Some light Linux/BDS desktop

Frick · Jan 27, 2008

j0 all.

I need a lightweight Linux/BSD distro. The only things I want to do with it is to write and check my mail from time to time (also, look up some forums, like this one

), but that's about it. The system I have for it (at least in the beginning) will be:

p2 400ish Mhz
Up to 512 MB RAM
20GB HDD
CDROM

I tried Ubuntu 6.06 on it when it was released and it didn't work that well.. I read somewhere that Xfce isn't as resource-hogging as gnome, but I don't know. Would something BSD work? I was thinking about Xubuntu, but if any of you know anything else, I would really appreciate it.
/Frick

xfire · Jan 28, 2008

Try puppy,DSL or Xubuntu. All are pretty light weight.

Dandel · Feb 1, 2008

Frick said:
j0 all.

I need a lightweight Linux/BSD distro. The only things I want to do with it is to write and check my mail from time to time (also, look up some forums, like this one ), but that's about it. The system I have for it (at least in the beginning) will be:

p2 400ish Mhz
Up to 512 MB RAM
20GB HDD
CDROM

I tried Ubuntu 6.06 on it when it was released and it didn't work that well.. I read somewhere that Xfce isn't as resource-hogging as gnome, but I don't know. Would something BSD work? I was thinking about Xubuntu, but if any of you know anything else, I would really appreciate it.
/Frick

Freebsd should provide enough room for what you need, and/or you can use desktopbsd ( which has a graphical installer. ). the only main note is that the installer is where you need the most ram, and as for installing, the speed of the system will only make it take longer to load software, and install stuff.

Solaris17 · Feb 1, 2008

ya i +1 free bsd as well.

Frick · Feb 11, 2008

Ok, just a quick follow-up. I write more later, but here's what things looks like now:

Xubuntu Live-CD runs like a dream. It's awesome. I haven't tried browsing with it yet, but everythin else works flawlessly. But I can't install it, for some odd reason. Don't know why.

So ATM I'm downloading the alternete version and I'll see what happens. I also have FreeBSD 6.3 ready to be burned to some discs, in case the alternate version doesn't work. So. We'll see.

LuisaAndrews · Feb 11, 2008

You should try Ubuntu again, give it one more chance is a good OS, I tried it in a similiar computer of yours...try to plug it a Gforce2, like the first ones...otherwise just try Xubuntu...

xfire · Feb 12, 2008

Frick said:
Ok, just a quick follow-up. I write more later, but here's what things looks like now:

Xubuntu Live-CD runs like a dream. It's awesome. I haven't tried browsing with it yet, but everythin else works flawlessly. But I can't install it, for some odd reason. Don't know why.

So ATM I'm downloading the alternete version and I'll see what happens. I also have FreeBSD 6.3 ready to be burned to some discs, in case the alternate version doesn't work. So. We'll see.

Yup. Xubuntu has a bug while installing
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/107259
for the fix.

Frick · Feb 12, 2008

Nah, it was something else. At about 50% the screen flickered and then went black. And the problem now appears when I try to start the Hardware-whateverthenamewas (where you can see the hardware among other things). I don't know what it is, but everything else works fine now (AND it's installed

). It's a bit too slow to work with the GIMP (although it's an old version I think..) but it's quite usable. I'll see if I can get online with it soon and see it crash down before my eyes when the ads and banners appears.

But so far I'm kinda impressed with the performance. The system is:

Pentium 2 233Mhz (there's something with the jumpers on the motherboard so I cant OC it

)
384MB PC100
Biostar M6TLC (440LX sadly wich doesn't support Pentium 3)
20GB HDD
Aureal Vortex 2 (don't know if it works yet, I just threw it in there because I had it)
Radeon 9000 128MB (I think it's a Pro, but I'm not sure)

Something like that.

xfire · Feb 13, 2008

If you think its slow try Puppy or DSL. both of them are as small as you can get.
I haven't had a long enough experience with DSL but Puppy rocks especially with hardware support. Even setting up the net is very easy. Give the live CD a try. The download is around 90Mb.

Fox34 · Feb 19, 2008

If you want SUPER light. Go with DSL, Damn Small Linux. Its made for installing on a freaking flash drive, works great, and you can mount it to your HDD.

