I am looking for a page with the Linux specs for this version or distro of Ubuntu; and also the system requirements to operate it in order to determine whether some legacy boxes will run it. Which kernel does it use?

I know there are a bunch of Ubuntu flavors out there.. will it run on a pared down LUbuntu version?

I am specifically looking for the minimum CPU and minimum RAM requirements. I know minimal disk space is about 4gb because I burned a live DVD

ALSO Puppy Linux has now been rebuilt on a Debian platform (called Puppy Precise) and will now load deb packages. Puppy will run with 256mb RAM on a Pentium II laptop and from a live CD or flash drive.

For any Linux distribution the kernel information you seek is available from the terminal by entering uname -a (uname --help) to see your other options.

In this case you'll find 3.0.9-dsp is the kernel. It is a custom compiled Digital Signal Processing kernel for all the AX25 (amateur radio) applications. It also has the kernel energy modifications.

As to the rest of your questions....if you can run Lubuntu, or any other distribution (except for some of the minimalist distributions) you can run Navigatrix.

Minimum installed space....minimum, is 5GBs....However, unless you're doing something special give it at least 10GBs...or my recomendation is 10GBs for root and as much as you can spare for /home. But give it at least 10GBs as well unless you're doing something special as well.

Thanks that answers the Linux specs part...

What I was looking for was the computer system requirements or specs in order to run Navigatrix so I could determine the oldest laptop I can run it on. Things like BIOS, Processor type, memory, HD type etc.

Some Linux ver like Slackware will run on the oldest 386 or even 286 boxes with 256mb RAM or less in console mode.

Can Navigatrix programs be run in non graphical console mode or is the GUI necessary for it to all work?

Thanks

Give it a shot. Don't dust off your old IBM XT, but it should go with (most) any machine built after 2000. Running from the stick requires a minimum amount of RAM...if you don't want to slash your wrist in grief it needs to be at least 256MB; since there's no swap file. A hard drive install would have a swap file so you could thrash your drive with less...if that's what you wanted to do. Machines do better with more RAM anyway. Smile, ask nicely and someone will give you a 256MB RAM stick that they cannibalized from an old carcass. There is no reason to torture yourself..or others. There is also a boot option for older graphics cards if you want to give grandpa a thrill. Try it out.

Requirements to meet individual desire, expectation, or tolerance is another matter....

In the meantime check out a non-gui interface....

Hit:

<ctl><alt><F1>

This will open a console. You can open others to your hearts content by exchanging <F1> with <F2> through <F6>.

Log in...surf the web with w3m and a URL, e.g., w3m navigatrix.net

apropos <what ever> to find the command for the task you seek. (E.g., apropos partition) Try nano, cgps, etc... Learn how to use them with man <command> for the manual of that command. (E.g., man df)

It's a console. None of the GUI only applications will work--obviously. Some of them have command line stuff you can do, like the suite of tools that comes with imagemagick (convert comes to mind. Take a look at man convert to find out more)....but you're on your own right now to explore at your whim.

exit to log off and <alt><F7> to return to the pretty world.

Knock yourself out. Let us know what you find.

Ok, for funzies I ran Navigatrix on a machine with 256MB RAM and no hard drive installed. With a terminal running there is about 9MB free memory to work with. Open up OpenCPN and a terminal, for example, and it drops to a bit over 5MB. Yes it can be done. I wouldn't want to do it...it would drive me up the wall. But that's mostly a personal statement.

If you kill the GUI and run a straight console.... you gain 20MB worth of free memory to conquer the world.

...it's not worth it. Yeah, you could start killing unused processes like bluetooth...because you wouldn't be running bluetooth on an antique anyway...to gain more free memory...but it's not worth it.

If you don't have 256MB off the blocks, grab your sextant, paper charts and use another distribution like Damn Small Linux.

Seems to all work on my OLD laptops which are Gateway P-III 1.2gHz CPU with 512mb RAM (wont hold more) and came with 30GB Hard Drive. 12v, 17in screen, USB-2, PCMCIA and all the rest of the standard interface ports. I bought 2 @ $50 in order to have a spare with identical system so installation will work on eiither.

You may have guessedit.. I am in the LowCostVoyaging group LOL