[ehbowen]

So I was using an Amiga 3000 as my main machine into late 2004 (it's preserved in amber; er, I mean, in the garage). I moved, very reluctantly, to a secondhand Dell running Windows 2000. Two years ago I felt confident enough with Windows to build a Vista machine, and now I have acquired a Vista laptop for when I'm on the go. This leaves the Dell with nothing to do except hold the old emails that I haven't figured out how to archive yet.

I'm wondering if the Dell would make a suitable starter Linux machine? It has an Intel Celeron 600 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 80 GB internal HD, Sony DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, 1024x768 32 bit display, USB 2.0, plus network adapter/sound card and the usual interfaces from 10 years ago or so.

I know a good deal about Amigas, a modest amount about Windows, but little to nothing about Linux. If I did want to convert the old warhorse, how should I go about it? Can anyone recommend any reference material to study? I'll take any advice I can get. Thanks.

[arochester]

It should certainly make a reasonable Linux machine.

Download the Linux Starter Pack: http://www.tuxradar.com/linuxstarterpack

Just set the machine to boot from CD-Rom, pop in a Linux Disk, reboot and away you go...

[montreyj]

Try out some different flavors of Linux using their Live CDs, which boots from the CD and does not install anything on your computer. A few to try are Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, Debian, Freespire, and LinuxMint.

[Deagon]

For a machine of that spec. Puppy linux or Dam Small Linux would work beautifully and make that machine feel like new.

I would personally recommend Puppy for that machine as I feel Dam small is more suited to 486's and such.

As for your Browsing, emails, I.m and Documents. You can easily install Firefox Web Browser, Thunderbird + Webamail addons, Pidgin or a Msn and OpenOffice to handle those tasks.

Here is some reference material that might be worth you time reading;

The so called "The Ultimate Guide On Linux For Beginners" http://www.linuxlots.com/~jam/ (Gee, that's a big claim, Still though, it's worth a look.)

"Getting To Know Puppy" http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT6545156120.html

"A Closer Look At Dam Small Linux" http://linux.sys-con.com/node/244333

There are many Distros to choose from and the only one that can tell you the answer to which one suits you best is yourself. You said yourself the machine was sitting idle, So you can always Try several and see what takes your fancy.

Here are two more reference sites that contain information that any Linux Beginner should find out sooner rather than later.

Wine (Windows compatability layer, allows running of most, but not all windows software)
http://ftp.winehq.org/pub/wine/docs/...usr-guide.html


Samba (Linux Filesharing Client and server)
http://us3.samba.org/samba/docs/man/...TO-Collection/

I hope some of this info, if not all can be of help to you.

Take care and happy computing.

[Deagon]

After Looking around for Lightweight Distros I found more than a few available. My pick of them would be;

Vector Linux
Damn Small Linux
Puppy Linux
Zenwalk Linux

They seem to be the most graphically beautiful and useful of the lightweight distros***

This might be worth your time reading;

Lightweight Linux
Lightweight Linux is a blog about using Linux on old computers. Lightweight distributions and applications for old computers.




(***That's an Opinion, not a fact --> Just to avoid potential distro arguments )

[TerryNet]

All good suggestions. I just want to note that with 512 MB RAM it is not necessary to limit oneself to the small or lightweight Linux distributions.

[Deagon]

True, was thinking more along the lines of it's dated 600mhz processor. I suppose at that spec you could manage a normal distro or windows xp but I wouldn't expect the system to run fast for more than a couple of months before it gets slogged down and needed optimizing. I suppose that's true with most if not all operating systems though.

[ehbowen]

The main applications I would want to run if I converted to Linux are KompoZer and Open Office. I currently use Firefox and Thunderbird on the Web, and I would want to stay with them. I would need printer drivers for an old HP Deskjet 970CSE and a new, networked HP Officejet Pro 8500. Would any of the smaller OS packages, such as the "Puppy Linux" Deagon recommended, limit me in any of those areas?

[Deagon]

You can get all those apps from puppy's package manager. The install directly from the internet and setup is automated (most of the time)

***Except KompoZer, which can be obtained in a pre built and easy to install .pet (Puppy's .exe format) package

As for you printers I can see the "HP Deskjet 970cse" working with ease after running the CUPS (Common Unix Printer Setup tool) from the 'start' menu. I am not 100% about the networked printer and puppy though.

'Drivers' (modules on linux) are not necessary with most hardware.

[saikee]

To me the conversion is just using Gparted off a Ubuntu Live CD to resize the existing hard disk, create a new partition and put a Linux in it.

There is no need to do away the Win2k and the hard disk can take as many OSes one wishes, limiting only by the speed of the CPU. In that respect Linux would shine but Vista/Win7 would be struggling as the additional systems.

One about Linux is the knowledge will be useful for much much longer than Amiga or Windows.