Hi, On 2/11/08, Binyamin Dissen <bdissen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I am about to do the jump and setup up a pentium type machine for linux. > > What is the minimal configuration (processor, memory, disk) to be able to run > the latest and greatest, including rebuilding the kernel within a reasonable > amount of time? I am not sure if I really understand your question -- you say "minimal configuration" and "latest and greatest". In my mind, this sounds like a contradiction. Do you mean the latest kernel? In that case, I expect that you don't need very much -- I have a 486 with 16 MB RAM that runs a Gentoo Linux with 2.6.16 kernel or so. I don't think the requirements have changed that much since then. It has a 2G disk, but doesn't have any graphical/X programs. Are you interested in just running the kernel, or do you also need a full desktop system? When you say "rebuilding the kernel", do you want to build the kernel on the machine in question, or a completely different one? Compiling the kernel on pretty much anything below 500 MHz would be a major pain, I think. Why do you want to build your own kernel, are you looking for a development/test machine? If you are trying to reduce compile time for the kernel, I would suggest starting with "make defconfig", then removing the things you don't need (PCI, USB, etc.). (You can also run "make allnoconfig", but then you really do have to know what to enable in order to make the kernel usable for your setup.) If you just want to install Linux on an older machine, the best option is probably to perform the installation on a new machine, then switch disks. There are plenty of small/lightweight distributions out there. I hope this helps at least a little bit. But knowing your requirements and/or intentions would probably help us answer your question. Good luck. Kind regards, Vegard Nossum -- To unsubscribe from this list: send an email with "unsubscribe kernelnewbies" to ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxx Please read the FAQ at http://kernelnewbies.org/FAQ
