Re: Query

[Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net>]

On 2/7/2022 10:50 AM, William Lee Valentine wrote:
> I am wondering whether a current Debian distribution can be installed
> and run on an older Pentium III computer. (I have Debian 11.2 on a DVD.)
>
> The computer is
>
>    Dell Dimension XPS T500: Intel Pentium III processor (Katnai)
>    memory: 756 megabytes, running at 500 megahertz
>    IDE disc drive: 60 gigabytes
>    Debian partition: currently 42 gigabytes
>    Debian 6.0: Squeeze

Based on what others are saying, it looks like a typical modern Debian 
desktop environment such as Gnome or Plasma KDE will not work well with 
such an old system. I suggest you look for a Distro that is tailored for 
old hardware. See, for example this page:

https://itsfoss.com/lightweight-linux-beginners/

A quick look at the 16 distros would make me try antiX-19 first:

http://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/docs-antiX-19/FAQ/index.html

and

https://antixlinux.com/blog/

It advertises support down to as low as Pentium II and uses Debian 
buster as the base. Perhaps a later version will be based on bullseye. 
Its 32-bit version does not need to use a pae kernel, and it is systemd 
free, and these are probably some of the hacks that are needed to keep 
such an old system working well with modern software.

There are also antiX 21 packages, but the blog page does not advertise 
version 21 as a release, perhaps it is a development or beta version 
based on bullseye.

Good luck,

Chuck

> If I install Debian 11.2, will it run on this machine? Will it preserve
> the files and directories that I have on Squeeze?
>
> I am not subscribed to this mailing list. I would appreciate advices.
>
> -- William Lee Valentine