gdjacobs wrote:

I can't find any of the old versions of Peanut Linux. I remember running it via loopback off a FAT filesystem.

You can try zipslack:

https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/slackware/slackwar … -11.0/zipslack/

This is Slackware 11.0 running on a FAT partition via UMSDOS.

This is small linux, 2 floppys, can run inside 1Mb RAM when root is mounted from floppy.

you can install its kernel to harddisk and use it together with some older slackware distribution (3.3).

debs3759 wrote:

Have you tried Plan 9 from Bell Labs?

I have known about it for years but never tried it, there is even an old port of it to the BeBox, thanks for the link!

gdjacobs wrote:

I can't find any of the old versions of Peanut Linux. I remember running it via loopback off a FAT filesystem.

All the download links from the archived official website are dead https://web.archive.org/web/20010224073654/ht … eanutlinux.org/
Found this on a random magazine coverdisc:

Get it: https://mega.nz/#!epxD2DbJ!93CVV7UCNORqt6nfF2 … y8qL8KGprdm91mQ

Stiletto wrote:

debs3759 wrote:

This thread should be pinned.

It has now been pinned. 😀

Thanks!

root42 wrote:

Back in the mid 90s when I got my first CD ROM drive, one of the cover CDs contained a shareware version of TSX-32. A multitasking, partially DOS compatible operating system for 386 and better:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSX-32

I would have to try it out again to be able to say anything meaningful about it though.

That sounds interesting, thanks.

ZipSlack is certainly a worthy mention in the thread.
I put Small Linux on the previous page, you may have glanced over it due to all the Linuxes in one post!
I have older versions of it if you're interested.

root42 wrote:

You can try zipslack: […]
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gdjacobs wrote:

I can't find any of the old versions of Peanut Linux. I remember running it via loopback off a FAT filesystem.

You can try zipslack:

https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/slackware/slackwar … -11.0/zipslack/

This is Slackware 11.0 running on a FAT partition via UMSDOS.

UMSDOS isn't very desirable due to the inherent restrictions involved. IIRC, Peanut used an image file.

Edit: No it did not. So, the mystery question is, what was the distro I'm thinking of. Low resource consumption, X based GUI, ran off a loopback mounted file image.

gdjacobs wrote:

UMSDOS isn't very desirable due to the inherent restrictions involved. IIRC, Peanut used an image file.

Edit: No it did not. So, the mystery question is, what was the distro I'm thinking of. Low resource consumption, X based GUI, ran off a loopback mounted file image.

There's Basic Linux on the last page and a distro based on Slackware called LoopLinux https://web.archive.org/web/20000903132357/ht … otti/looplinux/

It might be lost to the ravages of time...

Any love for SliTaz? haven't ran it in ages though so i don't know if it regressed old platforms or not. It was tiny though and the spider mascot's cute

Aha, it was Monkey Linux (using UMSDOS, so I got that wrong).

I was always fond of Damn Small Linux.... 486, 16mb, 50mb storage. Could run in ram in 128mb.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Found a working mirror for LoopLinux at ftp://bbc.nvg.org/pub/linux/sunsite/distribut … inux/index.html

SliTaz needs quite a lot of ram, even for the mini and loram versions, but it looks cool for Pentium machines.
How usable is DSL with the minimum required specs?

Time for an update, today will be about BeOS.
It started its life on a machine powered by AT&T processors, then moved on to the PowerPC 603/604 and to the Intel Pentium patform.
Be distributed almost all of the versions of BeOS either as free to install or as LiveCD to test, and not just the BeOS 5 Personal Edition usable installable as a loopback filesystem on DOS/Win9x or Linux.
Some were packages directly downloadable from its website, unfortunately impossible to find, and some were distributed on magazines cover discs.
After the demise of Be, Inc. two german companies continued the development of the OS under the name Zeta, the first one, yellowtab produced a LiveCD of its version 1.1.

Here you have the Preview Release 1.2 for PowerMac

https://mega.nz/#!j5AwnQBB!S0deZZbysXYreYtYwl … iIrGF6W5OHmbNBo
Be sure to check the compatibility list at https://web.archive.org/web/19980124033142/ht … sreadylist.html

The R3.2 Demo CD

https://mega.nz/#!mwI2SYRQ!dfgXeqb7F7SNqUZXYX … YZ0FEyHBVfDjvRY
Compatibility list: https://web.archive.org/web/19980520211743/ht … sreadylist.html

The R4 Demo CD, I extracted the BeOS track and bootfloppy image from a french magazine coverdisc:

https://mega.nz/#!6oIWmCSR!won4b_F45P-YBKnQNX … N8GTFeZ2abdCby4
Compatbility list: https://web.archive.org/web/19990421064114/ht … list_intel.html

The R4.5 Demo CD, distributed with a japanese magazine:

https://mega.nz/#!GkQ0XKjZ!1HeD-QqtD0kazXjTj5 … s3tDcpFInTWOC-o
Compatibility list: https://web.archive.org/web/19990429193804/ht … list_intel.html

The BeOS 5.0 Personal Edition and its updates can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/mirror/BeOS/

And Zeta Live 1.1, which was available as a download on yellowtab website long ago:

https://mega.nz/#!2hBilaLJ!jKNK573S85iqCV0ZPf … FvN5oyEaj_lUcFE

lolo799 wrote:

How usable is DSL with the minimum required specs?

