[clug] old computer

[Paul Wayper]

RacHagema at netscape.net wrote:
> I have an old pentium mmx 233 mhz laptop with 32MB of ram and a 5gig HD.
> Does anyone have any suggestions on any interesting uses of such a low powered device involving linux?
> 
> I'm thinking of using it as a server of some description.

Certainly if it's got USB, hanging some drives off it and keeping it on its 
charger would be a good way to have some NAS in a cupboard that didn't mind 
getting a bit hot.  It'd also be good as a firewall provided you can get two 
network adapters - inbuilt or PCMCIA.  You could also use it as a console for 
a home automation system.  At the very least, save the 2.5" HDD for a fanless 
SmoothWall installation or a small portable drive.

> Someone I know suggested running this as a front end client for a mythtv back end.

I have a feeling that it's not going to be fast enough to play full-screen 
movies in software, and it's almost certain that you won't have an MPEG2 
hardware decoder on the video...

Have fun,

Paul