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Your machine easily has enough horsepower to handle slackware.

I'm running 10.2 on a 9 year old NEC laptop (300 Mhz P1, 128mb ram, 4G HD) without
a hiccup. 11.0 would probably be fine as well, but I stuck with 10.2 b/c of HD space
restraints. I run it w/ fluxbox and didn't bother to install the KDE packages.

Wifi works great on it too - it's actually my wardriving rig.

I tried SLAX with it (as a live CD), but it was really sluggish compared to the 10.2 install.
You can't beat slackware for breathing new life into old hardware.

In article <IvnZh.969$YQ1.64@trndny02>, Jim <Jim@Doe.com> wrote:

> I run it w/ fluxbox and didn't bother to install the KDE packages.

Does Flux handle fonts as well as KDE? I might spend a lot of time in
low light looking at the screen and my old eyes need sharp fonts. This
is the main reason I didn't use Damn Small. An old version of Mepis that
I have laying around (live CD) looked good.

I tried Slax and the liveCD and it worked fine until I tried to download
some modules (a few games, and some editors) and when trying to start
any of them the entire lappy locked up. So much for that idea.

Al

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:37:36 +0000, ANC wrote:

> In article <IvnZh.969$YQ1.64@trndny02>, Jim <Jim@Doe.com> wrote:
>
>> I run it w/ fluxbox and didn't bother to install the KDE packages.
>
> Does Flux handle fonts as well as KDE? I might spend a lot of time in
> low light looking at the screen and my old eyes need sharp fonts. This
> is the main reason I didn't use Damn Small. An old version of Mepis that
> I have laying around (live CD) looked good.

I'm not so sure about the fonts. I haven't strayed from default. but
your laptop shouldn't have much trouble with KDE.

> I tried Slax and the liveCD and it worked fine until I tried to download
> some modules (a few games, and some editors) and when trying to start
> any of them the entire lappy locked up. So much for that idea.
>
> Al

Right - it can be hit or miss with those Slax modules. One thing that
works well is loading Slax to a bootable usb stick. Create a 'modules'
directory on the stick and copy all your .mo files into /modules. Then
boot to the stick (providing the BIOS supports it). The modules should be
available when system comes up.

In article <pan.2007.04.30.22.32.40.992204@Doe.com>, Jim <Jim@Doe.com>
wrote:

> One thing that
> works well is loading Slax to a bootable usb stick. Create a 'modules'
> directory on the stick and copy all your .mo files into /modules. Then
> boot to the stick (providing the BIOS supports it). The modules should be
> available when system comes up.

Problem is that the lappy has only one USB and I use it for a mouse
because the red mouse pointer thingy is hard to use for anyone with a
bit of arthritis in their fingers. Also, I don't believe the BIOS of
this ancient beast will let you boot to USB.

I loaded a 2 year old copy of Mepis on the HD. Runs fine... but
sloooooooowwwww. Slax on the CD was faster (both use KDE). When I get
the time I'll download and burn Slack 11 and see how it goes.

To install Slack these days do I need all 3 CDs or only first two? I
just want KDE and the usual packages that come with it. All I ever do
with my travel machine is use web-based email and write memos at the
airport (assuming I can find a place to plug in) via the KATE utility.
I'll probably put apache and my sql and php on it is possible so I can
use phpMyAdmin to front a 'contact' database. Works fine on another old
IBM lappy I use running Slack 9.

Thanks for the help.

Al

ANC wrote:

>Problem is that the lappy has only one USB and I use it for a mouse
>because the red mouse pointer thingy is hard to use for anyone with a
>bit of arthritis in their fingers.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/...usb_hub_review

>Also, I don't believe the BIOS of
>this ancient beast will let you boot to USB.

Does it have a floppy drive?

--
Guy Macon
<http://www.guymacon.com/>

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:10:24 -0700, ANC wrote:

> In article <pan.2007.04.30.22.32.40.992204@Doe.com>, Jim <Jim@Doe.com>
> wrote:
>
>> One thing that
>> works well is loading Slax to a bootable usb stick. Create a 'modules'
>> directory on the stick and copy all your .mo files into /modules. Then
>> boot to the stick (providing the BIOS supports it). The modules should be
>> available when system comes up.
>
> Problem is that the lappy has only one USB and I use it for a mouse
> because the red mouse pointer thingy is hard to use for anyone with a
> bit of arthritis in their fingers. Also, I don't believe the BIOS of
> this ancient beast will let you boot to USB.

Many face that dilemma. Slax.org has an .iso of a boot CD w/ usb drivers.
So anyone whose bios can't usb boot could boot the CD which then loads the
OS from the usb stick. Nifty but impractical in your case.

> I loaded a 2 year old copy of Mepis on the HD. Runs fine... but
> sloooooooowwwww. Slax on the CD was faster (both use KDE). When I get
> the time I'll download and burn Slack 11 and see how it goes.
>
> To install Slack these days do I need all 3 CDs or only first two? I
> just want KDE and the usual packages that come with it. All I ever do
> with my travel machine is use web-based email and write memos at the
> airport (assuming I can find a place to plug in) via the KATE utility.
> I'll probably put apache and my sql and php on it is possible so I can
> use phpMyAdmin to front a 'contact' database. Works fine on another old
> IBM lappy I use running Slack 9.

I'm fairly sure you'll only need the first 2 CDs for that kind of
install. Most of the nuts and bolts stuff is on CD 1 and the
KDE/apps stuff is on CD 2. Also, for linux wifi info, this is a great
site - http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/

The 'wireless tools' that Jean Tourillhes wrote are part of the (N)etwork
group of packages in Slack. I found a cheap wifi card on ebay that works
nicely. It's an Atheros-based card, so I also had to compile and load
the madwifi drivers (which was completely painless) - though lots of cards
now include linux drivers.

> Thanks for the help.
>
> Al

Glad to help.

In article <mJCdnfZC1ojBnqrb4p2dnA@giganews.com>,
Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/> wrote:

> ANC wrote:
>
> >Problem is that the lappy has only one USB and I use it for a mouse
> >because the red mouse pointer thingy is hard to use for anyone with a
> >bit of arthritis in their fingers.
>
> http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/...usb_hub_review
>

This is pretty neat. Thanks. I'll look for it at Fry's next time I'm
there. I sometimes want to plug at pen-drive in and I have to remove the
mouse and use the red pointer thingy.



> >Also, I don't believe the BIOS of
> >this ancient beast will let you boot to USB.
>
> Does it have a floppy drive?

Well yes, but you it is external, it is heavy has hell, and I would not
travel with it.

For the hell of it I burned both Ubuntu and Xubuntu to try the LIVE CDs
(no install). Xubuntu booted to the graphical screen but the top and
bottom panel were missing. I tried a million different VGA settings and
finally gave up. Oh, and it was a 5 minute boot. Honestly. Five whole
minutes. Ubuntu worked well out of the box (with acpi=off boot code) but
it also took 4 or 5 minutes to boot. Seems to hang on trying to find the
non-existant floppy... and it eventually gives up. I was impressed with
Ubuntu once I turned off the brown and made it KDE-blue. I still like
KDE better.

This weekend I'll burn Slack and go through the install. I have Slack on
another ThinkPad so I'm not expecting any problems. I've not found a
wireless card for it... but they are out there for about $40.

Al