Puppy Linux
Free Geek installs Xubuntu Linux if the computer is fast enough and has enough memory to run it with decent performance.
Puppy Linux is of use on machines too low-end to run Xubuntu Linux with reasonable performance. This includes computers with processors ranging from 650 mhz down to about 300 mhz. It also includes laptops that have less than 256M memory when don't you have any more memory to install.
Processor
Any processor down to about 300 mhz is acceptable for decent Puppy performance. If you can put at least 256M of memory in the computer Puppy will use the memory to compensate for a slow processor.
Memory
With 256M Puppy version 4 + will run entirely from memory. This is preferred because it speeds up performance and compensates for the weak processor on a Puppy box.
Puppy version 4 + requires 128M minimally to install.
Puppy version 3 and older require only 64M to install. This is useful when you have a low-end laptop that only have 64M of memory and need an operating system you can install.
Disk
Full Puppy install requires a 500M disk partition. In addition you'll want to create a separate 500M SWAP partition. You need to create any such partitions by using the Partition Editor prior to starting the Puppy install.
How to Install Puppy
The current version of Puppy as of late 2009 is version 4.x You can download it from: http://www.puppylinux.com/download/index.html
Installing Puppy installs all its base applications (just like Xubuntu). Flash is installed automatically ... there is no separate step to install Flash.
After the install, you must use the Network Wizard to configure the Internet connection.
Example of How to Use Puppy for Laptops
We sometimes receive laptop donations that are in good working order but have limited memory (less than 256M). We can sell these computers by verifying their hardware then installing Puppy linux.
For example I've installed Puppy on a couple laptops that had only 64M. Both sold quickly.
Example of How to Use Puppy for Desktops
Here's an example of when and how we could use Puppy for desktops.
I received a donation that was a 350 mhz Pentium II with 128M memory and a 6G disk.
I added two more 64M memory sticks into the two open slots, filling all four slots with 64M sticks, for a total of 256M memory. Now Puppy runs totally from memory (without any slow disk access).
I also added a second 2G disk. This gives the system a total of 8G, of which only 1G is used by the system (500M for the Puppy install and 500M for a swap area). So this old computer has 7G disk space for the user.
I gave this computer to an individual who had no computer at all. She is currently unemployed and had to constantly go to the library and use a shared computer to develop her resume, send and receive email, and access the web.
She found this old Pentium II -- 350mhz/256m/8g running Puppy -- fully adequate for her needs. She uses it for email, web access, and writing documents and is fully satisfied with its performance. The computer isn't fast enough to run flash videos but that doesn't matter to her.
Lessons Learned
(1) Puppy can make a laptop salable that otherwise has too little memory
(2) Puppy can make useful a desktop computer we would otherwise teardown
(3) We don't need to use up hardware resources we would normally put into a faster nicer Xubuntu computer to make a Puppy computer useful. The desktop example above uses only 64M memory sticks and old 6G and 2G disk drives.
Comments