newbie questions

[Chris Smart <chriss speech braille uwo ca>]

Hi. I am planning on getting into Linux.  I am blind so won't be using
X-windows. I have some questions:
1. I want to use speakup and install with speech on either of these
systems:
a. My Pentium 2/266 with 64 mb ram, about 5 free gigs, and an Accent PC
internal synth. or
b. A 486 DX4/100 with 16 MB ram, 540 mb, and a Litetalk external synth.
The first system has a 32x cd-rom and the second has a 6x. 

I list both systems because I'm not sure if the 486 will have performance
problems. If I'm not using a graphical interface, will the 486 be
sufficient? Also, could I partision my free 5 gigs on the Pentium 2
machine and choose at bootup which operating system to load? If so, how
would I go about setting this up?
I should mention that I have Windows 95 on the bigger system, and want to
keep this intact, primarily for scanning and OCR. I'm assuming that there
isn't anything yet for Linux that has recognition capabilities similar to
Openbook Ruby edition.

Ok, yet another question.  which distro should I get? Does it matter? Are
there differences between the Linux you get from Slackware, Redhat, and
others? I hope that isn't a bad question to ask on a Redhat-hosted list.
*grins*

Thanks for any help.

Chris the newbie




http://www.braille.uwo.ca/~chriss - "Music is your own thoughts, your
experience, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out in your
horn."(Charlie Parker) - "Jazz and freedom go hand in hand. That explains it. 
There isn't any more to add to it. If I do add to it, it gets complicated. 
That's something for you to think about. You think about it and dig it. 
You dig it."(Thelonious Monk)