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1 • older machines (by sclebo05 on 2003-09-08 16:07:40 GMT)
as the user of an older machine (pentium 200mhz) i would like to see some sort of comprehensive list of distros that would run on this kind of hardware. after lots of searches on a forums i chose slackware, but having this information on your site could save someone a lot of work.
2 • Reviews of Geek Distros (by madhunter at 2003-09-08 17:12:00 GMT)
Hehehe.
Yeah, I know MadAdmin basically builds his own cross and hands the hammer and nails to the critically minded every time he write a review for anything- whether it's a distro, new software, etc. Opinions are like buttholes, and apparently everyone can have one EXCEPT for the guy writing the article!
3 • Re-thinking the "distribution" model (by bhhenry at 2003-09-08 18:26:35 GMT)
How about a "DistroWatch Magazine"? Included each month is a CD-ROM with a distro or two.
4 • Wi-Fi (by Gary Higgs at 2003-09-08 21:16:52 GMT)
Hi,
Really like this web site for keeping up with Linux distros..is there a distro that I might expect to work with my Siemens SpeedStream WAP router?....would like to go back to Linux on at least one box here, but what to know if I can make it fly first.
5 • Page Hit rankings (by Andrew at 2003-09-08 21:30:23 GMT)
Congratulations on finding an excellent solution to the Great Ranking Dillema! Let's hope everyone will be satisfied with this system - I know I am.
6 • Re: Page Hit Rankings (by Amresh on 2003-09-08 22:09:32 GMT)
Personally I believe that Page Hit Rankings(PHR) should not be taken too seriously. By this I mean no disrespect to those who treat the PHR of a distribution as a measure of its popularity :)
If a distribution A, for example despite being one of those with a high PHR, cannot be suitable for my needs(for whatever reason), I will look for one that IS. The only role PHR will have to play in this process is that I would tend to look down the list till I find a 'suitable' distro. I dont think my choice of a distribution would be influenced by its PHR in any way.And I fail to see why its generating so much talk. Don't take it too seriously.
OTOH, I think its time someone came up with a 'scientifically correct' method of PHR. Something that will not be so controversial. It could also make an interesting research thesis. Any takers?
(Having worked in a related field - performance based ranking - I think I could :))
7 • Mephis Logo (by Anonymous on 2003-09-08 23:33:30 GMT)
I'm sorry, but to me the Mephis Logo looks like an ant with a giant hard-on.
8 • Old Hardware (by AlanS at 2003-09-09 01:38:55 GMT)
For the purposes of an old hardware page I'd draw the line at Pentium MMX/Pentium II. When they went from i586 to i686, just what makes sense to me.
9 • Old Hardware (by lucas at 2003-09-09 02:01:52 GMT)
i think the line problem can be solved just the way you have set the PHR, let us choose the line, if it won't be too troublefull.
10 • Old Hardware (by Julle on 2003-09-09 06:22:52 GMT)
I think that it is impossible to draw a line between old and new hardware. At least one that will satisfy all. :) Some kind of listing where distros would be ranked according to their harware requirements would be best solution.
This kind of lists advantage would also be that people could easily find the kind of distro they are looking for. If you are looking for distro that will run smoothly in your current hardware you would choose distro that is reported to work in "older" hardware then your curent one. If you don't mind little slow system but want more eye candy you could pick distro that just barely runs with your current hardware.
11 • on old hardware distros (by Peter Damoc at 2003-09-09 12:31:54 GMT)
IMHO what people need is a list with distros that could offer a desktop solution (think graphical browser) for computers with CPUs in the 586 class (or older) with 32 Mb of RAM (or less)!
An alternative to Win95 if you may. :D
12 • Old Hardware (by David Montminy at 2003-09-09 14:57:14 GMT)
You should consider a time frame, like 3,4 or 5 years ago , to seperate old from newer computers. 5 years ago, we saw the very first Pentium III. Anything pentium II and down is second grade and should be considered "Not that old, but not quite recent", Finaly, anything from 6-10 years ago is really old hardware. (Pentium 200mmx was THE top in 1996, if i remember correctly)
It would also be useful to know if there are "client distros" that could be run to make the very old ones graphical terminals.
13 • Re-thinking the 'distribution' model: about Suse (by L Gandolfo at 2003-09-10 00:58:03 GMT)
Indeed, Suse could show more flexibility.
Once a customer has bought a Professional edition with 900 pages of documentation, he/she doesn't have much interest in having those books again in the near future.
Therefore Suse could offer a wider choice, as Mandrake does.
What about a CDs or DVD only edition, maybe with a booklet updating only what is new.
I believe it would be in the best interest of both Suse and its customers.
14 • Old hardware (by Robbage at 2003-09-10 02:12:00 GMT)
I agree with David Montminy, although I'd set the timeframe to 3 months, since it seems no sooner have I upgraded to'the latest, coolest hardware' than it's already old hat :)
(But seriously.. 5 years seems like a good timeframe.. but this might need to be scaled as we approach the sentient computer age a la 'Terminator')
15 • old hardware (by warpengi at 2003-09-10 03:59:35 GMT)
I would like to see distros that use a GUI on older hardware. In that case there are plenty of distros that will run on PII's. Once you get to Pentium MMX and down to 486 fewer distros will run with acceptable speed. There are probably several classes; 386/486, 486/P1, P1/Pentium Pro/Pentium with MMX, PII.
