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MX, MX is base on Debian Stable and still support 32-bit. Ubuntu is base on Debian. So look for Debian base distro's or go with vanilla Debian. MX is just setup prefect for me. So I'm a MX user.
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MX Linux! (It uses sysvinit.) And no, nothing I do suffers from systemd's absence.
more info here:
https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/systemd/
I cannot recommend MX more highly...100% backward compatible with Debian, all those nice repos, excellent community. Very nice set of distro-unique tools, nothing fancy, very stable. Debian, improved. What could be better?
> I tried following a guide on a forum
Ahh, yes - forums... always better that the MX website - and particularly the linked follow along video showing a dual-boot installation...
I distro hop to 44 Primary Linux distro's in my 15 years using Linux. I'm currently using MX and MX I'm staying. No more distro hopping. I did install Virtualbox to give me a fix now ant then. Right now in my Virtualbox is PopOS!.
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I use this on a flash drive, on a NUC that I'm too cheap to buy a new msata drive for. It's a decent modern Live environment. Everything works, and as long as you shut down gracefully, you get persistence.
CentOS great to use for a server.
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Tiny Core great to tinker with.
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If you want a real Linux distro Desktop to actually use, then your looking for MX.
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I know for Windows, Intel wifi adapters can turn on/off this via the LedMode entry in the registry - this looks like one possible Linux version of this.
I say if you like KDE. Try out either Netrunner or even MX.
Both are Debian Stable
MX will have it's final release of MX 21 here soon. It's already up to Release Candidate 1.
Both are great for beginners. Kubuntu is great for beginners to. I just think Netrunner and MX is better than Kubuntu as a whole.
I'd personally reccomend MX Linux as it's got the lightweight Xfce and a wide range of tools available. The only trouble you may have is with the 32 bit, if the P4 is a newer one it's 64, but if it's not. You may have issues.
Why don't you stick with Linux and learn it? All your problems are just installing proper drivers, keep things updated and configuring things. If you don't have time to learn it. Linux can't just be handed down and just work with your system. There will be, tweaks here and there. If you stick with one Linux distro. Solve each problem that your having. Then your would already have things working for you.
>Maybe I'm asking for the perfect OS that doesn't exist.
Linux is perfect. At least it is for me. But, not one Linux distro was perfect to me out of the box. I had to do things to get it to the perfection as my distro is right now.
I'm currently using MX. Try that and see if you can get it perfect. That's how my stands right now.
From my experience, ill say that MX Linux is the best Debian stable based distro for people new to Linux. I've been recommending it for some time now.
> #MX Repos > > MX Linux combines packages from Debian Stable and antiX with MX packages in a dedicated repo that can be browsed on the Community Repository page. > > Debian Stable is a wonderful solid distribution that can be upgraded in place from version to version automatically as long as the Debian Stable repos are used exclusively. MX uses Debian Stable as a base, but updates a lot of the userland programs & libraries, and backports newer programs from testing by building them against the Stable base. That gives a better user experience but interferes with Debian's dist-upgrade path. Our current choice is to stick with sysvinit instead of going to full systemd. > > https://mxlinux.org/about-us
i'd say single core intel atom , mechanical hdd or possibly an emmc drive as a few had them . 1gb memory was the standard too .
mx linux 32 bit with xfce could be worth a go mx linux downloads
Try using your package manager. The package would be call.
nvidia-cuda-toolkit
If you don't like Ubuntu, try out MX Xfce.
I always use Synaptic Package Manager. It's very easy to install things and find the correct name of packages as well.
I'm using a Debian Stable base distro call MX. I'm using MX Xfce. It's fast, stable, strong community, great forums, great MX tools and a great built-in manual. Love my MX
MX-16 perhaps? It at least uses Debian Stable as its base. Knowing which "bells & whistles" you desire would help answer your question.
(If you do decide to use MX, perhaps wait until after Stretch releases. MX makes you reinstall at every new Debian Stable version, because MX uses some backports. I've never used MX, just going off of what is on their website)
> Debian really is stable as a rock
Myth
> Less terminal use in general...I want to be able to configure things via a GUI format
XFCE and MXLinux were made for you:
> MX’s graphical tools provide an easy way to do a wide variety of tasks...A collection of powerful and handy “MX Tools” that cover a range of actions from Boot Options to Repository management. A fast Package Installer covering Popular Applications, MX Test Repo, Debian Backports and Flatpaks.
Try the advanced hardware support RC3 of 27 Oct 2021. If you hit problems, fall back on regular MX-21 Wildflower of 21 Oct 2021.
MX Linux and antiX Linux are both based on Debian Stable. How heavy MX is will depend on the desktop environment you choose. AntiX is the lighter of the two.
MX has backports as well, did you check those out? Also a new version is coming out soon - MX 21 RC1 has been out for a few days.
