Richard Creighton wrote: >> Uh, I'm not sure I can quite follow you. If the openSUSE project >> built the distro for the 386 instruction set, the old 486 machines >> would still work fine. >> >> > However, I am pretty sure the project has not been built with that > instruction set in mind.
That's true, the Pentium CPU was made the minimum requirement somewhere around 9.x IIRC. Maybe even 8.x, I'm not sure. > It would be an interesting exercise to try but I'm not sure there is > enough demand for 386 only code to induce anyone to undertake such a > huge project. All the libraries, as well as the programs themselves > would have to be recompiled. That's only a matter of compute time, so not really a big deal. Maybe the openSUSE build service could used. >>> So while Linux itself can be compiled to run in a mode that is >>> compatible with the old box, it is unlikely the rest of any modern >>> distro will do so as well. >> >> Actually, I think it's quite likely that openSUSE could. >> > Even if you are right about the OSS portion of the openSuSE distro, > what would you propose about the NON-OSS portion of the distro? > Stuff like Firefox or Thunderbird or ... well, you name it. Aren't FF and TB open-source ?? If we're talking binary packages not built for the 386 instruction set, it's pretty obvious that there's nothing we can do. But, there is probably a good chance that binary-only packages are built for the 386 instruction set anyway. I think the Adobe Acrobat reader is for instance. > Hey, I'm all for it but I really don't think it is very likely in > practice, as much as I hate to admit it. Oh, I doubt it too. 486s are now found mostly in embedded stuff, and there are other distros catering for that market. My own 486 firewall machine runs fine on 7.1 with updates and patches for openssl, iptables, and the kernel. And like someone already said, there are almost certainly better distros for that. /Per Jessen, Zürich -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
