Although I've administered several flavors of Unix, and some Red Hat production servers, I'm a newbie when it comes to the modern desktop distributions of Linux. I'd only installed one Red Hat version on to a P1 100MHz PC some years ago. All the other machines were hand me downs on the job.
But these days I've got access to quite a lot of old machines to try stuff on. I'm also on a self administered Linux crash course at work. Cannibalising some machines and putting together systems that work is quite interesting. But then it comes to choosing the right distribution for each machine and its intended use(rs).
If your family and friends ask you to help them with their machines, chances are you've got one or more friends who should probably switch to Linux. Imagine: Probably no more complaints about Adware, viruses and Spyware... Stick the machines behind a router that does NAT, enable the firewall on the machine (SimplyMepis has one built in), and a newbie with no difficult peripherals (cameras, webcameras etc), should be set.
The distros I've settled on so far are:
Disclaimer: I'm a noob when it comes to Linux distros, so I might make mistakes in the descriptions etc.
I usually start with Knoppix if the machine has 256 MB RAM or more. It lists hardware, so will get me an idea of the machine. What works and so on. I also want to know if the network card works, and it's good to do that without installing an operating system on it. Knoppix will also let you read the contents of a hard drive, even if you don't have the password (windows 2000, for instance). Knoppix is a rescue disk that you can use for performing repairs to trashed operating systems. You don't need a hard drive installed to use Knoppix, but you do need a CD-ROM drive.
Caveats with Knoppix: One machine (a Fujitsu Siemens around 1000MHz processor) won't boot Knoppix successfully. I suspect it's got to do with the graphics card. No other machine has refused to work so far.
Damn Small Linux is also a rescue disk. It's about 50 MB, and can fit on a business card CD or on a thumbdrive. It's even possible to run it inside Windows. You don't need a hard drive. You don't need much RAM to run this one, and it's possible to install it to your hard drive. It might be a good choice for an old laptop that virtually nothing else will run on, especially if it came with windows 95 and if you have a tiny hard drive (smaller than 3 GB).
Caveats with Damn Small Linux: One machine had horrible colors. Probably around 16 colors, something I hadn't seen since my old 386 machine before I switched graphics card.
SimplyMepis is a LiveCD that transforms into a hard drive install. Very easy to install on most machines. Just follow the prompts. It too prefers a machine with 256 MB RAM. This is the perfect operating system for a machine that used to run Windows XP but is running like molasses now (Windows XP really needs 512 MB RAM unless you don't install ANY programs). Many companies are shifting out machines that run too slowly as they upgrade from Windows 2000 and realize how slow a P3 with 256 MB RAM is on Windows XP. Buying more RAM is often expensive, and the processors aren't overly sharp, so they're shifted out. SimplyMepis is considered to have very good hardware recognition, so chances are good your computer will work out of the box. Setting up my USB printer was a very pleasant experience. It's different than XP, but simple. I didn't see any configuration for the colors, though, so I'm not sure I'll try printing out color photos until I've had another look at it.
Caveats with SimplyMepis: One machine (the oldest I tried so far) wouldn't boot after I'd installed it. It didn't have a system disk. To fix, simply reboot from the live CD, start Qtparted and make the first partition active, then reboot from the hard drive.
Ubuntu is really snazzy. I like the brown desktop. It's got some nifty toys, and I suspect it'll run on smaller hard drives than SimplyMepis. I don't know which distro is faster on an older machine. I think both are pretty slow. With one of the older versions, it's possible to run the desktop even with less than 256 MB RAM. But I haven't tried this one much, so I don't have too much to say. Ubuntu comes as Live CD or as installer. I've only tried the installer.
Caveats with Ubuntu: Networking blues: I moved one machine from one location to another. First I discovered that it had saved the DNS servers from the first location, and I had to set the new ones manually. Then I discovered the router on the new location didn't like the slow etherlink network card. By the time I'd switched it out, I'd given up on Ubuntu for that machine and installed SimplyMepis instead. There has been some talk about Ubuntu having IPv6 installed by default, and some have had trouble getting the network to work. For some it worked initially and then stopped working after a few days. I just want to throw that out there, in case you have problems. I've gotten Ubuntu to work straight out of the box, though, so please set it up on the target location to save yourself a little bit of trouble. I've heard users of Compaq's complaining about it being slow. There's a configuration that needs to be done on some machines to make it run faster.
Skolelinux has the feel of an old Debian version, and was developed for schools. It's a complete system with servers, sub servers, clients and thin clients. I don't consider it particularly user friendly to set up if something goes wrong. It's got more under the hood (command line) instead of neat GUI configuration. You can run the thin clients on virtually anything, no matter how ancient. I have seen them recommend trying Knoppix first on a machine to see if it'll run Skolelinux in workstation mode. I think it'll probably work with slower computers. I installed it on one with 64 MB RAM, and as far as I remember it worked (but I didn't test much). But it looks really tired, compared to Ubuntu and SimplyMepis. For schools who plan on implementing Skolelinux, the costs will be connected with administration. You can use practically anything for computers. Companies may give away their old machines. But remember that administration is going to cost money once something goes wrong, unless you already have the Linux know how in your IT department.
Caveats with Skolelinux: You need to be comfortable with command line if you need to configure things.
In closing: Choose a distro that has everything your user needs. Right now these distros are best for users who aren't looking to hook up their digital camera, webcamera and cellular phone. Experienced users will figure out how to do this, but it's not always easy. Installing new programs is also sometimes a learning process. A new user such as your grandma won't be looking for that anyway, but you can be SURE she'll click on a few ads and e-mail attachments of doubtful provenance. If she's got a windows machine, it'll be loaded with parasites in no time flat. It's a tradeoff, and I for one would rather have grandma on a linux machine.
This page was created by Ann Elisabeth Nordbo
and has its home at http://www.annelisabeth.com/
Updated 11.02.2005
Premiere issue October 2005