This weekend's project...

If you stick with Gnome or KDE, you are probably going to get the same system requirements out of it no matter what, although perhaps the new RC build of KDE4 would be fun to play with. I've tried the live CD and it is pretty neat.
If you want to stress the system less, and try out enlightenment, you could go with GOS, which is ubuntu based, but has the enlightenment windows manager, and is what is shipping on the Walmart PCs I was talking about. You could always give Xubuntu a shot too, though I've heard from some that it still uses quite a bit of resources.
It is certainly a good problem to have eh? hehe.

If speed and tinkering is what you are looking for, I would suggest giving Zenwalk a try.  Zenwalk is Slackware based, but has the added benefit of a real package management system.  Zenwalk uses XFCE to manage the desktop.  XFCE is a GTK GUI that is very similar to Gnome, but a little lighter on resources. 
I also second Chad on his suggestion of gOS.  The current release of gOS is really just Ubuntu Gutsy that is using Enlightenment E17 to manage the desktop.  You can install any of the currrent themes that are available for E17 and tweak E17 to your hearts content.   I  run E17 as my primary GUI on my work laptop, an IBM T23, and I love it.  You can find more information on E17 at the links below.
www0.get-e.org/
www.enlightenment.org/
Here are some screenshots from my T23 to get you jazed.
farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/2109187876_6d68aea504_o.png
farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2109204720_1b2182c080_o.png
 
 


 

Wow dude nice screen shots!!

Thanks guys.  I have actually used both Zenwalk and Enlightenment (thru Elive and as an alternate session in Ubuntu) before.  I never really got far in enlightenment because I really couldn't figure out how to configure it.  Your screenshots make configuration seem easier nowadays,  maybe I'll mess with it a bit.
I may actually dive headfirst into a Slackware or Vanilla Debian install.
My initial post may have been a little misleading.  I want to go with something leaner.  The machien is plenty fast at it's current specs. 
 
I know if I go Slackware, I may be opening up a whoel can of worms, but hell, it's not my everyday computer, so I can afford to get frustrated and put it away...

You could always do a base netinstall of Debian etch heheheheh. I've actually been wanting to load up sidux, which I just recently found out about. But you would have to stick with command line and be the Uberest geek on the block.

I actually had done a net install of Debian on this machine prior to installing Gutsy.  It was solid, but being my first Debian install, I am sure I piled on way too many packages. realized after that install why the "Ubuntu just works" line gets me every time. 
As many of these "projects" go, I always start more ambitious and pare it down to the realistic. 
I just booted this laptop up, and it is plenty speedy.  I am thinking rather than re-inventing the wheel, I may just trick it out instead.  Since my gutsy install is running fine, I may just mess with Enlightenment and XFCE a bit. 
Who knows though.  Don't be surprised if you have a post from me this weekend that says "I love Slack" or "I hate Slack" :)
 
Oh yeah, I also just downloaded an updated Zenwalk Live CD...  you never know.

Cool man, definetly let us know! It's been quite a while since I've used slack and I had no idea what i was doing when I did use it:)

Well...  I got a little antsy.  I popped the Zenwalk CD into the laptop and it gets stuck at the PRESS f2 FOR VERBOSE MODE screen.  And..  F2 doesn't help :) .  So I tested the CD in my Linux Desktop, and BOO YAA!  Booted right up.  I'll be damned if in the few minutes I played with it that it didn't seem peppy as hell (Dual Core AMD and 3 gigs are probably helping).  Pages seemed to render instantaneously on the browser (a bit faster than in Ubuntu).
 
 
 
 

Ya, Zenwalk is bad as hell.  I used Zenwalk for a while as my second hand Linux distro last year and loved it.  Zenwalk is said by many Linux users as being one of the fastest distros arround.  Really maxinflixion, Zenwalk is just Slackware with some polish added so users can get right to getting some work done after installation.  I was a Slackware user over most of 2004 when Slackware 10.0 was released.  I loved it.  It was really fast and would compile anything,  but required a good deal of manual configuration to get a complete desktop experience.  Zenwalk takes care of this and also leans up the system more by using XFCE.  And if I remember correctly, Zenwalk only takes up about 1 to 1.2 gigs of hard disk space because Zenwalk doesn't have like 3 web browsers and 5 media players installed after installation. 
 
