What distro for 486 server?

[MrSndrs]

I've got an old 486 sitting in the basement that I'd love to get some use out of, and have been toying with the idea for some time now of setting it up as a (very) low-end http/ftp server or a fileserver for my network at home. I certainly have no hopes of making this artifact handle any kind of workload, I simply would like an always-on server from which to access my files when I'm not at home.

My question is this: what linux distribution would work best?

Keep in mind the following stipulations...
> It's a 486-66MHz with 8MB of RAM. I can get more RAM if necesary, but I imagine it'll take some doing so I'd rather not if possible.
> I'll be using an ISA 3com 3c509 NIC (maybe two if I want to try routing)
> I've got two hard drive choices--500MB and 850MB.
> The system has no operating system now whatsoever, so I need to boot from a floppy to do the install over the network.
> The system has no CDROM drive.
> I don't need any extras at all. Only network, httpd, ftpd, maybe ipfwd and the command-line.

My experience with Linux so far is only Mandrake, although I've read a lot of FAQs, HOWTOs, man pages, newgroup posts and have successfully upgraded XFree and the kernel from source (although I'm not sure if that makes me good at this or not. Put it this way--I know enough to know I can't use mandrake on a 486...)

Any suggestions? Thanks


MrSndrs

[manux]

i think Debian is the right choice for you. you might have to add 4meg ram do do network installation. if you don't want to upgrade you can install the base files from floppy.

[Hatecrime69]

slackware will also work, it can run on a 386 if neccessary (i'm looking at 7.1)

[Mr.Sparkle]

Trustix is the only way to go.. Extremly secure, and is only a 160meg download.. Made specifically for a server. And it only comes with apps for one.. Has no GUI though..

[thedexman]

Personally I would like something like slack on a 486. Right now i'm using FreeBSD on a 486 to do routing for me. I thing the best advice, though, is to use what you already have the most experience with, as you can config any distro w/minimal extras.