Need a lightweight distro...

Hi all,

I have an old PC which runs XP and Ubuntu 12.04 atm, however 12.04 seems very slow and sluggish. So I'm looking at replacing it with a fully customisable distro which will run WINE programs as well as 12.04.

I kind of like Fedora, but not sure how lightweight it is in comparison to 12.04, and doesn't seem very customisable. I've tried the Ubuntu Gnome remix which resembles Fedora in looks but doesn't seem more lightweight. Both Xubuntu and Lubuntu look pretty ugly out of the box, though possibly customisable enough to look more presentable.

Can anyone suggest any other suitable distros which might help?

Cheers.

Hi Baldrick_NZ,

What is going to be the primary purpose of the machine?

That desire may drive your choice. Fedora in my opinion is no lighter than Ubuntu. You may want to Give Bodhi a try though it's based on Ubuntu 12.04 but uses the lightweight E-17 desktop which is very customizable.
There is always Puppy but I don't use it for security reasons here but it will fly on older equipment. and is passable in looks.

Good Luck I'm sure you'll get more suggestions.

If you like the ubuntu way of doing things in general, ie the update manager, synaptic (I know it's not in 12.04 as default, but I can't manage without it), using sudo instead of a root account, etc etc, you should certainly try Lubuntu. It is Ubuntu with LXDE desktop and lubuntu themes, and it is very fast and brilliant on older machines.

If it ran XP it will run Lubuntu like a dream.

You can always try something like crunchbang.

http://crunchbanglinux.org/

Have you tried Xubuntu or Lubuntu in depth ? I have this same issue of old machine and it's running smooth with Xubuntu 12.04, it's way faster then Ubuntu 12.04. And in my opinion, Xfce is way prettier than Unity or Gnome 2.

I think the distro speed is somewhat more measured by the graphical environment than other aspects.

Is your PC a desktop or a laptop? What year is it from? (PCs were still sold with XP until mid or late 2009) If your PC supports DDR3, PCI X16 version 2, I would probably recommend an upgrade over reinstalling everything.

If it's early 2000s I would recommend a source distro over a binary distro but that depends on how well do you know linux. I personally use Funtoo as it's optimized for the newer intel core and xeon cpu's where as Gentoo has a generic stage3 tarball.

You could still use ubuntu 12.04 and just uninstall Unity and go with Openbox if you don't want to compile everything from source.

Give Bodhi linux a try. It's Ubuntu based, so you'll still have access to all the repos and software. It comes with E17, which provides A LOT of eyecandy without slowing your system down.

What I like best is that the install is pretty minimal, so you can choose most programs and utilities you want to use (Plus it's a quick download)

What are the hardware specs of the machine?

Here is some visual inspiration for theming Xubuntu and Lubuntu:

http://xfce-look.org
http://lxde.org/lxappearance_change_look_feel

I tried Bohdi yesterday. I liked the minimalist look.

Then came the learning curve and where is this and that.

I couldn't figure out how to access my other drives/devices so that I could get files from 12.04.

Scrolling through the menus reminded me of Windows XP.

Try Debian. You choose the packages so it will be VERY minimal. You could install LXDE.

Well, in my opinion...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deadflowr

You can always try something like crunchbang.

http://crunchbanglinux.org/

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+1 on that one.

ArchLinux is a good lightweight distro with vanilla packages that only installs what you want. It has some incredible documentation to go with it as well. That is my lightweight distro of choice, as long as your not afraid of config files instead of gui options.

Try Wattos, it's surprisingly good.

Lubuntu, Crunchbang, or if you're more of a hardcore user, you could try an Arch or Gentoo build with Fluxbox, Openbox, or LXDE, or FreeBSD with the same WM or DE.

I'm sold to Lubuntu for lightweight. It's what I use on my low power netbook since the regular full ubuntu was too slow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TeamRocket1233c

Lubuntu, Crunchbang, or if you're more of a hardcore user, you could try an Arch or Gentoo build with Fluxbox, Openbox, or LXDE, or FreeBSD with the same WM or DE.

