[ale] building a Linux lowend web browsing station

[Jonathan Glass]

>From my experience in working on machines, moving harddrives from one
box to another, and imaging linux, you can safely move a drive from one
machine to another with different hardware, as long as (in RedHat) kudzu
is running.  The kernel generally will detect the different hardware
(NICs, modems) and work with it if it has the appropriate kernel
modules.

HTH
Jonathan

On Wed, 2003-01-22 at 09:12, Greg wrote:
> Well, first off , try not to post using HTML.  I have changed it.  Some
> dudes are running non-GUI mail clients, bless their little CLI hearts.
> 
> Configuring for different NICs and modems too means that you cannot burn one
> single image and install it (ghost it).
> 
> I know that Suse will give you a bare-bones system.  I think that slackware
> & gentoo will do this also.
> 
> All Linux will run on lowend systems (I am running on Pentium 90's to 233's
> and even some 486's), but the more flash and glitz you want (X Windows), the
> more strain it will put on the system.
> 
> BSD's are good too.
> 
> Network installs and a script will work to a degree.
> 
> A ghost will work too (that is what I do at home). But you will still need
> to configure it for different NICs/modems, though maybe it could be
> scripted.
> 
> If you need help, then send me some info on who to contact on volunteering.
> 
> Greg Canter
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-admin at ale.org [mailto:ale-admin at ale.org]On Behalf Of Watson F.
> McKeel
> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 8:46 AM
> To: ale at ale.org
> Cc: Director at freebytes.net (E-mail)
> Subject: [ale] building a Linux lowend web browsing station
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> I do volunteer work for a local nonprofit, and we have a BIG task that has
> been set before us. We are going to build 500-700 computers that will serve
> as web browsing stations. We want to use Linux to do it because it is so
> configurable.
> The hardware involved:
>         many different makes and models
>         Pentium 90 to 133MHz
>         32 MB RAM
>         500-800MB HD
>         sometimes NICs, sometimes modems
>         printer
> We don't want these boxes to do anything other than surf the web and print.
> My questions:
> What distributions should we look at to get started on this? Are there any
> out there that pride themselves on their ability to run on lowend systems?
> Also, I do not relish installing anything 500-700 times, even if it is
> Linux. Any tips on how to do mass installs (like a generic disk image of
> some kind, or maybe network installs)?
> 
> 
> Any thoughts at all are greatly appreciated,
> Watson McKeel    -volunteer at Free Bytes
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
-- 
Jonathan Glass
Systems Support Specialist II
Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience
Georgia Institute of Technology
404.385.0127

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