New and Improved Router on a Floppy Disk: Freesco in 2003

Source: CrossNodes

We took an initial two-part look at Freesco way back in May, 2002. Here's a quick recap from our initial article. Freesco, which stands for FREE ciSCO, is a "single floppy distribution" of Linux that is intended to be a replacement for minor Cisco routers. It can be run from a single floppy disk, from a hard disk, or on RAM disks. It is easy to configure, has minimal system requirements, and is adaptable to all kinds of uses. Versions 0.3.0 and later require a little more hardware muscle than earlier versions -- v0.2.7, for example, could run on a 386 with 6 megabytes of RAM, whereas v0.3.x needs at least a 486 with 8MB of RAM. (Don't landfill those old PCs -- they are still good for some things.)
The authors of Freesco have done a wonderful job with the interface, as it is logical and easy to learn. Don't be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the interface, though; Freesco's ease of use and relatively limited learning curve does not mean it is a simple, limited program. Freesco, in fact, is quite sophisticated and powerful.