PDA

View Full Version : [other] What alternatives to Ubuntu?



Paul2795
March 30th, 2010, 01:18 AM
I unsuccessfully attempted to install Ubuntu 9.10 on an old Ipex Celeron 500 before I discovered that it only has 128 MB of RAM, well under what is required for Ubuntu proper. So what alternatives? Kubuntu looks a possibility as its minimum RAM reqiurements are only 64 MB, half of what is available. Any other suggestions?

n0dix
March 30th, 2010, 01:23 AM
Definitely not using KDE. It's better XFCE or not graphical system(tty system).

TBABill
March 30th, 2010, 01:37 AM
Try another distro that is not using Gnome or KDE as the interface. Also, XFCE is not as light as others may suggest. LXDE is really light, as are Openbox and Fluxbox. If you like Ubuntu and its base being Debian, you could try Lubuntu (10.04beta). It is awesome and fast, and as far as I can tell relatively bug free for a beta.

Another option is Linux Mint 8 LXDE or FLUXBOX. They're both light, easy and operate mostly like Ubuntu with some distro-specific differences that are easy to learn.

Besides those, even lighter distros may work for you like Puppy Linux (this one is as fast as I have seen), Damn Small Linux (DSL) and some other light distros. Distrowatch website is a great resource, as is Softpedia. Lots of distros with links to their homepages and download locations.

Good luck! Many good choices...just use what works best for you.

Slim Odds
March 30th, 2010, 01:40 AM
Are these the requirements that you saw?

Desktop installation

Most people will want to install a desktop system such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu. A desktop system is typically used for personal computing tasks and has a graphical user interface.

Bare Minimum requirements

It should be possible to get Ubuntu running on a system with the following minimum hardware specification, although it is unlikely that the system would run well. You should use the Alternate install CD to attempt such an installation.


300 MHz x86 processor
64 MB of system memory (RAM)
At least 4 GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space)
VGA graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution
CD-ROM drive or network card

No recent OS with a full blown GUI is going to run well with 128MB of RAM

There are some others that are mentioned frequently in these forums. Puppy linux, Damn Small linux, etc.

Rasa1111
March 30th, 2010, 01:54 AM
Ubuntu, and Kubuntu both state on the CD envelope, that a minimum 256 MB of ram should be in place before attempting to use either.

ssulaco
March 30th, 2010, 01:56 AM
You Might give Lubuntu(LXDE) a whirl.......
http://lubuntu.net/

2hot6ft2
March 30th, 2010, 02:00 AM
You Might give Lubuntu(LXDE) a whirl.......
http://lubuntu.net/
+1
While it's only a beta right now I tried it out and it's very light and ran good.

98cwitr
March 30th, 2010, 02:32 AM
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

snowpine
March 30th, 2010, 02:52 AM
SliTaz is my favorite for very old hardware. Puppy Linux is also quite popular. I can't really recommend DSL because it is quite outdated.

Slim Odds
March 30th, 2010, 03:23 AM
...
I can't really recommend DSL because it is quite outdated.

LOL

What better for outdated hardware than outdated software?

snowpine
March 30th, 2010, 03:44 AM
LOL

What better for outdated hardware than outdated software?

Slitaz (new release today!), Puppy, TinyCore, etc. are active projects that receive bug fixes, security patches, new hardware support, etc. on a regular basis. I prefer to use software that is developing and improving with time (even on older hardware).

Slim Odds
March 30th, 2010, 03:22 PM
Slitaz (new release today!), Puppy, TinyCore, etc. are active projects that receive bug fixes, security patches, new hardware support, etc. on a regular basis. I prefer to use software that is developing and improving with time (even on older hardware).

I was talking about your quote about DSL (guess I need to edit my posts better).

snowpine
March 30th, 2010, 03:37 PM
LOL

What better for outdated hardware than outdated software?

DSL is a dead project. It receives no updates, bug fixes, or new versions of software. It uses the 2.4 kernel instead of the current 2.6. And there is no user community to help you if you run into problems. That is why I personally do not use or recommend it; I was trying to be diplomatic in my previous post #11 by saying good things about the competition rather than bad things about DSL. :)

tommcd
March 30th, 2010, 03:53 PM
You could also try Zenwalk. Zenwalk is fast, light, and up to date. It runs very well on older computers:
http://zenwalk.org/
If you plan to use that system for a while though, you should upgrade the RAM in that system to at least 1GB. This is an inexpensive upgrade that will extend the useful life of your system for a while.