memory limitations

Getting a severely low-memory machine to be usable is not just an interesting hobby, it also calls into question why operating systems these days require so much memory.

My system is using 242 megabytes of RAM with just Firefox and Gaim open. My old iMac had 96 megabytes of RAM, and was able to comfortably surf the web and use IM services without touching any virtual memory.

Stripping out services from a system through necessity gives us insight into what services we can strip out from a modern desktop computer, to give us more speed and more available memory.

To the original poster: Keep pushing those boundaries, and you might want to look at ReactOS and Syllable as good graphical desktop OSes for obselete machines.

I can do with 64 megabytes what takes you 256.
I can run FreeBSD with Debian installed on an emulated layer- both using 128 megs each- without losing performance. Let's look at it another way. I'm getting the same performance as you get from Windows when it is using twice the memory. The fewer services you have running, the better the performance.
The operating system is what uses the memory. The machine is just that: a machine. Processors are x86, IA64, ARM, MIPS, PPC, etc. Companies such as dell and compaq put together hardware. You have a choice now as to what you can have installed on the box. There is no such thing as Windows or Mac or Solaris Machine. It's a computer with Windows, Mac, Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD, etc installed on it.
If I have one gigabyte of RAM and my system requires 512 to run, then I have 512 to divide between all other running applications.
If I have the same amount of RAM and my system only requires 256 to run, then I have 768M free to use. Why would you want to run an operating system with wasteful processes in the background hogging memory and the CPU? If the operating system requires 64M to run, and I have 256 or 512, what do you think the performance is going to be?
My machine is a year old. I can run three sytems- two emulated side by side or layered- on 256. Don't tell me that you can do this with XP or Vista. Keep that in mind. If I am using a computer for business, I want it to do more not less and I want it to be more secure.
I'm reiterating somewhat but the limits free up ram, uses less of the processor, and allows applications to run better.

You're a moderator and should be telling other people about this. You should be able to tell me how to build a kernel from nothing but C in a terminal. A moderator on a computer forum should be able to build a distributed system. The same moderator should be able to rebuild the windows kernel with an interface only. A moderator on a computer forum should be able to install an embedded system on a cell phone and use it as a router-modem combination. This moderator needs to be able to spit out shell code in a matter of seconds. A moderator on a computer forum should be able to understand and work with all filesystems. The moderator needs to be able to scrutinize a kernel for flaws, write patches, and make the kernel available on all machine architectures.

This same moderator would instantly be able to tell me how to tweak my system to get even better performance. The moderator should know every programming language that there is. This person should be able to set up and cluster different systems. Security should be nothing.

How much of this can you do?

It's the smallest memory stick at the office or home.

The only place we use less than that (about 4M) is on our single board computers (aka controllers.)

I think I was unclear to one point. Why would I use such a machine? It seems to me these would be from a time long ago and best shipped off in the dumpsters.

Bob

The machine performs quite good. Since the operating system doesn't require much memory to run, there is no loss.
I am repeating but a system that requires only 64M to run will do much better with 256M. The same can be applied to one that only needs 32, 96, or 128.
Or: We both have one gig of ram. My sytems require from 32 to 256m to run and yours needs 256 to 512 to run. Who do you think gets more out of his/her machine? Who do you think has more available memory for applications?