What is the best linux distribution for an older computer?

Which linux distribution would be the best to install on a older computer that still woks fine, like: 866mhz, 512ram, 80GB hard drive?

I mean, so I can reuse an older computer for basic tasks such as browsing the web, writing documents, store some music and pictures.What is the best linux distribution for an older computer?
Something like Ubuntu or Debian would work fine.



http://www.ubuntu.com/products/WhatIsUbu鈥?/a>

http://www.debian.org/



Gnome is another popular choice:

http://www.gnome.org/



Puppy Linix runs only in RAM, that might be a good choice for an older computer with a slower processor:

http://www.puppylinux.org/



Another good distro for a slower computer is VectorLinux. I have seen it run on much slower PC's than yours:

http://vectorlinux.com
i have a 366mhz laptop wit 40gb and ATI RAGE Mobility P/M and i ran Ubuntu Linux Beryl on it and it ran great for such a slow pc it was nice and fast so got wit it u wont be disappointedWhat is the best linux distribution for an older computer?
Oh, most of the distributions will allow you to run some subset on that ... 80GB? That's all outdoors.



I thought you were going to ask about getting Linux to run on your 486 (you can!).



If you don't run X (the windowing system), 512MB will be more then enough. If you do run X, you'll want to make sure that you run relatively few graphical apps at the same time. Also turn off whatever services you don't need that get started at boot time.



If you really want to customize to get the last little bit of bang for your buck, I'd recommend "gentoo" which will allow you to compile the kernel for exactly the processor you need as well as just the tools - not for the faint of heart.



Really, you can do that with most of them - but gentoo is really setup to do it.
Linux doesn't need a lot of resources like Windows. You should be able to install Fedora on your PC without any trouble at all.What is the best linux distribution for an older computer?
puppy linux might be a good choice
You can load Suse, Fedora (although it is a bit resource heavy), Ubuntu and many others. Limit the services running on the machine for best performance.