From: ilg@imp.ch (Philippe Steindl) Subject: Re: PC for linux Date: 28 Sep 1993 19:49:49 +0200
Hello,
well, what follows is my opinion and not an order :-)
Oki, there are some things that this PC *must* be:
- It must have a processor 386sx/16 or higher (intel, amd .. whatever)
- I think you must have at least 2 MB RAM
- A Harddisk bigger than 20 MB (for basic systems)
You will not get very far with these minimum requirements. I would suggest
you get a 486dx or dx2. A 386 can do it, too, but as you will need to
compile a lot with linux (kernel updates all the time), you better go for a
486, since 386 are not much cheaper. For memory: get 8 MB if you will not use
X windows and 16 MB if you want to. You can run X with 8 MB (even with 4 I
heard), but it won't be very pleasant. Harddisk: get at least a 245 MB drive,
IDE or SCSI. Get SCSI if you want to use several disks, cdroms, scsi tapes
or if you simply want to ensure you can move the HardDisk when switching to
another computer system (which will support scsi for most cases). Note: IDE
drives are not slower than scsi ones (well, depends on what model of course).
Monitor: get at least a 15" model .. I would go for a 17" monitor, which is
ideal for 1024x768. The video card: get an accelerated one. Linux runs
with most cards, X with many. I would suggest an S3 chip based cards, since
they offer good speed at good prices. Avoid diamond cards (well, not all are
bad, but you won't get into trouble hopefully without a diamond card).
Especially don't buy a viper: this one is fast, but will maybe never get
drivers in Xwindows. I'm using an orchid VA vlb, and it gives me great speed
under Xwin (there are a *lot* of other nice S3 cards, the best are the S3 928
based ones). Floppy drives: at least a 3.5" drive. Buy a 5.25 drive only if
you need compatibility to your friends 5.25" disks or similar. Then, get a
mouse (needed for Xwin or selection, a cut'n'paste "driver" for terminal use).
Linux supports many mice, even bus mice.
Note that I didn't cite a minimal konfiguration, but with this system you
will have no problems originating from hardware. An estimated price would
be ranging from 2000 to 3000 US$, you may even find it for less (also for mor
:)). If you need more details, send me a mail or ask people on #linux in IRC.
Hope I helped you a bit.
Philippe
PS: I would not buy anything less than the above :) It's more expensive at the
start, but you won't regret it.