Otherwise, Void, Alpine and Artix are all lightweight - Artix probably has the largest selection of packages as it's based on Arch.
I used MX Linux on an old laptop with a good degree of success
A lot of people pointing out that modern browsers are hogs. This is true due to all the things modern browsers need to do, but there are more memory efficient ones out there than firefox/chromium. The sacred pages have a decent list - Obviously the majority of these should run on whatever distro you choose, it may just require a few hoops to jump through to get them installed.
The folks over as raspberrypi do a PC version of raspbian too. They specifically say it's for older hardware, so could be worth a look https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/raspberry-pi-desktop/
Debian is not know for its excellent hardware support out of the box. It's probably just driver issiues.If you want to stick with Debian as the base, try MX Linux
I'm not sure but here's what I found on their homepage:
"MX-19.3 x64 “ahs”, an “Advanced Hardware Support” release for very recent hardware, with 5.8 kernel and newer graphics drivers and firmware. 64 bit only. Works for all users, but especially if you use AMD Ryzen, AMD Radeon RX graphics, or 9th/10th generation Intel hardware."
I'd go for MX-19.3_386, containing a 32 bit PAE kernel.
Otherwise the new Puppy Slacko 7 (released yesterday) which is a bit weird, but interesting.
A lot of ram will be used when you browse modern pages. Install and adblocker and noscript to keep the pages light.
Linux mint 18 is technically unsupported now so its not recommended to use it anymore.
I think the best thing for your grandparents' old pc might be MXLinux. It's pretty lightweight and uses the same XFCE DE like Linux Mint. You could make it look kinda like windows 7 with a bit of tinkering.
You could also look at this article on distro which look kinda like win 7.
According to ThinkWiki, the T400 came with various models of Core 2 Duo's, which are all 64-bit. So your T400 will certainly be fine for the foreseeable future. :)
As for alternative distros for your older laptops, MX Linux still supports 32-Bit hardware thanks to being based on Debian stable, and in my experience is an excellent distro to use right out of the box. Very comparable to Ubuntu in that regard.
> this distro just doesn't want systemd as the main init
Except MX uses SysVinit as default.^1
But they also want to give the users a choice to be able to use systemd too which is the whole point of systemd-shim (which has been removed from Debian hence this post).
>I have used Ubuntu in the past, but is it still the best option?
Well is Ubuntu doing all the things you want it to do?
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Really any Linux distro can do exactly what you want it to do. As long it's capable of doing it of course.
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My Linux distro of choice is MX. I been distro hopping for the past 15 years. Had used 44 Linux distro's. And MX stop me right in my track. MX forever for me. Maybe MX is for you to.
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MX is base on Debian Stable.
I keep hearing people complaining of too many choices. I like my personal preferences and choices that I have. Without them, then it's not Linux.
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I keep telling people if you just want one and be done with it. Then I always suggest, choose one and never stray from it. Now you have your one Linux distro. Now live with it.
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I'm going to live with MX forever. So if you want me to choose for you. Then choose MX and be done with it.
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You'll need an ssd in that thing to do anything useful. You have enough ram. The 1ghz cpu is the bottleneck.
Some options:
https://fossbytes.com/best-lightweight-linux-distros/
MX Linux is also nice.
I would recommend MX Linux. It comes with mx-snapshot, a pretty straightforward tool to make bootable isos, and uses XFCE4 as the user interface so it should be somewhat user-friendly and easy to get used to. :)
With a good community and easy one for any beginner.
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Ubuntu or Mint is going to be the top contenders. But I would suggest MX. It also has a great community and very easy for a beginner to use. Great MX tools and the best manual I read so far.
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I suggest either Ubuntu or one of its variants.
If you want to go a slightly lighter route there is MXlinux https://mxlinux.org/
If Nothing else - check out the MXlinux manual, which seems to be good for a Total linux beginner - to at least get some info about the OS. most of it applies to other disrtos as well. so it is worth a download and read in any case.
The thing to know about linux, is it is a Powerful and Flexible thing. There is always a dozen ways to do practically anything. This is great, and also terrible.
dont be over whelmed - stick to learning the basics, and the rest will follow.
> also is there a way i can make a backup of my windows or at least a reset backup for windows,
Your windows system should have came with restore media, or tools to make such media. that is one of the first things I always make on a new machine.
Microsoft has tools to make a live usb repair usb, and also other tools to make windows FULL reinstall USB. I strongly suggest making a USB for windows repair, AND a FULL reinstall USB. it is much easier to make them in windows than in linux.
If you can manage it, you could get a SSD just for linux, a 128gb ssd are in the $30 price range for decent brands, and will work great for a linux setup.
This way you can remove the windows drive, install linux, then swap back later if you want.
Try out MX, I like how they setup Xfce. If you don't like the side panel you can move it to where you want it. But for some reason I like how all the defaults fit for my preferences.
