There any extremely Lightweight distro's based directly off Ubuntu 8.04?

[Infinyte]

I know there's Xubuntu, but I'm wanting something even lighter. Fluxbuntu, for some reason, won't boot from the CD (Seems to be rather common actually), so I'm ruling that one out.

A few that I've been thinking about would be Ubuntulite and OpenGEU. Only problem is I can't figure out what version of Ubuntu Ubuntulite is currently going off of, and I have yet to find any proof that OpenGEU is lighter than Xubuntu.

It's going to be for a mock-up computer that I'll be building from a handful of older computers that no longer run with all of their current parts (Gonna take the best of the working stuff and put it all into one), but once it's done it's still going to be a very weak computer.

Thing is, it pretty much needs to be Ubuntu 8.04 for a couple reasons. I want it to be updateble, but I want EnvyNG to be installed, so that it keeps the NVidia kernel in line with the Linux one, which Envy Legacy doesn't do. It's not for me, otherwise I could manage keeping that in working condition. It's for a friend, who just wants a cleanly working computer, but wants to keep up to date.

And I'm to lazy to just install Hardy and switch it over to lightweight manager or anything like that. :P

Any ideas? Or, information on Ubuntulite or OpenGEU?

[Bachstelze]

Why not just install a command-line Ubuntu and start building up from there?

[LaRoza]

Try: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD

[Infinyte]

Why not just install a command-line Ubuntu and start building up from there?

To lazy, like I said. Besides that, I'm not quite that Savy. I tend to stay as close to GUI's as I can be, not enough time to fiddle with the command line too much(Not that I don't love it to death), so I honestly wouldn't know what I would actually NEED to get, and how to make it all work together. And I'm looking for more of a quick-fix than anything.


Try: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD

Looks interesting, but.. How do you choose things? Is there like, a pre-defined list? Or do you have to request things through the command line in an apt-get fashion?

[eragon100]

I believe there is a distro called icebuntu, but I don't know which version that one is based on.

[barbedsaber]

I believe there is one called ubuntulite, based on ubuntu hardy, with LXDE.

[LaRoza]

To lazy, like I said. Besides that, I'm not quite that Savy. I tend to stay as close to GUI's as I can be, not enough time to fiddle with the command line too much(Not that I don't love it to death), so I honestly wouldn't know what I would actually NEED to get, and how to make it all work together. And I'm looking for more of a quick-fix than anything.

Looks interesting, but.. How do you choose things? Is there like, a pre-defined list? Or do you have to request things through the command line in an apt-get fashion?

I don't understand what you want.

You want GUI's, yet you want "extremely lightweight". Which is it? By my standards, extremely lightweight is a very minimal install (like Debian core).

[perlluver]

There is also Crunchbang (http://www.crunchbang.org) it is based of Ubuntu 8.04, and uses openbox.

[akiratheoni]

There is also Crunchbang (http://www.crunchbang.org) it is based of Ubuntu 8.04, and uses openbox.

Never heard of that Crunchbang in particular before but I know Openbox is pretty light, so I would probably recommend that.

[billgoldberg]

Install command line Ubuntu version.

Install fluxbox.

If you really want to go lightweight, it would be easier using another distro.

I would suggest Arch Linux with fluxbox or openbox.

--

There is always Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux.

[zmjjmz]

I believe there is a distro called icebuntu, but I don't know which version that one is based on.

It's based on 7.10, but when I get the time I'll try to upgrade it to 8.04
(It shouldn't be too hard, just a dist-upgrade).

Also, there's INX

[Steve Fisher]

Another vote here for Ubuntulite. The LXDE desktop is very light on resources, but still very functional. I had it running on an old PII 400mhz pc with 192mb ram and a 6gb hdd. It flew like Ubuntu does on my main system. Truly impressive.

[kgeuens]

Crunchbang is the best lightweight ubuntu variant I have tried, the developer is quite helpful as well. The new version features both openbox and xfce.

It also contains a lot of cool apps like Tablaunch and Conky, try it :)

[Infinyte]

I don't understand what you want.

You want GUI's, yet you want "extremely lightweight". Which is it? By my standards, extremely lightweight is a very minimal install (like Debian core).

Well like I said, it's not for me, but it's going to be on a very weak computer. So it needs to be user friendly (IE: Ubuntu), with your basic apps that come with most operating systems (IE: Browser/Media/ETC).


