Is there still a stripped down distribution, based on debian, which keeps
the kernel and security packages updated while remaining a version behind,
or while stripping the bells and whistles?

A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine that I use
as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to downgrade it back due
to issues with it grinding the system to a halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

I was hoping there might still be some debian-based "lighter weight"
distros out there. The ones I remember from a few years back have ceased
being maintained.

Thanks!

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Hi! Mike,

On 17 Aug 19 19:41, you wrote to ALL:

A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine that I
use as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to downgrade it
back due to issues with it grinding the system to a halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

How much RAM does the old Pet have, Mike?

I've been enjoying a Lubuntu/32 VirtalBox VM for the last month or more. At least one reviewer remarked that it would probably be fine in 512Mb. My VM is allowed a 1Gb but rarely exceeds 300Mb in a Htop reporter. It's running my main Fidonet node: 2x binkD tasks, FMail/lnx beta tosser, SAMBA etc. With a real GUI if you want it. :)

Cheers,
Paul.

... Today is merely the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20130515
* Origin: Quinn's Rock - Live from Paul's Xubuntu desktop! (3:640/1384)

Mike Powell wrote to ALL <=-

Is there still a stripped down distribution, based on debian,
which keeps the kernel and security packages updated while
remaining a version behind, or while stripping the bells and
whistles?

A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine
that I use as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to
downgrade it back due to issues with it grinding the system to a
halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

I was hoping there might still be some debian-based "lighter
weight" distros out there. The ones I remember from a few years
back have ceased being maintained.

You might give antiX a try, it says it's a lightweight Deb variant
and specifically mentions running on P3's:

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=antix


... Error reading REALITY.SYS - Solar System halted.
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A few weeks back I tried upgrading an old Pentium-3 800 machine that I use as a server from debian 9 to 10 "Buster." I had to downgrade it back due to issues with it grinding the system to a halt, and that is without even installing an x-server. :)

How much RAM does the old Pet have, Mike?

256MB! I thought it had a little more than that, but it does not. :)

I've been enjoying a Lubuntu/32 VirtalBox VM for the last month or more. At least one reviewer remarked that it would probably be fine in 512Mb. My VM

is

allowed a 1Gb but rarely exceeds 300Mb in a Htop reporter. It's running my main Fidonet node: 2x binkD tasks, FMail/lnx beta tosser, SAMBA etc. With a real GUI if you want it. :)

Thanks for the recommendation. Not looking to run a gui on it.

Mike

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Hello Mike!

18 Aug 19 09:33, Mike Powell wrote to PAUL QUINN:

How much RAM does the old Pet have, Mike?

256MB! I thought it had a little more than that, but it does not.
:)

Although certainly not being Debian, recent FreeBSD should be able to run on hardware like that.


Regards,
Gerrit

... 7:28PM up 124 days, 3:49, 8 users, load averages: 0.38, 0.41, 0.40

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
* Origin: Tall orders to fulfil (2:240/12)

You might give antiX a try, it says it's a lightweight Deb variant
and specifically mentions running on P3's:

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=antix

Thanks, I shall keep an eye on it.

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Although certainly not being Debian, recent FreeBSD should be able to run on hardware like that.

I wonder how much of a learning curve I would be getting into there. :) I have tried NetBSD and OpenIndiana in times past.

Mike

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Hi! Mike,

On 18 Aug 19 09:33, you wrote to me:

Thanks for the recommendation. Not looking to run a gui on it.

You could run an old Puppy Linux in 256Mb. I have been running a test Fido node VM with that for... checking... 8 years, this month. It doesn't need a GUI (my mod), and is a special multi-user flavour (standard Puppy runs as root only).

Forget using any modern Deb/Ubuntu system under 1Gb (except for Lubuntu). Even their 'server' required same for a test MBSE config, minus GUI.

Cheers,
Paul.

... Toto, I don't think we're in DOS any more...
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20130515
* Origin: Quinn's Rock - Live from Paul's Xubuntu desktop! (3:640/1384)

Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Mike Powell to GERRIT KUEHN on Sun Aug 18 2019 06:41 pm

I wonder how much of a learning curve I would be getting into there. :) I have tried NetBSD and OpenIndiana in times past.

Mike

FreeBSD is the most linux-like of the BSDs. Which is the reason why I don't
use it much. I mean, for running a Linux-like system I prefer Linux itself.

OpenBSD might be easier to get started than NetBSD, but it is less
lightweight out of the box. It still should be able to cope with old hardware because the bare requerinments are ridiculous.
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Hello Mike!

18 Aug 19 18:41, Mike Powell wrote to GERRIT KUEHN:

Although certainly not being Debian, recent FreeBSD should be able to
run on hardware like that.

I wonder how much of a learning curve I would be getting into there.
:) I have tried NetBSD and OpenIndiana in times past.

Then you should already be well prepared, FreeBSD is not that much different.


Regards,
Gerrit

... 5:54PM up 125 days, 2:15, 8 users, load averages: 0.60, 0.48, 0.39

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
* Origin: And still they come and go (2:240/12)

Hello Richard!

