Lighter version of Ubuntu

[susanpenter]

I have been using Ubuntu quite happily on my desktop for a while now and find it much better than XP so the natural thing was to install it onto my laptop too and I find it too much for the poor thing to cope with it's spec is as follows:

256mb memory
Intel Celeron 2.0GH processor
64MB video memory

Can anyone suggest a distros that will 'work out of the box' as well as Ubuntu but maybe use less resources.I'd want things like my wireless card to be found automatically, Ubuntu was the first distros I tried on my desktop that did that (after trying one or two others) so I haven't looked at anything since.

Many thanks

[lindsay7]

I have had good luck with Linux Puppy. It uses very little in the way or resources and it found my laptop wireless card with no set up,

[TheLions]

I have been using Ubuntu quite happily on my desktop for a while now and find it much better than XP so the natural thing was to install it onto my laptop too and I find it too much for the poor thing to cope with it's spec is as follows:

256mb memory
Intel Celeron 2.0GH processor
64MB video memory

Can anyone suggest a distros that will 'work out of the box' as well as Ubuntu but maybe use less resources.I'd want things like my wireless card to be found automatically, Ubuntu was the first distros I tried on my desktop that did that (after trying one or two others) so I haven't looked at anything since.

Many thanks

maybe xbuntu?
http://www.xubuntu.org/

[Nxion]

Some of these might work for you:

Fluxbuntu (http://fluxbuntu.org/)
Xubuntu (http://www.xubuntu.org/)

Check this guide out as well

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/LowMemorySystems)

Hope it helps!

[bodhi.zazen]

moved to recurring discussions. There are tons of threads on this topic already.

Try the ubunt uminimal CD or See :

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=575456

[skymera]

CrunchBang Linux is Ubuntu based, VERY lightweight and uses GTK+ Apps.

Seems like a perfect distro for me. No 64bit though.

Give it a shot, last time i used it, it used 60MB RAM

[kansasnoob]

Crunchbang isn't super light, but it's good!

I like:

http://u-lite.org/

And Aysiu has some really good options here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/minimal

Either Puppy or Damn Small are good and Damn Small will install basically as Debian so there is a bit of familiarity to Ubuntu (only a bit).

[mpsii]

Personally, I like the combination of the command-line installation followed by:

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm xfce4

or

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm lxde

[mkvnmtr]

I have a Celeron M 1.40Gh laptop that came with 256Mb of ram. While waiting for a 512MB stick to arrive I tried several light distros. DSL, Puppy and a minimal Ubuntu install using fluxbox and xfce4. When I got the ram I just installed regular Ubuntu gnome. With 512 Mb of ram it runs just fine. The others on 256Mb were slower. Xfce4 was not really usable. If you can just add another 256Mb stick you should be happy with anything. Windows xp on the same machine is still too slow to use.

[notoriousdbp]

+1 for xubuntu on here. I've got it on my really old Desktop machine which I use as a print / backup server. It has the same driver support as the main Ubuntu distribution and when idle uses just 59MB of RAM which is unheard of nowadays.

[anewguy]

You might try just expanding your memory from 256mg to 512mb - I think the 256mb might be lower than what a standard install CD requires (you may be able to install from the alternate CD). Even if you install to 256mb, it will seem slower - that's why I suggest bumping up the memory. The processor should be fine. The video memory, I suspect, is actually being grabbed from main memory pool, thus the amount of real memory you have available to Linux is only 192mb - too little to run in. If your laptop can expand beyond 512mb it would be even better. Memory prices are really cheap now.

Just a different approach.....

Dave :)

[C!oud]

I'd say go with Xubuntu since 256 MB Ram should be perfectly fine.

[susanpenter]

I really need to solve the problem by tomorrow evening so there is no time for shopping for memory. I hope to replace the lap top later in the year anway. The funny thing was that it ran win XP with no problems, unless I opened several programs. The two most commin suggestions seem to be Xubuntu and Puppy Linux, so I'll try Xubuntu as I assume it will have an alternative installer as Ubuntu does.

[Mehall]

I really need to solve the problem by tomorrow evening so there is no time for shopping for memory. I hope to replace the lap top later in the year anway. The funny thing was that it ran win XP with no problems, unless I opened several programs. The two most commin suggestions seem to be Xubuntu and Puppy Linux, so I'll try Xubuntu as I assume it will have an alternative installer as Ubuntu does.

Nonono!! Use Crunchbang! You use the alternate install disc of Ubuntu, install a CLI system, wget one file and run it as root. Then you have a full Crunchbang system [=

[maybeway36]

Either way, get the Xubuntu alternate CD - it can install Xubuntu or do a command-line install.

[Bart_D]

Xubuntu(Ubuntu + XFCE): http://www.xubuntu.org/

or

Crunchbang(Ubuntu + Openbox): http://crunchbanglinux.org/

or

MoonOS*(Ubuntu + LXDE): http://www.moonos.co.cc/


will be up and running in notime on your system.



* - NO, you do NOT get your own Irish fairy dancing across the screen at all times.

[jdcnosse]

I for one am finding myself drawn towards Linux Mint: http://www.linuxmint.com/

It's based off Ubuntu, but it's lighter due and it's also similar to Windows for those "skeptical to switch" people.

[WatchingThePain]

Mint.

[Mehall]

Crunchbang isn't super light, but it's good!

I like:

http://u-lite.org/

And Aysiu has some really good options here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/minimal

Either Puppy or Damn Small are good and Damn Small will install basically as Debian so there is a bit of familiarity to Ubuntu (only a bit).


I agree, crunchbang isn't superlight, but it's the best full-blown distro for any hardware level.

If you have a 686 or higher processor, and 256MB RAM or more (not tried it with less, but it could probably run) then you'll be flying with Crunchbang, and it just gets better if you add more RAM.


Seriously, I use Crunchbang on any computer I can. If it won't run #!, that's when I grab my Puppy Linux disc.

[manilaph]

Personally, I like the combination of the command-line installation followed by:

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm xfce4

or

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm lxde

i think i will try

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm lxde

is there anything else i should add? what is xterm?

[mpsii]

i think i will try

sudo apt-get install xorg gdm lxde

is there anything else i should add? what is xterm?

xterm is a terminal (console) window for Xorg. It is your basic. There are others... XFCE has xfterm4.

You may also wish to try the following (thought about it after the moonos suggestion):

OZOS - http://www.cafelinux.org/OzOs/
download at http://www.cafelinux.org/OzOs/content/ozos-iso-downloads-torrents