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I fixed the same issue by creating and installing a "config" file: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/networking/wifi-suspend-issues Your driver, like mine is, is "iwlwifi".
But MX doesn't use systemd as default, so you may have to try another way to unload the driver at suspend and reload it at resumeif that doesn't work.
It's based on Debian, which has a reputation for reliability and flexibility. It's "midweight", which aims to be light on resources, but not so like that it feels old or stale.
Power management is handled by the Linux kernel itself. You won't really find anything with a huge difference on that regard.
However, some distros don't ship TLP by default, and it can be a big help for extending battery life. It's available in nearly every distro's repos, if it's not enabled by default.
My suggestion, not yet mentioned here, would be MX Linux. It's a relative newcomer, but it's from the folks of the MEPIS and antiX community. It's also based on Debian, which means your familiarity with Ubuntu will be a big help, but you're not inside the Ubuntu ecosystem, which is a beneficial thing for some people.
It calls itself a "midweight" distro. They focus on minimalism, but don't do so at the expense of feeling modern and fresh.
The other day checking out MX-linux, I found they don't use systemd, even if it's a debian stable derivative. Its a good alternative to Xubuntu, with a applications uptaded and backported.
The best. Easy to install, Easy default setup, many final touches that they made, with a good layout. Great community and great developers. This team was on the SimplyMepis project when I first started out with Linux. Which was like three months before Ubuntu 1st version every release. SimplyMepis was great and then they shorten the name to Mepis. It's not doing much now. But, that same team help created SimplyMepis and I really love it. Many improvements that I see when I first try out MX. MX was just as great if not better then SimplyMepis. Try it out and see how relaxing of a OS it really is. MX is using Xfce as well.
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianCustomCD
There are so many and many good ones. MX is prefect for me and it might be prefect for you as well. Save the time making your own Linux distro. To much work into it anyway.
>obscure distro
MX isn't a obscure distro. MX is from the old team of Mepis. Mepis was my first Linux distro. And that was back in mid July of 2003. So it's like I went full circle with Linux.
>There is something for all...
For all of us. To our personality to our preferences. There is a Linux distro that can fit are needs and wants. The hard part is finding the one that just fit right.
There are 304 active Linux distro's. That's not count all the variety of choices.
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
MX with Xfce fit the bill for me.
Here running MX Linux - https://mxlinux.org/ - on a MB Air late 2010 with 2GB RAM. A must more usable system than the original OS Snow Leopard (lacks support for new software) and smoother than Mavericks (eats more memory). Also a very easy install. Wifi works out-of-the-box. MX is based on Debian stable and antiX. Live medium available.
I completely agree, get a cheap flash drive. It will save your sanity, they work so much better than a dvd, the sound of disk drive spinning up every time you launch a new program gets old quick. Not to mention actually waiting for the fucking thing to spin up. lol
Other than the two distros you listed, since he wanted Debian I'd also recommend.
MX-16 https://mxlinux.org/
Release announcement with links to KDE release too: https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-21-beta-2-now-available-for-testing-purposes/
FAQ: Do I need to reinstall if I have Beta1 installed?
Need - no if you just want to use it, if you want to "test" it would help us if you download Beta 2 and test it. Also some stuff doesn't carry over with a simple update: if you want to test the Live system for example.
I don't think it would take too long, we'll need to work out all the major bugs we find, Beta1 looks good so I don't foresee a huge number of betas, maybe another Beta2 after Debian release and then probably a Release Candidate.
We'll probably release KDE and Fluxbox betas alongside with Beta2. If you are user of MX-19 KDE Buster you won't see any upgrade other than the regular fixes that come though Buster. If you need to upgrade to MX-21 you'll need to reinstall, we recommend clean reinstalls every time we change Debian release. That being said, if you are an advanced user and don't mind experimenting you could upgrade to Bullseye in place: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/upgrading-from-mx-19-to-mx-21-without-reinstalling/ back up your data and system, if something breaks the fix is "reinstall from backup".
MX Linux uses systemd-shim, which emulates the systemd functions that are required to run the helpers without actually using the init service. This means that SvsVinit remains the default init yet MX Linux can use crucial Debian packages that have systemd dependencies such as CUPS and Network Manager. This approach also allows the user to retain the ability to choose his/her preferred init on the boot screen (GRUB). For details, see the MX/antiX Wiki.
MXLinux comes with a few exclusive tools.
- mx-boot-options ;; GUI tool to change the init file system. SysV/Systemd
- mx-packageinstaller
- mx-snapshot ;; create a ISO of current system.
- mx-live-usb-maker ;; Burn the created ISO on USB
(You create the snapshot with mx-snapshot and burn the ISO on a USB with mx-live-usb-maker. Then boot with USB. Once in desktop run this in terminal sudo minstall-pkexec. You'll be prompt with GUI installer. Voila!)
