ramblings about old hardware, gzip, bz2, and pentium opts
On Sun, Oct 31, 1999 at 12:02:26PM +1100, Craig Sanders wrote:
> 386s are still quite common in the countries which we rich westerners
> exploit mercilessly to support our lifestyle of conspicuous consumption
> and waste. i think that a completely free linux dist like debian is
> ideal for these countries.
>
> there's a local project here in Melbourne called computerbank, which
> scavenges/begs for old 386 & 486 boxes. they then install linux (debian,
> actually) on them and give them to non-profits, NGOs, charities, etc
> (and also sometimes to students, pensioners, and the unemployed). i
> think their URL is www.computerbank.org.au. there are related projects
> in other States in australia, and probably all around the world.
after writing this, it occurred to me that (rather than holding debian
back due to long-obsolete technology) it may be better to support these
kinds of uses by making a 2nd base install set which uses gzip rather
than bz2, suitable for installation on even ancient 386 boxes.
once the base system was installed and running, .bz2 packages could be
installed albeit slowly.
alternatively, spin off an entire 386/486 debian dist...which would
open the way to compiling debian packages with pentium optimisations
if/where/when it makes sense to do so.
just an off-the-cuff idea. i'm not firmly attached to it.
craig
--
craig sanders
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