Ubuntu 6.06 on a 1.6gb Hard Drive. Is it possible?

Question

I am asking this as I have a beaten up old Compaq Pentium which meets the system requirements. It would only be for web browsing and I don't want to swap the Hard Drive if I don't have to.

Answer 1

Your best bet would be to use the "Install a command-line system" option. Then install a desktop environment by running something like:

sudo apt-get install x-window-system-core xfce4 xfce4-terminal thunar prelink preload





then you can start the GUI by running:

startx





You could then install a lightweight web browser like swiftfox



I don't remember how much hd space it takes up, but I think your hard drive is enough



Ubuntu will also run pretty lightweight if you do that, I had it running comfortably in 128mb of RAM





Another thing you could do (assuming it has usb ports) is buy a nice sized usb flash drive and make 2 partitions on it, one for /usr and one for /home.



/usr is where all software is installed and I think you know what /home is.

Answer 2

Yes this is very possible, you will be limited on what packages you can install though, most distributions that give you a full line of programs usually take up 2GB, but most of these installed apps you won't ever use. I've installed linux on a 850MB hard drive and nly used about 200MB for a dedicated firewall/router with no X server, just basic compilers, network apps, etc.

Answer 3

I have here information straight from the Ubuntu site about it's system requirements.



On a system with that amount of disk space it is suggested that you use "Xubuntu" installation. Also it states with the minimum requirements that you'll be running shell/terminal only (server mode) if you want decent performance. (Non-GUI) So web-browsing would be limited to text only browsers such as Lynx if you're looking for any level of performance.



The minimum requirements are only likely to allow a server (non-graphical) installation to run well.



They also have information for running Ubuntu on Legacy Hardware or very minimal systems.



Short answer is yes, it can be done, long answer. Read below, and view the webpage.

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Bare Minimum requirements



It should be possible to get Ubuntu running on a system with the following minimum hardware specification, although it is unlikely that the system would run well. You should use the Alternate install CD to attempt such an installation.



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300 MHz x86 processor

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64 MB of system memory (RAM)

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At least 4 GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space)

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VGA graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution

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CD-ROM drive or network card



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Low-spec computers (Xubuntu)



If you have an old or low-spec computer, using a lightweight desktop system such as Xubuntu is recommended, as it should make more efficient use of your system's resources.



If your system has less than 192 MB of system memory, use the Alternate Installation CD.



Note: If you have a low-specification computer, certain features may be automatically turned off to conserve system resources. For example, if you have a graphics card with only a small amount of video memory (VRAM), the boot-up screen may not be shown.



Minimum requirements



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166 MHz processor

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64 MB of system memory (RAM)

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At least 1.5 GB of disk space

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VGA graphics card

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LTSP thin-client computers



If you are intending to use a computer as a thin client (such as a client for an Edubuntu LTSP Terminal Server), only a low-specification computer capable of displaying graphics and connecting to a network is required.

Absolute minimum installation



The absolute minimum Ubuntu installation provides only a command-line interface and installs very few packages. You can add additional packages and a graphical interface manually.



In order to install the absolute minimum installation, use the Alternate Installation CD.



It is possible that you will be able to install Ubuntu on computers with lower specifications than those given below. However, installation may be extremely difficult and Ubuntu is likely to run very slowly on such a system.

Absolute minimum requirements



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Intel 486 processor

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32 MB of system memory (RAM)

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300 MB of disk space

Answer 4

Possibly, but if not, try something like DSL (Damn Small Linux) or PCLinux OS minime, or some other very small distro.