Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
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They’re pretty low powered laptops, even for their age. One is used mainly as a music player (streaming and mp3s) and the other is mostly a backup laptop, and for Minecraft if the kid has a friend over.
I used to have some Ubuntu machines back in the 2010s, but I’ve been out of the loop on Linux since I no longer live or work with a bunch of Linux knowers.
I’ve heard good things about Mint? Is that a good one for old, underpowered laptops?Yeah, Ubuntu is operatingsysta-non-grata right now...
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament A few months ago, I was able to install Linux Mint on an old PC. The PC only supported legacy BIOS, which other distros no longer support. Linux Mint had been running very well. I think it's a good distro for older hardware.
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@ClancyParliament Man i hope you're ready for two dozen correct answers that will leave you feeling just as lost as when you started.
Linux distros are as much about preferences as they are about technology. I would personally suggest Fedora, but a lot of this comes down to my own experience, and my preference. I think its a solid distro, and works well -for me- but you may hate it.
Do you have some requirements that might help inform the decision?
@gangrif
Haha, yeah that's what I am expecting...The spare Minecraft laptop has 2.2 GHz Intel i5, with 8 GB RAM
The music laptop is 1.35 GHz AMD with 4GB RAM
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They’re pretty low powered laptops, even for their age. One is used mainly as a music player (streaming and mp3s) and the other is mostly a backup laptop, and for Minecraft if the kid has a friend over.
I used to have some Ubuntu machines back in the 2010s, but I’ve been out of the loop on Linux since I no longer live or work with a bunch of Linux knowers.
I’ve heard good things about Mint? Is that a good one for old, underpowered laptops?@ClancyParliament I was in a similar situation, used Ubuntu about 15 years ago for a while. Then came back to Linux in the last year. I installed Ubuntu on a old 2015 desktop, works great, the desktop is very easy to explore and intuitive when you come from windows. Also installed Debian with a gnome desktop on an identical computer. Also works great, but I had a bit harder time to find stuff. All came with Firefox and LibreOffice. Both super fast and usable. Want to try Mint next
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament I use Debian, but https://social.treehouse.systems/@bodil/115889714321160414 seems like maybe a more informed opinion, as I haven't surveyed the distribution landscape in quite a while.
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament I ran Mint for a while, that might be a good choice. I'm currently on KDE Neon, but I think it's a small project based on Ubuntu so I can't really recommend it. Plus it's misbehaving for me at the moment.
What OS you install and what desktop environment you use are usually pretty independent, so like you can switch between Gnome and KDE and i3 and others to see which one you like and which meets your performance budget on the old laptops.
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament https://distrosea.com/
Distrochooser
The Distrochooser helps you to find the suitable Linux distribution based on your needs!
(distrochooser.de)
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@gangrif
Haha, yeah that's what I am expecting...The spare Minecraft laptop has 2.2 GHz Intel i5, with 8 GB RAM
The music laptop is 1.35 GHz AMD with 4GB RAM
@ClancyParliament @gangrif I have an i5-4460 tower with 8g and a sata ssd. It runs a tad slower than a modern 8c/16t machine with more memory and nvme ssd, but it's not bad. I can run any distro on it. When I fire up older 2c 4g machines I'll stick to more lean distros and guis. Cachy with hyprland or niri works well.
But as other's note, it's about style and choice
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Yeah, Ubuntu is operatingsysta-non-grata right now...
@boelder
Because of AI stuff? -
They’re pretty low powered laptops, even for their age. One is used mainly as a music player (streaming and mp3s) and the other is mostly a backup laptop, and for Minecraft if the kid has a friend over.
I used to have some Ubuntu machines back in the 2010s, but I’ve been out of the loop on Linux since I no longer live or work with a bunch of Linux knowers.
I’ve heard good things about Mint? Is that a good one for old, underpowered laptops?@ClancyParliament Linux Mint would work fine on both of those machines. The recommended amount of RAM is 4Gb but can use as low as 2Gb. My mom used it for years and found it very easy to work with.
The deal with Minecraft however is a little tricky with Linux. There's no Bedrock support: Windows Store, Consoles, and Phones. Only Java launchers: prismlauncher, and the outdated official launcher on Linux, and a launch option on Windows
So unfortunately they wouldn't be able to cross-play with all of their friends even on realms. Just be prepared for a little bit of friction there unless Microsoft decides to play nice.
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament I would probably go straight Debian for older machines.
But you might look into ElementaryOS or one of the other lightweight distros.
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament Cliché question, but what do you want to *do* with it?
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@ClancyParliament https://distrosea.com/
Distrochooser
The Distrochooser helps you to find the suitable Linux distribution based on your needs!
(distrochooser.de)
@mast0d0nphan
Oh this is really interesting. . . -
@ClancyParliament Cliché question, but what do you want to *do* with it?
@Flux
The most demanding thing the one needs to do is play Minecraft (Java), other than that just email and web browsing, it's mostly a backup laptop
The other one is for playing mp3s and streaming music -
@ClancyParliament Linux Mint would work fine on both of those machines. The recommended amount of RAM is 4Gb but can use as low as 2Gb. My mom used it for years and found it very easy to work with.
The deal with Minecraft however is a little tricky with Linux. There's no Bedrock support: Windows Store, Consoles, and Phones. Only Java launchers: prismlauncher, and the outdated official launcher on Linux, and a launch option on Windows
So unfortunately they wouldn't be able to cross-play with all of their friends even on realms. Just be prepared for a little bit of friction there unless Microsoft decides to play nice.
@lich_silvae
That's fine, we pretty much only use Java Minecraft around here -
@Flux
The most demanding thing the one needs to do is play Minecraft (Java), other than that just email and web browsing, it's mostly a backup laptop
The other one is for playing mp3s and streaming music@ClancyParliament then, honestly, it doesn't matter? Mint.
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@lich_silvae
That's fine, we pretty much only use Java Minecraft around here@ClancyParliament Awesome, good luck with everything!
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament ZorinOS is Ubuntu based (and Ubuntu is based on debian). ZorinOS is designed to be very stable, and it's also marketed as being designed for revitalizing older technology. It's a familiar layout to windows, and has a LOT of custom patches to make windows apps, and windows related things easy for someone who may never want to touch a terminal.
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Asking Mastodon: Boost for More Reach
Mastodon, I need your Linux knowledge and opinions.
I have some old Windows laptops that aren’t supported anymore and I want to put Linux on them to keep them running, which kind should I use?
#linux #askmastodon@ClancyParliament@mastodon.online
Want it to look and feel like Windows? Use Mint
Want to ensure it can game? Use Bazzite
Want a modern OS with all the cool and nice to have features in a polished package? Use Fedora
Ubuntu, Debian are never bad choices.
Note: I don't use any of these because I am insane and have lots of free time - but this is the 'common' wisdom -
@ClancyParliament ZorinOS is Ubuntu based (and Ubuntu is based on debian). ZorinOS is designed to be very stable, and it's also marketed as being designed for revitalizing older technology. It's a familiar layout to windows, and has a LOT of custom patches to make windows apps, and windows related things easy for someone who may never want to touch a terminal.
@Eleyon @ClancyParliament I second this comment. ZorinOS is pretty rock solid, and they have made the transition from Windows really easy.
