> Couldn't it be enough to make the original iso-image 700 MB big, so that it
fits onto a CD, like in earlier times?
Maybe, maybe not. Debian was having great difficulty trying to fit GNOME into
700 MB, and that was one of the reasons they considered switching to Xfce.
For the main version of the system, I don't see any particular reason why it
should have to fit on a CD. Most computers today that have an optical drive
at all can read and boot from DVDs just the same as CDs. For a "mini"
version, maybe.
> I own two laptops, one from 2005 and the other one from around 2006 (i
bought it 2nd hand). They have 512 MB RAM. The only thing that was ever
broken was the hard drive of one of them. And its battery is not much worth
anymore, it lasts not even half an hour even without running many programs.
But i don't need it to run longer on battery.
> So, why should i buy a new laptop?
512 MB should be enough to handle MATE. Xfce is very similar in terms of RAM
usage, and the original OpenPandora manages to meaningfully use Xfce with
half as much RAM.
The thing is, if you have a tiny amount of RAM, you know this, and as such
you know to go for more lightweight DEs. Additionally, I don't think it's
typical for users to have such a small amount of RAM, and I don't think a
small subset of users should be treated as the default. You should be
accounted for, but a "mini" version based on MATE should account for you just
fine.
