Re: Using Linux

[glen e. p. ropella]

> For Linux, I recommend running either Redhat or Debian. I use Redhat
> (Debian was only recently released) and like it a lot, it's very easy
> to manage. Redhat 4.0 just came out, so if you install it make sure
> you get the new version.

It really doesn't matter which distribution you get.  But, just
remember that the fancier the distribution gets, the less control
you have (e.g. Slackware distributes it's packages in *.tar.gz
format instead of the *.rpm format. [grin])

Plus, if you only have 350 Mbytes of disk space, you'll want to
go with a minimal system, if possible.

> >I currently have a intel 486 with 350 MB of memeory. I realise that
> >Linux will run on this machine. Is an upgrade to a pentium machine
> >worth it in terms of increased efficiency. Also how much memory is
> >recommended for running swarm.
> 
> I comfortably developed Swarm on a Pentium 75 with 24 megs of RAM. A
> 486 is going to be kind of pokey but not dreadful. 16 megs of RAM is
> minimal, 32 megs is ok, 64 is plenty. RAM is cheap right now.
> 
> I assume you mean you have a 350 MB hard drive. That should be enough
> for Redhat and Swarm development, assuming you're a little cautious as
> to what you install on it.

486 with 32 Meg RAM is ok.  However, I don't think I could do any
serious development with only 350Mb of disk space, even if I 
didn't have to split my drive into dos/unix partitions.  In fact,
my system, as loaded, with all the bells and whistles takes 
353 Mb.  And that's WITHOUT my /home partition (where all the
Swarm development takes place.  So, I'd spring for an additional
disk if I were you.

glen