8 Great Alternative Desktop Managers For Linux

Most of the Linux users should be familiar with Gnome and KDE since both of them are the most commonly used desktop managers in the various Linux distros. Now, if you are using an old PC with low hardware specs, you might find that the above two desktop environments are too heavy for your computer to handle. More

Dual boot Win98 + Ubuntu 7.10

Visual guide to installing Windows 98 and Ubuntu 7.10 minimal command line system for dual-booting with a PC Chips 'Book PC' with a 400 Mhz Celeron CPU with 64 Mb of RAM and a 20.0 GB hard drive. .

Ubuntu GTK1.2 Remix

Ubuntu GTK1.2 Remix is a revision of an Ubuntu 8.04 live CD that is intended to run on old, outdated hardware, with a target in the sub-300Mhz range.

It relies almost entirely on GTK1.2-based software, which means it should prove both fast and ugly in equal measures, on almost any i386 computer.

Ubuntu Dapper Drake on Pentium I machines

XFCE Ubuntu 6.06.1 on 120Mhz Pentium 1 + 48Mb + 1.5Gb
Ubuntu 6.06.1 + 75Mhz Pentium + 64Mb + 1.5Gb + Openbox

Review of Ubuntulite

Review of Ubuntulite with LXDE desktop environment. Not downloadable as a single .iso.

Lightweight Desktop tips from Inxsible

Lightweight Desktop tips from Inxsible - just click on desktop applications and WMs on the right.

Damn Small Linux tips

Adding Icons
1. Bring up the menu
2. Click Desktop
3. Click IconTool
To see an added icon
4. Bring up the menu
5. Click Window Manager
6. Click Restart

Set up wireless internet
1. Bring up the menu
2. Click System


Adding Users
1. Bring up the menu
2. Click System
3. Click AddUsers

Change user privileges

Intro to the desktop
http://bit.ly/17FbTv

Compared with Windows
http://bit.ly/3uyfsk

Remaster DSL
1. Open ATerminal
2. Type mkmydsl
http://bit.ly/10kDsK

ATerminal Commands
Copy "cp"
Delete "rm"
Move "mv"
Rename "mv"

Configure JWM (DSL 4)
Edit .jwmrc
http://bit.ly/PBHbx

Configure Fluxbox (DSL 1-3)

Configure Conky (the text you can see on the right of the desktop)
Edit .conkyrc
http://bit.ly/3Yvguo

Change the default window manager
Edit .xinitrc

Damn Small Linux Not
http://bit.ly/2d3t9Y

French Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or9GR4QfWCY

Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdbC9CubV68

ASCII Ribbon Campaign for plain text e-mails

ASCII ribbon campaign - against rich text/html e-mails and proprietary attachments.

XP-Free Zone

The XP-Free Zone by Mark Lee published by Micromart in 2006 about Microsoft Windows other than Windows XP.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12
RQMoney
Best small web browser
(3.6Mb) Links 2 (Cross platform)

Links 2 supports graphics and Javascript and is very fast.

Revive an old PC with Linux - wikiHow

Revive an old PC with Linux - wikiHow

How to Revive an old PC with Linux


from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have you got an old computer gathering dust in the attic? Did you know you can revive it with a modern Linux operating system? It can become a useful router/firewall, server or even desktop computer again. All without buying expensive Windows licences that are no longer even supported. Old limitations on file names, disk size, USB support in early Windows versions can even be overcome.

Steps


  1. Consider what you want, a desktop computer, a server, or a router/firewall
  2. Clean it with compressed air
  3. Test your PC will turn on safely
  4. Determine what your PC will boot from (in the BIOS or manual), old ones might not boot from USB, really old ones might not even boot from CD
  5. If it won't boot from CD, download floppy boot images of Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux (WakePup for Puppy Linux 1 and 2 series) and once extracted onto a floppy disk, insert them into your old PC
  6. Download Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux CDs (on a new PC if you have one) and burn them as images (with Infrarecorder or Nero)
  7. Turn your old PC on if you haven't already and insert the CDs as soon as you can, if successful, you'll be greeted by a DSL or Puppy Linux boot screen for a few seconds (press a key quickly to interrupt the countdown if you like)
  8. Unless you have valuable data on the old PC, consider creating a swap partition (with gParted or Ultimate Boot CD) if you have too little ram (less than 64Mb) to run the distros "live"
  9. Read and consider carefully using cheat codes at boot (also called boot parameters) to run more from CD and use less RAM
  10. Choose Xvesa rather than X.org framebuffer if you have display problems
  11. Turn off ACPI or APM if you have problems
  12. If you like Puppy Linux but 3 series is too slow, consider 2 series (Phoenix or 214R), or even 1 series (MeanPup or 109CE)
  13. If you like Damn Small Linux, also consider Damn Small Linux-Not (with Abiword and Gnumeric) or Feather Linux (also derived from Knoppix).
  14. If you have a serial mouse, test whether it is detected and works. If it doesn't, then additional configuration can be made with boot parameters/cheat codes
  15. For dial-up modems, consider a hardware dial-up modem for maximum compatibility
  16. Some gains in performance may be made, once installed to hard disk rather than running live
  17. Also consider a "frugal installation" for performance gains


Tips


  • If you're adding applications, choose lightweight ones like SIAG Office rather than OpenOffice.org
  • Choose lightweight window managers like JWM, IceWM or Fluxbox rather than GNOME or KDE
  • Choose lightweight browsers like Opera or Dillo rather than Konqueror or Flock.
  • If you want something different and unusual with eye-candy, consider Enlightenment window manager which comes with eLive


