Try:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/

fwor

Both Puppy and DSL will run quite happily with 128M of memory. I've tried both on a 450Mhz PIII recently, and they work fine. DSL was particularly responsive, but you have to live with a very cut-back user interface, so it depends what you want to use it for.

http://www.puppylinux.org/

http://damnsmalllinux.org/

kevsan

you could also try zenwalk. http://www.zenwalk.org/

it'll probably run marginally slower than DSL and Puppy, but i think the tradeoff is you'll get a richer interface.

rammster

would i get networking with it

fwor

I doubt you'll find a linux distro that ~doesn't~ have networking. All three mentioned above do, all auto-detected.

As Kevsan says, Zenwalk will tolerate 128Mb, and I thought it was an excellent distro when I tried it a few weeks ago.

Conor_3

Don't use Linux, really. The distributions that have been mentioned run a very minimalistic desktop that really does take a lot of getting to grips with, doesn't have the tools or user friendliness of Ubuntu and the like and you'll find that a lot of the stuff you want to run needs Gnome or KDE and that wants 256MB minimum.

A P3 with 128MB of RAM is Windows 98 or Windows 2000. You can run XP on it but TBH, you want 256MB.

fwor

Conor wrote: »

The distributions that have been mentioned run a very minimalistic desktop that really does take a lot of getting to grips with

I'd agree with that. If I wanted to use it for everyday stuff I'd look elsewhere, although Zenwalk isn't tooo user-hostile...