Laptops :: DSL on slow computers

I have a 486/100 laptop w/ 8M RAM that keeps running out of memory - can I compensate for this w/ a Linux-swap partion?

FYI - I bought a $10 adapter on eBay that let me plug the laptop's mini harddrive into a desktop PC and installed DSL that way

Yes

But keep in mind that your computer will not be very responsive if the hard drive is swapping stuff around 100% of the time.

Swap partitions are nice for that momentary surge in RAM usage, or for heavy multi-tasking where some of the applications are idle and can be swapped out as needed.

8MB + swap should be fine for text/console mode and you might be able to get XWindows running with Dillo if you are clever.

original here.