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+1 for crunchbang or arch w/ openbox, very snappy and quick on my low spec system.

Well uhh, It depends!

For example: I have OpenSuSe 12.2 64bit with a kde desktop environment, it's memory footprint averages 950mb ram with 151 processes, However when i switch to iceWM in sessions, the average is about 230mb with 101 processes, that is a dramatic difference.

Ultimately, it's mostly the desktop environment that'll bring slower systems to a crawl...

Consider running processes as well, Google Chrome browser will require an additional 128mb of ram, that's bare minimum!

Most lite weight environments will have it's own web browser/ it's own applications to allow small footprint.

This isn't including Samba and various other Apps.

Find a distribution with what you like and choose a lite weight desktop environment, then you should be fine.

Both mint and Ubuntu have netbook remixes, try this in google:
Ubuntu netbook edition or Linux mint netbook remix.

Or try Puppy Linux :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mesquka

Both mint and Ubuntu have netbook remixes, try this in google:
Ubuntu netbook edition or Linux mint netbook remix.

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That's outdated information; Ubuntu Netbook was obsoleted in 2010 with the release of Ubuntu 10.04 featuring Unity. :)

It really depends on what you're looking for and you level of experience.

The lightest thing you are going to get would be a source based distro, however, if you're not up to building the distro for your needs, Xubuntu would work out well for you.

Personally, I highly recommend source over binary distros because of the performance gains, but, it all depends on what you're trying to get out of the experience.

My best recommendation would be to just work with various distros and see what you like best. I spent years playing with various distros before I determined that I am a Gentoo guy. Even at that, I still play with plenty of others working out bugs, fine tuning, etc.

Bodhi is pretty nice. It's very fast but can take some time getting used to. E17 is so different than other guis. You can make it look really nice though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Baldrick_NZ

Hi all,

I have an old PC which runs XP and Ubuntu 12.04 atm, however 12.04 seems very slow and sluggish. So I'm looking at replacing it with a fully customisable distro which will run WINE programs as well as 12.04.

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Without exact specs its hard to say, but an XP-era machine isn't likely to perform well with any modern desktop environment.

Pretty much any mainstream distro is fully customizable, you just have to learn how to customize it.

You don't need to keep swapping distros if you just want to try some different desktops. The ubuntu repositories and PPAs have just about every DE out there. Install a few and see which one works well on your hardware, then spend some time customizing the look. This is ultimately better than jumping through fifteen distros hoping someone shares your sense of aesthetics.

Are there any other Linux Operating Systems which offers installation in windows using "WUBI.exe?" aside from Ubuntu??

My understanding is that Wubi is a technology created by Canonical and I am not aware of any other Linux distributions that provide the same, except for Linux Mint who cloned Wubi:

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2F4U

My understanding is that Wubi is a technology created by Canonical and I am not aware of any other Linux distributions that provide the same, except for Linux Mint who cloned Wubi:

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

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Yes but there are Windows Installers for only 64 bit Operating Systems, no for 32 Bit OS
Doesn't any Light weight Distros having windows installers??

Linux installed in on a Windows partition may cause some issues. However if you are just looking for an installer that one can install Linux from a Windows partition, but have a separate partition, then you can get Debian from http://goodbye-microsoft.com and get a loader which will download the distribution and install it dual boot, or completely erase Windows.

It is your choice.

As for a light distribution...
All Linux distributions are light, but it is the desktop environment that is variable in speeds. If you already have Ubuntu installed, you can install a lighter desktop environment. I prefer Gnome, but for speed, a desktop environment like openbox is blazingly fast. Openbox is a window manager and not a desktop environment, but it is very minimal, and will improve your speed considerably. Check out http://xwinman.org to learn more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mohan1289

Are there any other Linux Operating Systems which offers installation in windows using "WUBI.exe?" aside from Ubuntu??

