Re: Query

[Tim Woodall <debianuser@woodall.me.uk>]

On Mon, 7 Feb 2022, Greg Wooledge 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.
>
> But the *real* problem will come when they try to run a web browser.  That's
> where the truly massive memory demand is.
>
> 756 MB is plenty of RAM for daily use of everything except a web browser.

I successfully run Debian on a 701 eeepc although I'm still on buster
for now using xfce. It's slow but not unusable, even firefox. updates do
take a while, allow at least 4-6 hours per dist-upgrade.

I mostly now use a kindle fire for 'walkabout' vpn and ssh access but
every now and again when something wifi won't work I return to the eeepc
for its better logging and debugging tools.