Installing suitable linux distro on Dell Inspiron 5100!

Hello there!

Long time no see. Well, I resized my ntfs partition with ntfsresize
(mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html) and wanted to install a
suitable linux distro to be used for c/c++ programming environment
mostly. I don't need X-window right now but the internal Broadcom
10/100 ethernet, sound card and some kind of battery monitor with ACPI
should work initially. I know redhat 9 or mandrake 9.2 should work
fine but, I can't download 3 iso image CD's right now. So, I need a
latest distro which would be not more than 650 MB, which I can
download with my dial-up access. After googling for several hours, I
found fedora/redhat to be better option, but it comes with 3/4 iso
images. Can I download only the required modules from fedora/redhat
and burn in on cd?

or

Can you please locate a suitable distro for me? Gentoo? or Knoppix hd
install?

The generic config of Inspiron 5100 is appended below:

Network: built-in BroadComm ethernet/modem
Video: ATI Radeon M6 7500 AGP
Sound: builtin Intel AC97 audio

Thanks in advance.

Raqueeb Hassan
Congo (DRC)

Raqueeb Hassan wrote:
I know redhat 9 or mandrake 9.2 should work
fine but, I can't download 3 iso image CD's right now. So, I need a
latest distro which would be not more than 650 MB, which I can
download with my dial-up access.

Many linux magazines come with a free distro stuck to the front, perhaps
you should take a walk to your newsagents I picked up Mandrake 10.0
on the front of Linux Format magazine the other day (here in Ireland),
and I've also seen Fedora Core 2 on one of them recently.

--Calum.

Thanks for the info. Wish I could find a newsagent here :-( Thanks for
the thought. Ironically, I have to depend on dial-in access.



Calum Benson wrote in message ...
Raqueeb Hassan wrote:
I know redhat 9 or mandrake 9.2 should work
fine but, I can't download 3 iso image CD's right now. So, I need a
latest distro which would be not more than 650 MB, which I can
download with my dial-up access.

Many linux magazines come with a free distro stuck to the front, perhaps
you should take a walk to your newsagents I picked up Mandrake 10.0
on the front of Linux Format magazine the other day (here in Ireland),
and I've also seen Fedora Core 2 on one of them recently.

--Calum.

(Raqueeb Hassan) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for the info. Wish I could find a newsagent here :-( Thanks for
the thought. Ironically, I have to depend on dial-in access.



Calum Benson wrote in message ...
Raqueeb Hassan wrote:
I know redhat 9 or mandrake 9.2 should work
fine but, I can't download 3 iso image CD's right now. So, I need a
latest distro which would be not more than 650 MB, which I can
download with my dial-up access.

Many linux magazines come with a free distro stuck to the front, perhaps
you should take a walk to your newsagents I picked up Mandrake 10.0
on the front of Linux Format magazine the other day (here in Ireland),
and I've also seen Fedora Core 2 on one of them recently.

--Calum.
There are many online places that sell linux cds for cheap.
Also..many on ebay. Ive used multiple places and had no problems.
A one cd disto I like is blag. www.blagblagblag.org.
Dave