What to do with an old 486

[GeSuN]

Hi,

I've got an old 486 and don't know what OS to put on... I'll put DOS for sure as I have to test batch files, but maybe I could put an *nix OS too... Anyone has an idea of wich one would fit in a 200MB HD 😛

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: GeSuN
Hi,

I've got an old 486 and don't know what OS to put on... I'll put DOS for sure as I have to test batch files, but maybe I could put an *nix OS too... Anyone has an idea of wich one would fit in a 200MB HD 😛

There are several micro-distros that can run off of a floppy, much less a 200MB drive. My favorite is Freesco which I use as a firewall/modem router.

Probably most of the modern distros can be made to fit if you do a custom install & strip them down brutally. Doesn't Mandrake advertise a 50MB minimum install?

 

[Ziraku]

According to here, it's 65MB

Still not bad 🙂

 

[tigerwannabe]

if you were into self-punishment, you could install windows 3.1 🙂 another *nix that would work in 200 MB is qnix. any old pc like that would work nicely as a thin client on a network, or as a firewall/modem router like ergeorge mentioned.

 

[mrzed]

If you were into self-punishment you could also easily fit win95 on there. Runs just fine on a fast 486. finding a reason to run it would be another question though.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

a debian woody base install is 80MB.

 

[GeSuN]

a debian woody base install is 80MB.

Sorry to ask, but isnt it the debian version right now named potato??? (sorry for this newbie question...)

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: GeSuN
a debian woody base install is 80MB.

Sorry to ask, but isnt it the debian version right now named potato??? (sorry for this newbie question...)

debian potato is the stable release of debian and is pretty old. woody is the testing version but is actually finished for the most part and will be released officially fairly soon. also keep in mind that although its called 'testing', it is no less reliable than redhat or any other distro. in fact i'd trust it more than them...

 

[GeSuN]

it is no less reliable than redhat or any other distro. in fact i'd trust it more than them...

Yes I'm very knew to this Linux world, already installed Mandrake 8.1 (wow! hahaha) but I thaught that if I really wanted to lurn Linux I had to go with Debian or Slackware...

debian potato is the stable release of debian and is pretty old. woody is the testing version but is actually finished for the most part and will be released officially fairly soon.

Ok I'll give woody a try then! 😛

 

[jmatt]

Turn an old comp , into a server or Internet gateway.
http://www.clarkconnect.org/
Select your operating system here.
http://www.clarkconnect.org/download/index.html