[NTLUG:Discuss] Need Distro Recommendation, Please

[Rick Matthews]

Paul Ingendorf wrote:
> 
> Having just been down this road I can tell you the options are 
> limited. I've seen the recommendations for debian, mandrake, centos, 
> etc... but what you will find is what I found, newer distros will 
> run slower on older hardware as they have expectations of certain 
> resources and attempt to use them.  It may be time to look for a 
> minimalist system to build upon or simply compile your own from 
> scratch as there are several resources that will show you how.  I 
> can say from experience you will see a dramatic increase in your 
> systems performance.

Paul,

Your point is well taken, Paul.  I've seen it, too.

Some of the additional overhead can be attributed to features or
services that were non-existent or optional in the past, but are now
included in a default installation.  For example, FC2 turns on IPv6
by default.  I knew that I was not using IPv6, but I ass/u/med that 
starting it simply made it available; I had no idea that it was adding
overhead to every network transaction. I can tell you that turning
off IPv6 makes a perceptible difference on older hardware. 

Thanks for the advice.

Rick Matthews




> 
> I have 12 total packages installed on my system including the kernel, 
> a simple script automates most of the upgrade process based off 
> freshmeat entries for these packages and keeps them up to date.  
> It took some work to get setup but overall I am more comfortable 
> that I am getting the most out of the hardware now than I ever was 
> before.
> 
> This option may not be for you but I thought I would put it out there
> because I just got through fighting the same fight and it was the 
> only thing that gave me back the system performance I thought was lost.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at ntlug.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at ntlug.org]On
> Behalf Of Rick Matthews
> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 3:09 PM
> To: NTLug Discuss
> Subject: [NTLUG:Discuss] Need Distro Recommendation, Please
> 
> 
> I have a couple of older PCs running Linux here at the house that
> do a yeoman's job of providing the network with Samba shares,
> caching web proxy, access control features, content filtering,
> fetchmail retrieval of everybody's email, network caller ID, and
> browser access to all stored pictures and mp3 files. Additionally, I
> always have a software project or three that I am working on (playing
> with).
> 
> They are currently running Fedora core 2 and RedHat 8.  I'm not happy
> with the performance of FC2 (on old hardware) and I really need to get
> the other one off of RH8.
> 
> Here's my wish list:
> - Free :)
> - All I've ever worked with is RedHat or a work-alike.  I like to learn
> new things, but I'd rather not start over.
> - No need (or desire) to run X.
> - I don't mind installing (and compiling) packages from tarballs, but
> I like having RPM for the bulk of the applications.
> - Update via yum or apt. (Is there anything else in that category?)
> 
> What distribution(s) would you recommend?  Thanks in advance for
> your help!
> 
> Rick Matthews
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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