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by Tor3 369 days ago
On the other hand, when Linux was new (I switched to Linux in early 1992), you could install it all on a floppy and boot in a few seconds. Not much difference really. Just way more flexible with a Linux floppy than a DOS one.. I kept a Linux floppy around for doing various stuff with problematic PCs.

It's way more important (or was, at the time) that MS-DOS could run on 8088/8086 and '286, unlike regular Linux.
1 comments
userbinator 369 days ago
you could install it all on a floppy and boot in a few seconds.

The first practically usable Linux kernel was already much bigger than the DOS kernel + shell + many utilities.

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Tor3 369 days ago
Not sure what you mean by practically usable Linux kernel. It was perfectly possible to use the < 1.0 kernels on a floppy, with enough tools to do useful work.
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