Recommend Lightweight Linux Distro for Old Laptop

webz · February 2023

Title says all , Need recommendation on a Lightweight Linux Distro for an Old Laptop.

I found one of my old laptop is still alive and I thought of using it for learning and practicing Linux on that.

My Laptop Specification:

Processor : Intel Celeron N 2940 @1.83 GHz(4 CPUs)
RAM : 2 GB DDR3
HDD : 500 GB
GPU : Intel HD Graphics
Display Resolution : HD (1366 x 768) 11 inch

By googling I found there are so many distros now days but still confused which will be best for me.

I am looking for something which is from Debian family and have GUI .

Will be interested to know anyone still uses old system like mine and which OS they prefer.

Flying_Chinaman · February 2023

Clean Debian 11 + Xfce
Work well on my 5 years old shitty DELL laptop

shallow · February 2023

I like MX21 + XFCE

vyas · February 2023

@webz said:

Processor : Intel Celeron N 2940 @1.83 GHz(4 CPUs)
RAM : 2 GB DDR3
HDD : 500 GB
GPU : Intel HD Graphics
Display Resolution : HD (1366 x 768) 11 inch

Can you upgrade the RAM or change the HDD to SSD? That opens up many more options.

But if you plan to use as-is, here is my (tried, tested, preferred) list

Ubuntu Based:
Bodhi
Lubuntu
Linux Lite

Debian Based:
Sprialinux (from the same dev as Gecko Linux)
Siduction
Antix or MX

All work well even on my Dell D520 with Core 2 Duo 1.7 Mhz/ 2 GB DDR2. I did upgrade to SSD before settling down on ZorinOs :-)

AuroraZero · February 2023

Bah just run Slax on it and be done with it.

vyas · February 2023

@AuroraZero said:
Bah just run Slax on it and be done with it.

Not know too many folks who use it!!
Lovely distro when it was Slack based

Havent used the debian version

yoursunny · February 2023

In 2012, I installed Lubuntu on an INSPIRON 600m laptop from 2005.
My main use case was writing dissertation in a text editor, compiling with pdflatex, and reading with PDF viewer.
I rarely used the browser, which was the slowest component of the system.
I considered it as a benefit, because I could focus on my dissertation without distraction from Facebook and email.
I used this laptop until 2017, when the hardware started failing.

webz · February 2023

@AuroraZero said:
Bah just run Slax on it and be done with it.

Thanks, this one looks lovely will try it for sure.

@vyas said:
Debian Based:
Sprialinux (from the same dev as Gecko Linux)

Thanks will give this one a try too.

AuroraZero · February 2023

@vyas said:

@AuroraZero said:
Bah just run Slax on it and be done with it.

Not know too many folks who use it!!
Lovely distro when it was Slack based

Havent used the debian version

Just looked it can be either still. At least that is what the website said.

Iliked it because it had everything that is needed. Could be run off a thumb drive or hard drive. It was fast and made older systems useful again. All that and it just worked like it should.

AuroraZero · February 2023

@yoursunny said:
In 2012, I installed Lubuntu on an INSPIRON 600m laptop from 2005.
My main use case was writing dissertation in a text editor, compiling with pdflatex, and reading with PDF viewer.
I rarely used the browser, which was the slowest component of the system.
I considered it as a benefit, because I could focus on my dissertation without distraction from Facebook and email.
I used this laptop until 2017, when the hardware started failing.

Need parts got one in closet and it still boots to prompt.

saibal · February 2023

Antix-sid 22 386 is still keeping my IBM (not Lenovo) R51 going.

DataRecovery · February 2023

@webz said:
Need recommendation on a Lightweight Linux Distro for an Old Laptop.
one of my old laptop is still alive and I thought of using it for learning and practicing Linux on that.

I have a feeling that there are so many "lite" distros around, you are likely to get tired of choosing.

Debian:

https://crunchbangplusplus.org/
https://www.bunsenlabs.org/ - its slicky "successor" (community continuation of CrunchBang Linux)
https://antixlinux.com/ (no systemd)
https://linuxmint.com/
https://mxlinux.org/

Ubuntu:

Lubuntu
LXLE
Xubuntu
Zorin OS Lite

Arch:

Manjaro XFCE - https://manjaro.org/

Hardcore:

http://www.tinycorelinux.net/ (can work on 486DX, Pentium II is recommended)

I'd go with something Debian-based.
For learning probably look at notes like "for power users", "modular", "highly customizable". Although they may be rather subjective.

Will be interested to know anyone still uses old system like mine and which OS they prefer.

I use a laptop with older, but faster processor - Core i3-370M.

For administrative (office) tasks it still works so well that I can't get myself to replace its CPU to Core i5-560M.
Have the latter lying around and collecting dust for a couple of years already :-|

terrorgen · February 2023

I have a Chromebook with N2840 running NixOS just fine, qtile desktop.

