Peanut Linux

[gremlin]

Anyone had any experience with Peanut Linux metalab.unc.edu/peanut/ (http://metalab.unc.edu/peanut/) ? I ran across this one looking for small distributions, and Peanut seemed to fit the bill. Runs Kernel 2.2.18 (support for SCSI, IDE, Network, Sound, USB, 3D support, Video TV, etc.), AND comes with an installation option I had never seen before: DOS2DOS, or 'looped'! This is a version of Linux that can be dropped into any DOS system, e.g.
Ms-DOS, PC-DOS, Dr-DOS, etc. and win95/98 in DOS mode. Or can be dropped into a ext2 Partition which is fully supported as DOS file system is real SLOW, BUT NO RE-PARTIONING IS REQUIRED for DOS loop version and you can try out Linux safely this way. Then when a little experienced you can install the proper way to the true Linux Native ext2 partition to get real FUN and behind Peanut-Linux. Another thing that caught my eye was the small foot-print: 50MB download, and about 150MB fully-installed.

Running the 'looped' version, I find it quite fast on one of my PII 350Mhz boxes, BUT with one annoyance: sometimes when having more than just a few windows open, the hard-drive thrashes around like its looking for a lost dog, sometimes taking minutes to find whatever it is looking for! Especially dreadful when online and have more that 4-5 Netscrape browser windows open!

Any ideas? I've got not problems on the Windoze-side, so I'm pretty sure it is not the hardware. Maybe the 1GB image file is not completely correct, or the distribution just does not like being used in a looped version under DOS. Soon I will try Peanut on a 'clean' (read 'lobotomized') laptop, so maybe that will prove my theory about the looped version.

Questions, comments, and advice, are always appreciated!

-gremlin :D

[ph34r]

Peanut rocks. It is based on Slackware, so adding things it doesn't have (like a compiler) can be done via Slack-packs.

[GodSpiral]

peanux is what I used whn I tried linux about a year ago.

The slow down you are experiencing is virtual memory swapping. Its not as bad under ext2 filesystem. This is what the publisher was refering to when they said loop file system is slow.

Desktop computer use is much more efficient under windows if you don't have at least 196mb ram. Though 128mb is useable.

[gremlin]

Thanks ph34r and GodSpiral for the comments. Glad to see the distribution has some backing. Yeah, this box (the P2-350) only has 64MB RAM, and I choose only 32MB for a Peanut swap-file, so I bet that is why all the HD-thrashing going on. This is the girlfriend's comp, so I can't just gut windoze off of it yet, although I am warming her up to StarOffice, K-Office, Gimp (she's a Photoshop freak), and other programs she thinks only Win9x has. For anything else, I can put an emulator in. Any experience with WINE on Peanut? Or, since this is Slackware based, should I have no worries about emulation (through WINE for example)?

Also, looking for a good tutorial on installing a USB webcam. Is the tutorial in LNO that I saw good enough to be adapted for Peanut? I do not see a source for the kernel that came with the installation, but as I understand it, USB support is already compiled in.

Thanks again!

-gremlin :D