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I want to set up a machine for local file hosting, torrenting, remote desktop, and possibly as a personal webserver. I can use the terminal a bit but I'm not savvy enough to forgo a GUI altogether so thats a must. Also the easier it is to install the better. It seems like there are distros made to compete with windows on the latest hardware which this computer can't handle (ubuntu, fedora, etc) and distros stripped down to run on a waffle iron which are too difficult to use (damn small linux) and nothing in between.

The newest Puppy will run fine with 192mb RAM. Other options include Zenwalk, Vector, TinyMe, Linux Mint Fluxbox edition, or Crunchbang linux.

Crunchbang is based on Ubuntu, but uses Openbox and some lighter weight apps, and Mint Fluxbox is based on Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu, and, no surprise, uses the Fluxbox window manager, so both of those are probably the easiest to install and use for someone relatively new. Although those are probably the most resource hungry of the lot, as well. They should work fine, but it's up to you to decide if their performance is adequate on your machine. I would see how they run as live CD's. I think Antix is pretty easy to install as well - it's based on SimplyMEPIS (which is Debian based), and it's biggest selling point to me is that it's fully compatible with the smxi scripts (which I love). : http://smxi.org/site/about.htm

i was asking the same question(http://www.linux.com/forums/topic/4930)... lol btw this test might help. i am getting fedora 11 on my comaq presario laptop! [Modified by: fnybny on March 15, 2009 08:32 PM]