Matthew Rhys-Roberts wrote:
> I'm very interested in using Linux on old unwanted computers, in order 
> to prevent waste and generate some useful gifts.
>
> I've had some success so far, but it seems that X requires a large 
> amount of memory in order to provide a reliable GUI, which seems to rule 
> out systems with less than a good few hundred Mb of RAM.
>
> I suppose my question is, does anyone recommend a version of Linux these 
> days that can run on a bare minimum of RAM and still provide a graphical 
> operating system?
>
> Thanks
>
> Matt Rhys-Roberts
>   

I run damn small on my P1 266 with 64mb ram and it is acceptable even 
with a few firefox instances running. I have added a 512mb swap file 
(but thats just because i have a 12gb disk in there). The swap file just 
stops the system from dying when it runs out of ram. Even so the 
swapping to disk isn't that bad if you don't multi-task wildly. I'd love 
a damn small linux variant that was aimed squarely at a hard disk 
install, To the point it would trim the kernel etc to fit just perfectly 
your hardware. (perhaps with the aid of a networked compiling computer 
to do the heavy lifting ;->)
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