Size of Linux

[Xanous]

This is probably a dumb questions, but....

I've had the idea of installing Linux on an old 420MB disk I have on my computer. I've been reading up on the current distributions and I've been shocked at the space requiements. It seems that Linux needs something like 500MB up to 2GB to install the current version.

I have Win95 now, and it's about 150MB total and I'm wondering what do you get that fills up 2GB of space. Is it because applications are included?

What I want is to use a version of Linux that will run current applications, someething I can use to access the internet, a GUI and some room left over for a few extra programs I might find. Is this possible/advisable with current distributions or should I go find some older, c. 1996 version for my older PC?

Xanous

[tminos]

I have Slackware 7 installed on a crappy old 486 that has a whopping huge 300 meg hard drive. ITs currently using about 25 megs.

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What part of
/sbin/ifconfig ppp0|grep inet|sed -e s/addr:// -e s/inet// -e s/P-t-P:// -e s/Mask:255.255.255.255//
don't you understand?

[pbharris]

i have a redhat 6.someting box which runs fine on a k5-133 with 16 MB ram and a 420 MB drive, uses 230 MB, that includes X installed too.

i have seen linux on an 68HC12 with 512k of ram, you should be able to run it easily on anything running windows.

[DMR]

Yeah, the large size of "full" distros is due to all the applications and tools that are included. There are some pretty "slim" distros out there, though. Lot's of people have asked about this here before; search the forum archives for more info.

Good Luck!

[Xanous]

Originally posted by tminos:
I have Slackware 7 installed on a crappy old 486 that has a whopping huge 300 meg hard drive. ITs currently using about 25 megs.


Really? And it is a fully functional OS? Perhaps my newbie fears are unfounded.

Most/some Distributions I've read about on the web have said things like minimum size 64MB, with X Windows 300MB (The GUI?), typical instalation 800MB and full version 2GB. Scary numbers. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

[klamath]

You can get Linux booting off a 1.44MB floppy if you want. It's just a matter of installing very few applications.

I'm wondering what do you get that fills up 2GB of space. Is it because applications are included?

Yeah, like 1.98 GB of applications. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

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- Klamath
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Looking for an open source project to contribute to? Check out the Tornado HTTP Server (http://sourceforge.net/projects/tornado)

[Shadoglare]

I'm currently running the low-mem version of Debian on a 486/25 with 4MB ram and a 120MB hard drive. Actually working pretty well for the most part, as long as I don't expect to be able to run XF86 on it http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by Xanous:
What I want is to use a version of Linux that will run current applications, someething I can use to access the internet, a GUI and some room left over for a few extra programs I might find. Is this possible/advisable with current distributions

mandrake 7.2 which is a popular and easy "starter" distribution has an option that will "only" use 300mb and still give you a great gui and web browser. i say only 300mb, because if you just choose all the standard/default choices, it takes like ~1gb+.
select the "text" install, then it will ask something like minimal (300mb) or standard (800mb), just pick minimal

i just did this type of install yesterday, check this link for some rough step by step notes
http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000421.html



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FoBoT
Fixer Of Broken Things
Use the right tool for the right job!

[ph34r]

Sounds like you want Peanut linux. Abouta 60mb download, 250mb or so including a 100mb or so swap partition, has X/kde, ppp, networking, common apps, etc. It doesn't have a compiler, and 4000 different text editors, but it has everything you may need. In truth, it is a custom install of a updated Slackware. As a bonus, you can add to it using Slackware packages from www.linuxmafia.org (http://www.linuxmafia.org) .