Check out the Linux Documentation Project, it has instructions on how to setup a system with 4 mb. I have followed these instructions and gotten an IBM laptop with slightly less than 4 mb to work fine. Although the installs start with non-debian dists the author says that you can use almost any distro to add more functionality after the initial barebones system is up.
Ian --- kmself@ix.netcom.com wrote: > on Fri, Mar 16, 2001 at 09:59:39AM -0700, > Simmons-Davis ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > Hello, > > > > I would like to know the minimum amount of RAM a > computer needs in order to > > run a basic Linux setup and then also the minimum > for X Window System. > > Some guidelines. > > - 4 M: bare minimum for Linux kernel, and you'll > need to specify some > configurations to get there. > > - 8 M: minimum basic linux configuration. I > don't think modern Debians > will install into 8 MB. > > - ~16-32 M: you'll need something in this range > to let the packaging > system run. It likes to store stuff in RAM. > > - ~32-64 M: minimum I'd recommend for a > single-usr workstation, > running X, a lightweight window manager (not > GNOME/KDE), and, > sometimes, Netscape. You'll be swapping a fair > piece. > > - ~96-128 M: comfortable single-user general > purpose workstation. > Tends to minimize swapping under most > circumstances. > > - 128 M - 1G: high end workstation, mid-level > server. Particularly > useful if you're running VMWare, StarOffice, > that bloated stuck pig > of an office suite, or a heavily loaded services > (apache, mysql, > file/print). > > - 1G - 4G: high-end server. I believe the > maximum addressable memory > on Linux is currently 4GB, with a patch. Could > be wrong on this. > > There's a lot of flexibility on all of this, and > personal expectations > matter. More memory is almost always the first > route to a faster > system. However, there's no reason a "workable" > system can't > > For swap, the general rule of thumb is 1-2x > installed RAM, though some > people top out swap at some point, generally between > 128 MB and 1 GB. I > tend to take the multiplier rule all the way up to > max swap (4 GB, IIRC). > You can add swapfiles at any point later, but swap > partitions are more > efficient (they don't fragment) and harder to add > (you have to > repartition). > > You can always experiment with lower memory > configurations by specifying > the appropriat MEM= boot option, to see how your > system would perform > with less memory installed. Results can be > interesting. > > Currently, memory for reasonably up-to-date systems > is pretty cheap > (DIMMs). If you're buying the older SIMMs, prepare > to pay a premium. > > -- > Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> > http://kmself.home.netcom.com/ > What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? > There is no K5 cabal > http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ > http://www.kuro5hin.org > > ATTACHMENT part 2 application/pgp-signature __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
