View Full Version : Operating systems for older computers...
I never said it was a good choice; but at least it's still supported. Or are you suggesting he run Win2k on a P100? ;)
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
easylife
08-20-2003, 01:53 PM
I never said it was a good choice; but at least it's still supported. Or are you suggesting he run Win2k on a P100? ;)
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
Like what? :|
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
Like what? :|
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
RussHart
08-20-2003, 02:44 PM
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
Like what? :|
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
easylife
08-20-2003, 02:58 PM
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
Like what? :|
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
Will 40MB do? :(
Ed Hansberry
08-20-2003, 03:13 PM
Well I can think of lots of operating systems that would fly on an original Pentium..
Like what? :|
NOOOOooooooooo!!!!!! That is the question he wanted you to ask. In the words of admiral Ackbar... "It's a TRAP!"
Janak Parekh
08-20-2003, 05:20 PM
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
You're assuming a P100 mainboard can handle that kind of memory capacity. Most of the original P90/P100 mobos didn't support more than 64MB or maybe 128MB. RAM for such old machines isn't cheap anymore, either -- it's rapidly becoming scarce.
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
Uh, have you actually tried to run RedHat 9 on a original Pentium? If you tru to use X with GNOME/KDE, be prepared to be very patient. I have one old server running RH8 on a Cyrix MII/333MHz, and it is extraordinarily slow if I want to launch X to do much of anything. Of course, you could use text-mode, an old distribution, or a lightweight WM, but doesn't that defeat the purpose for end-users? ;) And, besides, this is all off-topic.
--janak
jmarkevich
08-20-2003, 05:41 PM
Uh, have you actually tried to run RedHat 9 on a original Pentium? If you tru to use X with GNOME/KDE, be prepared to be very patient. I have one old server running RH8 on a Cyrix MII/333MHz, and it is extraordinarily slow if I want to launch X to do much of anything. Of course, you could use text-mode, an old distribution, or a lightweight WM, but doesn't that defeat the purpose for end-users? ;) And, besides, this is all off-topic.
--janak
RH 9 and MDK 9.x are very heavy, due to all of the PnP type things. I'm using Debian 'Sarge' on my p166, of course, without X. It flies, running tons of services too. That's a new distro, though I wouldn't use anything beyond KDE2 on a doorstop machine like that. So you're right about the lightweight WM thing, at least ;)
questionlp
08-20-2003, 05:54 PM
I know this is getting a bit off-topic... but...
The newer versions of the common Linux distributions are quite bloated both in the applications and packages it installs, the default desktop managers (GNOME and/or KDE... both of which are much, much more bloated than say WindowMaker or Blackbox/Fluxbox/Openbox), and the default kernels. PnP plays some part in it, but so does the fact that RedHat, Mandrake, etc like to enable a lot of stuff by default.
You can easily run FreeBSD, OpenBSD, older versions of Mandrake or Slackware, Debian and maybe even SELinux or the 6.x series of RedHat fine on an older system. I used to run my website on a dual Pentium 100 system with 64MB of RAM (FreeBSD 3.x) and it ran fast enough to saturate my DSL connection.
On the Windows side of things, running Windows ME (yuck), 2000 or XP on a P-100 probably will lead to sloth-like performance... but NT4 and 95/98 run dandy... so long as you have enough RAM of course ;) Disabling 98's Active Desktop crap also helps :)
easylife
08-20-2003, 06:07 PM
O.K., now it's official: :nonono:
Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator
I would very much like to continue this discussion, but I do admit it is off-topic. Is it possible to split the topic into something like "Operating Systems for Older Computers" ? :D
Steven Cedrone
08-20-2003, 06:20 PM
I would very much like to continue this discussion, but I do admit it is off-topic. Is it possible to split the topic into something like "Operating Systems for Older Computers" ? :D
Ummm...
O.K. :wink:
Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator
JvanEkris
08-20-2003, 06:31 PM
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
Uh, have you actually tried to run RedHat 9 on a original Pentium? If you tru to use X with GNOME/KDE, be prepared to be very patient. I have one old server running RH8 on a Cyrix MII/333MHz, and it is extraordinarily slow if I want to launch X to do much of anything. Of course, you could use text-mode, an old distribution, or a lightweight WM, but doesn't that defeat the purpose for end-users? ;) And, besides, this is all off-topic.
