[oclug]Linux on a 486

[B McKee]

On November 2, 2002 12:17 pm, you wrote:
> Hello,
> I am seeking advice on installing Linux on a 486. 
> The purpose is to access a SCO unix system
> as a terminal.
> These machines do not have CD-ROM drives, nor do they
> have a lot of memory.
> My questions are:
> 1 - Which distro or version of Linux is best for this purpose.
> 2 - How do I install it since there is no CD-ROM drive.
> 3 - What program should I use for the Terminal Emulation.
> Thanks in advance for your help.

486's will do that job just fine, and it's cheaper to buy an old PC than a 
terminal these days.

I think you should be able to accomplish what you want with any of the 
mainstream distros.  Both Debian and RedHat have network installation setups 
if required, and I imagine the others do too.

    Depending on your patience level you could even install from floppy 
although I doubt it's much fun.

    Basically, if you have a server on the network with a CDROM drive and/or 
a chunk of harddrive space free you should be able to create a boot floppy, 
boot the 486 from the floppy and point the installation program at the server 
to finish the job.  RH7.2 (and newer versions too I'm sure) offers 
installation from an NFS server, an FTP server, or an HTTP server.

   If it's easier to play with hardware than the network, as an alternative 
you could beg/borrow/rent a CDROM or another harddrive with the installation 
files already it, and hook it up to each machine just long enough to install 
the OS.
  
   Pick a distro and I'm sure someone on this list familiar with that distro 
can help you get started.

Depending on how you are working with the SCO unit, the emulation shouldn't 
be too much trouble either.  We use linux PC's at work, and the linux text 
console combined with the native telnet program produces  a nice colour 
display most employees prefer to the dedicated serial terminals.

Brian