[vox-tech] Linux distro for lightweight box

[Edwin P. Groot]

     Debian 2.2r2 worked OK at an installfest last year on my 486 DX2-66
with 16 MB RAM and 200 MB HDD.  During the install it even supported the
funky-old CD-ROM connected to the proprietary Mitsumi interface of a
soundblaster-16 card.  I ran X with a 2 MB VLB graphics card.  The window
manager was .. I can't remember because I sold the machine before I left
for Germany.  It was not KDE, but sounded like fvwm.  The machine played
.au and .wav OK, but choked on MP3s > 96 kbps bitrate or 22 KHz.  I also
ran Netscape and StarOffice on my isun account via a telnet session and
exported to an X session on the 486 (forgot exactly how that trick works).
     That's what this machine could do.  I can't guarantee this works on 12
MB, but why not try?
     FWIW Chris McKenzie (a CS grad student) knew a lot about BSD on old
machines.

    Gruess,
     Edwin

At 19:37 1/8/02 -0800, you wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a good Linux distro for an old machine (486 w/ 12 MB
>RAM)?  I've managed to install TINY Linux, which is based on Slackware 3.5
>or so, but I think I'd like something a bit more polished.  All of the major
>distributions require at least 32 MB RAM AFAIK, so they're out.  I also
>tried OpenBSD, but had problems (it's been awhile, so I don't remember
>precisely what went wrong).
>
>Thanks,
>Matt