# Liliputing
*Entered: On Asus eeepc*
*Date: 20221126*
## "Liliputing", or small form factor computing was on the
upswing about 12 years ago, with small netbooks, but for
most of the time since, it's been pretty much what we do
on our phones and the occasional Pi or single board pc.
Around the time netbooks were coming down in price, I
picked up a couple for convenience. One was this one, an
Asus eeePC 900, or a 900MHz cpu, 512Mb ram and 4Gb ssd, in
a 10.5in frame, about 9in actual screen.
I picked it up at Target on clearance, becaue the newer
models ith more usable specs were already on the shelf. It
came loaded with Xandros, a simplified linux spin made for
web and email, and nothing in the way of customizing.
I replaced that with Debian pure blend for ham radio, and
that was pretty functional until recently, when it took a
dive and I didn't have a backup of that apparently no
longer available ISO.
And these days, it's pretty tough to find an image for 32
bit, non-pae, that fits on less than 4GB and runs on the
above specs, but I finally found that ToriOS fits with
about 500Mb to spare. So now I once again have a usable
backup machine for portable packet/digital radio, that
fits in a small toolbag or case with a small radio and
Signalink.
Of course I could have solved this problem faster with a
$50 tablet and keyboard, with a 4GHz cpu, 4Gb ram and
32Gb ssd, (and I probably will have to next time) but
where is the adventure in that?