19 Aug 19 05:35, Richard Falken wrote to All:

FreeBSD is the most linux-like of the BSDs.

Um, that (maybe) used to be true 10 years ago... but today?


Regards,
Gerrit

... 5:57PM up 125 days, 2:18, 8 users, load averages: 0.35, 0.45, 0.40

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Gerrit Kuehn to Richard Falken on Mon Aug 19 2019 05:57 pm

FreeBSD is the most linux-like of the BSDs.

Um, that (maybe) used to be true 10 years ago... but today?

I am curious. Which do you think is the most Linux-like of the BSDs?
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Hello Richard!

19 Aug 19 12:10, Richard Falken wrote to Gerrit Kuehn:

FreeBSD is the most linux-like of the BSDs.

Um, that (maybe) used to be true 10 years ago... but today?

I am curious. Which do you think is the most Linux-like of the BSDs?

Depends on your scale: How do you measure Linux-ness? And are we talking about the kernel alone, a base OS, or a full system?
Linux in itself is pretty balkanised when it comes to a full distribution.


Regards,
Gerrit

... 9:45PM up 125 days, 6:06, 8 users, load averages: 0.35, 0.40, 0.40

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Gerrit Kuehn to Richard Falken on Mon Aug 19 2019 09:45 pm

Depends on your scale: How do you measure Linux-ness? And are we talking about the kernel alone, a base OS, or a full system?
Linux in itself is pretty balkanised when it comes to a full distribution.

I was thinking about the administration experience.
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Hello Richard!

19 Aug 19 14:10, Richard Falken wrote to Gerrit Kuehn:

Depends on your scale: How do you measure Linux-ness? And are we
talking about the kernel alone, a base OS, or a full system?
Linux in itself is pretty balkanised when it comes to a full
distribution.

I was thinking about the administration experience.

Depends heavily on the particular Linux distribution, I'd say. As of today, Gentoo still may feel similar to FreeBSD. Most other major distributions went a different way (employing stuff like systemd, NetworkManager, ip, netfilter, etc.), making their administration experience quite different from any *BSD system.


Regards,
Gerrit

... 7:54PM up 126 days, 4:15, 8 users, load averages: 0.54, 0.43, 0.40

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Gerrit Kuehn to Richard Falken on Tue Aug 20 2019 07:54 pm

Depends heavily on the particular Linux distribution, I'd say. As of today,

Gentoo

still may feel similar to FreeBSD. Most other major distributions went a

different

way (employing stuff like systemd, NetworkManager, ip, netfilter, etc.), making their administration experience quite different from any *BSD

system.

You are probably right.

I deal mostly with Slackware (even at work), which is very BSDish, so maybe I am biased. When I last tried FreeBSD the install procedure and default(ish) programs in it brought me memories of Linux. Meanwhile, OpenBSD ships with its own structure and quirks (OpenSMTPD instead of postfix or exim , wxallow filesystems by default, no PAM, you get the idea). NetBSD install procedure is so RTFM that the whole thing feels like a high tech dinossaur.

Or maybe I should stop doing bourbon.
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Hello Richard!

20 Aug 19 14:30, Richard Falken wrote to Gerrit Kuehn:

I deal mostly with Slackware (even at work), which is very BSDish, so

Oh, I almost forgot about Slackware. Havn't used it since around 2000, I guess.

maybe I am biased. When I last tried FreeBSD the install procedure
and default(ish) programs in it brought me memories of Linux.

Yeah, but probably "old-school" Linux like Gentoo or Slackware, not the "modern" stuff most distros ship today.

Meanwhile, OpenBSD ships with its own structure and quirks (OpenSMTPD instead of postfix or exim , wxallow filesystems by default, no PAM,
you get the idea).

Retired my last OpenBSD system around 2005. I'm pretty much FreeBSD and Linux these days.

NetBSD install procedure is so RTFM that the whole
thing feels like a high tech dinossaur.

;-)
I think I tried NetBSD only once on an old Sparc IPC station back in the late 1990ies. Didn't work too well for me back then, as far as I can remember I went to OpenBSD on that box quite quickly.

Or maybe I should stop doing bourbon.

;-)


Regards,
Gerrit

... 5:47PM up 127 days, 2:08, 8 users, load averages: 0.36, 0.30, 0.31

--- Msged/BSD 6.1.2
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Re: Stripped down Debian dist
By: Gerrit Kuehn to Richard Falken on Mon Aug 19 2019 05:57 pm

Hello Richard!

19 Aug 19 05:35, Richard Falken wrote to All:

FreeBSD is the most linux-like of the BSDs.

Um, that (maybe) used to be true 10 years ago... but today?

Regards,
Gerrit

... 5:57PM up 125 days, 2:18, 8 users, load averages: 0.35, 0.45, 0.40

It's not too far off what you'd expect. The 'pkg' system is quite similar to what you'd see on Debian. I find updating to new releases to be a lot less painful than most Linux-based releaes.

If you've got an NVidia card X is a no-brainer. Wine still runs well (I had Windows Steam and various steam games running on FreeBSD just for the hell of it).

But there's no systemd, and that's a mark of pride.


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