Oh, and if you really love the apt package manager, you could always do a command line installation of Ubuntu.  I think the command line installation option is only listed on the Alternate Install Disk.  A command line installation of Ubuntu will just install the core system, that is with no desktop.  Then you can add whatever applications you would like on your system.  For example after a command line installation, to install the Fluxbox window manager, Firefox and XMMS all you need to do is run
 
sudo apt-get install fluxbox firefox xmms
 
Then create a .xinitrc file in your home user directory and put this in it
 
exec /usr/bin/fluxbox
 
Make your .xinitrc file executable with
 
chmod +x .xinitrc
 
Then after you log into your system, to fire up Fluxbox just run startx
 
startx
 
Now that's lean baby.
 
 
 

Oh oh, you could make a seperate /home/ partition, and then leave decent space for distros and load like 5 distros all using the same /home/ directory so that you always have your files between distros, and then you can do reviews, and become the new distro review king!
Well anyway, the dude over at linux outlaws just did a TON of reviews on distros so you might want to check that out.

Yikes!  Last night I popped in disc 1 of Slackware.  Uh... Yeah.  Not really willing to handle all the disk mounting and partitioning from command line or even just from text.  Too involved for me :) . 
I told you I'd wimp out.  My eyes are too big for my stomach I guess.
I did however, load up Enlightenment and Fluxbox to play with. 

Another window manager you may want to take a look at is FVWM.  Specifically FVWM-Crystal.  FVWM-Crystal is a modified version of FVWM.  It is just as light as Fluxbox and is ready to go after installation.  On Ubuntu you can install FVWM-Crystal by running
 
sudo apt-get install fvwm-crystal
 
You can find for information on FVWM-Crystal at the link below
 
fvwm-crystal.org/

UPDATE....
 
I was messing with the laptop trying to get the TV out to work and POOF!....  I killed my xconf.  Screen is also screwy.  Did a dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, and still couldn't get it working.
 
So....I decided rather than to spend any more time trying to get it back up, I'd just download the full install disc of Zenwalk.  Last night, I completed the install to the tune of "When are you coming to bed already?".  Today I will really dig in and mess arounf. 
 
Getting the damn Broadcom wireless to work shoudl be a chore, but I think I found a solid tutorial on it. 

cool beans. Yeah the broadcom wireless is such a pain. I think you can do it with NDISwrapper. Though I have to tell you that on my old laptop, I had a lot of problems using ndiswrapper with my driver. Thanks for keeping us updated. I can't wait to hear about Zenwalk!

Will do.  If all else fails, I will just go back to Ubuntu (wireless had no issues)

Y'know how people get sick of hearing about how Ubuntu "just works"??  Well.......
Zenwalk install went flawlessly.  When it came time to mess with NDISwrapper and getting wireless going, I lost patience.
So, I tried out Debian Net Install.  Another FLAWLESS install.  Even better, now my wireless driver is built in!  But getting the firware to work on it is another story.  Enter FWCutter.  But of course, I ran into issues w/ the fwcutter install, and it wouldn't work.
So...  I am back to re-installing Gutsy I think. 
Don't get me wrong.  I KNOW I could have gotten the other distros working w/ some elbow grease.  Y'know what though?  I have something that is working.  I guess I'll just stick with it.

Thanks for your interest in the issues.  They are as follows:
 
On Zen, I couldn't even find FWCUTTER to install the Broadcom firmware. 
On Debian, I found it in the repos, but when I went to install it, it errored out in Synaptic.
 
Like I said, I am just spoiled and lazier than I anticipated.  My wife and I have been re-doing 2 rooms in the house, and HER deadline is a party she is throwing next Friday, so this weekend ended up being shot. 
Also, I have gotten so used to working with my main two machines KVM'd w/ a 24 inch monitor, that hunching over my laptop as it sits on the couch next to my deskchair and copying terminal commands w/ a laptop keyboard and Synaptic pad, just seems like banging my head against the wall.
 
