Which version of Linux do you recommend for this PC?

Question

Which version of Linux do you recommend for this PC?

Answer 1

I don't recommend KDE for a P3 and 256MB. If you want the user to stick to the ease of Ubuntu, make it Xubuntu if anything. I would really recommend something like Slackware, Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux, or Yellow Dog Linux.

Answer 2

Kubuntu is a bit heavy for that computer.



I'm currently running PCLinuxOS 2007 (see it here: http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_pclinuxos_2007) on this computer: http://www.onepc.net/index.php?view=docs&doc_id=53 I just haven't gotten around to upgrading it yet. That computer would not run Kubuntu 7.04 at all!



Check out PCLOS 2009.1 here:



http://www.pclinuxos.com/



PCLOS IS "Radically Simple"! I've cut my teeth on it coming from the last decade+ using Windows .



Or you can try these distros which are lighter, still:



Linux Mint



http://www.linuxmint.com/



Damn Small Linux



http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/



Puppy Linux



http://www.puppylinux.org/



There are more listed here:



http://bengross.com/smallunix.html



I strongly suggest that you try out these distros by using Live/Bootable CDs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD ) of them first to see if they will even run. If they'll run ~OK~ from the CD-ROM then they'll run even BETTER installed on the hard drive.



This is yet another link that you and/or your client could very well find quite useful:



http://www.linux.org/groups/



I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I would suggest downloading some different Linux LiveCDs to see which one will work better and decide from there. When you mentioned Windows ME, I realized it was an older computer. Try LinpusLite LiveCD version94. It was created for netbooks, but I have it installed on an older PIII 450MHX computer with 256megs of ram. It is pretty neat looking and cool. So is one called Easypeasy, which is based on Ununtu 9.4 and created for net books also, but the file needs to be burnt to a DVD. If the computer doesn't have a DVD drive it won't be much use. You could try Debris 1.7 or Mint Linux 6 I personally use PCLinuxOS 2009-1 KDE because it use .rpm files. It cab be downloaded in Gnome or XCFE Desktop Windows Environment. They will run as a LiveCD. You said you were also new to Linux, so I welcome you. Linux gets a lot of bad rap from people who never give it a chance. I have over 200 Linux LiveCD distributions that I have been collecting in the past two years. Best of Luck.

Answer 4

Try running Slackware with Fluxbox. I run Slackware with Flux on an old Dell 333 mhz 256 mb. Two issues:



1 - If you are not comfortable with Linux in general you may have issues installing because of the minimal setup in slackware.



2 - With flux, many apps you may need to execute it from a terminal.



If you can get through this, you will be rewarded with running the oldest, most stable, most secure OS (outside of netbsd) and kickass distro of Linux out there (Sorry Debian and Gentoo users)

Answer 5

Go with Linux Mint =)



It'll run fine on that

Answer 6

I had an old computer with these specs: AMD K6-2 350 MHz, 192 MB RAM, 6 GB hard drive.



I installed Xubuntu 8.04 and it worked nicely (with minimal amount of programs, and Compiz out of the question), although I only had like 2 GB of hard drive space left after installation :-)

Answer 7

Firstly I would like to start off on a very positive note, if there is an up to date modern operating system suited for your aging system, I bet you it would be Linux and Linux only. So ignore any negativities you may encounter about the impossibility of the task etc. One of the major advantages of Linux is its ability to run on any hardware, chances are you’ll find what you are looking for within the multitude of distro’s out there. In fact it’s well known that Linux is used all over the world to recycle and revive presumed “obsolete” machines which can be acquired at a low price or even free, these machines are then used to teach kids, or to help to run small businesses/projects etc which couldn’t have otherwise afforded new hardware/software.



A few tips/advice:



-Don’t take any one’s word for it, if you can, download the various distro’s that may be suited for your system and try them out and see which one works the best within the limits of your hardware, until then you will never know.

-Linux is very flexible and tweakable and most distro’s have excellent support to make your chosen distro work well.

