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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. You are tight by yuri · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I mean seriously tight, how much would a used computer from the second half of last century cost?

    I'll be interested to hear whether this keeps his attention longer than the stick and hoop he got for christmas.

  2. WTF ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING???? by angry_beaver · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Okay, I've read all the posts and there's some very good ideas about what to put on this laptop. Some posters are even suggesting leaving the kid at the command prompt.
    Wow.
    I have a much much better idea. Send the kid outside!.. have him play lego, ride a bike, play soccer, or even read a book!!

    Learning computers is an excelent idea for kids, however sticking a 6 year old at the command prompt is NOT.