Is it safe to use older versions of Linux Mint that are no longer supported?

[Wizard Mafia]

I have an HP Mini 2133, which at this point is virtually obsolete. I recently installed Isadora 9 on it, and it works just fine. I want to know, if its safe to use (in 2019), if I plan to process several purchases on various websites? The thing is, I cant seem to update Firefox, and lets me do very as is, I think it could help me out a bit at work, however I don't know if it would be safe to use numerous different credit cards online on an OS that is no longer supported.

[Pierre]

since my older laptop, that died recently - memory corrupt issue,, LM05 LTS .. ..
it's now my other old Laptop, that is still running LM13 & is now my Favourite Laptop.

now, both of those machines rarely went on-line, even though their WiFi card did work okay.
& on both machines - the version of Firefox was Updated Manually, by myself.


this doesn't make the machine any more safe on-line, though:
- it just stops various web sites, from complaining that your web browser, is too old.

in the end, it's Your Decision, as to Whether that older system, is safe to use,
- for both on-line shopping & on-line banking.
as most folks will advise that an older operating system,, from anyone - is un-safe when on-line.

[kevin987]

What you're doing isn't a good idea. There's no telling how many security vulnerabilities there are.

Try Peppermint OS. http://peppermintos.com/

There are others you can try, Search for lightweight linux disto.

Your max RAM is 2 GB. Hopefully you have that.

[sleeper12]

I think Peppermint is pae which may be a problem for an old machine. Try Puppy Linux:
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20a ... tarted.htm

[Moem]

I don't know if it would be safe to use numerous different credit cards online on an OS that is no longer supported.

No, that is not safe. Please do not use that machine online.

[Tomgin5]

Thanks for the mention of Peppermint. I downloaded it and installed it in a couple of my old Dell mini9 (910) netbooks with the oddball 8GB SSD's. It looks a lot like XFCE and in fact has a lot of the XFCE features by name in it. Final install is 5.7 GB. Using a 32 or 64 GB flash drive in it makes for a lot of storage room. I am using XFCE in the 910s that have 16GB SSD in them. BTW I could not figure ut how to install Puppy linux.

[hattpa]

You could also try Lubuntu (peppermint is based on it)
It has even less system requirements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubuntu#Lubuntu_18.04_LTS

[kevin987]

Thanks for the mention of Peppermint. I downloaded it and installed it in a couple of my old Dell mini9 (910) netbooks with the oddball 8GB SSD's. It looks a lot like XFCE and in fact has a lot of the XFCE features by name in it. Final install is 5.7 GB. Using a 32 or 64 GB flash drive in it makes for a lot of storage room. I am using XFCE in the 910s that have 16GB SSD in them. BTW I could not figure ut how to install Puppy linux.

You're really not supposed to install Puppy Linux. You can save your settings to the hard drive or usb for the next live session.

I did install it one time and by the 3rd bootup it simply broke and was unusable.

[Pierre]

Try Peppermint OS. http://peppermintos.com/

another lightweight system is:
anti-X:
https://antixlinux.com/
OR
MX-linux:
https://mxlinux.org
as both are designed for those older PCs.

[David1293]

Hi
For what it's worth I agree that Antix is excellent for older hardware.
I've used it on an old (2010) laptop and for most tasks it runs just fine.
Hope this helps.
Regards
D

[Hoser Rob]

You may want to take a look at this unofficial LXDE spin of Mint 18.3 as an alternative to Lubuntu:

https://www.linuxmintusers.de/index.php ... ic=45551.0

I haven't installed this on my old netbook running 17.3 Xfce but I'm pretty sure I'm going to soon. I like LXDE, it's straightforward, the file manager is actually very good, and it's FAST.

[blueskies1977]

I also have an HP2133 (well two of them actually) and am desperately searching for a modern lightweight distro that supports the obscure sound architecture of the mininote. I love the mininote as it is tiny but with a decent keyboard and rugged.

[Pierre]

you could try, either of the above mentioned, lightweight systems.