Which Linux?

General Computing *nix and other operating systems
1

I have been toying with the idea of setting up Linux on my old PC (a P133) and would like to know:

A) Which would be the best to purchase as I don’t have a fast or reliable ISP, Redhat or SUSe linux as a boxed set, or another?

B) Are there any hardware restraints as regards driver availability or will the boxed set include them?

C) Will I be able to use the existing drivers supplied with the hardware or do I have to download them as and when required?

D) As a not too techy person would I be able to set Linux up easily?

Any help would be gratefully received.

2

Any more details on the spec of the machine (ram, video card, sound card etc)? You should be able to get something up and running but tbh it’ll be a bit of a dog…

3

I have Suse9 and think it’s the best Linux I’ve ever used. I have the pro edition, which comes with two printed manuals for users and admin. Handy if you’re new to it, or want something to browse or refer to now and then. Believe there’s also a personal editon at lower cost which only has the user manual but otherwise it’s the same.

Over at Suse’s page they offering version 8 for “free” + £6 postage. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but if it’s a box set with manual, that would be a good starting point. http://www.suse.co.uk/uk/company/giveaway/index.html

4

Doh! forgot to reply to the other questions.

Driver support shouldn’t be a problem for something of a Pentium vintage. To be safe, you can look up your hardware for compatability. Unless you have anything particularly weird, you should find it supported “out of the box”. Note the big modern distributions don’t support 486 platforms any more.

Suse 9 install is pretty good making reasonable choices based on what it detects. This is much better than RH9’s install routine which I found makes silly default choices.

5

Originally posted by riddlermarc
Any more details on the spec of the machine (ram, video card, sound card etc)? You should be able to get something up and running but tbh it’ll be a bit of a dog…

Spec of the machine is:
Pentium 1, P133, no mmx
48 mb 72pin EDO ram
32meg Creative Graphics Blaster PCI card
Creative Soundblaster Live 1024 PCI sound card.
Sony CD writer
8.4gb hard drive
not sure of the motherboard, but standard plug and play PCI parallel and serial port cards with ps2 mouse port and DIN type keyboard port
4-port Asus USB PCI card

Does this seem OK?

6

Originally posted by mackerel
[B]I have Suse9 and think it’s the best Linux I’ve ever used. I have the pro edition, which comes with two printed manuals for users and admin. Handy if you’re new to it, or want something to browse or refer to now and then. Believe there’s also a personal editon at lower cost which only has the user manual but otherwise it’s the same.

Over at Suse’s page they offering version 8 for “free” + £6 postage. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but if it’s a box set with manual, that would be a good starting point. http://www.suse.co.uk/uk/company/giveaway/index.html [/B]

Thanks m8. I’ve read it through and I think I might look at Version 9, as the installer seems more first-timer friendly.

7

Originally posted by Droid
[B]Spec of the machine is:
Pentium 1, P133, no mmx
48 mb 72pin EDO ram
32meg Creative Graphics Blaster PCI card
Creative Soundblaster Live 1024 PCI sound card.
Sony CD writer
8.4gb hard drive
not sure of the motherboard, but standard plug and play PCI parallel and serial port cards with ps2 mouse port and DIN type keyboard port
4-port Asus USB PCI card

Does this seem OK?
[/B]

If the board will take a P200mmx I have a spare thats unlikely to ever get used now. PM me an address if you want it.