Frick · Mar 8, 2008

I tried DSL and boy was it awesome! I loved it!

But as I got my hands on a mATX-board (everything integrated, D1371) and a Celeron 1.2 Ghz I think I will use Xubuntu to start with.. I'll see if I go something else later on though.

But now I have problems with Gparted. It won't load the GUI, no matter what I do. The graphics is i810, and you can choose to Force i810-drivers, but it doesn't work at all.. We'll see if it works soon.

btarunr · Mar 8, 2008

Really tiny and properly packaged distro would be xubuntu. It's sufficiently packaged with drivers, come with the same set of apps Ubuntu comes with, plus it can gel well with your Cellie.

Frick · Mar 8, 2008

Ok, now it's official: Frick is a Linux-g33k!

The only downside is that I don't think I have enough memory.. Plus it isn't as fast as my "old" system (e4300, 1GB DDR2 and WinXP), but it's more than enough. Now to get Wine and see if Deus Ex works properly..

xfire · Mar 9, 2008

You could try creating a bigger Swap partion.If Deus Ex is a DX game install Dx under wine.

PartyLikeARockStar · Mar 12, 2008

Depending on your level of expertise in Linux, I always recommend Gentoo. (i know some of you will groan here) Gentoo will show you how much you really (don't) know about Linux.
P.S. Try the command line installer for a better experience, you will curse the 2007.0 graphic installer. Also Vector Linux is awesome on old hardware.

Fox34 · Mar 12, 2008

I dont know if someone new to linux should go through the pain and suffering of gentoo.

Zedicus · Mar 12, 2008

Elive - very light weight and still looks awsome - debian enlightenment based
mepis - sort of light weight - full kde and debian based. could add xfce
debian pure with something like blackbox, fluxbox, or open box, would flat scream on that system. and you can make it look really cool while still having awsome performance.

ubuntu is dirty.

Solaris17 · Mar 12, 2008

Fox34 said:
I dont know if someone new to linux should go through the pain and suffering of gentoo.

+1 gentoo is the most powerfull/customizable distro but omg skillz required. first time i did it i was like........................um ok suse it is.

Frick · Mar 12, 2008

Zedicus said:
Elive - very light weight and still looks awsome - debian enlightenment based
mepis - sort of light weight - full kde and debian based. could add xfce
debian pure with something like blackbox, fluxbox, or open box, would flat scream on that system. and you can make it look really cool while still having awsome performance.

ubuntu is dirty.

It's very simple.

But I'm still considering giving FreeBSD a go. But someone said BSD requieres a bit more than your everyday Linux-distro. Is this true? My system specs is listed to the left.

I will try out Debian one of these days though and see what it can do.

Fox34 · Mar 12, 2008

Debian and unbuntu are more of the "windows" like distros. Working with easy to install software and the click to install type things. Less command line, yet alot yes powerfull in my mind.

PartyLikeARockStar · Mar 13, 2008

Fox34 said:
Debian and unbuntu are more of the "windows" like distros. Working with easy to install software and the click to install type things.QUOTE]

Some of us joined the Linux users base to avoid that very "ease of use", for financial, moral, or other reasons. Reminding us of the world we left, while comforting at times to newbies, is not always ideal. But I don't want a Windows vs. Linux flame war to erupt, so just my .02 on that. Both are tools and both have thier place I guess. Linux kills Windows IMHO on community support alone.

Whatever you do, have fun!

panchoman · Mar 13, 2008

speaking of gentoo.. this is a good way to put it:

PartyLikeARockStar · Mar 13, 2008

hahahaha! that's not cool.

Frick · Mar 13, 2008

Some of us joined the Linux users base to avoid that very "ease of use", for financial, moral, or other reasons. Reminding us of the world we left, while comforting at times to newbies, is not always ideal. But I don't want a Windows vs. Linux flame war to erupt, so just my .02 on that. Both are tools and both have thier place I guess. Linux kills Windows IMHO on community support alone.

Whatever you do, have fun!

Right now I don't really have the time to take in anything spectacular, so simple is win for me atm. Maybe will my linux-g33kness grow and turn me into someone who despises GUI's, but time will tell. ^__^

Also, @ Gentoo, they have some troubles atm, right? I will try it out sometime, but not just right now.

Fox34 · Mar 13, 2008

yea Gentoo, no just no lol. Your looking at, for ease of use for your first distro, u want, Ubuntu, Linspire, or Debian. Even openSUSE. Check those out and see how it goes.

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	MSI apache ge62 2qd
Processor	intel i7 5700HQ
Memory	12 Gb
Video Card(s)	GTX960m
Storage	1TB
Display(s)	Dell 24'

Processor	AMD Athlon II X4 630 (3.5ghz)
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
Cooling	Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer
Memory	2x2g A-Data DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon HD5770
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932
Power Supply	FSP FX600-GLN
Software	Win7 x64 pro

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Amber
Processor	AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ Toledo 3.0GHz/2.0GHz 1.5V
Motherboard	DFI Lanparty UT NF4 SLI Expert
Cooling	Air: 1 80mm-Intake-top \| 4-120mm 3-intake-1-exhaust \| Proc 120mm blue orbII \| N.B-T.T Key 3\|
Memory	2GIG, 4x512 Kingston Hyper-X DDR333 PC 2700@167Mhz \|2-2-2-5\|-7-1T-8(CPU-Z) Dual channel
Video Card(s)	2 PNY Verto 8600GT'S in SLI, 670MHz/540MHz(Core)800MHz/700MHz
Storage	320 Gig Western digital SATA
Display(s)	Sony 17" LCD 1280x1024 @ 75Htz
Case	Sunbeam clear acrylic
Audio Device(s)	Native Instuments Guitar Rig 3
Power Supply	520 Watt Aspire Dual rail +12#1 16 amps +12#2 18 amps(I think)
Software	Fedora Core 8, Windows Vista

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	the ICEbox, powered by Rockstar Energy Drink
Processor	C2D e4400 @ 3.00Ghz
Motherboard	ECS G31 mATX
Cooling	Swiftech H20-220 Compact Kit
Memory	2x1GB G.Skill PC6400 @ 1100Mhz 5-5-4-5 2.2v
Video Card(s)	eVGA 8800GTS 640MB/Intel GMA X3100 onboard
Storage	320GB S-ATAII WD Caviar
Display(s)	Westinghouse 22'' LCD
Case	bgears b-envi (with windows)
Audio Device(s)	Intel High Defintion Audio (on-board)
Power Supply	Hiper Type-R Modular 580W
Software	Ubuntu 8.04

Processor	dual G34 6128he
Motherboard	h8dg6
Cooling	OEM
Memory	48gb DDR3 ECC REG
Video Card(s)	onboard
Storage	12x 3tb 4x 15k sas
Display(s)	crappy lcd
Case	chenbro rackmouunt
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	seasonic 3x redundant
Software	ProxMox

Processor	Amd Athlon X2 4600+ Windsor(90nm) EE(65W) @2.9-3.0 @1.45
Motherboard	Biostar Tforce [Nvidia] 550
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb-- bunch of other fans here and there....
Memory	2 gigs (2x1gb) of patriot ddr2 800 @ 4-4-4-12-2t
Video Card(s)	Sapphire X1950pro Pci-E x16 @stock@stock on stock
Storage	Seagate 7200.11 250gb Drive, WD raptors (30/40) in Raid 0
Display(s)	ANCIENT 15" sony lcd, bought it when it was like 500 bucks
Case	Apevia X-plorer blue/black
Audio Device(s)	Onboard- Why get an sound card when you can hum??
Power Supply	Antec NeoHe 550-manufactured by seasonic -replacement to the discontinued smart power series
Software	Windows XP pro SP2 -- vista is still crap

Some light Linux/BDS desktop

Fishfaced Nincompoop

New Member

Super Dainty Moderator

Fishfaced Nincompoop

LuisaAndrews

Guest

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Editor & Senior Moderator

Fishfaced Nincompoop

New Member

Super Dainty Moderator

Fishfaced Nincompoop

New Member

Sold my stars!

New Member

Fishfaced Nincompoop