Cuzman (cuzNOSPAM@supanet.com) writes:
> Is there a comprehensive list somewhere that lists the minimum hardware
> recommendations for various Linux installations? I have the following
> system on which I want to introduce myself to Linux, so a list would be
> uiseful to immediately rule some distros out.
>
> - MSI MS-5182 socket 7 motherboard
> ALi M1541 northbridge
> ALi M1543C southbridge
> 8MB ATI Rage Pro Turbo AGP 215R3BUA33
> Creative ES1373 sound
> - AMD K6-2/500AFX 500MHz CPU
> - 128MB PC100 SDRAM
> - Seagate Medalist 13030 ST313030A 13GB 5400rpm hard drive
> - US Robotics USR7900 10/100 NIC
> - Floppy Drive
> - Samsung DVD-Master 5E SD-604 4x DVD-ROM
> - PowerMan FSP145-61GW 145W MicroATX PSU

All distributions pull from the same pool of the kernel, utilities
and applications. They differ in philosopy and what is tossed
into the distribution. They are more alike than different.

One difference is the installation process, which may appear
to be the biggest step for the newcomer but which is a relatively
small thing compared to actually using the operating system.

And the actually installer that a distribution uses is the defining
point on what hardware it will work with. Some installers are very
bloated, so you need a massive system to do the installation. Others
use a simpler installer, and they demand much less resource to install.

But the requirements for the installer have nothing to do with the
use of that distribution. Given the same version of the actual kernel
or the applications, either they will run fine on a given speed CPU and
given ram, or not. The specific distribution has nothing to do with this.

Hence, you will see "requirements" for a distribution, and then see fine
print telling you it will actually run in a much lesser system. But you
can't install unless you have the bloated system.

In some cases, they include a non-GUI installer so you don't need a large
system to install.

Installation aside, the hardware will affect how the applications run.
But since the distributions try to compete with each other without having
much different about them, few will go to the radical step of removing
applications. So you will have a fine selection of what to use; if
this GUI is too slow, then you can switch to one of the other GUIs
that come with the distribution. If the CPU is too slow (and I'd
not call that CPU slow), then you can always switch to text based
applications rather than GUI based. But switching to another
distribution will not fix this problem, since they will be using
the same applications.

Michael