Ubuntu Mini-RAM HOWTO

[wayover13]

azz Wrote: 
> Not really.  I have tried it on my 167Mhz laptop.  The base system is
> pretty much the same on both.

Yes, I've just now done a Debian minimal install using the latest
netinst image and the sizes I got after base install were exactly the
same as those given by Ingo after his base install. So, it seems there
is negligible difference here.

> Actually, Sarge installs with either a 2.4 or a 2.6 kernel.  They are
> both offered in the base system.  The use must type linux26 to get it,
> though.  Ubuntu also offers a stable release.  Although many packages
> are installed from universe with such a minimal install, the security
> updates from main are still relevant.

Ok. So security is one feature Ubuntu has going for it over a regular
Debian install. On the security issue, for how long will security
updates be issued for Warty? A point I see in favor of a Debian minimal
install at present that I should note is that it seems that with the
newest installer, hardware autodetection on every boot is finally
implemented in Debian. The install I did, for example, used a wired NIC
for downloading packages. When I finally took the machine to where it
was going to be set up, I removed the wired NIC and inserted a wireless
(pcmcia--Wavelan, well-supported). I was amazed to see that I didn't
need to tell it to insert modules for that card and run dhcp on that
interface: it detected the card, auto-installed modules and ran dhcp
and was on the local network with no input whatsoever from me. 
Impressive! My experiences with Warty indicate to me that it used a
version of the installer and Debian unstable system that had not yet
implemented this hardware autodetection on boot: I've had to do a fair
amount of manual tweaking to set up new hardware on my Ubuntu machine.
But Hoary should have this autodetection feature, so what I'm saying
about a possible pro for Debian and con for Ubuntu here only applies to
Warty.

James


-- 
wayover13