Crunchbang and Ubuntulite seem to be the wining candidates so far, I'll try them out when I get home from work.

[darkmaster]

I know there's Xubuntu, but I'm wanting something even lighter. Fluxbuntu, for some reason, won't boot from the CD (Seems to be rather common actually), so I'm ruling that one out.

A few that I've been thinking about would be Ubuntulite and OpenGEU. Only problem is I can't figure out what version of Ubuntu Ubuntulite is currently going off of, and I have yet to find any proof that OpenGEU is lighter than Xubuntu.

It's going to be for a mock-up computer that I'll be building from a handful of older computers that no longer run with all of their current parts (Gonna take the best of the working stuff and put it all into one), but once it's done it's still going to be a very weak computer.

Thing is, it pretty much needs to be Ubuntu 8.04 for a couple reasons. I want it to be updateble, but I want EnvyNG to be installed, so that it keeps the NVidia kernel in line with the Linux one, which Envy Legacy doesn't do. It's not for me, otherwise I could manage keeping that in working condition. It's for a friend, who just wants a cleanly working computer, but wants to keep up to date.

And I'm to lazy to just install Hardy and switch it over to lightweight manager or anything like that. :P

Any ideas? Or, information on Ubuntulite or OpenGEU?

I can say I tried Xubuntu and OpenGEU on my own eeepc. Honestly, OpenGEU is far faster than Xubuntu, I can tell, and we are talking about a Xubuntu specifically designed to be perfect for the eeepc. Plus, I tried E17 with all effects enabled and you can actually optimize it by modifying the configurations.

And is there any necessity for me to compare the beauty of E17 with XFCE? Honestly I'd have no doubts.

[LaRoza]

Well like I said, it's not for me, but it's going to be on a very weak computer. So it needs to be user friendly (IE: Ubuntu), with your basic apps that come with most operating systems (IE: Browser/Media/ETC).


Crunchbang and Ubuntulite seem to be the wining candidates so far, I'll try them out when I get home from work.

Perhaps OzOS would be interesting as well. It is pretty snappy.

[hakimaki]

Crunchbang =)

[myusername]

i reccomend lxde for a new user that wants a fast system. its very easy to install on arch you just do pacman -S lxde and you have a completely working system

[SomeGuyDude]

This Crunchbang looks interesting. Downloading a CD now...

[Sycron]

#! Crunchbang Linux http://crunchbang.org/projects/linux/

[snowpine]

Another vote for Crunchbang... Best 8.04 distro I've tried, lightweight or otherwise. :)

[Stan_1936]

Another vote for Crunchbang... Best 8.04 distro I've tried, lightweight or otherwise. :)

Does it come pre-installed with Conky? Or would one have to install it?

[snowpine]

Does it come pre-installed with Conky? Or would one have to install it?

Yes it has an excellent Conky configuration.
Not that that should affect your choice of distro; Conky is trivially easy to install:


sudo apt-get install conky

:)

[Stan_1936]

He he he....I know....had a bad experience with it on Xubuntu a few weeks ago. That's why.

[Bart_D]

Speaking of "part of the installation", I may as well ask this:

http://crunchbang.org/images/crunchbang-screens-04/crunchbang-openbox-config.png

In the above screenshot is shown the Crunchbang Right Click Menu. How many items from that list come as part of the installation? Presumably the "TODO List" is custom, but what about the others(theme and wallpaper selection in particular)....do they come as part of the install or not?

[snowpine]

Speaking of "part of the installation", I may as well ask this:

http://crunchbang.org/images/crunchbang-screens-04/crunchbang-openbox-config.png

In the above screenshot is shown the Crunchbang Right Click Menu. How many items from that list come as part of the installation? Presumably the "TODO List" is custom, but what about the others(theme and wallpaper selection in particular)....do they come as part of the install or not?

Every single item on that list is part of the "default" crunchbang install. It really has the best default application list of any distro I've seen, including a lot of multimedia apps you won't find by default in Ubuntu (webcam, twitter, youtube, etc).

ps it has a live CD, so you have no excuse not to go try it right now :) Just make sure you get the regular and not the "Lite" version. The Lite version is just text editor, web browser, file manager, etc. for those who prefer to install their own applications.

[ArtF10]

Hmm...will have to download tonight.

