low end linux
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From: philo on 24 Jan 2010 10:30 I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines will be used by the members strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get tampered with. I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... except it did not survive an important test: What happens if someone turns the power switch off while the machine is running? Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system fails to boot and fsck must be run manually. I tried it a number of times to confirm and have decided that this will not be a satisfactory solution...and got the same results with Puppy Linux. I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad shut down...but the machines are too low end to run it properly. The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is Vector Linux... not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus the only way to shut the machine down is by logging in as root or "sudo" from the command line. Suggestions welcome
From: ray on 24 Jan 2010 10:34 On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:30:39 -0600, philo wrote: > I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux > machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM > > They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines > will be used by the members > strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get > tampered with. > > I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... except it did not > survive an important test: What happens if someone turns the power > switch off while the machine is running? > > > Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system fails to boot and fsck > must be run manually. I tried it a number of times to confirm and have > decided that this will not be a satisfactory solution...and got the same > results with Puppy Linux. > > I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad shut down...but the > machines are too low end to run it properly. > > > The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is > Vector Linux... > not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus the only > way to shut the machine down is by logging in as root or "sudo" from the > command line. > > Suggestions welcome Have you considered running off the Live CD - that would certainly eliminate the power off scenario. BTW - what happens when they do that to their MS machines (rhetorical question)?
From: J.O. Aho on 24 Jan 2010 10:40 philo wrote: > > I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux > machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM > > They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines > will be used by the members > strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get > tampered with. > > I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... > except it did not survive an important test: > What happens if someone turns the power switch off while the machine is > running? > > > Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system > fails to boot and fsck must be run manually. I tried it a number of > times to confirm and have decided that this will not be a satisfactory > solution...and got the same results with Puppy Linux. There are other file systems to use, I do recommend reiserfs (version 3.6), which has been the most crash resistant file system I have used. > I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad > shut down...but the machines are too low end to run it properly. You can switch to another window manager, one of my favorites is ctwm. It may require slightly more configuration from your side, but it's stable and fast. > The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is > Vector Linux... > not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus > the only way to shut the machine down is by > logging in as root or "sudo" from the command line. You could try to install another "login manager", or check the settings for the login manager to enable shutdown by normal users. -- //Aho
From: Dan C on 24 Jan 2010 11:29 On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:30:39 -0600, philo wrote: > I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux > machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM > > They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines > will be used by the members > strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get > tampered with. > > I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... except it did not > survive an important test: What happens if someone turns the power > switch off while the machine is running? > > > Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system fails to boot and fsck > must be run manually. I tried it a number of times to confirm and have > decided that this will not be a satisfactory solution...and got the same > results with Puppy Linux. > > I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad shut down...but the > machines are too low end to run it properly. > > > The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is > Vector Linux... > not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus the only > way to shut the machine down is by logging in as root or "sudo" from the > command line. > > Suggestions welcome Perhaps you could set up a LTSP server, and use the low end boxes as simple "dumb terminals". Often used in schools and similar organizations. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Terminal_Server_Project and here: http://www.ltsp.org/ -- "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". "Bother!" said Pooh, as he wiped the vomit from his chin. Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
From: philo on 24 Jan 2010 11:34
ray wrote: > On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:30:39 -0600, philo wrote: > >> I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux >> machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM >> >> They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines >> will be used by the members >> strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get >> tampered with. >> >> I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... except it did not >> survive an important test: What happens if someone turns the power >> switch off while the machine is running? >> >> >> Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system fails to boot and fsck >> must be run manually. I tried it a number of times to confirm and have >> decided that this will not be a satisfactory solution...and got the same >> results with Puppy Linux. >> >> I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad shut down...but the >> machines are too low end to run it properly. >> >> >> The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is >> Vector Linux... >> not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus the only >> way to shut the machine down is by logging in as root or "sudo" from the >> command line. >> >> Suggestions welcome > > Have you considered running off the Live CD - that would certainly > eliminate the power off scenario. BTW - what happens when they do that to > their MS machines (rhetorical question)? I've considered a live cd as that's pretty fool proof.. but the initial startup asks a few questions... though simple enough...would baffle the users. I am a bit puzzled why DSL with ext3 does not survive a bad shut down... the more full Linux distros can handle that fine. As to your "rhetorical" question about MS... NTFS seems to do a decent enough job of handling bad shut downs. Fat32 of course can have problems |