Re: debian

[John Sunderhaus <jsunderhaus@cox.net>]

On Sun, 2003-06-22 at 14:10, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
> John Sunderhaus <jsunderhaus@cox.net> writes:
> 
> > I just don't see how its physically possible to install Linux on a 
> > machine with less than 256MB and a nameless monitor and find happiness -
> > unless you like working at the command prompt. 
> 
> I run gnome2 at work. Machine is a celeron 466 with 64 megs of ram. I
> use evolution for mail, and mozilla for the net. That's the heaviest
> software I run. It runs ok unless I run both at the same time. I run
> windowmaker on a laptop pentium 100 with 48 megs (even enlightenment
> is usable). It's livable.
> 
> Lighter window managers and apps make a huge difference.
> 
> Bijan
> 
> 
It's livable, yes; but are you content with just working around windoze?
As much as I like, admire and respect Bill Gates (and his victory vs.
IBM), I'd like to push his campus in Redmond into the Pacific ocean. 

Debian is the distro to do this - along with the FSF and other cohorts. 
I (and my users) need to be happy - and simply doing things to just to
work around windoze won't cut it.  Linux (and/or the BSD's) need to
perform decisively better than windoze, or the users aren't going to go
for it.  And to reiterate - the linux core I currently have on my
machine beats the daylights out of the windoze core (I think - MS's core
is under lock and key); this is fundamentally necessary if the FSF
movement - and other similar movements are going to survive against the
jaugernauts of MS, IBM, etc.

Who is going to win this battle?  Its the $$$$ vs. the volunteers - and
though money generally wins these sorts of battles, what little money I
have is on the volunteers.  Kinda reminds me of the revolutionary war...

But your point is well taken; you can productively run X on an
underpowered machine - but I'll bet you aren't happy.