linux notetaker

[Doug]

 > 386 laptop 2mb ram 16mhz cpu etc...
 > linux probably would work even on that.

Patrick has a low memory kernel (slackware) here:
ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-current/kernels/lowmem.i/

lowmem.i This is a really stripped-down Linux kernel which might be
useful for installing on IDE systems with a low amount of RAM
(less than 8MB). It's also the only Slackware kernel that supports
old 386 machines. If bare.i runs into problems, you might try this.
NOTE: On systems with extremely low memory (4MB), ZipSlack plus the
fourmeg.zip add-on (found in the zipslack directory) may boot and
run even in cases where lowmem.i doesn't. If you have to use lowmem.i
to install, you'll then probably have to compile a custom kernel with
the minimal additional features that your machine requires.

ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-current/bootdisks/README.TXT

The Slackware install.zip was made for two main reasons: to address
the inconvenience and difficulty of having to use three floppy disks
for installing Slackware; and at the same time to try to reduce the
hardware memory requirement. If an operating system can run with
8MB RAM, it should also be able to install on such a machine, right?

5. I would recommend at least 8MB RAM, but you might succeed with as
    little as 5MB (with patience and a lot of time).

ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-current/rootdisks/install.zip.README

It's doable in 4MB RAM (maybe), but I'm not so sure about
2MB RAM. That might not be enough to boot and get the swap
running.

   -- Doug