And there's more
Try this. It is a XFCE desktop, but they throw in a fully configured Fluxbox setup also. MX-Linux is Debian with updated packages. I run the 32bit version on my old Atom netbooks with a SSD and they still work pretty well.
Less problematic than the GMA500, but that chipset is still going to give you problems I would wager: https://www.x.org/wiki/IntelGraphicsDriver/ (VAAPI status is "UNKNOWN").
You can make sure that the file /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/dri/i915_drv_video.so is actually present on disk, but beyond that I'm not sure what else you can do. Without implementing VA-API, and without supporting an advanced enough OpenGL profile for GPU rendering, you're stuck with CPU decode.
Some people have made PPAs for Ubuntu to try to have a more up-to-date stack for the 945, but I think getting those to work on Raspberry Pi OS would be a struggle if even possible.
You may want to give MXLinux or AntiX a shot. They are distros made to keep working with old hardware. https://mxlinux.org/wiki/hardware/intel-video-driver/
Most likely because of the linux philosophy that one tool should do one job. In other words, there is no need for a single tool that does both update and upgrade (or full-upgrade) because each tool already exists.
However, if you want this functionality, all you need to do is add a permanent alias. Here is how to do it.
MX Linux has its own forum here on Reddit /r/MXLinux This is /r/debian were folks here talk about Debian Linux (not other distros)
Also if people were to wish to download MX Linux they would do so by going directly to their website https://mxlinux.org/
STOP spamming your link everywhere.
Try mx Linux . Pretty much made for this. Just discovered it and loving it. https://mxlinux.org/. The live image has a USB mx Linux creater with persistent encrypted options so have 2 USB drives beforehand one for the live boot to install it on another. Then you can tweak it after and update it and have a separate root and home partition. Remaster it. Snapshot it. Really impressed with carrying around my computer in my pocket and just booting it up on any machine.
I been using Linux for 16 years. I only want two things from my Linux distro. Fast and Stable. I been getting that for the past 16 years.
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>I want something that's not that outdated
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You know what? I been outdated for the past 16 years. The key of staying stable is to stay behind 1 or 2 version from the current one. The reason is this. Current one will most likely have bugs, and it only been tested for a short while. So always problems, until they are fix. Old version already been in this process when it was new. Old mean all the bugs are work out and any problems are already fix. Those are the ones I stick to, until another program shows up in my Stable repositories. Cutting Edge stuff, isn't really what you want. If you don't want to stick with problems. Old is what you want.
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My current Linux distro is MX. Which is base on Debian Stable. Again zero problems with this Linux distro.
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But I'm not trying to say anything bad about Arch. Arch has it's place, it's just not for me. I know all about Arch. I install Arch in a VM and play around with it. It's find and I haven't broke it. You do what ever you want. Stable just works for me over Cutting Edge stuff. At least for the past 16 years it has.
Going by the first section of this: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/hardware/2-graphics-drivers/, you should be able to use "Nvidia Graphics Installer found in MX Tools".
If that doesn't work, I think because MX-Linux also uses apt installing would be same as Ubuntu, i.e adding the ppa and installing nvidia-driver-{version}
Steve P. is a regular on our forums. Both distrolets are based on Debian stable, MX uses Xfce and BL uses Openbox.
Steve is incredible, he maintains a vast repository of Debian stable backports...
It was different for me. I just took Linux by it's horns and just road with it. 15 years later, I'm still using Linux.
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I came from Windows XP. I switch to Linux the first day I install it and that was on July 15, 2003. I never look back.
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1.) Windows XP
2.) I never stop gaming. My first 1 and a half year. I just played native Linux games. I mess around with wine later and actually got all my old Windows games to work. But that time spanned was 7 years in the making. The main reason had to wait for wine to get better. So my Windows games work in Linux, which was in the era of 1995-2003 Windows games. Currently I have zero Windows games on my system. They are all 100% native Linux games.
3.) Most are not even garbled up at all. I can open up most MS Office Suite documents without any problems. But I do use msfonts core to get the format right. But if there was a deal of garbled up format. I then use a online office tool and I can see it in it's original glory.
4.) No I don't dual boot. I haven't touch Windows since Windows XP after my switch to Linux.
5.) I never miss anything from Windows at all. I'm completely happy that I swept Windows under the rug.
6.) I'm using MX as my primary OS. https://mxlinux.org/
Yeah pretty stable from what I hear. Debian repos anyway. Easy enough to install with their tools but if you want specific details refer to their wiki. An example is this page about KDE: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/kde/
Drivers and the correct setup. Been using Linux for over 15 years and have no problem watching anything and my Linux computer runs just fine. No continue spikes or high resource usage. I even have a Linux system in my living room and using it as a HTPC and media center.
