Page 2: Installation, DSL, Grievances, Conclusion
<b>Installation</b>:
When you are presented with the boot prompt, type the command you used before to boot DSL. In my case it was "fb800x600 dsl 2". At the bash prompt navigate to the /usr/sbin/ directory. Once you are in that directory type "./frugal_install.sh". You can combine these previous two steps by typing "/usr/sbin/frugal_install.sh" at the bash prompt anywhere. The frugal install process will start and asks a few questions.
<center>
</center>
The first question it will ask is where to hold the boot image. Since you have made the partition before hand on hda1, we will use that. Type in 'hda1'. Frugal will ask whether to install the image from a few different media types. This example is using a Virtual PC, but even with my floppy/usb combo on my laptop I had to select Live CD. Just type 'l'. Next question is for extra boot options. We'll put the home, etc, and opt on hda3. Type 'home=hda3 etc=hda3 opt=hda3'. Choose a language. If you are reading this guide, just press enter. At the next prompt type 'y' you would like to specify a default restore partition. Type 'hda3'. You also would like to specify a different partition for myDSL, type 'y'. Next type in 'hda3'. Lastly, all options will be committed and partitions will be formatted and written to. Type 'y' and wait. Once the setup has been completed, let it reboot.
<center>
</center>
After the reboot, you should be presented with another setup screen for selecting what type of X server to use. I tried to use Xvesa on my laptop, but it didn't work so I defaulted to Xfbdev because of the age of my laptop. If you opted to put a screen resolution override on the boot before the install, it will carry over into this. The next two screens are for USB/PS2 mice. Select the appropriate option for your system.
<b>Linux</b>:
<center>
</center>
After the initial setup and config, you'll be presented with a fully working Linux system as depicted. The default window manager takes some getting used to if you are coming from Windows, but is generally very easy to use. Right click on the desktop to bring up the apps menu. To setup other devices, click the DSLpanel icon. Damn Small Linux had no problems detecting my Prism2 wireless card and once I set it up to use my home network I was browsing with ease. Your setup may be different, you are welcome to »post in the forums here or at <a href="http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi">DSL's site</a> for help.
<center>
</center>
As shown, my laptop is running at a speedy 266MHz. Even at this speed, DSL runs extremely well. Firefox was nice and speedy as well as general program responsiveness. DSL has a repository of programs for myDSL which is like apt. Click, download and run. DSL is highly customizable and extendable. I am very impressed. »My system specs are listed here.
<b>Grievances</b>:
I have some grievances with DSL that I hope will be fixed in the next version. Wireless cards do not have a decent utility to help with the wireless networking setup. You are forced to know the exact SSID and channel. Even after typing in all the settings, a reboot clears them. Once DSL gets a cleaner wireless config (that shows signal strength and available SSIDs), it will be much better. Second, myDSL programs don't persist past a reboot. Third, the little dock on the right of the screen is a pain to remove. I still couldn't figure it out and I had to edit a config file to stop it from loading. Fourth, 1024x768 should not be the default resolution. 800x600 or even 640x480 should be default. It would even better if DSL could probe the graphics card. These grievances are rather minor but would improve the distribution if fixed.
<b>Conclusion</b>:
My needs for a thin and light laptop for browsing the internet while I was at school was filled with this little project. If you have an older computer sitting at home collecting dust, give DSL a shot and try to put it to good use. DSL runs happily on older hardware, and on newer hardware, it screams. Giving life to a older computer is a great way to learn about other (better) operating systems, and you can let other people try out it as well. DSL and Linux in general have never ceased to amaze me. My webserver runs Linux, my home fileserver/printserver/webserver and one of my laptops now run it. How long before we say goodnight to Windows completely?
PS: I hate activation and DRM. Thanks for reading. »Voice your opinion in the forums.
When you are presented with the boot prompt, type the command you used before to boot DSL. In my case it was "fb800x600 dsl 2". At the bash prompt navigate to the /usr/sbin/ directory. Once you are in that directory type "./frugal_install.sh". You can combine these previous two steps by typing "/usr/sbin/frugal_install.sh" at the bash prompt anywhere. The frugal install process will start and asks a few questions.
<center>
</center>The first question it will ask is where to hold the boot image. Since you have made the partition before hand on hda1, we will use that. Type in 'hda1'. Frugal will ask whether to install the image from a few different media types. This example is using a Virtual PC, but even with my floppy/usb combo on my laptop I had to select Live CD. Just type 'l'. Next question is for extra boot options. We'll put the home, etc, and opt on hda3. Type 'home=hda3 etc=hda3 opt=hda3'. Choose a language. If you are reading this guide, just press enter. At the next prompt type 'y' you would like to specify a default restore partition. Type 'hda3'. You also would like to specify a different partition for myDSL, type 'y'. Next type in 'hda3'. Lastly, all options will be committed and partitions will be formatted and written to. Type 'y' and wait. Once the setup has been completed, let it reboot.
<center>
</center>After the reboot, you should be presented with another setup screen for selecting what type of X server to use. I tried to use Xvesa on my laptop, but it didn't work so I defaulted to Xfbdev because of the age of my laptop. If you opted to put a screen resolution override on the boot before the install, it will carry over into this. The next two screens are for USB/PS2 mice. Select the appropriate option for your system.
<b>Linux</b>:
<center>
</center>After the initial setup and config, you'll be presented with a fully working Linux system as depicted. The default window manager takes some getting used to if you are coming from Windows, but is generally very easy to use. Right click on the desktop to bring up the apps menu. To setup other devices, click the DSLpanel icon. Damn Small Linux had no problems detecting my Prism2 wireless card and once I set it up to use my home network I was browsing with ease. Your setup may be different, you are welcome to »post in the forums here or at <a href="http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi">DSL's site</a> for help.
<center>
</center>As shown, my laptop is running at a speedy 266MHz. Even at this speed, DSL runs extremely well. Firefox was nice and speedy as well as general program responsiveness. DSL has a repository of programs for myDSL which is like apt. Click, download and run. DSL is highly customizable and extendable. I am very impressed. »My system specs are listed here.
<b>Grievances</b>:
I have some grievances with DSL that I hope will be fixed in the next version. Wireless cards do not have a decent utility to help with the wireless networking setup. You are forced to know the exact SSID and channel. Even after typing in all the settings, a reboot clears them. Once DSL gets a cleaner wireless config (that shows signal strength and available SSIDs), it will be much better. Second, myDSL programs don't persist past a reboot. Third, the little dock on the right of the screen is a pain to remove. I still couldn't figure it out and I had to edit a config file to stop it from loading. Fourth, 1024x768 should not be the default resolution. 800x600 or even 640x480 should be default. It would even better if DSL could probe the graphics card. These grievances are rather minor but would improve the distribution if fixed.
<b>Conclusion</b>:
My needs for a thin and light laptop for browsing the internet while I was at school was filled with this little project. If you have an older computer sitting at home collecting dust, give DSL a shot and try to put it to good use. DSL runs happily on older hardware, and on newer hardware, it screams. Giving life to a older computer is a great way to learn about other (better) operating systems, and you can let other people try out it as well. DSL and Linux in general have never ceased to amaze me. My webserver runs Linux, my home fileserver/printserver/webserver and one of my laptops now run it. How long before we say goodnight to Windows completely?
PS: I hate activation and DRM. Thanks for reading. »Voice your opinion in the forums.