Time and tide
Linux can run on various machines that are plenty old, but first we really ought to manage your expectations.
Many people turn to Linux to breathe new life into their old systems. Consigning ageing machines to the scrap heap (or preferably an ewaste service) may be cathartic, but if it works, it seems a shame not to use it. A machine that is not capable of running Windows 10 (see box), or running it in a usable manner, can in all likelihood run some form of Linux. We’ll be clear about this, though: there are some limits, some which depend on how much effort you’re willing to invest. Modern Linux can’t run on your dusty old 386, for example. Such support was removed in kernel 3.8 over a decade ago. If you really want to build your own Linux distro based on an older kernel, you could, but it’s well beyond the scope of this feature.