>
> Chris Adams writes:
> > Once upon a time, Mark Lord <mlord@pobox.com> said:
>
> >> But, as Linus says, how many laptops come with only 8MB these days?
> >
> > It isn't just about laptops - that install CD should install on all
> > computers. There are lots of computers around that have 8MB (or less)
> > that people want to install Linux on - that's one of the attractions of
> > Linux: you can do more stuff with less hardware.
>
> Typical 8 MB computers can not boot _any_ kind of CD-ROM. Since they
> will need a boot floppy anyway, the CD-ROM boot can use a 2.88 MB
> image and assume that the user has at least 16 MB.
>
> The boot floppy for older machines can drop support for many of the
> motherboard and BIOS features that were introduced after CD-ROM boot.
>
> Systems that support CD-ROM boot have features like this:
>
> at least 16 MB of RAM
> Pentium or later processor
That's not necessarily true either; PS/2's are an example here...
> no XT disks
> better than color VGA
> no Microchannel
Sorry, but that's wrong. The PS/2 can boot from CD, given it's an IBM-CD.
> no VLB or EISA (?)
> PnP BIOS features
> may have I2O
> may have CardBus
>
> There might be a few things wrong on that list, but exceptions should
> be rare. Don't pull out SIMMs to prove me wrong. :-)
/David
_ _
// David Weinehall <tao@acc.umu.se> /> Northern lights wander \\
// Project MCA Linux hacker // Dance across the winter sky //
\> http://www.acc.umu.se/~tao/ </ Full colour fire </
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