Author Topic: Linux?  (Read 3108 times)

Hawkmoon

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Linux?
« on: January 17, 2018, 10:22:30 PM »
A co-worker recently (a couple of months or so ago) gave me an older Dell desktop computer. I got it running, bumped the RAM from 512 megs to 4 GB, upgraded it from Windows XP to Windows 7, and paired it up with an older wide-screen monitor I had. I've had it on Craigs List since mid-November, reduced the asking price once, and I haven't received a single call on it. I don't want to give it away, so ...

... I figure the Universe is telling me it's time for me to play with Linux, and that this old box would be the ideal test mule, since I can tinker with it all I want without endangering my primary, work computer. The question, then, is what flavor would be best for an older computer (CPU is Pentium, not dual core) with limited resources? I'd like something that's easy to set up, doesn't hog RAM, and doesn't need a huge hard drive (because this computer doesn't have a large hard drive). For those with some Linux familiarity, what do you recommend?

Xubuntu?
Lubuntu?
Puppy?
TinyCore?
???
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Nick1911

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2018, 10:30:35 PM »
How much processor does it have?

Without more info, I'd start with something with lots of user support, like Ubuntu, or some variant of it optimized for lightweight hardware.  Don't pick something oddball.

Also, keep in mind this is a whole different animal, and you'll have a lot of reading and learning to do before you become comfortable with it.  Try not to get frustrated.

Ben

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2018, 10:36:46 PM »
I switched my Linux VMs to Mint a ways back (I'm pretty sure from recommendations here).

https://linuxmint.com/about.php

Personally,  I would install it on a flash drive first and play with it that way. If you want to put it straight on the machine, it's easy enough to do that later.

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/
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Regolith

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2018, 11:03:13 PM »
I'm going to second Mint. About six months back I tried out most of the major distros, and in my opinion Mint is by far the best one for an end-user. It's easy to use, and has a better software manager and updater than pretty much anything else. Also, since it's downstream from Debian and Ubuntu, it has a massive amount of software available for it, one way or the other.

I prefer the Mate edition for older hardware, as it doesn't use much in the way of system resources. I've got a 9 year old laptop with 2 GB of RAM and a dual-core Athlon X2 that has Linux Mint Mate installed on it, and it runs just fine for general web browsing.
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Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. - William Pitt the Younger

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KD5NRH

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2018, 11:03:52 PM »
What's not a large hard drive?  300GB should be plenty for a pretty complete Xubuntu installation with lots of random software.  If it's less than 200GB, I think I'd go grab something off eBay cheap to stuff in there.

After all, go big enough and you've got a really full-featured NAS.

bedlamite

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2018, 12:13:48 AM »
Linux Mint. The MATE desktop is probably the best for a new user, XFCE is better if your
computer is old.

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
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Calumus

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2018, 01:20:30 AM »
+4 Mint is the way to go.

zahc

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2018, 08:37:24 AM »
I've been using Mint Cinnamon or XFCE
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lee n. field

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2018, 08:53:05 AM »
Ubuntu Mate or Mint with Mate.  Mate is a desktop that looks and works like the version 2 Gnome environment, before they went and smoked the user interface Koolaide.

The typical scavenged laptop around here would be running a Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB RAM and Mint with Mate.  If I have more horsepower I'll run Mint with Cinnamon.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 06:22:59 PM by lee n. field »
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2018, 09:25:01 AM »
The computer is a Dell Optiplex 320, small form factor desktop. CPU is not a Duo Core ... it's a Pentium 4. Hard drive is either 150 GB or 250 GB, I don't remember which. Not a powerhouse computer. It was never intended to be -- it was originally used for a short-term setup in a construction field office trailer for connecting to a state network and handling e-mail, word processing, and Excel tasks only.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2018, 12:34:56 AM by Hawkmoon »
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Marnoot

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2018, 01:51:44 PM »
I like Mint Cinnamon on a recent machine but on your box with those specs, as mentioned, Mint XFCE will be much lighter on resources.

zxcvbob

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2018, 04:24:14 PM »
I built a Linux system a few years ago; I used Debian and XFCE.  Never did much with it because that system had such loud cooling fans.  (it would have been good for mining bitcoins in the winter to heat the basement)  :laugh:  I think I got the recommendation for Debian here.
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KD5NRH

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2018, 05:42:59 PM »
Linux Mint. The MATE desktop is probably the best for a new user, XFCE is better if your computer is old.

Been a while since I tested Mint. (long before the Unity mess with Ubuntu)  What's the primary difference between Mint with XFCE and Xubuntu?

Regolith

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2018, 06:50:28 PM »
Linux Mint. The MATE desktop is probably the best for a new user, XFCE is better if your
computer is old.

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

I never noticed any performance differences between using XFCE and MATE on my old laptop. Except certain XFCE features, such as the screensaver, simply wouldn't run. Might be a hardware thing unique to my laptop, though.

Been a while since I tested Mint. (long before the Unity mess with Ubuntu)  What's the primary difference between Mint with XFCE and Xubuntu?

