>Most common distros will run on 256MB though they may be slow.
Most common distros will run on 64MB though they may be slow.

(Believe me, I know!)

yeah i mean i run a server happily on 64
and my tweaked out debian etch system uses 58mb when idle and running gnome

but for a full desktop system where you want to be able to have gnome, firefox and openoffice open at the same time you need 256+

Or you can have a full desktop system with 64 MB running KDE, OpenOffice, and multiple other apps. All that is required is tons of swap space and patience. (Perhaps that's why Ubuntu didn't appeal to me very much. )

You're smoking crack!

Ubuntu wouldn't be the easiest. At least recommend Mint Linux so all the codecs and being able to play DVDs are taken care of for crying out loud. This is a FAMILY PC. That means that people from all experience levels will be using it. Plus, if this guy is asking about this...he doesn't know about easyubuntu or any other tool and probably fears the command line.

Ubuntu doesn't have YAST or anything close to it...I'd recommend OpenSuse 10.X over Ubuntu any day.

http://www.opensuse.org/

For that matter, Mandriva free might be right up there where this guy needs to go as well.

http://www.mandriva.com/download

Remember that all of these installations can be stripped down during the installation process (just choose fewer options).

Read the post TKS. He only has 256mb RAM, meaning OpenSuse would run insanely slow

Also OpenSuses dvds playback facilities are crippled

I still say MEPIS over ubuntu, vector linux, PClinuxOS, sidux, kanotix, knoppix 5.1.1, dsl, kubuntu, xubuntu, fedora, sabyon, last weeks version of debiab etch with kde, debian etch with gnome, aLinux, slackware. I've used all of these.
I'm sure that I am forgetting a few but of all of them MEPIS is the easiest to use and the easiest to set up to play store bought dvds. MEPIS is rock solid and if you don't think so then you must not have even tried MEPIS. And if you haven't tried MEPIS lately then how can you even seem credible when you don't say that MEPIS is the best. My opinion. From my own tests. Not from hearsay or rumors or forums. MEPIS rocks. Rock on.

Oh one more thing. Here is a link to a wikpedia page that lists most of the linux's and what type of linux that they are based on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._distributions

The link above is where I got this description of MEPIS

MEPIS
An easy-to-use Debian-based distribution which also runs as a LiveCD, allowing you to try out MEPIS before you decide to install it on your hard drive. There are several flavors to choose from.
MEPIS Lite - An entry level version of desktop MEPIS designed for home users with smaller hardware requirements (Pentium II/128MB/2G install).
SimplyMEPIS - The official name for the "MEPIS" distribution.
MEPIS SoHoServer - A general purpose server based on the recent release of Debian. Includes preconfigured Apache, PHP, Perl, MySql, Proftpd, Bind, DHCPd, Postfix, Dovecot, Shorewall, Squid, DansGuardian, Webmin, Usermin etc.

So I still say MEPIS. I would say use the new SimplyMEPIS 6.5 Rc1 or the 6.5 final, it's great. Unless there is a distro that I haven't tried that is better but I doubt it. Just my opinion, based on factual use and not gossip.

That description can easialy be applied to ubuntu:

Ubuntu
An easy-to-use Debian-based distribution which also runs as a LiveCD, allowing you to try it out before you decide to install it on your hard drive. There are several flavors to choose from.
Ubuntu - The standard version
XUbuntu - system designed for home users with smaller hardware requirements
Ubuntu server- A general purpose server based on the recent release of Debian. Includes preconfigured Apache, PHP, Perl, MySql, Proftpd, Bind, DHCPd, Postfix, Dovecot, Shorewall, Squid, DansGuardian, Webmin, Usermin etc.


and i have tried MEPIS . PCLinux OS is better

You're right on in that one for sure. The description does fit both pretty well.

I have the new PClinuxOS cds in my hand as we speak. Downloaded it due to so much PClinuxOS supporters at this site.
The one thing that is stopping me from installing it is that I have about ten other operating systems installed. All booting with grub.
My questions are but a few.
1) Does PClinuxOS use grub or lilo ?
2) Can the bootloader in PClinuxOS have the option to load the bootloader to the root partition ?
3)Or does it automatically load itself to the Mbr of hda ?
When i used PClinuxOS last time (A couple of years ago)I installed it as the only system so I forget what it uses. Grub or lilo.

PClinuxOS in distrowatch has climbed up to # 2 right behing ubuntu. And it is climbing every day.

dont know but i think its based on the installer that mandriva one (the installable livecd) has. If you do expert mode i think you ought to be able to choose.

cds? it should be one disk?

theres the old (stable version) then there is the new 2007 release candidate one - thats the one most people are on (but its buggy so take my advice and take the older version as apt-get dist-upgrade ought to be able to upgrade it later)

Oops. Cds was a type error. They should never have put d and s so darn close together. LOL. My fingers are too big and I sometimes, or usually hit two dang keys at a time. I need to dial a phone using a pencil or forget it (is it still considered dialing when the dial has been gone for so long?). Anyway I might just play with the live cd a bit later today. I can wait for the final release and install that.
Thanks for the suggestion to use expert mode.
I would still like to hear if anyone has chainloaded an operating system in later with PClinuxOS.
And if it is like editing, or adding to, grub or not.
Thanks again.