-There are many people who are dedicated to reviving old and presumed dead PC’s with Linux. These people usually publish their experience online and there info is very useful and pertinent to what you are trying to do. I’ve posted some of these websites below.

-Real expectations: If you want a trouble free OS, where you can browse the internet, use a word processor, play some “simple” games, maybe watch a DVD if your system allows, than that's great. If you want something more than this then you need to buy newer stuff.



My humble experience:

I have an old desktop PC, never been used for about 5 years and was about to be thrown out when I thought of trying to revive it as a side project.

Its basic specs: P-III, RAM: 192MB, HDD: 10 Giga Bytes, it was setup about 10 years back!

-I installed Xubuntu 8.10 on it (please use Alternate install CD) and it worked very well, although the installation did take its time.

-The Linux distro that that I really, really loved and was glad I discovered was Puppy Linux. It’s amazing. It worked brilliantly and I loved it so much I put it on a USB flash drive and use it on a “modern” laptop I have as its works so well and on any system and its very fast. This is the distro I would recommend, you won’t regret it. But please try Xubuntu and other distros and experiment with them.

Other distros you may try but I haven’t: Damn small Linux, Slackware, etc.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Your machine sounds perfect for Linux Mint 6 FLUXBOX which should run blisteringly fast.



Release notes

http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia_fluxbox.php



Download

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=35





LUg.

Answer 9

Actually you can install Xubuntu in it. Kubuntu will run but VERY SLO-OWLY. 256 Mbytes is not enough for the recent versions of KDE desktop. Ubuntu is closely based on Debian as are many of these other distros because it runs well on small machines.



Good ones are



Puppy Linux

http://www.puppylinux.org



Damn Small Linux (affectionately called DSL)

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org



Slax

http://www.slax.org



PCLinuxOS

http://www.pclinuxos.org



There are actually many others, however except for the experimental XO Sugar Live CDs if they are derived from Red Hat, Mandriva or Suse your systme is probably too old to run them. Slackware, a highly technical distribution from which Slax is derived, will probably run on it fine, but you'll have to edit a lot of configuration files. I'm doing a Linux from scratch installation on an old Pentium M laptop which ran slackware 11.

Answer 10

Arch Linux is a "lightweight and flexible Linux distribution" that's great for using on computers with specs similar to yours.

http://www.archlinux.org/download/



Fluxbuntu is another good one. It's fairly user friendly since it's based from Ubuntu. The the minimum specs suggested are "300 MHz CPU and 64 MB of RAM." However, it is a big buggy and unstable.

http://fluxbuntu.org/



Another good one is Puppy Linux. I haven't used it personally, but I've heard it's a great light weight operating system.

http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads



And finally, there's the choice of Linux Mint. A tad more bloated, but should work fine on your computer. I recommend Mint since your new to Linux. As far as user friendliness goes, Mint is the most user friendly out of the four and would be the best choice for a new user. It has a stronger community behind it, that's great for when you need help.

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

Answer 11

Wait -- NO video memory? Then the computer can't work, except under the most primitive operating system. Not even a pre-1.0 Linux kernel. It's certainly not working under ME with no video memory. (Or, rather, it may be, if the BIOS accepts no video, but you'll never see anything on the monitor.



If you mean that there's no on-board video, and the video card is using system RAM, you barely have enough memory for any modern Linux kernel, but probably not one with a GUI. 128MB for the system and 128MB for video - that doesn't leave enough room to run anything.



Add some RAM - at least a total of 1GB, and a video card with on-board RAM.



And, if possible, get him using a text-based Linux - no GUI. That's going to eat CPU power he doesn't have to spare.

Answer 12

I was using Ubuntu Linux For Human Beings 9.04 for about a month.I loved it for the most part- but unfortunately I had to switch back to WinXp Home Edition for the following reasons....

-Could not install my windows based 3 in 1 printer on Ubuntu

-Could not find an Itunes type program that I could sync my Ipod to..

-Could not install my Windows based Digital Cam.

-Could not use Webcam or Voiceclip on their Pidgin Messenger.

So please keep in mind the above before you do the switch...