A question though...what about EnvyNG that the OP had wanted? I mean does Crunchbang automatically install the necessary graphics drivers or would he be able to choose NOT to install them and do so through the EnvyNG script(i.e. would this driver install have to be done manually)?

[snowpine]

Hmm...will have to download tonight.

A question though...what about EnvyNG that the OP had wanted? I mean does Crunchbang automatically install the necessary graphics drivers or would he be able to choose NOT to install them and do so through the EnvyNG script(i.e. would this driver install have to be done manually)?

I don't know anything about EnvyNG, but I would imagine the procedure is exactly the same as it would be in Ubuntu 8.04.1 (whatever that is) since Crunchbang is basically Ubuntu minimal install + Openbox + cool apps + an expert's time to set it all up for you. Crunchbang has the same kernel, repositories, etc. as Ubuntu.

There's a forum at crunchbang.org/forums if you want to ask over there.

[ArtF10]

I asked the question at their forums and was told that Nvidia drivers are handled in the exact same way as a vanilla Ubuntu install.i.e. they can be turned on/off using the restricted device manager.

LEt's hope that THAT translates into something good because I am going to give Crunchbang a crack tonight and have never had luck with graphics card driver installations with Linux in the past(8.04 was the first one on which things went smoothly).

[Warpnow]

Just install Xubuntu, then install LXDE, FVWM Crystal, and Fluxbox, and see which you like the best.

Those are my 3 reccomendations.

[Vivaldi Gloria]

See CLI in my sig to read about a base cli install. Then you can install openbox etc. on it. See Urukrama's openbox guide.

[SomeGuyDude]

Well, using Crunchbang was impossible because the fonts were so gigantic on the LiveCD I couldn't see what I was doing. Unbelievable.

[ibuclaw]

I've heard some cool things about wattOS (http://www.planetwatt.com/index.php), it uses a mixture between Gnome and Openbox to deliver it's lightweight "powersaving" desktop (removes/replaces all heavy apps. Even replaces the gnome-panel with FBpanel).

Tell us what you think, and I may try it out.

Regards
Iain

[snowpine]

Well, using Crunchbang was impossible because the fonts were so gigantic on the LiveCD I couldn't see what I was doing. Unbelievable.

That is weird; they are all supposed to be 8 and 9 point fonts. Is it possible it mis-configured your display resolution? Right-click -> System -> Display Preferences. There's also a forum at crunchbang.org/forums if you can't figure it out.

[SomeGuyDude]

That is weird; they are all supposed to be 8 and 9 point fonts. Is it possible it mis-configured your display resolution? Right-click -> System -> Display Preferences. There's also a forum at crunchbang.org/forums if you can't figure it out.

I'll take a look. Keep in mind I couldn't read the menus because the fonts were so big, nor could I actually navigate them.

Every time I reinstall Ubuntu I have to do the gdm.conf thing, which kinda annoys me. Must be related.

[ArtF10]

I'm checking out the CrunchBang live-cd....how would I be able to change wallpapers from nitrogen(in Openbox)? I mean say I wanted to put in a custom downloaded wallpaper.....I can't just copy and paste...how would I be able to do that?

[snowpine]

I'm checking out the CrunchBang live-cd....how would I be able to change wallpapers from nitrogen(in Openbox)? I mean say I wanted to put in a custom downloaded wallpaper.....I can't just copy and paste...how would I be able to do that?

move the image to your ~/images/wallpapers folder

then

Preferences-->Choose Wallpaper

:)

[elmer_42]

Interestingly enough, I did a minimal install and then installed Openbox on top of it. Seems quick enough for me. I made a topic about it here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5735993). I'm currently gathering suggestions for lightweight apps in that topic.

[Trmptxn]

hows this for a junker of a machine =P I have an old dell latitude cpi a series laptop. 366 mhz processor, 64 mb ram, (soon to be 128mb!(hopefully!)), and a twelve inch screen =P. im downloading crunchbang as i type, im hoping that will run ok on this computer. im really trying to go for a system i could just type notes on for class. is crunchbang a good one to go with for this use in mind or should i use a different distro?

[Vivaldi Gloria]

64 mb ram, (soon to be 128mb!(hopefully!)),

You need at least 128 MB for an ubuntu hardy based distro to work. And I suggest more actually.

