Errrr...not to
quibble...but the primary restriction on using Linux is the
processor and the RAM not so much the hard drive. You can run a usable
linux system on a 386 with 4mb of RAM and 20mb of drive space. I know
because I ran a small FTP/web server on one...if I powered it up, it'd
still run and do ok...can't handle many simultaneous users and swaps
itself to death if you don't reboot it every morning but that's easy
with crond.
You can't do ALOT of software development mind you...but you can have
full networking utilities...even run Lynx for web stuff...and write
shell scripts and editors and do all kinds of useful things.
Wirehead - Anthony Clifton
I've a LTE 386s/20 with 10mb ram/500mb HD. How bad the performance
go if someone have successfully ran win X on it? Slow as cold honey
or frozen? I have no luck getting very basic win X to work on that
LCD display even included the scan H and V rates in there right off
the original manual (34khz and 140hz respectively) with either SVGA
(I know it will still be 16 colors "shades"), mono or VGA16 servers.
After running the GUI-based program to configure X it says I have a
working server but when after that, hung before I get the adjust
screen part. I tried several graphics based games that were not
required for X with same results. Is ther a way to force a old
fashioned VGA mode on all of these stuff? Slackware 3.4 and XF86
3.3.1.
To run X you will want to have 16 megs, a reasonable size swap partition
and at least some variant of a 486dx processor. It's not bad on a
processor 33 mhz or above...
X has higher overhead than Windows 3.11 or Windows 95 because it is much
less integrated into the OS. It has the advantage, however, of allowing
multiple X terminals on the same unix box...IE multiuser GUI.
Wirehead - Anthony Clifton