Many of you have problably heard this before: ‘Don’t throw away your
old computer, simply install Linux on it and make it a [web, FTP, file,
DNS, etc.] server’. Given the many distributions available, that is
great advice if you have the time to learn them but, what if you just want to (easily) make your old computer do some useful work again?

NASLite is
a distribution of Linux that is customized to make a (perhaps, old)
computer run as a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device. It can be
installed using floppy disks and the basic system requirements are:

• 486DX or better processor
• PCI bus
• 16M or more of RAM
• 1 to 4 IDE fixed disk drives (any size)
• PCI or on-board network interface adapter
• 3.5″ floppy disk drive

Once installed, your old computer suddenly becomes one of those
fancy NAS devices with status information available via HTTP that sell
for hundreds of dollars. Who said an old dog can’t learn new tricks?