I'm sure things would be much better if I were running an ELF-only system, and if Netscape released ELF binaries. Navigator 3.01 is ELF-only. Also, the current port of the JDK to Linux is 1.1.3-v1. Ok, nowadays you can't even buy a 486-66. This bit needs updating.
Kernel Use a stable kernel, i.e. one with an even minor version number.
Don't upgrade unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Use a scorched earth policy on upgrades, especially when upgrading the kernel. Distributions Use a CD-based distribution if you can. In particular, I recommend Red Hat Linux . As mentioned earlier, I waited 3 years to install a full Linux distribution.