Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
Forum rules
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
- catweazel
- Level 19
- Posts: 9763
- Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:44 pm
- Location: Australian Antarctic Territory
Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
CrunchBang++
MX Linux
antiX
Vector Linux
Tiny Core Linux
Puppy Linux
SparkyLinux
Damn Small Linux
Porteus
Add your preferred light distro name with a URL. If you wish to list an Ubuntu LTS derivative, please ensure it's for older computers and not simply a light distro for more recent, light devices.
MX Linux
antiX
Vector Linux
Tiny Core Linux
Puppy Linux
SparkyLinux
Damn Small Linux
Porteus
Add your preferred light distro name with a URL. If you wish to list an Ubuntu LTS derivative, please ensure it's for older computers and not simply a light distro for more recent, light devices.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
Using Mint as primary OS since 2006.
-
- Level 6
- Posts: 1347
- Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:19 am
- Location: N.E. AR USA
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
Q4OS A Debian based OS featuring the Trinity Desktop.
- Pjotr
- Level 24
- Posts: 20124
- Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:18 am
- Location: The Netherlands (Holland) 🇳🇱
- Contact:
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
It's probably a bit boring to say so, but I do think that even for an old computer, it's best to stay within the ecosystem of the Ubuntu LTS official flavours. Of those, Lubuntu is probably the most lightweight.
Nothing beats the advantages of the Ubuntu LTS codebase.
Nothing beats the advantages of the Ubuntu LTS codebase.
Tip: 10 things to do after installing Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
Keep your Linux Mint healthy: Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes
Twitter: twitter.com/easylinuxtips
All in all, horse sense simply makes sense.
Keep your Linux Mint healthy: Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes
Twitter: twitter.com/easylinuxtips
All in all, horse sense simply makes sense.
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
hi pjotr...i noted that you said,
ive never distro hopped to that one but is it really lighter than peppermint 9, as a for instance, ...the reason i ask this is because on my 11 year old asus eee pc with just 1 gig of ram and an atom 1.66 ghz processor, (i purposely have not increased the ram on this so i can really stress it out), (i use this for testing only) i can comfortably run peppermint 9 and even stream videos without glitching as long as im not doing anything else at the same time...just wondering is all and if you have tried this distro as well...DAMIENLubuntu is probably the most lightweight.
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
I use Lubuntu 18.04 on a similarly spec'ed netbook as your eeePc, and whilst not very fast, it is very usable.
On cold boot it uses about 150 - 170MB ram; I have no idea how lean Peppermint is so will have to leave you to deal with that comparison.
Generally the problem with low spec machines is the applications you use, not necessarily the OS/DE itself, so, for example, LibreOffice would be an unwise office-suite on that machine, and firefox or chromium may also be too heavy, though I'm not sure what other real choice you have, or what to use as a light web-browser.
On cold boot it uses about 150 - 170MB ram; I have no idea how lean Peppermint is so will have to leave you to deal with that comparison.
Generally the problem with low spec machines is the applications you use, not necessarily the OS/DE itself, so, for example, LibreOffice would be an unwise office-suite on that machine, and firefox or chromium may also be too heavy, though I'm not sure what other real choice you have, or what to use as a light web-browser.
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
Peppermint is based on Ubuntu but has elements from Mint, such as Mint's update manager. I've run both Lubuntu and Peppermint and much prefer the latter, as it has many more features and is nearly as lightweight. Peppermint combines elements of both LXDE and Xfce, but they are gradually shifting away from LXDE.
Using Mint as primary OS since 2006.
-
- Level 4
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:28 pm
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
I have tested the following distros (in order of lightness) looking for the lightest 32-bit distro for my very old, single-core laptop:
- Puppy Xenial (stripped off of features to the point it's so inconvenient for use)
- Bodhi (could not make it to work on the actual machine it was intended for)
- antiX (I ended up using this one)
- LXLE
- Lubuntu
- Linux Mint Xfce 18.3
- MX
- Linux Lite
- Puppy Xenial (stripped off of features to the point it's so inconvenient for use)
- Bodhi (could not make it to work on the actual machine it was intended for)
- antiX (I ended up using this one)
- LXLE
- Lubuntu
- Linux Mint Xfce 18.3
- MX
- Linux Lite
If you're looking for a greener Linux pasture, you won't find any that is greener than Linux Mint. ;)
- catweazel
- Level 19
- Posts: 9763
- Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:44 pm
- Location: Australian Antarctic Territory
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
Thanks for posting that particular link. I took it for a spin. Nice, and it has Mint's driver manager too.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
- catweazel
- Level 19
- Posts: 9763
- Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:44 pm
- Location: Australian Antarctic Territory
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
It's not boring; after taking a look at some of the distros mentioned I think your point is valid.Pjotr wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 28, 2018 1:40 pm It's probably a bit boring to say so, but I do think that even for an old computer, it's best to stay within the ecosystem of the Ubuntu LTS official flavours. Of those, Lubuntu is probably the most lightweight.
Nothing beats the advantages of the Ubuntu LTS codebase.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
- AZgl1800
- Level 20
- Posts: 11183
- Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2015 3:20 am
- Location: Oklahoma where the wind comes Sweeping down the Plains
- Contact:
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
very nice, clean install on VB... feels good.
a nice package for smaller PCs.
Re: Light Linux Distributions for Old Computers
That's intriguing ...
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong - H. L. Mencken