Minimum HD space for Linux

[Haircut]

I have recently come across an old PC that was about to be thrown away (being a geek I volunteered to take it and have a play) and was wondering about putting Linux on it.

The specs areas follows:

486 dx4-75
8 megs of RAM
340 Meg HD

I know that Linux can be run on a 486, but I wasn't too sure about the Hard Drive space, would it be possible to get an install on this HD and if so what functionality would it have (presumably I would have to leave out some components)

Any input would be gladly appreciated as I am a complete Linux n00b.

 

[TonyRic]

Mandrake 8.2 allows a ~65MB install... Text only, very basic. But...


Also, you can get one of the older distros that install to a HD that small... One of the older slackwares or RH 6.x and update the kernel to the latest 2.2.x would be an option. No X though, that will kill the hdd space.

 

[Derango]

You can get a text based linux install on that hardware. Don't even think about setting up a GUI, because you don't have the CPU power, RAM or graphics card to support it. But you can get a fairly functional linux install on there.

You might want to think of turning it into some type of firewall/router or web server.

 

[Haircut]

I realise I will not be able to have a GUI on that sort of system, besides a text based OS is a real man's OS
I'm downloading Madrake 8.2 now, and if it all goes OK I will try using it as a router.

If I decide I like Linux I may even try a dual boot on my main rig.

 

[jhu]

turn it into a firewall

 

[n0cmonkey]

I used to run OpenBSD on a p133 with 245MB hard drive. I had enough space for gcc and all its components and the entire src tree.

 

[TheWart]

hmm, you could always put DOS on it, and uhh, uhh, i dont know what you could do with it