hey guys,

I've been playing around with linux for the last few years, bouncing between distros seeing the differences, compiling things from source, configuring xorg servers etc etc.

I'm now looking to my old laptop and deciding on tossing it out and getting myself a new one, or preferably get a good linux OS set up on it that'll allow me to keep using it.

the laptop in question is a lifebox fujitsu e-series e-6555, P3 650 mhz, 192 megs of ram, with an ati Rage Mobility M4 AGP video card.

I've tried my favourite ubuntu 6.10 release on it but found it to be a bit sluggish for boot times. Being a college student I carry my laptop around to classes for note taking, lecture recording, and its an absolute bonus to have it run linux for my unix classes.

What I"m looking for is a distro that can become lightweight, fast boot time, use very little ram (192 isnt much to run off these days), allow me to run a simple but still elegant looking desktop (I'm thinking fluxbox), and if possible have the ability to run opengl. (I used to play quake 2/3 on it :P).

Anybody have any suggestions on what distros to take a look at? Anybody have similair hardware and mind sharing expierences. I'm currently considering gentoo for this system but past expierences with that distro have not been well :S.

Puppy Linux should run great on that.

You need what is generally referred to as a "light distro." There are many to choose from, and I think it's best that you spend some time investigating what feels right to you. Picking a distro is a philosophical and personal choice. All you can get here is people advertising their favorites. None is distinctively superior to the others in any technical sense.

Here is a starter list. When one looks interesting, check out the home page.
Here's a Distrowatch search for much the same thing.

Read through those pages. Look for interesting links as well as the primary reviews.

And search these forums for "light distro" or "old computer."

This question is asked very often, and all the answers are already posted. You really should have just read one of the other 10,000 or so threads with the same title.