Basic Debian size
I'm a Linux pre-newbie, as I'm sure you'll notice. Someone gave me a
TI TravelMate 5000 laptop computer (for parts for a different model,
but this one works better). It has no CD drive. A friend spent about
4 hours installing Debian, (w/o GUI, which I avoid) using a network
connection. It still has major problems, which I may have made worse
by trying to use DOS in it's partition.
I'm wondering about the possibilities of starting over, preferably
preserving the partitions and LILO. How many floppies and files it
would take to get a Linux system (kernal, shell, more?) that could
then tranfer other files from floppies? Then what's the MINIMUM it
would it take to get a reasonably functioning system for editing,
email and the web?
Until a few months ago I was on the net in DOS on a 386, using
software that would have worked on a 286. I only "upgraded" because
the software was falling behind, not staying compatible with other
systems. At times I wonder how much I've really gained since CPM when
I ran my own BBS, at first without a hard drive. I noticed recently
that my DOS system disk has about 198K in six files. Then there are
many utilities, few of which I've ever used, or even know what
they're for (and I don't care for Ws, now in two contexts). In Linux
circles I hear mainly about needing gigabytes. I'm wondering if
there's a basic Linux system, or other open source systems, within a
couple orders of magnitude to DOS in size. Otherwise, can someone
tell me how Linux is that much better, or are programmers getting
sloppier in writing code?
Dan Robinson danrob@efn.org
Eugene OR 97401 http://www.efn.org/~danrob/
Capitalism is the ultimate pyramid scheme,
dependent on ever-growing economy,
therefore on ever-growing population,
therefore on ever-growing resources. Oops!
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