Caldera's Open Linux 2.3

[Bob Stickney]

On Sun, 24 Oct 1999, A.R. pontificated these words of wisdom:
> Guys:
> 
> I'm new to Linux so I don't know a thing. I ordered Caldera's Open Linux 2.3
> distribution. I will receive it in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I have
> to decide what PC to buy. Processorwise what should be the minimum to use
> Linux with KDesktop, Gnome or some other GUI at a comfortable speed. Since I
> can't spend a lot I looked at a couple of cheap used PC's. I'm trying to
> decide between a Pentium 133 and a 486 100. Is the 486's speed fast enough
> to run Linux with GUI.
> 
> Also, if anyone has used Caldera's Open Linux 2.3 I'd really like to know
> what they think about it.
> 

I presently have one box that is a 486 DX2-66 with
Slackware/KDE on it. While it won't set any speed
records, it is acceptable. 

So either the 486 or the P133 will be adequate. However,
the Pentium will be noticeably faster, so unless cost is
really a factor, I would go with the Pentium.

Also, some of the older BIOS' can be a little tricky to
configure.

Perhaps more important that the CPU is memory. If you don't
have enough memory, the system will be constantly using the
swap partition, which really slows things down. 32 MB is a
good minimum, and 64 MB is ideal. 

Caldera 2.3 is an excellent choice for a first intall. If
you can handle a Windows install, you should be able to
handle Caldera. It comes with a GUI installation program
that is extremely user-friendly, and it uses Partition
Magic instead of fdisk or disk druid to handle the hard
drive partitioning. The auto-probing is very good; if you
have common peripherals it will detect them and do most of
the configuring for you.  It guides you through setting up
both a root and a user account. It even provides a game of
Tetris for your amusement while it finishes the install!

If you have a GB or more of hard drive to play with, select
the "everything" install. This will give you lots of stuff
to play with, and you can always uninstall applications
later if you need more disk space. Besides, it's fun -
you'll be constantly discovering things that you didn't
know you had. :-)

Atfer the install, it boots right into KDE and even
provides a wizard (literally - you'll see) to guide you
through the initial KDE configuration.

 --
Bob Stickney
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