Re: debian on a 386 ?
> > > YES, you can. But you need >4MB RAM. Try Debian 1.3.1,
> > > it's based on libc5 and not so big as glibc (Debian 2.x).
>> Where can I get those older versions of Debian? I've searched through
>> the FTP-server and didn't find anything.
> Hi again,
>
> try the "archive" at http://www.debian.org/releases
>
> Bye
> Antonio
Don't you read the pages you send someone to??
The pages there only mention as far back as 2.0 (hamm) not 1.3.1 as
described - and it isn't possible to download that either, because the
download links point at the list of mirrors, and all the well behaved
mirrors are carrying...
stable (slink aka 2.1R4 aka "slink and a half")
frozen (potato aka "releasing real soon now")
unstable (woody)
NOT that this is very laptoppish but I think it needed to be said. So
if someone has their OWN copy of the older distros of debian, could you
please speak up? My older forms (of debian) have all been upgraded out
of existence, I didn't pick up CDs until 2.1 shipped.
(I still have RH 4.2 CDs and a 528 MB IDE older laptop drive with RedHat
3.03 installed and never upgraded if you're desperate for a major distro.
But I had a Cirrus Logic chipset for video so SVGA worked fine. If you
want either one send me email privately.)
For other possibilities, it so happens I've been looking at LWN's list of
disties, so maybe these would be useful:
Busybox http://busybox.lineo.com/
Debian uses this stuff for its install disks - but I think it's a
pack of tools for use on a small system, not a system in itself -
you'll have to download it yourself to see. OTOH hacking an itty
bitty debian out of the install disks and squeeeeeezing it onto
your hard drive (knowing that it squeeeeezes into working on your
box) would be pretty cool
Empire Linux http://home.c2i.net/buddha9/
based on LOAF (linux on a floppy), ok/ 386sx w/ 4MB RAM, beta.
Small Linux http://smalllinux.netpedia.net/
small kernel project, ok/ 386 w 2 MB RAM, 40 MB drive, libc5 only.
(yes, someone else mentioned this too)
Less up to your needs... but maybe.
Tom's Root Boot http://www.toms.net/rb/
is cool, but claims it needs about 8 MB to boot, even more to unpack.
At least it has card services aboard, though. From his site you can
find other floppy based disties, mostly aimed at special purposes,
none of which seem to be laptop oriented, but some might run in your
memory requirements, so you could turn the box into a specialty
server once it's forced to activate a network card...
Jurix http://www.jurix.com/
libc5 TGZ based and staying at extremely stable older stuff, but
doesn't say how much memory it needs - 2.0.37 kernel standard so
it's worth a shot.
If I had the box, I'd see if Tom's is able to boot on it and if so, start
tweaking the hard drive to be running that as its disty. Fighting with LILO
or syslinux would come later. And if I can get dpkg/apt libaries grafted in,
then with midnight commander I'd have access to any modern debian src packages
I thought I could use.
Of course I have other machines to use so I might try to pare down Debian
Base even further and see if I could get it to squeeze tight enough to work.
* Heather * star@starshine.org *
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