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Right now CPU 28C, CPU start out as 30% and fell down to 10% and stay steady, Ram is at 15%. This is running a YouTube video. I close it and open another video. Same thing happen a quick 30% and fell right down and stay steady at 10%. But nothing notice on the PC itself.
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Intel Core i5-4690 Speed: 2886 MHz min/max: 800/3900 MHz Core speeds (MHz)
NVIDIA GM107 [GeForce GTX 750 Ti]
16 GB RAM
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MX is my Linux distro I'm using.
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> TLDR: I have no idea what I'm doing and can't follow guides because I'm to inexperienced stupid.
It might be worth trying out MX linux, even if it is in a Virtual machine. Or at the very least, read through the MX Linux 'books' that seem to be a decent starter guide for people with ZERO linux experience.
If anyone else has suggestions for beginner guides I will add them to my 'Starter reading list'
Good Luck..
Top #1 Tip - is to be prepared to Unlearn various 'windows mindset' limitations and tricks you have learned from windows ussage.
Oh.. and CaSe MattErs In LiNuX.
:)
Yea the CPU is slow, but it's not THAT slow. Windows 10 should run ok, just like GNOME or KDE. It's just that other desktops will be faster, but they all should be at least usable.
To answer your question, I'd check out MX Linux, it's a great OS for low end machines. I think it comes with the lightweight Xfce desktop.
My advise always have a backup. I always have a very large external drive for all my backups. I also have the cloud to boot as well.
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I would do a clean install. Stick to what you know, at least Debian or Debian base distro's. Just keep practising with Arch in a VM, until your comfortable going full steam with Arch. As for a distro, I would suggest MX. But you do what feels right for you. These are just advice that hold true to me.
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MX is Debian base with the Stable version. I really like MX.
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I'd recommend MX Linux. I've found it to be very reliable since it's based on Debian Stable, but it comes with a lot of quality-of-life improvements over standard Debian thanks to their custom GUI apps, and they have their own additional repo that contains a lot of backports of various programs.
Here's a review of MX Linux. :)
If you require a lighter DE than Xfce, you could also try AntiX Linux, which is also based on Debian Stable, and has Fluxbox as an option.
From your stated requirements, I'm not sure you'll be able to have newer software and a stable system that doesn't update often.
The closest you could get to those requirements would be MX Linux. It's based on Debian Stable, but has access to their own MX repository with quite a lot of newer software that's been backported. There is also the possibility of using Flatpaks or Appimages, if the software you need happens to come packaged that way.
You might also consider Mageia.
I'm considering trying Antergos or Anarchy, as I;
- Prefer up-to-date software (which Fedora also has).
- Want more software availability. Arch's AUR is far more convenient to use than having to add the RPM-Fusion repo & manually install patent encumbered media codecs on every new installation just to have a usable system. I've also noticed a lot of third-party software I use that aren't available in the repos (a few programs and games) still haven't created RPM packages for Fedora 28, which is rather annoying.
I'm not terribly experienced with Arch based systems, but they seem to offer most of what I desire in a distro.
If I eventually find rolling distros in general to be too unstable in the long haul (my last attempt at openSUSE Tumbleweed eventually resulted in an unbootable state from an update due to GPU driver issues, and Solus Linux seems to be somewhat understaffed, but is otherwise promising), I will likely have to settle on MX Linux (which I've had only good experiences with), or an Ubuntu derivative.
I'd just pick either Debian XFCE or Debian LXDE, but another option might be MX Linux, which is pretty much a customized community Debian spin. Make sure you pick the i386 variant is all. What kind of laptop is it? I may be able to provide more information if you've got a manufacturer/part number or something like that.
It looks like you are booting into systemd instead of the default SysV. "The user will end with MX Linux using systemd but with no guarantee about its degree of functionality." https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/systemd
I hate all these list demands.
I been using Linux for over 14 years. I only have two demands. Fast and Stable. I get those two, I'm a happy camper.
And I'm getting that using MX. https://mxlinux.org/
Not a bad idea, or maybe a link that launches an installer kinda like magnet links start-up your torrent app...
Linux has to showcase the best available and have it placed in the store in a way where people know they should be getting something decent while downloading. I understand for the vets here that doesn't sound like a big deal, but dropping someone into a software store where they have never heard, even by name, of any of the apps they are scrolling through (with very little info for explanation when they dig further), this just becomes a flat-out failure...
The best type of software store I've seen is MX-16:
https://mxlinux.org/user_manual_mx15/grafix/mx_package_installer.png
The reason why this works is that the best 3 or so apps were hand selected for each of the categories in green. This is an excellent idea that just needs some GUI work. The new user selects what he is looking for and then has a choice of multiple excellent programs, so that he is leaving impressed then underwhelmed...
MX it's a great OS.
The story behind it. I started out with SimplyMepis(Mepis) back in 2003. Funny thing the team from Mepis move to create MX. So it's like I went full circle with Linux. 14+ years with Linux and Loving every minute of it.
Kali is more like a tool. Then rather a operating system. It's met to just run off the Live version of Kali and not to be install.
Try either Xubuntu or Mint Cinnamon. If you want to get serious as a Linux beginner. or any of the others I suggested for you.
Netrunner
Lite
MX
Solus
Voyager
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
I been using Linux for over 14 years and loving every minute of it. I'm currently using MX.
Mepis is a discontinue project. So go to MX, where the Mepis guys went to.
That's what I'm currently using. Funny Mepis where I started using Linux back in 2003. Now, it's like I went full circle.
MX - https://mxlinux.org/ (MX-16)
Debian Stable(Jessie)
xfce4-panel 4.12.1 (Xfce 4.12)
Kernel - 4.7.0-0.bpo.1-amd64
I have no problem installing KDE distro's. I ran Netrunner just fine. This is my hardware I'm using.
My Nvidia driver version is 367.44. Which is the proprietary driver.
Mint would be fine to start out with.
If you want other choices. Then try out
Netrunner
Lite
Voyager
MX
I'm currently using MX
I use distrowatch.com to help me decide my next Linux distro.
Just a bit more information on all the persistence options:
- persist_all (or whatever it is called) - everything is saved persistently. So any programs you install in root directory as well as any personal files or config files you create in home. Important to note, any changes are saved/loaded out of RAM first. So changes are not made permanently to the USB until you shutdown. If you have a lot or RAM or a slow USB, this is ideal. If you don't have a lot or RAM or if you plan on making a lot of changes every time you use the system, then use persist_static.
- persist_static - same as persist_all except changes are made directly to USB. If you have a true USB 3.0 (or better) stick, I would just use this. The downside would be that this increases reads and writes from the USB so that might affect its life cycle. If you have a slow USB or connect to a USB 2.0 port, this will slow down your system quite significantly.
- persist_root - root folder but not home folder is static. I don't personally know the use case for this.
- persist_home - home folder is saved persistently. So personal files, config files etc save in home folder are preserved but if you install a new program (I guess other than appimages), then it won't be preserved. Only programs that come with MX Linux are going to be available every boot.
Credits for the info (here and here). The information is still valid but they are using an older install of MX Linux which is why I didn't link it in my first post.
MX Linux is based on Debian and will be very familiar to Debian and Ubuntu users. It includes several small utilities to help with using Debian on a desktop to its fullest. What's nice is that MX Linux can be run as a live distribution from a USB device and allows saving custom parameters and documents on the USB key. https://mxlinux.org/
so you want to not encrypt swap, and you consider that more secure than swap on an encrypted partition? what's not secure about a luks encrypted swap partition?
as for zram, I think this is still valid
https://mxlinux.org/wiki/other/zram/
what you want to do probabley is create the lvm ahead of time on the host system, and use that as the target for the installation. before, not after. probably folks in our forum can help, I know nothing about lvms.
I understand better about the swap partition, when an application is not used, it allows to free space to run other active applications, that's right ?
The truth is that I would like to install lvm on luks but apparently mx doesn't support lvm during the installation but I could use lvm after the installation but the problem I don't know how to install lvm on the disk is already encrypted. If this is not possible, it will be better to use zram swap
I know that Debian and Pop_OS can install lvm with luks without because I have already installed but not MX Linux 21
I installed MX Linux 21 another PC, my GParted is :
- ext4 /boot
- [Encrypted] ext4
- Encrypted] linux-swap
- unllocated
I did the research if MX supports or not zram swap, it supports but since 2016, I do not know if it is still confirmed or not
MX Linux is based on Debian Bullseye
If it is a computer I am going to use at work (or school), I install the distro that is most well-supported by the IT team at my office (if any). In the past, this has been SUSE, RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), or Oracle Unbreakable Linux.
For personal use, I go with a Debian based distros because I am most familiar with the Dpkg and Apt package manager, and I am well familiar with the upstream package repositories -- I even have a handful of package names memorized so I can install them without even searching for them. Also, Debian has better politics: it seems to have a genuinely more democratic/communitarian approach to their software development process than RedHat does. Arch also has good politics, but I have had technical trouble with the rolling release thing, I've done stupid things when updating that were impossible to fix, but this somehow hasn't ever been a problem for me on Debian-based distros. So I stick with the Debian-based distros.
I go with a distro that supports my platform. I still have 32-bit machines that some Debian-based distros no longer support, for these MX-Linux is usually the best choice here.
I go with a distro that has the largest well-curated package repository. For 64-bit machines (like my daily driver), this is Ubuntu or Mint.