I found it unusable with my am5x86160 10 years ago. The VESA driver didn't work very good on the ye old Trio64 either.

^^ I've used it on a P233MMX with 64MB, but that's already a couple generations newer. Took a few minutes to boot off the CD but after it finished loading it wasn't too bad. Didn't try the browser. I'd think it'd be pretty painful on any less memory than that though.

I wonder if anyone has tried BeOS 5.0 Personal Edition under win 10 ?

leileilol wrote:

I found it unusable with my am5x86160 10 years ago. The VESA driver didn't work very good on the ye old Trio64 either.

xjas wrote:

^^ I've used it on a P233MMX with 64MB, but that's already a couple generations newer. Took a few minutes to boot off the CD but after it finished loading it wasn't too bad. Didn't try the browser. I'd think it'd be pretty painful on any less memory than that though.

Right, it really needs a Pentium and more RAM than what a 486 usually had back in the days.

Davros wrote:

I wonder if anyone has tried BeOS 5.0 Personal Edition under win 10 ?

I'm sure installing it is not the problem, but running it on recent thus unsupported hardware on the other hand, I expect it to crash long before you see your mouse cursor...

Time for a small 360K size update, so far the lowest specs machines supported in the thread were 386 with 2MB of RAM, but if you got an older machine, such as an original PC, a XT or a 286, this post is for you.

If you want use a flavour of Unix on your oldest PC and compatible system, you're in luck, there are a few options:
-Minix in its verson 1 and 2, an open source clone of Unix, available on those websites:
https://wiki.minix3.org/doku.php?id=www:downl … reviousversions
https://www.minix-vmd.org/cgi-bin/raw/pub/minix/
Check the hints page for low end machines: https://minix1.woodhull.com/hints.html#small

-ELKS, previously known as Linux-8086, is, quoting its FAQ, "the Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset, a project to build a small kernel subset of Linux (which will provide more or less UNIX V7 functionality within the kernel) that can run on machines with limited processor and memory resources."
Check its website and FAQ: http://elks.sourceforge.net/
Get old 0.1.0 and 0.1.4 disk images at https://sourceforge.net/projects/elks/files/E … 0Disk%20Images/
and the newer 0.2.0 at https://github.com/jbruchon/elks/releases

Lastly, if you want to see the commercial OS QNX 2 running on your retro computer, you can try the QNX 1989 Demo Disk, you can't do much with it though, but it's still worth a try:

Coherent is available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherent_ ... ng_system)

V2 can run on 8086 and up (no luck yet finding disk images). V3 can run on 80286 and up.
https://www.autometer.de/unix4fun/coherent/

Someone mentioned NextStep, but OpenStep officially runs on x86 hardware (though only retro hardware, not modern hardware): http://toastytech.com/guis/openstep.html

It's picky about hardware in the 486/early pentium range, particularly with IDE drives, and takes research.

I have a plan to load BeOS on a P4 laptop I have, then run Basilisk under it to emulate an early Mac, Because I Can. I already ran Haiku (in-progress BeOS update) on the laptop for a while.

lolo799 wrote:

Lastly, if you want to see the commercial OS QNX 2 running on your retro computer, you can try the QNX 1989 Demo Disk, you can't […]
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Lastly, if you want to see the commercial OS QNX 2 running on your retro computer, you can try the QNX 1989 Demo Disk, you can't do much with it though, but it's still worth a try:

qnx1989.jpg

qnxdemo1.png

qnxdemo3.png

qnx1989.zip

I've some news on QNX: you can not just boot Demo disk, but install system to disk as QNX 2.x is now on Archive.org

Coherent looks interesting, I'll give it a try soon.
NextStep also officially ran on x86 in one of its later 3.x versions, and you're right, it was picky about the hardware.
If anyone wants a taste of what NextStep was, I suggest you try GNUstep:
http://www.aiei.ch/gnustep/
http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/GNUstep_Live_CD
http://mirror.noone.org/gnustep/

lolo799 wrote:

Coherent looks interesting, I'll give it a try soon. NextStep also officially ran on x86 in one of its later 3.x versions, and y […]
Show full quote

Coherent looks interesting, I'll give it a try soon.
NextStep also officially ran on x86 in one of its later 3.x versions, and you're right, it was picky about the hardware.
If anyone wants a taste of what NextStep was, I suggest you try GNUstep:
http://www.aiei.ch/gnustep/
http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/GNUstep_Live_CD
http://mirror.noone.org/gnustep/

Also NextStep had other versions, like one for Sun machines (certain machines, of course, but interesting for those who might have them).

I keep meaning to get a copy of Coherent, I remember the old ads for it. I admit I'll probably run WSL first...