Re: Query

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

Greg Wooledge [2022-02-07 16:36:32] wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 07, 2022 at 04:31:51PM -0500, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
>> 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.
>
> Bah, silly.  Just use a traditional window manager instead of a bloated
> Desktop Environment.  Problem solved.

Mostly agreed.  I use XFCE with Debian stable on a 1.2GHz Pentium III
with 1GB RAM (a Thinkpad X30) and it works OK.  It's not fast
but it's usable.

> But the *real* problem will come when they try to run a web browser.
> That's where the truly massive memory demand is.

Yes, with 1GB of RAM, I can run Firefox but it's fairly painful and
I have to be careful to stick to web sites with very simple pages.

> 756 MB is plenty of RAM for daily use of everything except a web browser.

Lots of applications have grown hungry for more memory, tho.
I wouldn't be surprised if reading email in a GUI application like
Evolution or Thunderbird were a bit sluggish as well.


        Stefan