voodoo47 on 5/8/2017 at 08:11
playing around with an atom based thin client, and would like to try some linux based os, but the ide flash storage only has 2Gb of space (and I can't be bothered to upgrade it), and all the modern stuff like lubuntu requires 4Gb or more. cpu speed and ram are not a problem (1.66GHz atom 280, 2GB ddr3), so the only place where the os needs to be light is the hdd space. user friendly ui, firefox is pretty much all that's needed, and some equivalent of office would be nice.
bit of googling reveals that maybe (
http://www.leeenux-linux.com/) Leenus Linux could fit the bill (//nope, because it's not free, lol), but I'm open to suggestions.
Independent Thief on 5/8/2017 at 08:43
You might check around at (
https://www.distrowatch.com/)
I've heard puppy linux might be what you're looking for.
voodoo47 on 5/8/2017 at 11:29
I'm keeping Puppy and DSL as plan B - pretty sure they will work, but they are tailored for really old cpus and small amounts of ram, and I would prefer something more modern.
heywood on 5/8/2017 at 18:09
Check out Slax and Knoppix
voodoo47 on 6/8/2017 at 08:47
Knoppix doesn't sound too bad, but no info about its minimum install size - guess I'll just have to try and see.
Zerker on 6/8/2017 at 12:08
I just did a quick test in a VM. A core Debian 9 install takes up 813 MB, and installing X11 at all takes another 235 MB. You you should be able to then install a desktop environment and Firefox, but it can be a bit tight. E.g. apt estimates another 500 MB for Xfce4 + Iceweasel (e.g. Debian's non-branded Firefox), or a full gigabyte for LXDE + Iceweasel. Which is weird, because LXDE alone was smaller. I guess Xfce has more dependencies in common with Firefox. I told my test VM to go ahead and install the Xfce combination and it ended up with 429 MB free.
I'm sure there are also techniques for freeing up space (e.g. removing localizations, or cleaning apt caches) after if you do go this route. Whenever my Transcend Industrial Compact Flash card order FINALLY arrives, I will be installing Debian on a 4 GB card for a retro PC, and I may try those out. When this happens, I'll report back for how small I was able to make it.
voodoo47 on 6/8/2017 at 16:29
I won't try to pretend I'm familiar with all the bits mentioned, but certainly won't mind having a working setup delivered by someone who does - thanks.
Zerker on 6/8/2017 at 23:15
Okay, well if you want to go the Debian route, here are some general instructions:
* Download the (
https://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst) Debian net installer. I believe Atom is only 32-bit, so you'll want the i386 version.
* Create a bootable USB drive/CD-R. Debian suggests using (
http://sf.net/projects/win32diskimager/) win32diskimager from Windows if going the USB route. The (
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en) Debian website has some additional information, but most of it is from Linux to Linux. CD-R is dead simple, of course, since the download is an ISO, but that's only useful if you have a USB CD/DVD drive.
* Boot the boot media. I suggest selecting the second 'Install' option (which is text-based), as the graphical installer seemed slow during my VM testing, is easy to accidentally install Gnome (which won't fit), and the partitioner makes less sense.
* Walk through the questions. When prompted for partitioning, select manual partitioning. Select the drive to be given options to create a partition table, then a partition. If you have existing ones, select them for options to delete them. You should add a single partition for root (/) which takes up all the space. Once you create a partition, it should be picked for root by default, so you just need to accept that.
DO NOT let the installer do automatic partitioning either on the first manual/automatic choice, or when creating a partition. The installer will by default try to reserve a SWAP partition which you don't have room for.
Also, when prompted for a software selection, don't tick anything and just hit next. Those will pull in secondary applications, and you'll run out of room. Better to install what you need after the base install per below. I tried the Xfce option for you to see if it would fit, but the installer ran out of space.
* Boot the installed system and log in. You'll get a text-based login to start, but we'll fix that shortly.
* When you log in, type
su then enter your root password to get superuser access. Then type the following:
apt install xfce4 iceweaselThat should automatically install a basic Xfce desktop, X11 graphical environment and Firefox (via its alternate Debian name). When it finishes, type
shutdown -r now to reboot.
On the second boot, you should get a reasonably standard login screen and a graphical environment. You'll have about 420 MB free.
To install more software, use
apt install <name> as a superuser from a terminal. You can also use
apt search <text> to look for specific types of software if you don't know them. For example, I recommend
geany as a text editor. Each install will estimate the amount of space it will take, which is important for your cramped machine.
I also recommend a nicer applications menu called the Whisker menu. Its package name is
xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin. It won't take effect immediately, so you need to customize your panel (Linux term for 'taskbar'). Just right click on it and select Panel -> Panel Preferences. Then select the Items tab, hit the Plus button to add the Whisker Menu, and the arrows to position it. Then use Minus to delete the old menu. You can add or customize anything on the panel this way. You can also delete the bottom panel if you don't like it, by selecting it from the drop-down list at the top and hitting the top minus button.
If you want to see how much space you have remaining, type:
df -hWhere the -h makes it human readable.
If you decide to do this, let me know if you get stuck anywhere, or have further questions.
voodoo47 on 7/8/2017 at 13:06
sounds easy enough - I'll get on it in a day or two. thanks again.
voodoo47 on 8/8/2017 at 12:50
the sw install part had following two components checked:
ssh server
system utilities
left them alone, and the install finished, so it's ok I guess? anyway, after logging in, I'm greeted by a completely empty desktop (no side panels/taskbars, just the debian wallpaper, so can't really click on anything), where I can right click to get a few options, but most don't seem to do anything (like properties, desktop settings and more). can launch firefox, but youtube performance is horrible (it's pretty ok with knoppix), and there is no audio. so yeah, I'm pretty much stuck now.
also, knoppix would do the job nicely, but 2GB is not enough for a hdd install, apparently - seems like "I have a decent pc, but tiny hdd, and don't want to run from usb" is a combination nobody really thought someone would want to use.