See operating systems for old computers:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=575456
http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Floppy/

[elmer_42]

im really trying to go for a system i could just type notes on for class.
You could just do a minimal install and use Nano if that's all you want to do. Or you could use Puppy Linux. I hear that's really good on system resources.

[Vivaldi Gloria]

You could just do a minimal install and use Nano if that's all you want to do.

Unfortunately there is a bug in Hardy installer which makes it impossible to install minimal install on computers with less that 128MB of RAM. (See CLI in my sig). So with his 64MB ram he cannot use it.

[snowpine]

Unfortunately there is a bug in Hardy installer which makes it impossible to install minimal install on computers with less that 128MB of RAM. (See CLI in my sig). So with his 64MB ram he cannot use it.

Vivaldi is correct; trying to do a minimal install with 64mb is a nightmare. I tried it on a virtual machine (on a fast-ish computer) and it took almost 24 hour to get the minimal ubuntu installed. Once installed, however, installing Crunchbang Lite over it was easy; you can read more about my experiences here: http://crunchbang.org/forums/topic/crunchbang-linux-80402-alternative-installation

In summary, don't try to install anything related to Ubuntu 8.04 on a 64mb computer!!!

[Vivaldi Gloria]

it took almost 24 hour to get the minimal ubuntu installed.

You have some patience my friend. How did you understand that the installation was continuing when it got stuck?

[snowpine]

You have some patience my friend. How did you understand that the installation was continuing when it got stuck?

Well it was in a virtual machine, so I just left it running in the background. :)

You know I like to contribute to all the low-ram install threads, so I needed to know for sure if it would eventually work.

Here is the bug report, looks like it's still not fixed: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/debian-installer/+bug/202959

[shrike]

I have used AntiX which is based upon debian at its' root. I believe it is derived from Mephis, which in turn is based off of ubuntu. It runs VERY well on very low end desktops and can run terrifically well off of the CD live.

[Vivaldi Gloria]

Well it was in a virtual machine, so I just left it running in the background. :)

You know I like to contribute to all the low-ram install threads, so I needed to know for sure if it would eventually work.


Good job there. ;)

[anticapitalista]

I have used AntiX which is based upon debian at its' root. I believe it is derived from Mephis, which in turn is based off of ubuntu. It runs VERY well on very low end desktops and can run terrifically well off of the CD live.

A point of information. Mepis is not derived from Ubuntu, in fact it is older than Ubuntu as a distro. Mepis is a Debian derivative, except version 6 and 6.5 that used the Ubuntu repos (as well as Mepis's own). Mepis 7 and Mepis 8 are Debian stable based, with mepis enhancements.
The latest antiX-M7.5 is Mepis plus Debian Testing (with a little bit of sidux)

[Bart_D]

+1 for Crunchbang Linux...amazing speed. I'm a "RAM usage" freak, so the lower the numbers I see(all while putting in the least amount of work), the better I feel.

For me, the full Crunchbang version uses 69 MB RAM on startup. After opening(and closing) all the "favorite/most used applications", it displays 91 MB RAM usage. Both numbers I like very much!!! With Firefox, GIMP, terminal, the file manager/viewer and obmenu open, it uses ~200 MB RAM.

The Lite Crunchbang version uses 59 MB RAM on startup. After opening(and closing) all the "favorite/most used applications", it displays 79 MB RAM usage. Both numbers I like very much!!! Did not check RAM usage with several applications open.

Like I said above, +100 for #!Crunchbang!!!

[Stan_1936]

Hehe, +1 for Crunchbang. I tried Crunchbang too........both versions - regular and lite. Did not bother checking memory usage. Here's the thing though...the Lite version feels too LITE. I mean there's almost nothing there! I tried installing OpenOffice Writer and the default(and rather ugly) "Openoffice 2.4.1" orange skin showed up, the font size felt like it was EXTRA LARGE(like was mentioned in one of the previous posts) and I was not at all satisfied. Now, in the regular Crunchbang version, the orange skin has presumably been customized and a rather slick looking black skin is being used, and I liked that a lot so did not bother with the Lite version. The regular version is very snappy(obviously, its Openbox!) and comes with everything installed and customized.

EDIT:
To answer the question in the thread title "There any extremely Lightweight distro's based directly off Ubuntu 8.04?", all I have to say is Yes, Crunchbang Linux.

