[SOLVED] Linux with openoffice for P3, 800MHz

[jesrani]

Hello,
I want to install Linux on an old computer with P3, 800MHz processor, 128Mb RAM (I can increase this to 256Mb), 40Gb HDD. I need to connect this computer to a network with Win Xp computers and share the data. I only need openoffice 3.1 to run on this PC. Which distribution would be recommended?

[b2bwild]

Linux Mint Fluxbox Edition/Fluxubuntu or Vector Linux lite edition

[computerophil]

Hello,
I want to install Linux on an old computer with P3, 800MHz processor, 128Mb RAM (I can increase this to 256Mb), 40Gb HDD. I need to connect this computer to a network with Win Xp computers and share the data. I only need openoffice 3.1 to run on this PC. Which distribution would be recommended?

the newest KNOPPIX should have openoffice 3.1,
I think openmamba has
Mint I think
in SLAX you can put the module very easy

but why it has to be openoffice 3.1? To share the data it is possible with other versions as well. You even can open doc files with Gnome-office and the other suites.

[jesrani]

Hardware is old and that is a limitation to consider. Would Knoppix work for this Processor and RAM. Openoffice 3.1 because other XP systems on the network are using this and so it would be easy to share the data. Never used Gnome-office and I think Gnome would be a problem on this old hardware.

[computerophil]

Hardware is old and that is a limitation to consider. Would Knoppix work for this Processor and RAM. Openoffice 3.1 because other XP systems on the network are using this and so it would be easy to share the data. Never used Gnome-office and I think Gnome would be a problem on this old hardware.

You needn't have gnome for gnomeoffice: Gnome Office = Abiword + Gnumeric (ca. Excel)
You asked for openoffice 3.1 (the newest one) this is included in the newest distros and those will not be the best for an older computer.
you can save in every Office either rtf or e.g doc (98, 2000, XP) and you can open this documents in all the other offices as well.
No important if openoffice, gnomeoffice, SoftMaker Office, ThinkFree-Office, or how ever they are called.
The only format that causes nothing but problems is the MS-office 2007.

So you shouldn't fix yourself on openoffice 3.1. Better you try to find the best distro for your PC.

Best you try LiveCDs (you see if the can do with the hardware,...) later on installed the will run quicker.

I like PUPPY (JWM).
but also KNOPPIX (LXDE), openmamba (KDE) and SAM (XFCE) do have a good hardwarededection and so they might be suitable.
128 is not much (Puppy does with it for sure)

[Hal343]

The latest abiword crashes on print preview or print in many distributions. There is a workaround, but it can be a pain. It would be better to install an older distro with older Open Office and then upgrade OO to maintain compatibility with other computers in the office. Another possibility is to install a light , fast distro and then install OO on it. Open Office will run very slowly on that computer, regardless.

[Pipps]

AbiWord is definitely still full of bugs. It's a shame, because I would prefer it to OpenOffice, if it was usable.

[b2bwild]

OpenOffice can run on that configuration, Its better to select a minimalistic distro having OO Installed, even minimalistic debian install + gdm + openbox will do fine.

[jayd512]

I agree with b2bwild here. Just choose a lighter distro like Vector or something with a light-weight WM. Fluxbuntu would do nicely, or even go with something like Debian or Slackware.
Once you drop in a little more RAM you should be golden with any of those.

[b2bwild]

If you have 128 RAM, Just use swap of 178MB to 256 MB...
and increase the swapiness, though it will put bit stress on CPU..
but when you will be using OpenOffice and if your RAM is full CPU will swap the memory providing you smooth OpenOffice experience.