Re: Very old hardware...
On Sun 05 Jul 2020 at 04:35:49 (+0200), deloptes wrote:
> Davide Lombardo wrote:
> > On Friday, 3 July 2020 20:58:52 CEST Michael Stone wrote:
> >> On Fri, Jul 03, 2020 at 07:17:33PM +0200, Davide Lombardo wrote:
> >> >Good evening Debian User, I have found an old PC with these specs:
> >> >CPU: Pentium III 700 Mhz;
> >> >DRAM: 64 MB SDDR
> >> >GPU: RIVA TNT-2
> >> >HARDISK: 10 GB
> >> >FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
> >> >MODEM 56K
> >> >In the receipt is written 3,000 Lire (1,500) Euro of today...
> >> >Do you think I can install something different than the already
> >> >installed WIN98 system ?
> >>
> >> If the goal is just to experiment then you could run an older version of
> >> debian. (I think there's not enough memory for the current install
> >> routine.) OpenBSD or NetBSD or a linux distribution oriented toward
> >> small systems would run. Nothing will give you a good experience with a
> >> GUI and web browser on that hardware. For practical purposes, you'd be
> >> better off with a $35 raspberry PI.
> >
> > Maybe I can just setup this PC as a Tor's Relay
>
> Cite:
>
> However, Debian GNU/Linux stretch willnot run on 586 (Pentium) or earlier
> processors.
> https://www.debian.org/releases/stretch/i386/ch02s01.html.en
> +
> https://www.debian.org/releases/buster/i386/ch02s01.en.html
I was under the impression that i586 was a Debian invention for
kernels that had been termed i486, in order to prevent the impression
that they would run on 486 hardware (as they had done previously).
I would expect a 700MHz Pentium III to run a 686 kernel.
My 650MHz Pentium III (Coppermine) runs buster with the kernel in
linux-image-4.19.0-9-686-pae_4.19.118-2+deb10u1_i386.deb
My typical installation uses around 9GB, but that includes things like
TeX and LibreOffice. No DE though. I don't think you'd be running
anything like that, particularly with only 64MB memory (my video card
has half that). The first thing I did when I acquired mine (in 2003)
was to install 512MB of ECC and a bigger disk (30GB IIRC).
Nowadays, it makes a satisfactory file server.
Why do I keep mine? 1) Sentimentality, as it was the one on my work desk
when I retired. 2) Being a tower, it has room for up to 4 PATA drives.
The loaned Optiplex only holds one—after that, I'm down to an old PATA
caddy. 3) There's no WEEE here, so I'm not sure exactly how one gets
rid of it anyway.
BTW neither of these Pentiums looks like a museum piece to me, but
just so much junk, particulary if you upgrade it, or overwrite its
"authentic" OS. Unless you find a use for it, I guess the coucil
in your locality is obliged to dispose of it.
Cheers,
David.
Reply to: