Recommend a distro please

OrbitzXT · Oct 18, 2007

A family member is constantly bringing her computer every single week complaining its slow and full of spyware. Week after week I reinstall Windows on it only for it to be brought back a week later again running slowly and awful. To solve this issue I want to give this person an extremely user friendly Linux and set everything up. Keep in mind I have absolutely no experience with Linux myself, except for once I installed Yellow Dog on my PS3 just to try it out, so I need something simple enough that I can explain it well enough. Also the computer its going on is fairly old, a Compaq with a P2 500MHz, about 256mb of RAM.

PVTCaboose1337 · Oct 18, 2007

I would try to use DSL (damn small linux).

OrbitzXT · Oct 18, 2007

I just read DSL can actually run off RAM alone, this seems like a nice solution for such a crappy old computer. Is it a good idea though and is this distro simple enough for my family member to be able to use?

PVTCaboose1337 · Oct 18, 2007

It is based of KDE, the most "windows" like distro. It is very nice, and has all programs already installed in it. If you want, you can also put it on the HD with a right click and a few options.

Chewy · Oct 18, 2007

What spyware wont run on linux? Oo that would be a nice safety feature. (but I have a feeling it just uses less ram elc). ?

DIBL · Oct 19, 2007

OrbitzXT said:
To solve this issue I want to give this person an extremely user friendly Linux and set everything up. Keep in mind I have absolutely no experience with Linux myself

That sounds like a great solution for her, but a bad deal for you -- installing and configuring whatever is the World's easiest Linux is still not for noobs. Once done, however, and assuming the user isn't inclined to mischief, it's a very safe way to keep them out of virus/malware hell. I set up my 75-year old mother in-law with Kubuntu 7.04 for her very first computer, so she can surf the 'net for recipes and e-mail my useless brother in-law and play Solitaire on the 'puter like her friends do. She's happy (as well as oblivious to the OS), and after 4 months I'm pretty sure I won't be called in to rescue it from viruses. :laugh:

ChaoticBlankness · Oct 19, 2007

As nice as DSL is I'm gonna have to cast my vote for Ubuntu. Reason, my laptop runs it.. and my laptop is old.. P2-400 256Mb. However it is the easiest to setup, and it takes care of most of the advanced configuration automatically.

If KDE is preferred over Gnome then use Kubuntu.

Dandel · Oct 31, 2007

I recommend Ubuntu or one of it's other distributions that are tailored to a desktop enviroment... i use Ubuntu 7.10 for now, but plan on going to 8.04 when that comes out next year... as for configuration i had to only modify 2 or 3 files to fix a few bugs related to Audio issues where my onboard sound and the sound card i use kept switching places thus making it impossible to know which one would get the sound output. ( if you have this issue i'll walk you through fixing it. )

Solaris17 · Oct 31, 2007

Ubuntu or my pwersonal fav suse

System Name	AX-01
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K @3.7 GHz
Motherboard	ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Cooling	Zalman 9700
Memory	Kingston HyperX T1 Series 8GB DDR3 1600 MHZ
Video Card(s)	GTX 590
Storage	Intel X25-M
Display(s)	42" Samsung LED HDTV
Case	Antec Twelve Hundred
Audio Device(s)	HT \| OMEGA STRIKER 7.1
Power Supply	Kingwin 1000W
Software	Windows 7 64-Bit

System Name	Whim
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s)	Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case	Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s)	Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply	Corsair 750w
Software	Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)

System Name	AX-01
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K @3.7 GHz
Motherboard	ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Cooling	Zalman 9700
Memory	Kingston HyperX T1 Series 8GB DDR3 1600 MHZ
Video Card(s)	GTX 590
Storage	Intel X25-M
Display(s)	42" Samsung LED HDTV
Case	Antec Twelve Hundred
Audio Device(s)	HT \| OMEGA STRIKER 7.1
Power Supply	Kingwin 1000W
Software	Windows 7 64-Bit

System Name	Whim
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s)	Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case	Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s)	Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply	Corsair 750w
Software	Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)

Processor	Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard	Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling	Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory	Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s)	Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage	60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s)	Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case	Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s)	X-fi Prelude
Power Supply	Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software	Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores	Super Pi 1M 14.333

Recommend a distro please

OrbitzXT

New Member

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker

OrbitzXT

New Member

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker

Chewy

DIBL

ChaoticBlankness

Dandel

New Member

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

Processor	Core i7-950 Bloomfield
Motherboard	Asus P6X58D-E
Cooling	Venomous X
Memory	6GB G-Skill Ripjaws
Video Card(s)	EVGA nVidia GTX480
Storage	OCZ RevoDrive PCI SSD, 2 WD-1002FAEX in BTRFS RAID
Display(s)	NEC Multisync 2490WUXi
Case	Corsair Graphite 600T
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC889 8-channel HDA
Power Supply	Corsair HX-850
Software	aptosid Linux, Win 7 on VMWare Player 4

Processor	Athlon64 X2 3800+ @ 2.6Ghz
Motherboard	BioStar TForce4 SLI (939)
Cooling	Stock Opteron Heatpipe Cooler
Memory	4x512 Crucial BalistiX, @ DDR520, 2.5-3-3-8
Video Card(s)	ATI, x1900 AIW (600/620)
Storage	80GB SATA2, 320GB eSATA2
Display(s)	AGM 19" Widescreen LCD, 4ms
Case	Aspire X-Dreamer (Black)
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech: X-Meridan (Best Soundcard Ever)
Power Supply	Rosewill 550W 2x12V
Software	XP Professional X64 & Ubuntu 7.10 x86

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.