I, too was concerned about this the first time I saw it.
One thing that you must remember about Linux is what is
and isn't Linux. Linux is just the Kernel. Nothing more,
nothing less. Different distributions come with tools
and applications, like XFree86. (Yes, X-Windows is an
application, it's NOT a part of Linux.)
This in mind, Linux will still run happily on a 386 with
4 Megs of RAM. So why this message about 8 Meg minimum
and required Swap Space? That is a function of the
distribution. RedHat has been that way for some time now.
It needs 8 Megs because of all the extras. That is not
a Linux, minimum, It is a RedHat minimum. Remember
back when you had that old PC with 1Mb of RAM, but that
really cool game required 4Mb. Same thing (almost).
So why make distributions that require 8 Meg minimum,
rather than 4? Answer: That doesn't seem to be a stumbling
block for MOST people. But it does mean that if you have
a 4 Meg machine, you can't use that distribution.
There are still several distributions that will work
happily with 4Mb RAM.
Now, the Linux kernel is growing in complexiy and size,
but a carefully configured system, and a carefully configured
kernel, could minimize the impact.
Bryan Scaringe
> Hi all,
> I hope I'm not going to be very boring, but I really had a bad experience
> with Linux yesterday...
>
> I had a 486DX2 machine with 8MB of Ram and 200MB of HDD, and tryied to
> install Slackware 3.5 on it. Booted, rooted, and when I've runned 'Set
> swap partitions' or 'Set target partitions', I got 'SetSwap can't fork'
> and 'SetTarget can't fork'. After hours of struggling, I finally read the
> message welcoming you: Yes, I've got to activate the swap partitions
> before running 'setup' on a 8MB of Ram machine!
>
> I mean, Linux started as a 'small' operating system, with high
> performances and low requirements (2MB of Ram???). I remember installing
> Linux 1.2.13 on a 486SX, with 4MB of Ram, and compiling kernel, and all
> the other stuff without problems. And here I am, one year later, trying to
> install the latest Slack on a machine with double memory, processing speed
> and having problems from the very beginning... I know that a OS should
> develop, and that means growing, but is there anyone out there who's still
> interested in optimizing???
>
> Have fun,
> bogdan
>
>
>
>
