DeLi Linux: A Linux distro for old computers, from 486 to Pentium III

DeLi Linux stands for "Desktop Light" Linux. It is a Linux Distribution for old computers, from 486 to Pentium III or so. It's focused on desktop usage. It includes email clients, graphical web browser, an office programs with word processor and spreadsheet, and so on. A full install, including XOrg and development tools, needs not more than 750 MB of harddisk space.

The trick is, that DeLi Linux uses only "lightweight" alternative software. If you are looking for the newest KDE, GNOME or Mozilla, DeLi Linux will not make you happy. The test computer is a PII laptop with 64 MB RAM, and all apps which comes with DeLi Linux are running smoothly.

"Why the heck make a Linux for such old crap ?" you may ask. There are still many computers around with the configuration mentioned above, it would be a shame to waste them. Many people simply cannot buy a 4 Ghz machine for 1000 $ or more, but they can buy a Pentium I 133 for 50 $ from ebay. Many people are still happy with the computer they bought five years ago. Especially in the so-called third world, new hardware is not affordable. Well, there's still Windows95 or Windows 3.1, which will  run on these machines, too. But these versions are not supported by MS anymore, they are no longer in production, and finally, you will not get any software for this old Windows version.

Screenshot of DeLi linux

What people say about DeLi Linux

"I can't stop playing with it. So, don't throw that old computer away, install DeLi Linux." (Susan Linton, tuxmachines.org in a Distrowatch review)

"DeLi Linux surprised me by turning the old 486 into an usable system [...] the Pentium III was extremely responsive, being even faster than my main AMD64 system running Fedora Core 6 [...] As far as lightweight Linux distributions go, DeLi is one of the best." (Stefan Vrabie on a review at linux.com)

"I still have my first Intel machine, a 486DX2 66MHz system [...] it currently runs DeLi Linux as a workstation for my mother who, despite being technophobic, loves it and has no problems." (Usenet post)

Is Deli Linux a turkish distribution? First let me say, that DeLi Linux is an international distribution and you can configure DeLi Linux to "speak" the language you want, but its main language is english. Some users from Turkey may think, that Deli Linux is a turkish distribution, because "deli" is the turkish word for "wild" or "crazy". That's one reason I chose this name. It's an abbreviation for "Desktop Light Linux", but it also means "Crazy Linux" in turkish - which was a nice coincidence, I thought. If you're interested: I'm not turkish, ama Türkiye çok seviyorum. Ben Türkiye'de her yil.

To download visit http://www.delilinux.de/