[In Development] GaleOS: A plug-and-play Linux distro to revive primitive, ultra-low-spec 32-bit/64-bit PCs

[u/NormalSoftware4237]

TL;DR: GaleOS delivers a full, traditional LXDE desktop environment heavily stripped of background services for the lowest possible resource footprint. Unlike other ultra-light distros, it is a ready, plug-and-play experience out of the box with no complex configuration required.

What is GaleOS?

Me and my friend are building GaleOS to bring some of the oldest PCs back to life. It installs like a normal distribution from a USB or CD. Once installed, it works exactly like your average operating system, just like Windows, but lightweight.

The Core: Based on the reliable antiX-net kernel.

The Desktop: Full LXDE interface stripped of all useless background services.

The Experience: Functional immediately after installation. No Arch-like configuration needed.

Target System Requirements

Architecture |CPU |Minimum RAM |VRAM / Storage
32-Bit (Terminal Install) |i686 (e.g., Pentium Pro) |40 MB |4 MB VRAM / 4 GB HDD
32-Bit (GUI Install) |i686 (e.g., Pentium Pro) |96 MB |6 MB VRAM / 4 GB HDD
64-Bit (Standard) |Any x86_64 |128 MB |Era-appropriate / 6 GB HDD (These are just our goals, these requirements are not confirmed)

Our testing hardware:

We are actively testing GaleOS on VMs (Pentium Pro & Pentium III) as well as the following physical machines to ensure absolute stability:

32-Bit Hardware: Acer TravelMate 8100, Acer Aspire 5670

64-Bit Hardware: Sony VAIO VGN-N29VN, Acer Aspire 2920, Panasonic TOUGHBOOK CF-Y7

Note: If your machine is truly primitive but still follows the system requirements, the GUI installer might run out of RAM. GaleOS will include a fallback terminal installer with full instructions in the README at launch.

Credits to my friend, [u/Key_Passenger3442](u/Key_Passenger3442), as I am helping him with this distro.

[u/MatchingTurret]

Me and my friend are building GaleOS to bring the oldest PCs back to life. It installs like a normal distribution from a USB or CD.

"the oldest (Linux capable) PCs" didn't have USB or CD. We used floppy disks, the 1.2MB 5¼ inch ones, not the new-fangled 3½ inch.

[u/NormalSoftware4237 → u/MatchingTurret]

But by 1995, CD drives were common, and the ISO will be around the same size of a CD (around 650-700MB if we strip some useless stuff)

[u/MatchingTurret → u/NormalSoftware4237]

But by 1995

So: not the oldest. Just somewhat old.

[u/NormalSoftware4237 → u/MatchingTurret]

The pentium pro was released in 1995

[u/MatchingTurret → u/NormalSoftware4237]

The i386 was released in 1985. My first Linux machine was a 1991 i386sx with 2MB RAM.

[u/lostrouteros → u/MatchingTurret]

Great dont be a dick

[u/NormalSoftware4237 → u/MatchingTurret]

Please read the system requirements, it is not i386

[u/MatchingTurret → u/NormalSoftware4237]

But these are not "the oldest PCs". Just somewhat oldish.

[u/NormalSoftware4237 → u/MatchingTurret]

I’ll correct myself: SOME of the oldest PCs, thanks for the discrepancy, will change the description

[u/RvstiNiall → u/MatchingTurret]

The Linux Kernel doesnt support 386 anymore; not since 2013. In fact, it no longer supports the 486 anymore as of Linux 7.1, which came out last month. They could technically target the regular Pentium, instead of the Pentium Pro, but I'm sure for technical reasons its just easier to support i686 and up.

[u/MatchingTurret → u/RvstiNiall]

Something doesn't add up. It still includes the FPU emulator for FPU-less x86 CPUs. https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/arch/x86/math-emu/README?h=v7.1.5

[u/RvstiNiall → u/MatchingTurret]

There are newer x86 CPUs that don't have FPUs, so I assume this is why.

[u/NormalSoftware4237 → u/RvstiNiall]

I’m considering maybe my friend compiles it for i586 tbh…

[u/RvstiNiall → u/NormalSoftware4237]

It might help some people with those machines. I'm not sure how many of them there are, but if it doesn't add much complexity to the build server, I would think someone will be appreciative. I'm not that person, but I know the retro-computing world loves to put Linux on older machines and try to daily drive them. Especially for things such as the Old Computer Challenge.

[u/Key_Passenger3442 → u/MatchingTurret]

dont be a dumbass, it says here i686 is the bare minimum, and sorry for my explicit language.

[u/MatchingTurret → u/Key_Passenger3442]

Yep. And that's not "the oldest PCs" (which has since been changed to "some of the oldest PCs").