78 lines
3.4 KiB
HTML
78 lines
3.4 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE>4mb Laptop HOWTO: Introduction</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc1" REL=contents>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<A HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html">Next</A>
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Previous
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<A HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc1">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s1">1. Introduction</A> </H2>
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.1">1.1 Why this document was written.</A>
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</H2>
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<P>I got my hands on two elderly laptops, both with just 4mb RAM and small
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(<=200mb) hard drives. I wanted to install Linux on them. The documentation
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for this kind of laptop all recommends installing either a mini-Linux or an
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old (and therefor compact) version of one of the professional distributions.
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I wanted to install an up-to-date professional distribution.
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<H2><A NAME="sec:whatuse"></A> <A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 What use is a small laptop?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Plenty. It isn't going to run X or be a development box (see
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<A HREF="4mb-Laptops-3.html#sec:whichcomponents">Which components to install?</A>) but if you
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are happy at the console you have a machine that can do e-mail, networking,
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writing etc. Laptops also make excellent diagnostic/repair tools and the utilities
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for that will easily fit onto small laptops.
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 Why not just upgrade the laptop?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Upgrading old laptops is not much cheaper than upgrading new ones. That's
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a lot to spend on an old machine, especially considering that the manufacturer
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isn't supporting it any more and spare parts are hard to find.
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 What about 4mb desktop machines?</A>
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</H2>
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<P>The procedure described in this document will work perfectly well on a
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desktop PC. On the other hand, upgrading a desktop machine is far easier and
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cheaper than upgrading a laptop. Even if you don't upgrade it, there are still
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simpler options. You could take out the hard disk, put it in a more powerful
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machine, install Linux, trim it to fit and then put the disk back in the old
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machine.
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 What this document doesn't do.</A>
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</H2>
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<P>This document is not a general HOWTO about installing Linux on laptops
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or even a specific HOWTO for either of the two machines mentioned here. It
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simply describes a way of squeezing a large Linux into a very small space,
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citing two specific machines as examples.
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.6">1.6 Where to find this document.</A>
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</H2>
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<P>The latest copy of this document can be found in several formats at
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<A HREF="http://website.lineone.net/~brichardson/linux/4mb_laptops/">http://website.lineone.net/~brichardson/linux/4mb_laptops/</A>.
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<H2><A NAME="ss1.7">1.7 Copyright</A>
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</H2>
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<P>This document is copyright (c) Bruce Richardson 2000. It may be distributed
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under the terms set forth in the LDP license at sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/COPYRIGHT.html.
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<P>This HOWTO is free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the LDP license. This document is distributed in the
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hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied
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warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the LDP
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license for more details.
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<P>Toshiba and T1910 are trademarks of Toshiba Corporation. Compaq and Contura
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Aero are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
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<HR>
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<A HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html">Next</A>
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Previous
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<A HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc1">Contents</A>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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