I would sell if anyone will buy it and take that money and save up some more to buy something that's 8th gen I series or newer or Ryzen comparable that is officially supported by windows 11, sure there's ways around TPM and CPU requirements but MS may end up killing off updates to hacked machines. Otherwise it will run light weight Linux distro's fine for web browsing. Check out MX Linux, Ive used on pentium 4's with hyperthreading and people used them for several years when the system was already obsolete. The other thing to consider is the amount of power it takes to run the core2quad vs a newer pentium or Celeron will have way more performance and cost less to power. https://mxlinux.org/
You find one that your system likes and that you like. It's really that simple. There really isn't a wrong answer here. It all depends on your experience in the computer field.
I'll give you two choice's. You see which one your system likes and that you like.
Mint
If you want me to choose your DE. Then go with Mint Cinnamon.
MX
Again if you need me to choose your DE. I would say go with MX Xfce.
Enjoy Linux.
"...These MX-19.2 base ISOs have been designed to contain the full goodness of the MX Linux system, without the accompanying desktop, productivity apps, games, etc normally found on our regular ISO. For all intents and purposes, they will work just like any other MX system, except you get to choose your own apps and additional features. .."
https://mxlinux.org/uncategorized/mx-19-2-base-edition-personal-respin/
For the past two years I've been running MX Linux with Xfce. For now, it seems to offer the nicest x86 distribution without compiling your own. Up to date. Easy install.
I have a EeePC 1000HA 2GB RAM 120GB SSD - They're getting pretty old and limited by needing a 32 bit OS. I mostly use it for a ssh terminal and as long as it works I'll keep it.
Here PCs usually don't get replaced until they physically don't work anymore. Therefore four years is a very short timeframe (especially since some incompatible PCs will only be around 8 years old in 2025). I have already tried countless of times to convince people to replace hardware earlier, but let's not dig into it further, as it is not the point of this thread anyways ... It will also take time to convince people to try Linux, e. g. as a dual boot or on another PC, and therefore I need to start early. ;)
I mentioned GNOME, because I have been using every GNOME release since Fedora 15/GNOME 3.0 (one of the first Linux distributions I ever used btw.) and I know (and like) the GTK ecosystem better than the Qt ecosystem, which makes support easier for me. But I am also familiar with KDE Plasma, so I don't exclude Qt desktops. I am not sure about the usability of KDE though, as I tried Fedora Kinoite yesterday and the system settings were still quite ... "untidy". They contain lots and lots of niche settings (e. g. the duration of animations in seconds) and I think they are really overwhelming for average users. I am also not a fan of multi-monitors and KDE (panels randomly rearranging, labour-intensive configuration of new screens (plasmoids, panels, ...), different wallpapers, ...) But I am not against trying KDE together with my target audience.
MX Linux: It doesn't seem to fullfill my requirements, e. g. it doesn't seem to have a graphical upgrade tool: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/upgrading-from-mx-19-to-mx-21-without-reinstalling/
I am surprised about the recommendation of PCLinuxOS: Is actually anyone still using it? I haven't heard about it for years ... The website doesn't look inviting either ... How is it? Does it even support Flatpak?
There is, if you know what you are doing
(and by the way if you find these instructions complicated, you should see Debian's official instructions for upgrading between releases)
First off asking the Linux community "what Distro?" will get you so many different answers.
Most of us install different distros many times in the search for that one perfect one. That or something new and shiny catches your eye and you give it a go. It can be quite addictive if I'm to be honest.
I have been using Linux since the mid late '90s and in my time I have tried more than a few. I have my favourites, but they will not be yours and that's part of the fun.
For a user with low spec hardware, you will want to avoid GNOME, there is nothing wrong with it, but it much prefers a more powerful system.
For the new user something in the Ubuntu family is a good idea, Ubuntu MATE is a great place to start. If you want to dig in and learn by breaking stuff Manjaro XFCE is great. I'm not suggesting that it's going to break but given the support documentation (Arch WiKi) you should be able to fix it if you do.
​
If you need your computer to do work, be reliable, dependable, and still have all the tools you need to have fun and learn given your meager hardware MXLinux is what I would suggest. I run MXLinux on my 10-year-old ThinkPad and it has no issues with performance at all.
https://mxlinux.org/download-links/
You will want MX-21_x64 if you are going to put in more RAM soon.
If you are going to be sticking with 4GB of RAM go for the 32bit PAE verson. It will be a little bit faster than 64bit.
After distro-hopping for a number of years, I've always come back to using Debian-based systems - they tend to be solid and I am more comfortable with .deb package management. For a long time my favorite distro was CrunchBang, but after #! folded and after spending some time with Bunsen Labs (which forked from #!), I decided to go back to using XFCE, and that's when I found MX Linux. I prefer a different panel layout than what they provide so I do a lot of customizing to the look and feel of the OS, but the tools that come packaged with MX are excellent! I really like their implementation of the conky manager as well as other system/settings tools that come packaged with the OS. Give it a spin and maybe you'll like it too!
