Where do I find Linux for 686 machine

[Hoddo]

Hi all.
I am intrested in linux as an operating system but I need to find a version that will run on my old machine. A 686 spinning at 14MHz with 16Mb RAM and 6Gb over two drives.
If anyone could help I would be very gratefull of your assistance.
Thanks Hoddo

[bidi]

That doesn't sound right! I think you mean 140MHz since that makes more sense. Anyway, I think you should take a look in:
www.distrowatch.com

Keep in mine that with that kind of RAM it'll be pretty hard to get a graphical interface to work, and close to impossible for a novice.

If I were you, I'd do as much reading as I can right now, doing your homework is key when trying out Linux, quite a bit is different from the Microsoft products (Windows 3.1 - XP). Anyway, take a look at that DistroWatch, and also in these for help getting you going:
www.tldp.org (specially the HowTo and Tutorial section)
www.linuxlinks.com/Beginners/

[jaboua]

Most distros would work on a 686.

i386, i486, i586 and i686-compiled distributions should work, this includes the most popular distros.

[chopin1810]

Yeah, you'd pretty much be running on CLI night and day... unless you went with the ugly X desktop (which is really, really ugly and revoltingly disgusting, to use a plain X GUI you've got to be REALLY desperate)... I think DOS is prettier... and I'm not kidding...

[weeneedhelp]

You have the same problem as me man.

I have this PC in the back back back of my house that I use once every year, or even less then that.

its 160mhz? and 64mb ram? and 1gb HDD (not sure on stats, haven't been there in a while)
and win 98SE is on it now, but i feel like going 2 linux. LOL.

i don know if the 64mb is enough for a pretty version. LOL. @,@:;;

[chopin1810]

ANY distro will work if you just run in under the CLI (runlevel 3) all the time and just use stuff like wvdial, lynx/elinks, there are tons of CLI word processors out there too. So with a CLI it would be quite usable, if you don't mind living with the boring white-on-black screen all the time and not having any audio...

[techieMoe]

You'll definitely want a lightweight distro. There are a few that are specifically designed to work on older hardware: Puppy Linux (<60MB), Vector Linux (<200MB), and Damn Small Linux (approx. 50MB).

The DistroWatch link someone posted earlier is good too.

[chopin1810]

If you're really experienced you could go with Slackware.