Arch Linux

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Question - Small computer

I have a very small computer here that i would like to put a linux distrobution on and run a small web server..

The Specs are:
512MB Harddrive
256MB Ram
VIA C3 1GHz

So far im falling short on hard drive space. I'm told that the base Arch install can be less than 200MB, is this true?

XFire

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2008-05-11

Posts: 192

Re: Question - Small computer

Puppy Linux should more than work.

---

There is a difference between bleeding [edge] and haemorrhaging. - Allan

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

Can you install a  minimal, gui-less, no frills version, or is it like most other 'minimal' distros that come prepacked with Guis?

tomk

Forum Fellow

From: Ireland

Registered: 2004-07-21

Posts: 9,839

Re: Question - Small computer

Arch won't run on your C3, so I'm moving this to Linux Discussions.

userlander

Member

Registered: 2008-08-23

Posts: 413

Re: Question - Small computer

puppy might be a good choice. a minimal debian install might come in around 200-300mb, not sure exactly. there's always damn small linux. Whatever you go with, use lighttpd instead of apache, it's a lot less resource intensive, especially under load.

Last edited by userlander (2009-01-07 15:39:11)

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

that's actually what i was thinking until i heard about arch, im quite familiar with debian, and a huge fan of it.

anyone know offhand how much room a minimal install would take up?

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

ah! you edited your post while i was replying.. thanks for the info.

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,563

Re: Question - Small computer

Some ideas: NetBSD/OpenBSD (very minimal, very secure, very stable), Gentoo (Stable if you stick to the stable keyword, compiling can make a difference on a computer like that, both in speed and in space saved by avoiding the likely numerous unnecessary dependencies with USE flags), Slackware (Very minimal, you will learn a lot about Linux, stable+vanilla, avoids unnecessary dependencies by not doing dependency management at all, which is fine for a set-it-and-forget-it small server), Linux from Scratch (very fun, learn a lot about Linux, difficult to set up but you can customize completely, benefits from source compiling like Gentoo... possibly not as secure as other distros, though, since you have to really keep aware of security problems and update everything manually (unless you install a package management system used by other distros... Slackware's might work nicely...)).

userlander

Member

Registered: 2008-08-23

Posts: 413

Re: Question - Small computer

ah! you edited your post while i was replying.. thanks for the info.

I just checked the debian manual, and they suggest minimum 500MB. They are not specific about whether that is with GUI or a basic "net install." But unless you can find out for sure, to be safe you might want to go with something else after all, like puppy.

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i … 05.html.en

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

bah humbug. lol
ill try puppy..

thanks everyone for your input

perbh

Member

From: Republic of Texas

Registered: 2005-03-04

Posts: 765

Re: Question - Small computer

Why don't you just get a bigger haddisk?
You should be able to get something better than that even at a junkyard - or ebay failing anything else ...

Surely - old 20-gig disks are ten-a-penny these days.
The rest of your computer is more than able!

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

because it uses a 512MB flash

i guess i should tell you all that it's a Wyse v90 that im putting it on.
not really much room for expansion in those

MoonSwan

Member

From: Great White North

Registered: 2008-01-23

Posts: 881

Re: Question - Small computer

Damn small linux 50mb install + whatever content you put on it.

FreakGuard

Member

Registered: 2008-04-27

Posts: 103

Re: Question - Small computer

If you use a flash-hd:
http://linux.voyage.hk/

rostoQ

Member

Registered: 2008-06-25

Posts: 40

Re: Question - Small computer

@tomk: Just FYI,   Arch *does* run on VIA C3 CPUs, at least on the newer ones with nehemiah/ezra core!
I had a wonderful EPIA M-10000 with one of these C3s and Arch worked with window manager quite acceptable
(1Ghz and 512mb RAM). Mostly out of the box. And this was 2 years ago!

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

oh really? mine has a Nehemiah core! - debian failed (not enough space)

looks like im trying arch now

sped

Member

Registered: 2009-01-07

Posts: 8

Re: Question - Small computer

If you use a flash-hd:
http://linux.voyage.hk/

oops, didn't see you there! that looks promising.. im gonna give that a go too!

- I must have downloaded at least 5 distros today. this is getting tiring!

Last edited by sped (2009-01-08 01:01:01)