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Free Software Operating Systems for Old Laptops?

Posted by Cliff on from the and-we-mean-OLD-here dept.

X-Nc asks: "I have an old 486 Laptop that does not have a CD drive and , if I remember right, a very small hard disk (a few megs), and maybe 4 megs of RAM. I would like to let my 6 year old son use this for him to play and learn on. What I'd -really- like to do is install Linux or one of the BSD's on it with enough apps to run a simple editor and a few other things. I have other systems that are able to run learning software and games. This would be for him to learn computer fundimentals. I remember in the old days that you could run X11 on this kind of system (my first Linux box was a 386DX-30 with 2meg RAM and a 20 meg HD). I have been digging around in some of the lists of distros to try and find something to load on the system but I can't seem to find one that's right. So, does anyone know of a Free Software (or even commercial) OS that can be installed on such a system that can do more than be just a terminal?"

2 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Lessee... by Otter · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm not entirely sure I understand -- your concern is that you can't find a current distribution that will readily run on this hardware, right?

    How about using an old Linux distro, something from the Red Hat 5.x era? There are a ton of security holes, but given the environment in which this is going to be used (a single 6 year old user, no important data, no networking) who cares if wu-ftpd is vulnerable?

    Run WindowMaker or AfterStep or even that fvwm95 monstrosity Red Hat used to ship and it will be fine.

    I've never seen it, but QNX might be an alternative. Does BeOS support pre-Pentium systems?

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  2. Use it as an X Terminal by darnok · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know your original message said something about using an OS "other than a terminal", but you might consider bringing it up as an XTerm. From the wording of your question, I'm guessing that you've got a more modern Linux box somewhere that you yourself use, so why not install your kid's apps on that and let him run riot accessing it via an XTerm?

    Advantages:
    - given that you'll probably be installing Linux and X on the old laptop anyway, it should be easier to install just enough to have it run as an Xterm, rather than having to install several games, drawing programs, etc. into limited space
    - you'll probably get more life out of it, given that there's very little that's going to have to change on it once it's up and going properly
    - you can send him cute messages from your other PC (don't underestimate how exciting kids find this!)
    - very little software on his PC means very little to go wrong
    - if/when he breaks or outgrows it, you can quickly get another clunker PC and bring it up as another XTerm

    Disadvantages:
    - you'll need a network card, which you may or may not have in this laptop. It should be pretty cheap to track down an old Xircom or something similar

    FWIW, my two boys (6 and 4) have been playing games and surfing Web sites on one of my Linux PCs for years - basically, they started "helping" me work before they could walk. There's lots of games and drawing programs out there if you look around. They're yet to show OTT geek tendencies, or any inability to use a MS OS, as far as I can detect - you should be safe!