AntiX, MX Linux, and Bunsenlabs are all Debian-based distributions that still offer 32bit versions. Of the three, I think Bunsenlabs is the most lightweight but - of course - that likely means you might need to download quite a bit in order to get it set up the way you like.
edit: oh, in the time it took me to write this comment, the post got removed. C'est la vie.
I've tried a variety of them and am pretty happy with MX Linux right now. You can either boot old school or with systemd, which is a nice touch. I just think they made good choices.
Is there any chance you could use MX Linux's Snapshot tool to make the entire system snapshot saved to an ISO file that can be used for workstation recovery? https://mxlinux.org/wiki/help-files/help-mx-save-system-to-iso-snapshot/This for the case anything would go wrong.
Your method looks fair enough. I have nothing to add to it now.
The MX guys have just released a new beta ISO: https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-21-beta-1-now-available-for-testing-purposes/
New things/changes:
Now there's a full-screen Plymouth theme. It's oddly similar to the old default background to Artix Plasma (like it looked last December). Coincidence? Nah, just a stock photo.
Wallpaper has too many things on it; they do plan on changing this. Just thought I might mention it; since it kind of is the main difference.
Wi-fi still does not work, neither in the live desktop nor in the freshly-installed environment.
- TODO: check back in a while to see if wifi works again later.
verdict: still stands
Hi
" I want to use void like debian without my mind exploding."
I agree that void is harder for a newbie who expects more services to be enabled by default
I think what you are looking for is a distro that has the (bigger and easier to use) network applet in the panel, and LXDE is not actively maintained, AFAIK.
MX distro has a good range of desktops to choose from with the bigger applet. Xfce desktop might be a good starting point for you.
MX is great is base on Debian Stable. So no Rolling Release. Driver support should be right on the nose. No problems since I been using MX Xfce 19.4.
The only thing I know that does exactly this is mx-snapshot with mx-live-usb-maker. These tools can only be used with MXLinux and/or antiX. As they depend on their file-system. You can just install them on other distro. So, create the snapshot and burn on usb with live-usb-maker. Now boot with usb, once in desktop run this in terminal sudo minstall-pkexec. You'll be prompt with GUI installer. Voila!
I still use original BIOS boot and PC partition table - I've changed disks a few times, but didn't need GPT nor efiboot yet.
I moved from sysvinit to systemd only cause I've had to (too many dependencies) but I'm thinking about moving to devuan.
Looks like MX linux found someone to use systemd-shim on newer debian https://mxlinux.org/blog/about-mx-19-and-systemd/ so I hope it will be possible to go back (to sysvinit)
Distrowatch have the full list.
272 active Linux distro's
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
I'm currently using MX Xfce. My all time favorite.
Enjoy Linux.
Consider using TimeShift, Clonezilla, Veeam, or tar to backup your data and recover to a new one installed onto the laptop. https://www.linuxtechi.com/timeshift-backup-restore-ubuntu-linux/
https://www.veeam.com/linux-cloud-server-backup-agent.html
You might also be interested in MX Linux's Snapshot tool. It does a system snapshot saved to ISO that can be used for system recovery. https://mxlinux.org/wiki/help-files/help-mx-save-system-to-iso-snapshot/
Check the MX Linux's Snapshot tool. It does a system snapshot saved to ISO that can be used for system recovery. https://mxlinux.org/wiki/help-files/help-mx-save-system-to-iso-snapshot/ Also Veeam Agent allows the entire system recovery from the backup. https://www.veeam.com/linux-cloud-server-backup-agent.html
> I'm new to using Linux so i'm just using Ubuntu at the moment but i'm looking for something that isn't Ubuntu
> distro that can be heavily customised since i like to make my pc look cool
That doesnt have nothing to do with the "distro". What you're looking for is Window Managers. Theres no need to distro hop. Window Manager hop instead ;) The easiest WM that I've play with is Spectrwm Another easy to start with is AwesomeWM Good Luck, Have Fun!
Mint Cinnamon is great for beginners like SupriseMe_ suggested here.
I'm currently using MX and actually MX would be a good beginner Linux distro as well. Great community.
There are no wrong choices, just choices.
MX Linux has had flatpak integration from 2018 or almost 3 years now. Newcomers to Linux will want the XFCE desktop. MX Linux has nice system configuration GUIs too.
MX is not a typical rolling release distro tbh, semi rolling release?
Using runit is not the issue, i suggested systemd since OP is running a decade old pc and i can't guarantee if runit is 100% compatible with old hardware. Also, runit is not a replacement for systemd. Systemd is a collection of software while runit is a process supervisor. /u/being_normal_is_hard , systemd is unsecure because its bloated, not because its inherently malicious code. Weaknesses in its internal components is what makes it vulnerable(which also gets fixed when a issue is found, which happens very rarely) you can use something like runit, sysvinit or something else instead of systemd but be prepared to read lots of docs.