BasicLinux
Encyclopedia
BasicLinux, also known as BasLin, BL3, or BasLinux, is a lightweight Linux distribution optimized for old (386 - 486) PCs
and laptops and that uses the commandline or a simple GUI
.
It is based on a stripped-down version of Slackware
3.5 and uses an obsolete but small v2.2.26 kernel
with busybox
to provide a low-RAM
Linux
, capable of browsing the web, sending and receiving email
, and functioning as an X terminal
. It uses the JWM
window manager (Joe's Window Manager).
It's offered in 2 versions: a hard drive installation that boots from DOS
and a floppy drive install that uses 2 disks.
Both versions can be used with an 386 CPU. The hard drive-installable version requires 3 MB of RAM and 20 MB of disk space, plus a bootable DOS installation. The floppy version requires 12 MB of RAM.
Installed applications include:
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and laptops and that uses the commandline or a simple GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
.
It is based on a stripped-down version of Slackware
Slackware
Slackware is a free and open source Linux-based operating system. It was one of the earliest operating systems to be built on top of the Linux kernel and is the oldest currently being maintained. Slackware was created by Patrick Volkerding of Slackware Linux, Inc. in 1993...
3.5 and uses an obsolete but small v2.2.26 kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
with busybox
BusyBox
BusyBox provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android, FreeBSD and others, such as proprietary kernels, although many of the tools it provides are designed to work with interfaces provided by the Linux kernel. It...
to provide a low-RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, capable of browsing the web, sending and receiving email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, and functioning as an X terminal
X terminal
In computing, an X terminal is a display/input terminal for X Window System client applications. X terminals enjoyed a period of popularity in the early 1990s when they offered a lower total cost of ownership alternative to a full Unix workstation....
. It uses the JWM
JWM
JWM is a lightweight stacking window manager for the X Window System written by Joe Wingbermuehle. JWM is written in C and uses only Xlib at a minimum...
window manager (Joe's Window Manager).
It's offered in 2 versions: a hard drive installation that boots from DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and a floppy drive install that uses 2 disks.
Both versions can be used with an 386 CPU. The hard drive-installable version requires 3 MB of RAM and 20 MB of disk space, plus a bootable DOS installation. The floppy version requires 12 MB of RAM.
Installed applications include:
- IceWMIceWMIceWM is a stacking window manager for the X Window System graphical infrastructure, written by Marko Maček. It was coded from scratch in C++ and is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License...
- MagicPointMagicPointMagicPoint is one of several open source presentation programs, often used to produce slides for conferences. Unlike most presentation programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, where a GUI is used to create slides, MagicPoint slides are created by writing text files using a simple markup language...
- Mutt
- mp321