--janakWell Janak,
I have a test-server running on RedHat 9, using a mobile pentium I, 100 Mhz processor, and 48 Mb of RAM. I replaced the harddrive for a 40 GB drive. It is sloooooooow, but as a fileserver and dedicated machine to build and test RPM's, it's a great machine. No X-Windows though, just SSH to my laptop.
From time-to-time i also use it as a bluetooth access point (Bluez supports PocketPC's in a great way), so it is a good machine making itself usefull in the aftermath of it's life........
Jaap
Janak Parekh
08-20-2003, 06:36 PM
It is sloooooooow, but as a fileserver and dedicated machine to build and test RPM's, it's a great machine. No X-Windows though, just SSH to my laptop.
Right. It depends on your requirements. My personal web/email server, for a while, was a NetWinder (which came with a 233MHz StrongARM chip) running Debian Woody. Since I didn't need to do anything heavy, it worked fine. I've since graduated up as I do some development work on that box as well.
However, I got the perception this was easylife's main machine, in which case, you really don't want all the visual sugar of the latest distributions running on a P100 with 40MB of RAM. If one wanted to use RH9, I'd suggest, at the minimum, using a very lightweight WM -- but this is not for the new Linux adopter, but rather someone experienced. (I used to use wm2 (http://www.all-day-breakfast.com/wm2/) for a while, and it is truly that minimalistic.)
Oh, and qmrq: while BeOS would fit the machine perfectly, the chance he'd have driver and application support for what he needs is virtually 0% today. It was sad to see it go. :(
--janak
easylife
08-20-2003, 06:45 PM
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
You're assuming a P100 mainboard can handle that kind of memory capacity. Most of the original P90/P100 mobos didn't support more than 64MB or maybe 128MB. RAM for such old machines isn't cheap anymore, either -- it's rapidly becoming scarce.
Yes, the RAM chips are considerably smaller than current machines' RAM...
As for Linux, I have a copy of Mandrake Linux 6.1... will this run on it? The OS is a couple of years old I think, and I hesitated to install it because it required me to make new partitions or something that I didn't feel worth the risk... but if I'm getting a new computer, I might be able to set it up as a file server (possibly HTTP w/Apache - who knows? :wink: ) Anyways, I was wondering how slow it would run and if I should just install Apache over Windows 95... any ideas? :?
P.S. - I am a complete Linux newbie, just a heads up ;)
P.P.S. - Thanks for splitting the thread Sventa, Stevedor, or whatever you go by these days! :wink:
Janak Parekh
08-20-2003, 06:48 PM
As for Linux, I have a copy of Mandrake Linux 6.1... will this run on it?
Probably, as would RH9. However, do realize that old distributions may be vulnerable to attack out of the box, and I don't even know if Mandrake 6.1 is supported anymore. If you have a hardware firewall (router, etc.), that should mitigate things.
if I'm getting a new computer, I might be able to set it up as a file server (possibly HTTP w/Apache - who knows? :wink: ) Anyways, I was wondering how slow it would run and if I should just install Apache over Windows 95... any ideas? :?
It's certainly a learning experience to set it up... and no risk when it's a backup machine. If you plan to install it on your "main" machine, I'd be very careful if you're not comfortable with partitioning. There is documentation, and it's worth reading, but most everyone trashes their hard drive at least once in their life in the process. ;)
--janak
easylife
08-20-2003, 06:49 PM
However, I got the perception this was easylife's main machine, in which case, you really don't want all the visual sugar of the latest distributions running on a P100 with 40MB of RAM. If one wanted to use RH9, I'd suggest, at the minimum, using a very lightweight WM -- but this is not for the new Linux adopter, but rather someone experienced. (I used to use wm2 (http://www.all-day-breakfast.com/wm2/) for a while, and it is truly that minimalistic.)
Yes it is right now. But if all goes according to plan, it shouldn't be in a few months! :wink:
easylife
08-20-2003, 07:00 PM
It's certainly a learning experience to set it up... and no risk when it's a backup machine. If you plan to install it on your "main" machine, I'd be very careful if you're not comfortable with partitioning. There is documentation, and it's worth reading, but most everyone trashes their hard drive at least once in their life in the process. ;)
Yeah, that's what I figured. I'm not going to take risks and potentially mess up my main computer. ;)
easylife
08-20-2003, 07:08 PM
Oh, and qmrq: while BeOS would fit the machine perfectly, the chance he'd have driver and application support for what he needs is virtually 0% today. It was sad to see it go. :(
All I need is the basics: CD-ROM, Monitor, Sound Card, Modem... I understand BeOS was aquired by PalmSource... is there any way to get BeOS anymore? :? Would BeOS go on my machine smoothly?
