[GRLUG] ELS

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> The Elemental Linux Server (ELS) is designed from the outset to be a
> minimal, no-frills server distribution that allows you to run modern
> network services on Intel PC hardware that is about ten years old.

I'm no green tree-hugging hippie [most "green" stuff is complete
bollocks, nothing more than rearranging numbers] - but running a bunch
of ten-year old Intel's is going to be a pricey option [except in
January and February - that's 'free' heat!]

> There is no GUI, everything is console-based. There is no package
> manager, packages are installed from .tar.gz files. There is no
> administration tool, all configuration is done by manually editing
> files in the /etc directory.
> There is also very little bloat in the ELS distribution.

The hard-drive in a ten-year old PC is plenty large enough to house a
no-GUI console-based CentOS6 distribution which provides working power
management, a package manager, locally-cached network authentication,
and all the other amenities of a modern server OS.

I'll take a man-size portion of "bloat" [aka "features"] with my OS.

> ELS will easily install on the vintage 1998 Pentium II computer that's
> sitting in your basement collecting dust. Don't throw it out,
> reanimate it as a home file server or a personal web server.
> Yes, I just happen to have a 
> couple of boxes running old 
> war-horse ASUS mother boards.
> P2T4 I believe, with 166 MHz
> Pentium 3's.

Skinny the distro down as much as you want - a 166MHz processor is going
to crawl like a dog.  And the throughput on that vintage of NICs & bus
is probably going to be abysmal; the wireless connection from your
tablet might be faster.

On the other hand, I'd probably install it just for kicks. :)