BasicLinux is a console+ (was:Re: [CS-FSLUG] Prepare the rotten eggs)

[Christopher Rose]

Ed Hurst wrote:

> Well, the laptop in question is a P2/266Mhz with 96MB RAM. It has a
> working floppy, and a USB port. A friend has offered to let me use his
> USB CD-ROM for the installation. The only question was what. I could
> indeed purchase a replacement, but the price is outside my budget.
> Furthermore, the machine does not warrant that much expense.
> 
> I'll say again: I was not offended and you need not tread lightly. There
> was no offense to forgive, so let's move on.
> 
> As it is, I am planning to donate the thing to fellow in need who has a
> strong interest in learning C/C++ and took all the books I had laying
> around on the subject. I'm thinking anything with an early 2.2 kernel is
> too immature, perhaps something with a late 2.2. I believe 2.4 and up is
> too heavy for the box.

Basic Linux is now in its 3.32 version and is really easy to work with and uses (I think) a later 2.2 kernel. It is a slimline kernel, but it is pretty easy to replace it with a kernel from slackware 7.1 if you need something more capable. Not only that, but it is perhaps the cheapest Linux distro available, requiring only two floppies. Also, there are plenty of additional modules available and also you can install packages from slackware 4.0 (though I have found that some require adding some additional library files). However, it does boot to a console, which I believe was the original concern. While there is an x-server in it, it is not a requirement to startx. In fact, given that it has a basic ppp setup and the lynx text browser, it is quite capable without the x-server. There is even a word processor (pico) built in and you can also add a basic spread sheet program (sc.tgz, available from the BasicLinux site). Indeed, I almost regret not knowing of BasicLinux back when I first started with Red Hat 6. I find that BasicLinux is as good as most other distributions and would be perfectedly suited for the machine in question. If you would like to ask more about it, I'd be glad to answer.

Pax,
Christopher Rose

Linux Counter User: #350477
http://www.counter.li.org

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