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I am not so familiar with WUBI.exe.

But, IMHO, it is not so difficult to install linux distribution in a filesystem file in NTFS/FAT32 partition and boot it.
It can be done by modifying a little in init in initramfs. If necessary, ntfs/fat32 modules should be incorporated into the initramfs.
Only the following two things are necessary; 1) Modify init to make it mount the ntfs/fat32 partition containing the filesystem file which is to become / partition and mount the filysystem file on /root before chroot. 2) incorporate the necessary modules to mount ntfs/fat32 partition.
For example in debian,
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.p...=69126#p391034

I have to say gentoo because you want a lightweight distro.

But gentoo can be as lightweight or as heavy as you need it, it's really easy to use and anyone who says otherwise is well.. just won't get into it. Everything is really well documented and if you want to try out zfs or btrfs you can't beat gentoo because you compile from source.

One thing about use flags you will change it quite often and more likely for every package because each package is different.

If your not up for that you can use sabayon, remove kde and all the useless bloat and install lxde or xfce. Better yet, openbox.

I have a Dell Latitude D520 which I believe is about 6 years old now that screams along with Slackware 14.0 and Fluxbox. Mind you it does a reasonable but not stellar job with kde as well :). Nice solid machine...

Since I'm sort of stuck using a netbook as my primary computer, I decided to opt for running Ubuntu with Fluxbox. There's a learning curve, but once you're on the good side of the curve you can make the thing do what you want. It's minimal and fast, and it's good for maximizing useful screen space.

I haven't tried Openbox, but it sounds very similar. There's some stuff that works on one but not the other, but my research suggests similar functionality.

Xfce is pretty simple without being quite so minimal. It'd probably be a more comfortable jump for someone used to Gnome or KDE or someone who's coming from Windows. The paradigm is very similar even if some of the particulars are different. But it's light weight and fast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SchmichaelM

Since I'm sort of stuck using a netbook as my primary computer, I decided to opt for running Ubuntu with Fluxbox. There's a learning curve, but once you're on the good side of the curve you can make the thing do what you want. It's minimal and fast, and it's good for maximizing useful screen space.

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I am running Fluxbox with an 8 core amd machine for the same reason :).

You need a lightweight distro?

Here's the recipe,

1) The hard, but the nicest way; install the mini.iso and install LXDE (Not Lubuntu-desktop) and you are ready with a very snappy installation and with the Chromium 20.

2) The easier way; install Lubuntu, Ubuntu or Xubuntu and strip it to you own minimum.

In both cases, download remastersys and make your backup CD (not DVD), and then install your own just-made distro to a free partition and use Unetbootin and move it to a USB stick. (You can do the old way and burn a CD too.)

Now, you can carry your lightweight distro in your pocket, and when necessary bloat it with additional apps.

Good day! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrew.46

I am running Fluxbox with an 8 core amd machine for the same reason :).

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Any reasons why one would use fluxbox instead of openbox?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mips

Any reasons why one would use fluxbox instead of openbox?

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Fluxbox runs with plain text config files which are much easier for me to use than wrapping my head around the xml required by Openbox :). I know the xml is not that hard but I am a little lazy...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrew.46

Fluxbox runs with plain text config files which are much easier for me to use than wrapping my head around the xml required by Openbox :). I know the xml is not that hard but I am a little lazy...

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Makes sense. i've never actually looked at openbox config files, only installed it, set my themes, installed tint2 & conky. Also not fond of xml files.

I got old pc.For internet i bean jusing BackTrack 5 Revolution.(with installing flash player,wicd,skype...)Speed is ok,but for setup printer or use bluetooth you need lots of time surfing and reading.Then i try linux puppy 5.3.3.Very small,very fest,simply for use,connect to web,select language and other things go vary easy.But with linux bodhi i can surfing the net,use bluetooth,printing...speed of bodhi linux on my machine (1.6 celeron and 446 mb RAM) is amazing.