Re: What old Linux distro to run on a old Pentium III PC?

On 6/19/25 5:14 PM, Robert Heller wrote:

Why old Linux distro? Any modern Linux should run. While *most* modern Linux
distros don't provide 32-bit install images, all of the 32-bit libraries and
kernels are in fact available and maintained (people commonly set up 32-bit
VMs for various purposes). You might have to manually create an installer
image, but I don't believe that is partitularly difficult.
 I believe there might be 32-bit install images for older releases for some
distros (eg Ubuntu 16.04) and then you could then do successive release
upgrades.
 Note: depending on how much memory and/or diskspace, you might have issues
with some GUI desktops.  You might stick to a lightweight desktop like xfc4
and avoid the heavyweight desktops like gnome or kde.
 At Thu, 19 Jun 2025 21:37:07 +0200 "Matthew Camilleri" <bunkertoshimatty@gmail.com> wrote:
 

>
I posted a simmilar question on comp.os.misc, but that was generally for
what operating systems to install on this old thing (a Pentium III, 385 or
so megabytes of ram, 80 gb harddrive).
>
What old Linux distro would be cool to run on this thing?

   Most of the 32-bit distros - NOT old - will still
   run on older CPUs.
   There ARE a few distros specifically tuned for old
   systems. Check distrowatch.org
   Original IBM-PCs ... ummmmmm ...... probably better
   with 386's on up.