I would recommend a distro that is a LiveCD that can be tried out and then
installed. I have been doing research for a FOSS project and have been
looking at a lot of small, fast distros that would work on older, slower
computers. Here is a short list of recommendations:
Austrumi - Fast, professional-looking, runs well as LiveCD and also
installed. New version recently came out.
Damn Small Linux (DSL) - Small, innovative, fast and has the option of
adding applications even in the LiveCD version. Looks like more of a
developer version but function is reliable.
Puppy - Another good distro especially made for LiveCd and slower computers.
Haven't used it in awhile but heard there was a new released version.
SLAX - Based on Slackware, it is professional looking and runs well as
LiveCD. I have never installed it but if I was looking for a distro to meet
the needs of an older machine, I would definitely consider it.
I am sure there are others and I don't want to slight any distros that I did
not mention. These are just some I have had some experience with.
desNotes (Mike Fisher)
desNotes@gmail.com
On 7/16/07, Eben King <eben01@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Hey.I'll be getting use of a dinky computer (physically dinky, that is)
> for
> my grandmother. I'm not sure of the specs, but here are my best guesses:
>
> Celeron 450
> DVD reader
> 30? GB HD
> FD
> maybe 500 MB RAM
> no idea what ports, other than PS2, parallel, USB
> whatever monitor we can grab, probably a 17 incher, whatever that is in
> pixels
>
> What distro would be easiest for a complete neophyte (I'm talking 12:00
> flasher here) to use? I don't want her to even attempt anything but
> email,
> web, and maybe showing downloaded/mailed media. It definitely can't
> provide
> easy access from Jane User to the root account. Ease of administration
> isn't really a big deal; I'll set it up, and fix whatever breaks, but if I
> change anything I'll never hear the end of it.
>
> The machine has Windows 98 (SE most likely) on it now. While that's
> suffered remarkably little bit-rot (as far as Windows goes), I'd like
> something
>
> - less buggy
> - remotely administrable
> - pretty well virus proof
> - approaching modern
> - that I have respect for
> - that probably won't run the crap others bring to it
>
> If I get a wild hair, I may set her up with OO and a printer one of these
> days...
>
>
> --
> A well-lovd and corrctly traind domstc cnine is gnrlly slobbry, excitbl,
> noisy, scatologically obsessed, xenophobic, pathetically unjudgmental,
> embrrssngly uninhbtd, unreasnngly dvtd, hrtbrkngly dpndnt and wretchedly
> craven. All othr knds of dog cmpre unfvrbly wth ths picture. - PB, AFCA
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