Comment 1 for bug 82385

Trying to run Xubuntu 7.10 on an old Gateway Solo 3350 with only 256MB of memory (= max installable) was a pain, with constant "swapping" of data in from the live-cd.
Trying to install was completely impossible, and even the ubiquity-only option would stall before starting (showing the first install screen).

Solution: I followed the recipe given in http://cutecomputer.wordpress.com/2006/07/18/ubuntu-606-installation-on-legacy-pc-low-ram/
Basically, I booted from the live-cd, immediately Ctrl+Alt+F1'ed to the console, created a 1GB swap partition ($ sudo fdisk /dev/sda)($ sudo mkswap /dev/sda1), added the new swap area to the live-cd system ($ sudo swapon /dev/sda1), then Ctrl+Alt+F7'ed back to the desktop and double-clicked the installer icon.
This time it ran like a charm.

So yes, if swap is available, then use it (ask first, to be polite).

Furthermore, since we're talking about somebody wanting to use the installer, and the installer requires the existence of a swap partition anyway, why not run fdisk (or similar) for them if swap does not already exist yet? Especially if there is free space already available on the disk!

Because a really helpful fix will cost time/money, if it is judged that there is not enough real need for a real fix, then at least provide useful info about the lack of memory being a problem, and what to do about it, instead of just spinning the wheels off the cd...