> I recently saw a suggestion for LUBUNTU as a lighterweight, but nearly full
> bodied distro.  (Sounds like a coffee brew!)  Larry Clemens

+1 at lubuntu(precise).

during bootup my 640MB box says:
Memory: 622564k/655360k available (5667k kernel code, 32344k reserved,
2747k data, 688k init, 0k highmem)
Detected 348.471 MHz processor.
Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value calculated using timer
frequency.. 696.94 BogoMIPS (lpj=348471)

browsing is an unreasonable test of patience on this box, all else
works reasonably (including browsing via vnc).   other boxes come and
go (to the scavenge pile) at a sorry rate, and this old compaq is
still my trusty fallback.

puppy is great when you need it but not really practical if you can do
any better.

i find lubuntu to be a realistic environment, ubuntu repos available
in entirety.