[sf-lug] [Tiny-tux] Browser on 486

[Brian Morris]

I should be clear that Links2 is a fully graphical Gui browser with jpg and
frame support. It is very good and clean about filtering out modern fluff.
I have used it on newer machines to read news just because of that. But on
old machines it is very pleasantly fast.

Of course there are mobile browser sites which should definitely not be
ignored. Many can be gotten with a 'm' prefix eg m.wikipedia.org; if you
can hack it a browser can be configured to have an option to identify as
mobile.


On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 5:07 PM, Brian Morris <cymraegish at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 3:47 PM, Wladyslaw Zbikowski <
> embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 6:29 PM, Ronald Cotoni <setient at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > recompiled kernel (the kernel needs to be recompiled to use WAY less
>> ram).
>> >  twm uses ~800kbytes of ram which is completely doable on a 486.
>>
>> Good point, I'm thinking CONFIG_EMBEDDED and
>> CONFIG_CC_OPTIMIZE_FOR_SIZE to start with.
>>
>> I have heard that -Os is actually faster on old machines anyway (perhaps
> due to the low speed of the RAM)
>
>
>> It would be useful to have lynx/links as a backup, but most people
>> prefer a graphical browser for everyday use. Conceivably one could run
>> X to just launch a single fullscreen browser window and no window
>> manager, if X were absolutely needed for some reason.
>>
>
> links2 (FORKED from links) works very fast in graphical mode.
>
> it appears that X wants 32MB RAM but maybe some of that in kernel.
>
> I have experience with Mac of same vintage and I can testify that there
> are 72pin simms in larger sizes that work well beyond what the original
> specs said, That is there are 64MB and 128MB card. Useful to have one if
> you can.
>
> In NetBSD the Xserver for Mac is configured to run in Black and White
> which makes it a Lot faster than Xorg which won't do that. I forget if Xorg
> even allows 8 bit color anymore, but anyway you might look into building
> Xfree86.
>
> Don't be afraid of distcc.
>
> Good Luck, break a leg.
>
> Brian
>
> p.s. have a look at tomsrtbt, its fun
>
>
>>
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>
>
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