Thread: Which Linux Distro and Why??

well guys what linux distro will u prefer for ur old (733Mhz and 128 mb ram) and why???
keeping in mind that ur gona use that pc just for learning purposes i.e programming and ur project ,related to "apache web server"!!!!!!

Well you left out the one I would have chosen (Debian) so I choose Ubuntu from your list as it's the closest one.

Why Debian then. Well it's a more mature and more secure distribution than the Red Hat branch ones and it also has a great package system in apt.

Slackware on the other hand is also a very good distribution but perhaps a bit harder to learn.

You also have the BSD branch which prolly is even better if it isn't plain Linux you want to learn.

If it was me, I'd just install Fedora minus the GUI. That is, assuming you're somewhat capable of using the CLI since you mention programming. Whether creating/moving/installing files etc. or writing bash shell scripts for example, a GUI is really unnecessary and the PC will be faster without it.

Besides from being one of the most powerful distros, I also prefer using 'yum' so that's another reason it gets my vote.

i thnk guyz ur missing the main point "the ram of pc" dont u thnk both debian,fedora wont work with those specs???

with cli you don't even need 128 mb of ram.

Originally Posted by aimseeker

i thnk guyz ur missing the main point "the ram of pc" dont u thnk both debian,fedora wont work with those specs???

Just do a minimal install of any distro if that option is available. On debian you can do that by using the minimal bootable CD image. You can then add the software that you need using apt-get (eg. compiler, web server). When done, go to /etc/init.d and disable some services that you don't need. Modify the web server config to load only needed modules and minimize the amount of workers as well. Don't forget to create a swap file preferably twice as much as your memory. You also can try to re-compile the kernel stripping it off some functionalities you don't need. Or you can just simply buy another memory stick.

Any distro will be fine, as long as you don't install the GUI. If you want to use it for learning purposes, I would recommend the following programs for a jump start into becoming a linux expert:

screen MAN Page - The "Screen" command. It is invaluable when you only have a CLI available because you can create multiple sessions at once for multi-tasking. IE: No more waiting for 30min for a task to complete, put it in a screen and continue your work.

VI MAN Page - While this says vi, I would recommend vim (VI Improved). It has a steep learning curve, but after you learn it you will be able to program faster in VI than in any GUI interface. It also allows you to do things like run commands on the CLI without exiting the text editor, regex expressions for searching and replacing, the ability to delete many lines in a few key presses, and tons more.

Lighttpd - This is basically like apache, except it is much faster and more efficient. Although it is under the BSD license, it open source so it can be installed on most flavors of linux as well (Example on ubuntu: apt-get install lighttpd)


Hope this helps

Assuming you are good with the cli I would vote for DSL (Damn Small Linux). Since the only purpose of that box will be for and apache server and doesn't have the best specs why have more installed or running that necessary? (I am a very minimalist person)

Did everyone forget about Linux Mint?!?!?! its like the combo of mac and pc in 1 machine Windows 7 French kissing Mac's snowy leopard and having a baby called linux mint, fast easy and pretty :) im so happy :')