Which Distro And X To Install


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well it all depends on what you are looking for when it comes to what the distro can do. one of the most easily set up ones besides Suse right now is Ubuntu. you can also have different versions of X running, xfce, gnome, kde,fluxbox, etc...

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ok I have a 333Mhz 128MB of RAM PC that I am looking to put an OS on. So what do you think I should put on it? I want to have X running on it of some type. I like the look of KDE.

KDE will run on that unit, it will be a bit slow though. For x windows I recommend that you use XFce, that will work just fine with 128 MB RAM. For a P 333 Mhz I'd try a lighter distro. Mandriva 2006 runs quite fast and is easy to install, Suse will probably work well. Ubuntu and Fedora require a lot of RAM to run well.

The best distro for your unit as it is has an older processor and a limited amount of RAM is Slackware, that would really run well with XFce. Slack is a bit more difficult to install, but, you'll learn a lot about Linux.

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KDE due to it being bloated

bloted is what you install.. kde base with a windows manager is not bloted at all..

if you install koffice, kgames, ktoys, kscreensavers, k what ever.. its get full

by the way,

you we need some correct terminolagy

x11,xorg, tinyx are all examples of x servers

KDE Gnome are Display managers and work with the afore mentioned.

evilvm,cde,XFce are windows managers.

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Just went on-line and found the minimum system requirements for Mandriva 2006. Minimum RAM required is 128, so your system just meets requirements, Honky Buzz. So X will run on it, perhaps a bit slowly.

google/linux is your friend:-)

Good luck with the install.

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min requirements for Ubuntu is also 128mb of ram. so you fall in line for that distro also.

there will always be someone that says one windows manager is better then the other. IMHO use your own judgement. what you may like they may not, just like what they like you may not. the only person that has to decide what windows manager is best for you is you. but you won't know until you give it a try. personally I prefer Gnome of KDE. I haven't used the other windows mangers to judge them, nor do I really have an inclination to try it.

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min requirements for Ubuntu is also 128mb of ram. so you fall in line for that distro also.

there will always be someone that says one windows manager is better then the other. IMHO use your own judgement. what you may like they may not, just like what they like you may not. the only person that has to decide what windows manager is best for you is you. but you won't know until you give it a try. personally I prefer Gnome of KDE. I haven't used the other windows mangers to judge them, nor do I really have an inclination to try it.

Yes, true. I've run Ubuntu on 128 MB of RAM, it worked, but, it was deadly slow. Ubuntu uses more swap than Mandriva, but, as you said he'll have to decide what to run. Mandriva runs a tad faster than Ubuntu. Personally I really like Ubuntu more than Mandriva, but, he'll find what works best for him.

The default for Mandriva is KDE when you install it, you also have the option of installing other window managers.

**Note- When you get to the summary page of your Mandriva install check to make sure that your graphics card is configured, you may need to set that up which is no big deal, just a few clicks.

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just so you know, W2K will run just as fast as a linux distro on that machine. for best optimal performance of W2k it is recommended that you have 256-512 mb of ram. Even though there min system requirements say 64mb of ram for it, as with anything, the more ram the better. I personally wouldn't run it with less then 256mb. but then again I like my system to work like they advertise.

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Well if I had a 128 stick of ram or at least 2 it would be great. But guess what, I don't

just so you know, W2K will run just as fast as a linux distro on that machine. for best optimal performance of W2k it is recommended that you have 256-512 mb of ram. Even though there min system requirements say 64mb of ram for it, as with anything, the more ram the better. I personally wouldn't run it with less then 256mb. but then again I like my system to work like they advertise.
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KDE Gnome are Display managers and work with the afore mentioned.

KDE and GNOME are desktop environments. XDM, GDM, and KDM are display managers.

Pedantry is fun.

got me their :D

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I am about to give up on Linux for this since they say it will not work.

ok "they" must be right...

we have great windows experts onthe widnows board..

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well I have others that I have consulted and they say it will be hellishly slow with what ever since the memory is to low. Well if they want me to run this PC then hook me up with some more memory if anyone has some laying around.

hmm I have puppy linux running on a gnode (amd 486) with 64 megs ram.. I use evilwm with XDM.. runs ok.. or at least good enough for a file server

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if you were able to buy a matrox g450 or g400 video card(about $30 on ebay) you could do a great video Jukebox and movie server. I have built many great systems using that card, it uses direct framebuffer instead of X. Because of this it uses only about 50 mbs of memory. I am able to watch a divx movie on my tv with perfect quality, and serve two movies to other computer using both samba and nfs with out even using all of my 64 mbs of ram.

I made a install cd that will work on most hardware, but it does require the matrox card. You just need to run the disk, and it will partition your system, and install gentoo with freevo. it will have most everything already set up. The only thing you need to do is run the command alsaconf to set up your sound.

If you purchase a matrox card, I would be happy to send anyone a copy of my install disk. I worked many days on working out bugs.. I have tested it on three four different machines, both athlon and intel, it seems to work great.

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do you have your ISO posted on your site.. I'll post it if you don't have room.

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No I do not have it hosted anywhere. I only have a $4/month godaddy account that hosts my business webpage. That would be nice if you would want to host it. Since the iso is about 380mb, would many people downloading it cost you alot of money for the bandwith used?

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