Phoenix Network Forums

I Recommend Damn Small Linux (
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ ) , its a Debian-Like distro, perfect for old pcs and have much apps (XMMS, Firefox, etc)

Ubuntu all the way! is a great OS

FreeBSD, of course. It's a little lighter on the resources then Linux, and has excellent package management. Or you can use Ubuntu. Your choice.

you should try one of the live cd's to see if you like Ubuntu (if your considering it). Just google ubuntu and look for a live cd for download. It allows you to test the OS without making any changes to your hard-drive.

Just use Windows, since it's the only OS that supports (almost) all programs! (I do like playing with Linux, but to me this is the biggest problem they have: compatibility)

id recommand openbsd.org with a lightweight window manager, such as ratpoison or blackbox. you definitly DONT want bloated KDE or GNOME on such old pc... any OS that comes with that crap preinstalled is worthless.

openbsd has the documentation also, good for beginners who want to learn.

FreeBSD! and don't bother installing X or a window manager. Real geeks use the command line.

I Like Debian

dmcbudman if your choice go to Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Edubuntu you can recive
it on original CD free of charge just go and register at https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ read the Ubuntu FAQ

Ubuntu is a really nice distro and easy to use.The only disadvantage is that it doesn't have the compilers a programmer needs preinstalled but this is not a big problem.With downloading and installing 3-4 packages that are not included in the main installation you have a fully working operating system.There is another bug but this is not the right place to discuss about it.I prefer slackware for it's stability but i would like to install some time bsd to play with it.

Well if your trying on a notebook i would suggest suse linux it has some great notebook features and really good acpi support with its kernel, other then that i would go with bsd.

Linux can be weird with laptops! sometimes it might be best to compile /patch the kernel yourself and enable the features you need for it to work correctly on that laptop


but seeing how you already choose slackware i think that is a wise choice slackware has never failed me and i like its package managment and ease to create a package.

slabby wrote:Ubuntu all the way! is a great OS

the new ubuntu dapper is great!!!!

I'm all for Ubuntu, but with low specs I suggest Xubuntu. It is a fork which uses Xfce instead of Gnome specificly for the use on older computers.

i think u try linspire or ubuntu.. they are cool and easy to use linux OS

I recomend xubuntu for older systems.