Lightweight desktop
There is a good discussion about lightweight Linux desktop in the article Building a highly functional desktop with lightweight software. Interesting reading for anyone, who intends to use Linux on an old computer.
Less is better than more in Linux
The command I use most in Linux is without doubt less. I never open text files in a text editor if I just want to read the file as it is a lot easier to enter the command:
less filename
It can also be fed through a pipe. For example, in the directory /usr/bin the command ls -l will likely result pages of output scrolling through the window. You can use less to see less files:
ls -l | less
Less has several useful keyboard shortcuts. The one I use most is b that by default scrolls output backward one page. Pressing space scrolls one page forward.
It took me some years, before I accidentally pressed the button v. It opened the text file in the editor VIM, ready to be edited at the line I had just been looking at. If I had read the man page for less, I certainly would have found this feature earlier.
If VIM (or other VI-like editors) is not your favourite editor, you can change the editor to use by defining environment variables VISUAL or EDITOR. I decided to add the line
export VISUAL=emacs
to the file .bashrc in my home directory. Now pressing v opens the file in Emacs.
less filename
It can also be fed through a pipe. For example, in the directory /usr/bin the command ls -l will likely result pages of output scrolling through the window. You can use less to see less files:
ls -l | less
Less has several useful keyboard shortcuts. The one I use most is b that by default scrolls output backward one page. Pressing space scrolls one page forward.
It took me some years, before I accidentally pressed the button v. It opened the text file in the editor VIM, ready to be edited at the line I had just been looking at. If I had read the man page for less, I certainly would have found this feature earlier.
If VIM (or other VI-like editors) is not your favourite editor, you can change the editor to use by defining environment variables VISUAL or EDITOR. I decided to add the line
export VISUAL=emacs
to the file .bashrc in my home directory. Now pressing v opens the file in Emacs.
More free documentation for Linux
If you want build a custom system and not use some lightweight distribution, you have to do some more research. One of the sites I have found most useful, is the Gentoo wiki. It has been most helpful also at times when I have used some other distribution. For example, if you want to learn to customize some lightweight window manager, you will probably find all the best tips and tricks there. One good example is the page for tweaking Openbox window manager. Most of the information can be used with just about any distribution.
Other tips are probably more obvious: If you are using any Debian based distribution, for example Ubuntu, you should study the Debian reference. It has been translated into many languages. Slackware Linux Essentials - The Official Guide To Slackware Linux is similarly useful for those who use a distribution based on Slackware, for example Zenwalk or Vector Linux.
If you read the fine manuals, you will be able to solve most of your problems. If not, you can always ask in the Internet forums.
Other tips are probably more obvious: If you are using any Debian based distribution, for example Ubuntu, you should study the Debian reference. It has been translated into many languages. Slackware Linux Essentials - The Official Guide To Slackware Linux is similarly useful for those who use a distribution based on Slackware, for example Zenwalk or Vector Linux.
If you read the fine manuals, you will be able to solve most of your problems. If not, you can always ask in the Internet forums.
Free documentation for free OS
If you want to run a modern system with an old computer, you have to compensate some of the missing GHz and megabytes with your own brains. You have to know what you are doing. You have to know what you want your computer to do. Only so you can build a system that is ideal for your needs and your hardware.
This means you have to be ready to learn something about Linux and how it works. It is not rocket science, it is something everyone can do. If you are willing to learn, you can realize the full power of Linux.
We are lucky to have a lot of free documentation. There are even many good introductions to Linux. Most of them are published by The Linux Documentation Project. I suggest you first familiarize yourself with the site just to see what kind of documentation there is. Depending on what you already know, select some of the guides where you can learn at least something new. If you are relatively new to Linux, you might start with Gareth Andersons GNU/Linux Command-Line Tools Summary or Machtelt Garrels Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide.
Just remember: learning is fun and knowledge is power!
This means you have to be ready to learn something about Linux and how it works. It is not rocket science, it is something everyone can do. If you are willing to learn, you can realize the full power of Linux.
We are lucky to have a lot of free documentation. There are even many good introductions to Linux. Most of them are published by The Linux Documentation Project. I suggest you first familiarize yourself with the site just to see what kind of documentation there is. Depending on what you already know, select some of the guides where you can learn at least something new. If you are relatively new to Linux, you might start with Gareth Andersons GNU/Linux Command-Line Tools Summary or Machtelt Garrels Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide.
