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