I took the plunge!

jacuzz1

jacuzz1

Supreme [H]ardness
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I recently aquired an old P2 300mhz Compaq for free and decided to put it to use by installing Red Hat linux. I downloaded the iso files from the Red Hat site. Installation went without a hitch. I have a couple of questions.

I am impressed with the os but its very sluggish. Can I assume it the 300mhz P2 and only 98 meg of system ram (2 shared for video) ?

My second question is about the desk top configuration. It appears to have only one default back ground /interface (X something or other) I have heard of gnome something or other. Please forgive my lack of knowledge of linux. Is this "gnome" thingy sometihing i can download or am i way off base here?


Signed: A linux total newbee that installed it on a wim to make use of a dinasaur.
 
i've got a p2 laptop. 160MBs RAM tho. but anyway, redhat's default GUI is gonna be sluggish on a p2. turn off all the animation effects and crap. kde will be faster imo than gnome. ideally you'd use openbox or fluxbox or blackbox, but they're bitches as a complete newbie.

what version of redhat did you install? i personally can't help you much for redhat specific stuff, but somebody should be able to.

if you open up control center and then have alook at appearance and themes you should get on a good start atleast.
 
My second question is about the desk top configuration. It appears to have only one default back ground /interface (X something or other) I have heard of gnome something or other. Please forgive my lack of knowledge of linux. Is this "gnome" thingy sometihing i can download or am i way off base here?
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The way it works is that X (aka "The X Window System" or "X11") provides the actual GUI, but it, by itself doesn't do much else, to do things like have icons on your desktop, have window borders or even move windows, you need other software (window managers and desktop environments). IIRC, Redhat's default environment is KDE (The K Desktop Environment, I forget what its default window manager is). I think you probably have GNOME installed already (if not, it should be on your installation media). To switch to GNOME, all you really need to do is select it from the "Session" dialog on the login screen (there should be one).
 
Thanks for the education on the gnome. I am running in already lol. I found another 128 meg of ram laying around and when i get home i will install it as well.
 
Pretty much the same stuff they said . . . if you trim down the GUI that should get rid of the lion's share of the problems. As you learn more about Linux you can start streamlining it and optimizing it to run well on that machine. Best of luck!
 
Thanks for the imput. I started playing with printer installation today as well as installing AIM, and real player. Kinda wierd how you install things.
 
Originally posted by ameoba
I forget what its default window manager is).
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well the kde enviroment includes a wm, i guess just a kwm or whatever. But it is part of kde

if you are not worried about eyecandy, or are willing to spend time setting up text-config files, use a *box: flux (my fav), open, black, as they are much less resource intensive
 
Originally posted by cloaked
well the kde enviroment includes a wm, i guess just a kwm or whatever. But it is part of kde

if you are not worried about eyecandy, or are willing to spend time setting up text-config files, use a *box: flux (my fav), open, black, as they are much less resource intensive
Click to expand...
;)
 
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