Like the title says I want to install a Linux distro on my old laptop. I am currently looking into installing a SSD, but I want to learn a distro for fun! I haven’t been able to find a good current resource aside from the Linux Masters here, so I am actually asking for help on the Internet! What distro is the best!?
slackware :)
I have an odd recommendation. Install puppy Linux on it. Years ago, it was my default choice for older machines like this. It runs completely on RAM, has extremely small footprint, extremely snappy and very featureful. I think over the years, the development has stagnated. However, you should be able to get a few years old ISO, copy it to a USB stick and you are good to go. The ISOs are usually in the range of 100-150 MB. Even if your laptop has just 1-4 GB of RAM, this will fly. Oh, by the way, it has most (types of) applications out of the box. It has native support for older hardware.
arch or fedora if it’s x86-64
How much have you used linux before/what is your goal?
antiX would be a good choice for that machine.
Objectives of learning and fun?
You do not state noobliness, ease of setup or time to install, number of failures/retries or anything like that.
**EDIT: you did state noobliness later on in comments so . . . i’d go stock debian +lxqt. ****
or all that I’d recommend arch. Do not use archinstall script , that reduces both learning and fun. Resource? follow the archwiki and go through lots of linked pages at each step. If you do wuss out and install stock debian (+lxqt)maybe partition off a spare 10-20GB so you can play around with an arch install after you realise how boring and uneducational the others are (joke)
I’m pretty sure antiX is designed for this specific use, but I have not run it personally. It’s based in Debian stable (which right now is Bookworm and will be Trixie pretty soon). I’m very fond of Debian. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done.
Do you know the specs of this laptop off hand? 2007 would place it in sort of a grey area between 32 bit and 64 bit CPUs. If it is 32-bit, you are likely going to have major issues and I would recommend using something else.
Even if it is a 64-bit CPU, the performance may not be amazing, and running modern browsers with anything less than, say, 4GB RAM could be an issue.
I would recommend something lightweight, such as Linux Mint with the XFCE Desktop Environment. You may need to get even more aggressive about finding something lightweight for something that old, though.
It does have 64
I want to learn a Distro for fun.
Are you just using this laptop to dip your toes into Linux and see if you like it? I would recommend Debian + XFCE. It’s lightweight, it prioritizes stability over new features, and it’s a fairly easy UI for a newbie to understand. Alternatively Linux Mint MATE Edition might be worth a try. It’s also lightweight but is a bit more “up to date” than Debian feature wise.
My wife is leaning toward Ubuntu “MATE”, how would you feel about that versus the Debian and you mentioned. Personally I was thinking about mint
Debian gets feature updates significantly slower than other distros, instead it focuses on insuring stability and security. It’s rock solid.
Linux Mint is actually based on Ubuntu (which itself is derived from Debian), so for the most part the two are fairly similar. There are a few key differences but for someone learning Linux you don’t need to worry about them. Pick one of them, get your feet wet, and then google the differences to see if you want to switch.
After all, endless Distro hopping is a right of passage for all fledgling Linux users! :)
Ubuntu Mate was my first distro and it helped me learn a lot, but I don’t really see a point in using Ubuntu over Debian. I never found it easier and you learn apt either way.
If you’re not afraid to dive straight into minimalism/command line, void linux could be a good choice, especially if the laptop is 32bit because void still has 32bit repos.
Hmmm, wow I am maybe a tiny bit afraid haha. Thank you for the info though. That would be interesting to experiment with!
I have an Asus Eee PC from 2009 running Puppy Linux (as a secondary device).
As already pointed out you will need a leightweight distro and desktop environment.https://distrochooser.de/ (available in English) can help you find the right distro, it takes into account the age of your device, your Linux knowledge, use case and a lot more.
It’s been a long time since I’ve used 2007 class laptops. In my mind I’d lean towards like Lubuntu or Xubuntu. LXQT or Xfce. It won’t look as modern as GNOME, KDE, Cosmic but they’re good
Is it 32bit or 64bit?
If it’s 64bit, with at least 4GB of RAM and an SSD, you can pick whatever you want.
I’m a fan of Linux Mint Debian Edition for beginners.
If it’s 32bit, MX Linux is probably your best bet.Get a high capacity usb drive. Load ventoy and copy over all the linux distro you wish to try. There is no best distro, its all user preference.
For beginner, you can try linux mint, ubuntu, fedora etc