There are plenty of P1's and PII's headed for the landfills these days. It would be great to get new computer users started on these older systems using a linux distro that allows them to surf the net and do word processing and e-mail.
16 • Old PCs ram and HD constraints (by monkymind on 2003-09-10 05:10:42 GMT)
Old hardware could be sorted by ram size/type and/or video card size. HD size is also another limiting factor for old PCs.
Old = EDO 72 pin (32meg +)
Really old = 30 pin simms (8-16 meg+)
Anything that has 168 pin sdram 64-128meg is modern enough to run most linux flavours.
Does anyone know if any of palmtop (qtopia) like environments and browsers can be used on old hardware??
17 • Linux for Old Hardware (by John Gabriel at 2003-09-10 15:16:05 GMT)
Rather than focus on the processor or other technologies, I think the most important factor for running Linux on older PC's is memory.
If you want to run a modern Linux with KDE or Gnome, 128 MB of RAM is about the minimum, with 256 MB or more recommended.
My recommendation would be to feature a list of Linuxes designed to run in less than 64 MB. You could make it 32 MB, if you really wanted to keep the list small, but having 64 MB of RAM on a Pentium I wasn't uncommon. From there, anyone perusing the list could check out memory and other requirements for distro's that would suit their needs.
18 • Magazine Distribution (by DaveW on 2003-09-10 16:25:00 GMT)
Your idea could turn out to be the next big thing, as Linux and the rest of the open source/free software community moves away from the older Microsoft generation's way of doing things.
Of course, Britain-based Linux Format magazine has been including distro disks for some time (It's where I got my first Mandrake.)
But a magazine dedicated to one distro would have a shot at really opening up a market for Linux. A live-style distro like Knoppix would seem like the likeliest candidate for such distribution, since the user-reader could simply pop the cd into the machine and get started, with guidance from the print magazine.
The biggest problem I see would be ongoing content: You have the first issue with the distro attached and probably most of the print content dedicated to how to install/use it. Then what? New readers would need the first issue to get the basic distro, but once they have it, they want the next issues to contain additional apps. Getting bookstores and the like to keep Issue One around for a long time would be difficult. Or, if the base distro is as small as Knoppix, I suppose the latest version could be in every issue, with apps on additional disks. But then you're back to the problem with the print content: nobody wants to see most of that taken up with intro/installation stuff every time.
So there are some concepts to work out, but I think this could be one of those simple ideas that turns out to be amazingly fertile.
19 • Knoppix's fate?! (by maurice on 2003-09-10 17:52:13 GMT)
That's not a good news:
Closed because of "Software-Patents"
In the next few days, the European Parliament will decide about the legalisation and adoption of so-called "software patents" in Europe, which are already used by large companies in other countries to put competitors out of business. This can lead to the termination of many software projects such as KNOPPIX, at least within Europe, because the holders of the over 30,000 already granted "software patents" (currently without a legal foundation) can claim exclusive rights and collect license fees for trivial things like "progress bars", "mouseclicks on online order forms", "scrolling within a window" and similar. That way, software developers will have to pay the "software-patentholders" for using these features, even in their own, completely self-developed applications, which can completely stall the development of innovative software for small and medium companies. Apart from this, the expense for patent inquiries and legal assistence is high, for even trying to find out if the self-developed software is possibly violating "software-patents", if you want to continue to market your software. Contrary to real patents, "software-patents" are, in the current draft, monopolization of business ideas and methods, even without any tangible technical implementation.
More about the current major problem at http://swpat.ffii.org/index.en.html
20 • Re-thinking the 'distribution' model: about Suse (by L Gandolfo at 2003-09-10 0 (by Daniel M. Stadnyckyj at 2003-09-12 02:13:42 GMT)
L. Gandolfo makes some valid points. SuSE and the other major distros might want to offer the documentation in a binder format. That way it can be updated with the newer information 'addendums" and also have the core material for newbies. The new documentation along with the discs can be offered in a packet that can just be added to the binder.Certain PC games were packaged in this format.
Just a thought.
21 • Page Hit rankings (by James on 2003-09-12 20:25:10 GMT)
Why not keep the default view the original 12 months like it used to be rather than the 3 months it is now.
I know it lets you store a cookie with your preference, but shouldn't those not changing the value see what it used to show?
22 • RE: Page Hit rankings (by ladislav at 2003-09-15 09:53:13 GMT)
Why not keep the default view the original 12 months like it used to be rather than the 3 months it is now.
That's what choice is about. If you don't like the default, by all means do exercise your right to choose a different default option.
23 • Well... (by Sam at 2004-07-20 23:45:29 GMT)
I would really like to have a linux capable of running a graphical interface on 32mb ram. It would make alot of useless computers useful...
Number of Comments: 23
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1163 (2026-03-09): KaOS 2026.02, TinyCore 17.0, NuTyX 26.02.2, Would one big collection of packages help?, Guix offers 64-bit Hurd options, Linux communities discuss age delcaration laws, Mint unveils new screensaver for Cinnamon, Redox ports new COSMIC features |
| • Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app |
| • Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management |
| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Full list of all issues |
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