I am TOTALLY down with the FVWM Crystal or Fluxbox thing (truthfully, had I not fried my xorg, this was the way I was leaning as the weekend started.
 
 
 

If you are going with a gutsy install again, you may want to try the new version of linux mint. Its based off of Gutsy but I friggin love it. I've been running it on my laptop (I need to do a review of it on the show). It is everything that gutsy is, but even more user friendly, with some funny little bells and whistles like funny sayings when you open console. I would recommend it to anyone that loves ubuntu.
Chad

Gutsy Reinstalled.  Typing WIRELESSLY on it right now while Synaptic Updates everything.

I haven't installed Zenwalk on hardware but I have played with it in a VM.  One you may want to look at is Geubuntu which is Ubuntu with Enlightenment already installed.  I heard about it on the Ubuntu forums and decided to boot it up in a VM.  I'm considering loading a machine with it to test.  I have heard it suffers from stability issues once in a great while which is why I'm going to hold off on putting it on my primary machines.

I would like to point out to those users who are interested in trying out E17 on their Ubuntu systems that there are packages available that can be used to ease the installation of E17 on Ubuntu.
 
I created a post about a year ago on the Ubuntu Forums with instructions for installing E17 on Ubuntu.  There are E17 packages available from edevelop's server for Edgy.  If you like you can zoom on over to the link below and follow through my instructions.  Edevelops server is still available so just replace the reference for previous versions of Ubuntu with Edgy.  I will note that I have not tested the Edgy E17 packages from edevelop.org, so please do not flame me if something breaks on your system.  I do know that the packages for Feisty work fine because that is what I use on my work production machine. 
 
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php
 
You may also take a look at the thread below for instructions on doing an E17 installation from CVS. 
 
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php
 
 

Wow!  I can't believe this is two months ago already!!!
I have since sold that laptop in anticipation of picking up an EEE for my wife at the end of the month.
As far as personal projects go, my father's company is about to scrap 6 old machines this weekend.  Once the IT guy (read as the owner's son) removes the drives, I will be picking them up to see what I can cobble from them.  I am hoping to find at least one new enough to build a decent FreeNAS machine. 

Awesome!  That is what I am about to do as well.  I have a handful of old machines that I have been collecting and gradually giving them new life with Linux.  I have plans to mash a few of them together and put up a server at home.  just need to get my hands on a few hard drives. I would be interested in hearing more about your project.
Let us know how it goes.
 
 
 

Well, this weekend I plan to do some basic testing because I don't have the budget for my drives until month end.  So this weekend, I'll be putzing around with a 20gb or so drive just testing things out.  One of the things I am interested in is using it as a UPnP server for my Xbox 360. 
I figure I'll be well versed enough by the time I get my drives that tackling a RAID setup won't be THAT hard. 
 

I have been lucky enough to pick up a few free machines by helping people upgrade to their newer windows boxes. I even got  several macs. Two of them  i used for pc parts. If the user does not want to run linux, then more power to them. I will be happy to take the old machine the salesman said was worthless and put it to work using linux.  

Nice man:) mmm, free macs taste good.

Yeah, I have yet to even pick these up yet.  The guy who is suppsoed to pull the hard drives has been lazy and I guess he doesn't trust me to do it...
So, I have yet to play with anything new. 

If you want fast and minimal, why not try Puppy, a bit quirky, definately different, works from a live disk, uses IceWM i think, but on a IBM Thinkpad 600E (P2 300) works well, with your laptop, it should blow the cobwebs well clear.
 
Paul

Yeah, so I was too lazy to go to the office to pick these PC's up.  My father, not knowing anything about PC's, tossed them all in his SUV and dumped them at my house. 
10 machines.  All ravaged by someone who thought he was being safe w/ company data.   Why he took the majority of the RAM out is beyond me. 
So, out of ten machines, I salvaged one working machine, and even that one was shaky, so I sold it on craig's for $35.  The rest I had a buddy who frequents the recycle center pick up.
I certainly need a project.  As of today, the only thing running Linux in my house is the eeePC I bougth for my wife, and she is ALWAYS using it!!!