>I'm looking for a distribution that runs in 4 megs of ram has most of the
> tools I need for client oriented stuff. I don't need any server stuff at all.
> I do need the ability to connect to the internet via modem. Also I want the
>ability to at least be able to compile any other software I might want to add
>if the distribution does not have a package manager. I've seen alot of small
>distributions out there but they are all for single disk installations or
>UMBDOS. Disk space is not the issue I am concered with. I am more interested
>in the amount of memory that is used on average. I'm probibly could configure
>a distribution like Debian to have the characteristics I am looking for but I
>do not know where to get started. Would it be as simple as emlinating some
>demaons in my startup scripts or could I get some benifits out of making
>changes to the kernel? I know there are alot of issues involved here and that
>is part of the problem. I am looking for any information which might help me
>define what steps I need to take to create this small memory configurtion.
i once installed debian (pre 1.2, not sure exactly what rev) on a 4m laptop
via floppies. it ran quite smoothly once i axed everything that i wasn't
using.
here's a list of the processes that were running when i was logged in:
init
bash
update/bdflush == kwsapd/kflushd of recent kernels
i turned off ALL daemons, and trimmed /etc/inittab to not run gettys on
vty's i wasn't going to use. the machine was surprisingly usable in
this state...if only it werent a 386sx...(i could play nethack, or edit
in vi, or even run clisp, a small lisp interpreter, without hitting the
disk after initial program load). the system was pretty poor at multitasking
tho. it would handle two logins /tasks but whatever i wasnt doing would be
swapped out, so switching back and forth was painful.
how to get to that point? i suggest doing a full install of whatever
distro you like, stripping it down, and then moving the disk over to the 4m
machine. depending on how the kernel is setup (redhat for instance is
about as small as youre gonna get to start with), you may want to try
compiling your kernel again to see if you can smallen it.
things you dont need that you might be used to keepign in, such as
module support, IPC support, ramdisk support, should all be taken out.
perhaps even /proc support should be axed...experiment a little =)
there's a small-linux howto or FAQ out there that explained how one fellow
got a 1.2 or 1.0 kernel functional on a 1M machine, you might search for
that if you plan to do much on the machine other than simple stuff.
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