[cogitordi]

I thank the member who began this thread -- it just so happens that I am asking the same question so I will join the discussion. I have an old notebook that has limited resources. I don't want to send it to landfill. Is functional enough that I could tote it around and use it in wifi hotspots without worrying about it being stolen... because although it is functional (nice screen, great keyboard, it's an old Thinkpad) it's damn well near worthless today. (Deschutes Pentium 300 MHz with 162 MB RAM.)

My requirements:
- UI that runs well with these resource constraints
- something that I don't have to work hard to maintain, therefore something based on Ubuntu LTS is what I'm after (Update Manager is my friend)
- must run Firefox; I can live with other "light" programs
- out-of-the-box (OOTB) wireless support
- something that lets me switch keyboard languages easily

Nice to have: something that isn't an eyesore.

What I have tried:
- Xubuntu. Functionality and appearance good, but it's a little too heavy on these resources. Wifi works, keyboard language switching works.
- UbuntuLite. Appearance good. Resource usage low enough. Functionality mostly good, however...
Wifi doesn't work OOTB, I can't find how to set regional preferences such as a 24 hour clock or add keyboard languages, the desktop switcher doesn't show bitmaps of child windows, so other desktops look empty although they are not.
- Damn Small Linux. Very fast. Appearance adequate. Wireless not working OOTB for me.

[Stan_1936]

...something that I don't have to work hard to maintain, therefore something based on Ubuntu LTS is what I'm after ...

Here's some you can try:
1. Fluxbuntu 7.10(bot based on Ubuntu 8.04, but instead on Ubuntu 7.10)
2. Ubuntu Minimal CD + Openbox/Fluxbox/XFCE

[snowpine]

Here's some you can try:
1. Fluxbuntu 7.10(bot based on Ubuntu 8.04, but instead on Ubuntu 7.10)
2. Ubuntu Minimal CD + Openbox/Fluxbox/XFCE

You can dist-upgrade Fluxbuntu from 7.10 to 8.04 if you like by following the instructions in this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=807113

[Stan_1936]

Is there a way, in openbox, to use a separate font for the right click menu and the panel like shown here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=81119&d=1218469935

[cogitordi]

I am pleasantly surprised by how good Crunchbang is. I've posted some comments here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5746877#post5746877

Openbox is the best of the lightweight window managers, and the Crunchbang project gets my vote for the best lightweight distro.

I am still finding it hard to believe what Conky is telling me: Firefox with 5 tabs open, OpenOffice Writer, a Terminal and Conky, all in 83 MB RAM.

[Stan_1936]

I think I read somewhere on these forums that the less RAM you have, the less is used. If you've got 162 MB RAM, that might explain why it only says 83 MB RAM with all those apps open. I'm not entirely sure about this though.....

[cogitordi]

To be more precise, I should say how pleasantly surprised I am to have these applications running simultaneously AND adequately in 2008 on a 1999 notebook with these limited resources. (o:

[Anditsu]

Why not just install a command-line Ubuntu astart building up from there?n't
well, what kind of free space and system specs do you have. That would be a good place to start. You could install ubuntu and remove the programs you don't want.

[snowpine]

I think I read somewhere on these forums that the less RAM you have, the less is used. If you've got 162 MB RAM, that might explain why it only says 83 MB RAM with all those apps open. I'm not entirely sure about this though.....

This is very true; I'm running the same apps on my desktop (5 firefox tabs, OO writer, terminal, conky) and using 277mb out of 1.5gb (and zero swap). Just booting up on this computer, Crunchbang uses about 200mb. Whereas on my laptop, it uses about 60 out of 256mb at startup, and with a bunch of apps running, uses about 120mb of ram and 40mb of swap.

My point is that you can't compare ram usage unless it's on identical machines. I look on this as "a feature not a bug"--the system is smart enough to allocate ram for optimal performance. I don't understand exactly what's going on, but I assume that the system is caching more "stuff" in ram to reduce reading from the hard drive (which is of course much slower).

[Stan_1936]

n't
well, what kind of free space and system specs do you have. That would be a good place to start. You could install ubuntu and remove the programs you don't want.

It wouldn't feel as fast/lightweight as it would if you went with the minimal cd.

[darrelljon]

If I can do a command-line install and add IceWM then it can't be that hard as I'm no expert.
Check out the links in my sig too.