Install wicd on Ubuntu 9.1

Ubuntu 9.1 is not know to me. I assume that you are talking about Ubuntu 9.10

If you look at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases you can see that support for Ubuntu 9.10 has ended more than six years ago.
The software repositories have already been removed, and there is no supported possibility for software installation any more.

I suggest that you create backup copies of your private files and do a new installation of a supported Ubuntu release, preferably Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with support until the year 2021.

Installation of wicd on Ubuntu 16.04 will then be easy.

Some years ago I was happy using 9.1 but I did not like later versions - they appeared more complex and OTT for my simple POP and browsing requirements.

1 - Some platforms have unofficial support sites for older releases - is there one for Ubuntu?

2 - What other method(s) are available for installing wicd?

3 - How big is a minimum 16.04 and what is its minimum hardware requirement?

4 - Are there small, fast, secure alternatives to Ubuntu which may be better suited to my needs?

1. There is no support for Ubuntu 9.10 any more, not even an unofficial one.
You should be aware that there haven't been any bug fixes for Ubuntu 9.10 since April 2011, and thus your system probably is vulnerable to some of the critical security bugs published in the past years (heartbleed, shellshock, poodle, freak, ghost, beast ...)

2. You could try compiling wicd from its source, but you might run into the problem that you cannot meet the prerequisites and dependencies.

3. and 4. For the recommended minimum capabilities of a computer to run Ubuntu see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements
This page also refers to "light-weight" alternatives Xubuntu and Lubuntu.

Thanks for your help.

Some while ago I split my disk into 4 partitions plus swap. Windows is on one partition. I would like to try various versions of Linux on the other 3 partitions but I recently encountered a problem with this.

I am from an OS X background and my Linux experience is old and limited except for programming my modem/router.

I tried putting a new version of 9.1 on a separate partition but it overwrote the old version without warning. The instructions provided were very poor. No data was lost.

Can you tell me how to ensure that later Linux installs neither attempt to reformat nor attempt to overwrite an existing partition?

The laptop I am installing on does not have a working DVD drive. I do have an old external CD drive but I would prefer another method. I have large flash sticks but they are very slow. Is it practical to install from:

1 - the existing 9.1 partition?

2 - a blank disk partition?

3 - a disk partition used only for various installers?

4 - another platform/computer without a Linux compatible formatted disk?

I have the following connections:

1 - Firewire 400

2 - USB 2

3 - 100 Base-T Ethernet

Re: "Can you tell me how to ensure that later Linux installs neither attempt to reformat nor attempt to overwrite an existing partition?"
The installer asks where to install the new system. It all depends on the selection made on that screen - whether the whole disk is reformatted with all data deleted, or if pre-allocated partitions are used, or if empty space is taken to store the new-installed system. If you select wrong options here, you probably will experience data loss. Before starting the installer you have to make up your mind about the future layout of the disk partitions.

I have never tried installing Ubuntu from within another system, although I know that this would be possible.
Using the standard installation process, either from a DVD (was CD for earlier versions) or from a bootable USB stick, did never pose a problem to me.

It is possible that I selected the wrong partition number but I thought I had double checked it.

I have done all of these things with OS X with few difficulties.

I would be grateful for advice from somebody who has successfully done some of the things I enquired about.

Links to well written Linux tutorials would help.

Thanks again for all your help.

To facilitate testing of various flavours of Linux I have decided to explore storing installation image files on one partition or a memory stick and installing direct from the images. To this end answer 2 at the following appears to be very helpful:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/340156/install-ubuntu-from-iso-image-directly-from-hard-disk-of-a-system-running-linux