Jump to content

LOAF aka Linux On A Floppy


wa4chq

Recommended Posts

My need to see magic happen in my early daze of having a computer revolved around loading floppies with things like drdos and linux on floppies. I've mentioned this many times since joining the BATL group, I had no clue as to what I was doing. But I was having fun. BasicLinux https://distro.ibiblio.org/baslinux/ really started my road to 99.9% linux for me. I'm using my phone now so it's hard to include examples with links but BL revolved around Slackware 3.5...(3.5 wasn't the latest version at the time, it's just what they used) I got that baby installed on my Toshiba Satelite with dos on the side, dual-booted with loadlin.....didn't understand any of it but all worked and I was happy. Later installed slack 7 and Icewm pimped with a dialup modem....righteous! I was obsessed with burning small distros to floppies and seeing what appeared on the screen. There used to be a lot available. I tried many...but BL I used the most.

What Linux floppy distros did you try?

Edited by wa4chq
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it was Basic Linux I used back in the day. It required 2 floppies and basically you got a CLI system.

One that I also liked was called Deli Linux. You could install the basics off a floppy and then if you had an internet connection netinstall a GUI.

I had this old 1997 Toshiba laptop that had no CD or Ethernet but it did have a CardBus slot. I was able to plug in an Ethernet card and get online so I installed Deli Linux. This was the oldest and crappiest machine I ever installed Linux on.

I also ran Puppy Linux on an old 1998 Compaq lappy that would not boot from CD-ROMs - but Puppy was able to boot from a floppy and then you could run off the CD-ROM. Weird but useful I guess.

Edited by raymac46
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

I think I used a version of redhat on floppy that came with a book but its been so long ago that I do not remember the details.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

V.T. Eric Layton

I actually had a nine-floppy set of RedHat discs way back in the day (2001 or so), but I never attempted to install them. I was a late-comer to Linux. Actually, I was a late-comer to the Internet. Waaaay back in the day (1983 or so), I had a Commodore SX-64 briefcase system that had a 300baud modem. I used to troll the BBS's here in my area. That was my first foray into the Internets. However, I didn't experience the graphic Internet until I inherited a little Pentium 90 system from my brother in 2000. Back then everyone and their mother offered free dial-up. I didn't sleep for the first 6 weeks with that system in my home. I was exploring!

 

I really used to like Windows. Can you believe that? My favorite version is still Win 98SE. It was fabulous, as far as I was concerned. Then came XP. Then came all the XP service packs. Then came disaster after disaster. I began to truly loathe Windows at that point... and all things MS as a result. Urmas, Angeldust, and a couple others from my private forum started nagging me to try Ubuntu. Well, I finally did. I was hooked. Urmas brought me over here to meet Bruno shortly thereafter. The rest is history...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...