I would like to download a basic copy of LINUX to my PC as a sandbox in which I can run basic commands and functions as a learning tool.
I have an older PC - Pentium III Processor at 1GHz, 128MB RAM at 133 MHz, Windows ME operating system.
Is there a version of LINUX that would be compatible with such an older system, and where can I go to download it?
maybe "dsl" (damn small linux) or "cygwin" (no linux but linux like in windows...)
I'd think that most distributions would run on a Pentium III. Heck, a 1GHz machine is faster than the machine we use at work for web, database, and file services, with hard disk and CD replication on top of that. The more RAM the merrier of course. 256 would be better than 128. Also watch out for BIOS limitations on hard drive size(which won't matter unless you're using very large hard drives on old machines); once Linux gets going it couldn't care less what the BIOS limit is, but the partition it boots from must be small enough for the BIOS to understand.
All good advice. You will probably encounter the BIOS limitation Corona688 mentioned, but all you need it to make /boot a smallish I used 100M on old machines and make it the prist partition and you should be fine. I would try to get the extra memory if at all possible.
I would like to download a basic LINUX system to become familiar with LINUX commands to better understand the environment. I do not want to replace Windows at this time. Which is the best way to go, and how much disk space would I need?
bestest and smallest Linux I have found is
Puppy Linux
EJH
Damn Small Linux is small enough to be booted from a 512M USB keychain drive.
i want to learn unix command s
Good for you.
I agree with Corona688, DSL is easy to install, very effective and a good start. Especially if you don't want to get rid of Windows and don't want to partition your hard drive.