Since Mint is based on Ubuntu, there isn't a huge amount of difference, except that you get the refinements that Mint offers over Ubuntu, such as the much better Software store/manager I mentioned earlier.

https://www.howtogeek.com/115041/htg-explains-whats-the-difference-between-ubuntu-linux-mint/
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lee n. field

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2018, 07:32:17 PM »
Been a while since I tested Mint. (long before the Unity mess with Ubuntu)  What's the primary difference between Mint with XFCE and Xubuntu?

Unless you're following the LTS (Long Term Support) track, Ubuntu has a  pretty quick new version cycle.  New releases every six months, and by the 9th month updates on the older version stop.  (LTS goes a lot longer.)  In my experience, updating from one Ubuntu version to the next did not always go smoothly.

Mint builds on Ubuntu LTS, and the major updates are a lot further apart.  I haven't had any problem jumping from one point release to the next (18.1->.2->.3).

There is a version of Mint built on a straight up Debian base.  I've installed it, but haven't messed with it to any great extent.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2018, 08:53:00 PM »
More research tells me that I'll be happier with an LTS release. I had no idea how many flavors of Linux were out there, and it gets confusing very quickly. After reading enough different top 10 and top 5 lists to make my head spin, I'm sort of narrowing it down to LXLE, Linux Lite, Lubuntu, and Zorin. And thoughts or comments on any of those?
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Ben

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2018, 09:49:58 PM »
More research tells me that I'll be happier with an LTS release. I had no idea how many flavors of Linux were out there, and it gets confusing very quickly. After reading enough different top 10 and top 5 lists to make my head spin, I'm sort of narrowing it down to LXLE, Linux Lite, Lubuntu, and Zorin. And thoughts or comments on any of those?

I'll reiterate about Linux on a stick. If you're unsure what you might like, don't install on your computer until you've tried out the ones you're interested in. Linux via USB will run almost exactly as it would if you had installed it on the host machine. The interface will certainly be identical. If you decide Linux is not for you, then your laptop host OS will still be there unchanged.
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

zahc

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2018, 11:23:01 PM »
More research tells me that I'll be happier with an LTS release. I had no idea how many flavors of Linux were out there, and it gets confusing very quickly. After reading enough different top 10 and top 5 lists to make my head spin, I'm sort of narrowing it down to LXLE, Linux Lite, Lubuntu, and Zorin. And thoughts or comments on any of those?

You are doing it wrong, because there is some chance that some of those won't work for you or your hardware anyway. Some of them will probably be slow to download, or won't install to a flash drive right, or won't boot for some obsure reason, or your screen will flicker, or whatever. When that happens, don't get frustrated, just try the next distro in your list. So stop trying to decide on a distro that you think will be perfect for you. Just try something and if it works you say a prayer of thanks and don't touch it. If it doesn't then you try the next one in your list. Installing these things is very easy and quick to do. Troubleshooting problems can be a time-sink and not worth it. There is both an upside and downside to the diversity of the ecosystem, and if you get choice paralysis or get your mind set on something  youhave to have, you won't be taking advantage of the upside. So you just try one.


Always create at least two 10-15gb OS partitions for / of different OS installations, and one big partition for /home. Then you can boot different systems easily to try new ones or fall  back to your old one if the newer one gets hosed. Modern installers are retarded, so I always have to use the "advanced" option to do this. Also, I never use a swap partition, ever. Swapfiles are better, but I don't even use those most of the time. But the retarded installers always warn you if you don't create a swap partition so just ignore them.
Maybe a rare occurence, but then you only have to get murdered once to ruin your whole day.
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KD5NRH

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2018, 01:14:44 PM »
Since Mint is based on Ubuntu, there isn't a huge amount of difference, except that you get the refinements that Mint offers over Ubuntu, such as the much better Software store/manager I mentioned earlier.

I'm so used to apt-get that I don't even use Synaptic unless I can't remember the name of the package, so it doesn't sound like there's anything worthy of changing from an existing Xubuntu system that's working fine.  May try it out when I get around to putting a new HDD in the Dell, though.

mtnbkr

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #19 on: January 23, 2018, 06:58:35 AM »
Don't know if it's any good or not, but it's free, at least on 01/23/2018.

Linux for Beginners e-Book in Kindle format

Chris

Regolith

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #20 on: January 23, 2018, 05:07:38 PM »
This is a pretty good free one, as well:

http://tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html

Had it as assigned reading for a college course on Linux a while back.

And if you want to get into bash scripting:

www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/abs-guide.pdf
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. - Thomas Jefferson

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. - William Pitt the Younger

Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything. - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

mtnbkr

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #21 on: January 23, 2018, 07:53:21 PM »
It's not free, but The Bash Cookbook is good as well. 

Chris

KD5NRH

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #22 on: January 23, 2018, 09:03:50 PM »
If you just want to be a non-Apple fanboy, there are some good emacs tutorials out there too.

Or you can remain on the Holy Path and use vi instead.

mtnbkr

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #23 on: January 23, 2018, 09:36:53 PM »
If you just want to be a non-Apple fanboy, there are some good emacs tutorials out there too.

Or you can remain on the Holy Path and use vi instead.

 ???

Nobody was talking about Apple.

Chris

KD5NRH

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Re: Linux?
« Reply #24 on: January 23, 2018, 11:27:40 PM »
Nobody was talking about Apple.

No, but emacs is pretty much the only other thing even approaching iIdiocy that has such a cult following.

Unless there's a teco fan club somewhere.