Just remember: learning is fun and knowledge is power!
FreeDOS - back to the eighties!
My first PC in the late 80's was a portable Amstrad with 640 KB RAM, two floppy drives and no hard drive at all. The whole operating system, a version of Microsoft DOS, and my favourite word processor Word Perfect were loaded from a 1.4 MB floppy. Younger readers can get a glimpse of computing in this era by using FreeDOS, a free clone of the Microsoft operating system.
You can find in Internet many sites for DOS software. For example, here a collection of more than 1000 freeware (free as in beer, not as in free speach) programs for MSDOS. Garbo PC archives were and still are an important collection of DOS software. Dosgames offers you more than 500 games.
I would not choose FreeDOS for everyday computing - word processing, spreadsheets, surfing on the web. It might be a good choice for learning to code in Assembler, C or Pascal. Retrogames should be the killer application of FreeDOS...
You can find in Internet many sites for DOS software. For example, here a collection of more than 1000 freeware (free as in beer, not as in free speach) programs for MSDOS. Garbo PC archives were and still are an important collection of DOS software. Dosgames offers you more than 500 games.
I would not choose FreeDOS for everyday computing - word processing, spreadsheets, surfing on the web. It might be a good choice for learning to code in Assembler, C or Pascal. Retrogames should be the killer application of FreeDOS...
News: Sidux 'Erebos' released
Sidux 2008-02 "Έρεβος" was released today. Erebos means, according to Liddel & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, "a place of nether darkness, above the still deeper Hades." In the Greek mythology, Erebos was also the son of Chaos.
The more courageous Linux users might want to try this distribution based on Debian unstable.
The more courageous Linux users might want to try this distribution based on Debian unstable.
Minix
Linux is certainly the most used and best known operating system that can be used with old computers. It is, however, not the only one. Some of its alternatives are mainstream operating systems, some of them are mainly designed for academic purposes, some of them are geeky projects of open source developers.
If you would like to resurrect a computer from the Dark Ages, let us say a 386 or a 486, or an early Pentium, you might try some of the floppy-based distributions. It would at least be an interesting experiment. Another possibility would be to install Minix on the computer. That is what Linux Thorvalds did before he had written a working kernel for something that would be called Linux.
Minix is POSIX compatible Unix-like system. It can be installed on a computer with 8 MB of RAM. Originally it was meant to be an educational system, but since Minix3 it has been designed to be used in embedded systems and low end computers, e.g. by "One laptop per child" project.
It is a very compact system, and a full install of Minix can be done in around 50 MB hard disk space. Consequently it also boots in a few seconds: you don't have to wait for minutes before your system is up and running.
Minix is not as mature operating system as Linux is. There is only a limited selection of software available for Minix, but the selection includes most of the important Unix tools. In fact, the list of ported software is pretty impressive for an educational operating system. Thus it is great choice for learning Unix or programming - you can basically install it on any old PC you still have in your garage.
If you are interested in Minix, you should read the interview of Andrew Tanenbaum, its creator, in Free Software Magazine (2007).
If you would like to resurrect a computer from the Dark Ages, let us say a 386 or a 486, or an early Pentium, you might try some of the floppy-based distributions. It would at least be an interesting experiment. Another possibility would be to install Minix on the computer. That is what Linux Thorvalds did before he had written a working kernel for something that would be called Linux.
Minix is POSIX compatible Unix-like system. It can be installed on a computer with 8 MB of RAM. Originally it was meant to be an educational system, but since Minix3 it has been designed to be used in embedded systems and low end computers, e.g. by "One laptop per child" project.
It is a very compact system, and a full install of Minix can be done in around 50 MB hard disk space. Consequently it also boots in a few seconds: you don't have to wait for minutes before your system is up and running.
Minix is not as mature operating system as Linux is. There is only a limited selection of software available for Minix, but the selection includes most of the important Unix tools. In fact, the list of ported software is pretty impressive for an educational operating system. Thus it is great choice for learning Unix or programming - you can basically install it on any old PC you still have in your garage.
If you are interested in Minix, you should read the interview of Andrew Tanenbaum, its creator, in Free Software Magazine (2007).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)