RussHart
08-20-2003, 08:17 PM
Oh, and qmrq: while BeOS would fit the machine perfectly, the chance he'd have driver and application support for what he needs is virtually 0% today. It was sad to see it go. :(
All I need is the basics: CD-ROM, Monitor, Sound Card, Modem... I understand BeOS was aquired by PalmSource... is there any way to get BeOS anymore? :? Would BeOS go on my machine smoothly?
BeOS is coming harder and harder to come by, but OpenBeOS (http://www.openbeos.org/) is a free (Well, MIT-style license) replacement, but not too sure what the status is.
Failing that, the free version of R5 is knocking around on many servers online, think i recall seeing it on sunsite. As for R5 Pro, it's commonly seen on eBay, but apart from that, don't think it's available commerically[/url]
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
You're assuming a P100 mainboard can handle that kind of memory capacity. Most of the original P90/P100 mobos didn't support more than 64MB or maybe 128MB. RAM for such old machines isn't cheap anymore, either -- it's rapidly becoming scarce.
Yes.. I don't know of any mainboards that officially support that much memory.
Any good UNIX or Linux.. BeOS if you wanted to get fancy and have graphics. :)
Uh, have you actually tried to run RedHat 9 on a original Pentium? If you tru to use X with GNOME/KDE, be prepared to be very patient. I have one old server running RH8 on a Cyrix MII/333MHz, and it is extraordinarily slow if I want to launch X to do much of anything.
Eww RedHat. I hate RedHat. :) FreeBSD runs quick enough on my 100MHz original Pentium. Also have a 66MHz machine that works nice.
If you tru to use X with GNOME/KDE, be prepared to be very patient. I have one old server running RH8 on a Cyrix MII/333MHz, and it is extraordinarily slow if I want to launch X to do much of anything.
Agreed.. going with GNOME or KDE on an older system isn't wise.. they're too bloated and slow, albeit feature rich.
Oh, and qmrq: while BeOS would fit the machine perfectly, the chance he'd have driver and application support for what he needs is virtually 0% today. It was sad to see it go. :(
It's not gone yet.. still easy enough to find.. still lots of users.. but yes, watching Be go out of business wasn't fun. :cry:
All I need is the basics: CD-ROM, Monitor, Sound Card, Modem... I understand BeOS was aquired by PalmSource... is there any way to get BeOS anymore? :?
Shouldn't be hard to find. :)
Would BeOS go on my machine smoothly?
YES! Not only will your computer run faster, but BeOS will also improve your love life, and give you minty fresh breath! :D
It's certainly a learning experience to set it up... and no risk when it's a backup machine. If you plan to install it on your "main" machine, I'd be very careful if you're not comfortable with partitioning. There is documentation, and it's worth reading, but most everyone trashes their hard drive at least once in their life in the process. ;)
You lost me... why would someone need to be familiar with disk partitioning to install and configure a webserver?
Janak Parekh
08-20-2003, 09:16 PM
You lost me... why would someone need to be familiar with disk partitioning to install and configure a webserver?
To be more precise, partitioning a dual-boot setup with another OS requires care if you haven't done it before.
If you're doing a fresh install, then yes, RH or a similar distro will automate the process for you. Does recent versions of FreeBSD? Last time I set a BSD up (e.g., not recently), I had to fdisk myself...
--janak
Ah, ok. I thought you were referring to setting up Apache for windows.
RussHart
08-20-2003, 09:32 PM
Or Win2k - 2k Will run on pretty much anything as long as you put enough RAM into it. I'm happily running Win2k on a P133 with 320Mb RAM, runs like a dream...
You're assuming a P100 mainboard can handle that kind of memory capacity. Most of the original P90/P100 mobos didn't support more than 64MB or maybe 128MB. RAM for such old machines isn't cheap anymore, either -- it's rapidly becoming scarce.
Yes.. I don't know of any mainboards that officially support that much memory.
Tyan Tomcat II (ftp://ftp.tyan.com/manuals/m_s1562_100.pdf)will do the job, up to 512Mb
Janak Parekh
08-20-2003, 09:34 PM
Tyan Tomcat II (ftp://ftp.tyan.com/manuals/m_s1562_100.pdf)will do the job, up to 512Mb
Yes, but I wasn't suggesting that easylife invest money in the unit anyway. The Tomcat II was released for newer processors way back when -- it supports 200MHz and above -- and I believe it came out after 100MHz computers fell out of vogue.
--janak
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