Re: More RAM - a bad trend for m68k debian

[Michelle Konzack <linux4michelle@freenet.de>]

Am 2006-03-23 22:34:16, schrieb Christian Brandt:
> Mark Duckworth schrieb:
> 
> >But how much should Linux hold back because it can't be run on 10year
> >old plus hardware?
> 
>  This is not about Linux, its about Debian. And it is not sure who is 
> holding back whom. Nowadays Debian needs at least 32MB for install and 
> work and 200MB drivespace. I don't blame debian for becoming more 
> uptodate but then it also becomes nochoise for some users.
> 
>  This does not only affect m68k systems. Many MIPS, Sparc, Alpha and 
> 386/486 systems already have or will have the same problems shortly.

I run a Sun SPARCstation 10 (Model 512MP, 2XSM51, 80/40MHz) with
8x64 MB of memory which IS allready the end with Sarge.  I use it
with two 9 GByte SCSI drives for my pbuilder:

    <http://pbuilder.debian.tamay-dogan.homelinux.net/>
 
which is currently offline and I have tried Testing and Unstable
which hit the machine a little bit to heavy.  Not the memory, but
the speed.  Woody is working perfectly but now Sarge is loading
very slow and the reaction time is...

Same for my Macintosh IIvx. OK, I have big memory modules but the
speed is horribel...

Or my Laptop, a Toshibe T1950CT which run Woody on a 340 MB HDD,
with 486dx50 and 4+8 MByte of Memory.  And yes, I have installed
Woody directly using those 12 MByte of memory.

Around 7 hours for the base install.

I am running some other architektures too, but these are better
served in a Museum as in my bureau @home as pbuilder.  :-)

>  We really should think about opening some sort of "ancient" or "light" 
> debian, a debian based solution for very small and light systems, using 
> resources from the full debian but only porting what seems reasonable.

;-)

>  So on one hand there is debian-light, aiming for systems with 16Mhz, 
> 8MB-RAM and 100MB-HD. Some light kernels, a trimmed libc, by default no 
> X. Only porting of important software.
> 
>  And on the other hand you have systems starting at 200Mhz, 64MB-RAM 
> and 1GB-HD.
> 
>  I think this would also ease the restrictions on the more modern 
> hardware. You could optimize for i586, use bigger libs, more colourful 
> gadgets and better architectural decisions without hurting the old userbase.
> 
>  This goes quite offtopic now as I feel this alternate system wouldn't 
> resemble much with debian at all. I'll stop here.

:-)

>  Christian Brandt

Greetings
    Michelle Konzack


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