Warnings


  • If power supply wires have broken do not use the PC
  • Puppy Linux runs as root



Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Revive an old PC with Linux. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Choice Puplets

Dragon Puppy
eBoxPup (and MiniPup)
ecoPup
Fire Hydrant
117Mb-JWM
131Mb-Featherweight
205Mb-Abiword
270Mb-OpenOffice
447Mb-Inferno
or here
FlightPup
IcePup (formerly known as FoxPup/LitePup)
Grafpup
Lighthouse Pup (+ optional KDE)
MeanPup
MiniPup
Minsys (codename Muppy)
NOP
Pupeee
PuppyPro
TeenPup
Tmxxine (Shard, Rainbow or Prism)
XPuppyPro

Updates and additions

Best small raster graphics editor
(1.6Mb) Photofiltre (Windows/WINE/ReactOS)

Best small internet browser
(0.6Mb) Crazy Browser (Windows/WINE/ReactOS)
(2.3Mb) Netsurf (Linux)
(1Mb?) Skipstone (Linux)

Computing Minimalists

For people who would rather wait seconds than minutes.

"While users expectations of computers have increased, computer programs have grown larger, or used larger amounts of system resources. Resources are perceived as cheap, and rapidity of coding and headline features for marketing are seen as priorities. Niklaus Wirth has summed up the situation in Wirth's Law*, which states that software speed is decreasing more quickly than hardware speed is increasing. Software gets slower faster than hardware gets faster." - Wikipedia. This should and can be avoided.

*Wirth himself says this quote belongs to Martin Reiser. So, perhaps it should be known as "Reiser's law".

"Word processing was a solved problem in 1984. By 1987 spreadsheets had all the functions a normal person would ever use. Databases took a little longer, but by 1990 that was sorted. An infant could have been born that day and by now would be almost of age to vote and we've seen no real improvement in productivity since." - Mikel Kirk

----
Best small office suite
(2Mb) Floppy Office (KPad, Spread32, Eve, PDF Producer) (Windows)
(2Mb) SIAG Office (SIAG spreadsheet, Pathetic Writer, Egon animator) (Linux)
(6Mb) Papyrus Office (Cross platform)

Best small internet browser
(0.5Mb) TheWorld Browser (Windows)
(1Mb) OffbyOne (Windows)
(0.3Mb) Dillo (Cross platform)
(5.2Mb) K-Meleon/K-Ninja (Windows)

Best small graphical operating system
(1.44Mb) KolibriOS (based on MenuetOS)
(50Mb) Damn Small Linux
(50Mb) MeanPup (based on Puppy Linux)
(23Mb) ReactOS (Windows compatible)
(11Mb) FreeDOS + OpenGEM complete

Best small e-mail client
(1Mb) i.Scribe (Cross platform)
(5.3Mb) Sylpheed (Cross platform)

Best small word processors
(0.3Mb) AEdit (Windows)
(5.2Mb) Abiword (Cross platform)

Best small spreadsheet
(0.9Mb) Sphygmic (Windows)
(0.4Mb) Spread32 (Windows)
(1.3Mb) Simple SpreadSheet (Linux)

Best small finance management
(2.1Mb) Money Manager Ex (Cross platform)

Best small instant messenger
(1.43Mb) Miranda IM (Windows)
(4.1Mb) aMSN (Cross platform)

Best small PDF reader
(1.7Mb) Xpdf (Linux)
(0.8Mb) Sumatra PDF (Windows)
(2.1Mb) Foxit (Cross platform)

Best small image organisers
(3.4Mb) Xnview (Cross platform)
(1.1Mb) Irfanview (Windows)
(2.5Mb) imgv (Cross platform)

Best small raster graphics editors
(4.7Mb) mtPaint (Cross platform)
(0.4Mb) Xpaint (Linux)

Best small diagramming application
(0.1Mb) Eve (Windows)
(12.2Mb) Dia (Cross platform)

Best small video player
(0.3Mb) Fusion Media Player

Best small archiving and compression
(0.8Mb) 7-Zip (Cross platform)
(2.9Mb) PeaZip (Cross platform)

Best small disc authoring
(1.8Mb) SilentNight Micro CD Burner 5 (Windows)
(1.5Mb) ImgBurn (Windows)

Best small audio players
(0.02Mb) Zinf (Cross platform)
(1.6Mb) foobar2000 (Windows)
(1.5Mb) XMMS (Linux)
(0.3Mb) XMPlay (Windows)

Best small torrent software
(0.2Mb) µTorrent (Windows)
(2.3Mb) Transmission (Linux, Mac)

Best small organisers
(1.2Mb) UK's Kalender (Windows)
(2.8Mb) EssentialPIM Free (Windows)

Best small Genealogy software
(0.2Mb) Simple Family Tree (Windows)

Best small file manager
(2Mb) Universal Viewer (Windows)

Best small desktops
(0.9Mb) Litestep (Windows)
(~6Mb?) Blackbox (Cross platform)

Best guerilla wiki (Cross platform)
(0.2Mb) TiddlyWiki
(0.02Mb) DidiWiki

Best small Project Management
(2.94Mb) FusionDesk (Windows)
(9Mb) GANTT Project (Cross platform)

Best small notetaking software
(1.6Mb) Keynote