What Arch does and other distros don't

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-03 19:26:40

You know, there's one thing I really like about Arch, which I think isn't noted all that much: this distro actually lets you do an FTP install with floppies! Really, how many other distros let you do that? Not bloody many. This may not sound like a bit issue, I know, but it's definitely a plus for those of us who don't have CD burners and don't feel like waiting 3 weeks to get a CD mailed to us.

So, to the Arch devs: thank you very, very much for giving us folk in the world of outdated hardware a way to do installs with ease and convenience!

Snowman · 2005-12-03 19:42:56

The floppies were also useful for me when my laptop CD drive stopped working. A new internal one was too expensive and it couldn't boot from the USB CD drive I bought (not supported by MB). So I used the floppies to install Arch for the first time! 8)

Panu · 2005-12-03 19:43:13

Gullible Jones wrote:

this distro actually lets you do an FTP install with floppies!

I just recently read a usenet post where someone wanted to install Linux on his old laptop, which had just a floppy drive, and couldn't boot from external cd. This is where floppy+ftp installation becomes handy. But the problem with these cases is that the old machines may not be i686.

So, floppy+ftp install is a nice feature, but I reckon it's rarely needed with a machine with i686 processor...

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-03 23:05:06

Ehh... Anything newer than a Pentium is i686. Well, except for those VIA C3s.

(Are the new C3s, the ones that run above 1 GHz, still i586, or has that changed?)

Still, I think that the ability to do a floppy install is a pretty big advantage for a distro. A lot of desktop machines still don't come with CD burners, and buying CDs isn't very convenient - my Damn Small Linux CD took something like 3 weeks to arrive.

cactus · 2005-12-04 00:05:35

Gullible Jones wrote:

(Are the new C3s, the ones that run above 1 GHz, still i586, or has that changed?)

it has changed. They are now fully i686 complaint. I have been running arch on one for several months.

phrakture · 2005-12-04 00:22:55

Gullible Jones wrote:

Ehh... Anything newer than a Pentium is i686. Well, except for those VIA C3s.

Newer than a Pentium Pro, actually - Pentium Pro is i586

T-Dawg · 2005-12-04 00:39:09

phrakture wrote:

Gullible Jones wrote:
Ehh... Anything newer than a Pentium is i686. Well, except for those VIA C3s.
Newer than a Pentium Pro, actually - Pentium Pro is i586

I thought Pentium MMX was 586 and Pro was 686?

paperinik · 2005-12-04 04:15:12

I have done ftp floppy install with some Linux distros including Debian, Suse, Mandrake, Red Hat, and also with FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. Slackware doesn't support ftp install.

Dusty · 2005-12-04 04:43:29

Another thing Arch has that no other distro has is Gullible Jones! :-)

Snowman · 2005-12-04 04:51:04

Dusty wrote:

Another thing Arch has that no other distro has is Gullible Jones! :-)

Arch Linux

#1 2005-12-03 19:26:40

What Arch does and other distros don't

#2 2005-12-03 19:42:56

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#3 2005-12-03 19:43:13

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#4 2005-12-03 23:05:06

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#5 2005-12-04 00:05:35

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#6 2005-12-04 00:22:55

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#7 2005-12-04 00:39:09

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#8 2005-12-04 04:15:12

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#9 2005-12-04 04:43:29

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

#10 2005-12-04 04:51:04

Re: What Arch does and other distros don't

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