I know this is not debian but any distro with a lightweight desktop environment (LXQT, XFCE, etc) will do. Or, just ditch the desktop environment altogether and use a window manager like Openbox, i3, etc.

jmaxwell · February 2023

Lubuntu

bliss · February 2023

Adding some ram would be great, but you don't have to.
It's not about which distributions to choose but which desktop environment to choose:
if you launch a latest Gnome in Arch Linux, that will cost about 1G ram;
if you launch an openbox in Ubuntu, that will cost less than 200M ram;

I would recommend lightweight window managers like openbox or i3-wm.

BTW

@webz said: Will be interested to know anyone still uses old system like mine and which OS they prefer.

I was still using a 2013 laptop (Intel Celeron 1005M, 16G DDR3, 500G Toshiba HDD) until last Black Friday. Cold start (first start from boot) is slow, but after that most common tasks run fast (thanks to large ram cache).

skorupion · February 2023

Not sure if this has the base from Debian but puppy Linux
https://puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/

JDMcPea · February 2023

Installed Puppy Linux on an Pentium 4 desktop this AM. 3ghz, 1GB ram. I tried Slax and Linux Lite but Puppy - actually the UPup Ubuntu version - was the only one that was hassle free, so far anyway. Needed a 32bit version for my antique computer. There might be better options for your 64 bit Celeron

The included browser worked right out of the box and one click downloads for Chromium and Firefox also made things go smooth, no certificate or SSL issues. The OS seems to be stable, surprisingly fast, and very usable.

bikegremlin · February 2023

Antix runs OK on just about anything.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17865179405683715/

MGarbis · February 2023

@skorupion said:
Not sure if this has the base from Debian but puppy Linux
https://puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/

This.
I think Puppy is a good choice for older machines.
Official download site. https://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/

CamoYoshi · February 2023

+1 for Debian with XFCE. If you need something even lighter (less than 1GB RAM) Puppy Linux is the way to go.

emperor · February 2023

My prevoius laptop cpu was Intel Celeron B810 @ 1.60GHz and was working best on MATE DE, as that one is based on de from that cpu era and its best optimized for older hw. I had tried every DE there is and i got best results with MATE which was freeze free, while others tend to freeze too much. Then i got fond of Manajro and Ubuntu MATE so thats what i was using. After upgrading to Intel Core i5-2540M for too cheap (20$ at that time.. now its 13$) every DE works good now. Also if you can throw cheapest SSD you can find, it will make your laptop more usable.

terrorgen · February 2023

@emperor said:
My prevoius laptop cpu was Intel Celeron B810 @ 1.60GHz and was working best on MATE DE, as that one is based on de from that cpu era and its best optimized for older hw. I had tried every DE there is and i got best results with MATE which was freeze free, while others tend to freeze too much. Then i got fond of Manajro and Ubuntu MATE so thats what i was using. After upgrading to Intel Core i5-2540M for too cheap (20$ at that time.. now its 13$) every DE works good now. Also if you can throw cheapest SSD you can find, it will make your laptop more usable.

upgrading processor on a laptop is not something everyone can do...

emperor · February 2023

@terrorgen said: upgrading processor on a laptop is not something everyone can do...

Actually its quite simple.. its only 20ish screws. Also laptops are like those puzzles where parts dont fit in other places. There are tons of videos also. Everyone can do it if they want.

terrorgen · February 2023

Laptop Processors are soldered to the motherboard. Unless you are changing the motherboard I don't think it is easy.

AuroraZero · February 2023

@terrorgen said:
Laptop Processors are soldered to the motherboard. Unless you are changing the motherboard I don't think it is easy.

Not all of them I have an HP laptop that uses a desktop proc. Can be switched from a single core to a dual core.

My x220 daily driver is soldered to the board though.

terrorgen · February 2023

@AuroraZero said: Not all of them I have an HP laptop that uses a desktop proc. Can be switched from a single core to a dual core.

Hmm ok. I have never seen one IRL.

AuroraZero · February 2023

It is a zv6000 series with an AMD socket 939 Athlon 3200+ as a base. Came with an ATI 128 gb video card dedicated ram no sharing.

That thing is a beast and a tank. Dropped it down the basement stairs once, thought well shit that is the end of that, broke a little piece of plastic that is all. Booted right up like it was laughing at me or something.

rcy026 · February 2023

I recently installed https://elementary.io/ on an old laptop. Haven't had time to really test it, but first impression is very good.

milkboy · February 2023

@webz said: I found one of my old laptop is still alive and I thought of using it for learning and practicing Linux on that.

Raspberry pi OS for PC for PC is the best for true beginner, since it has a great tutorials and community forum.
RPi PC has very clear installation tutorial and great many other tutorials (though it can be used for other debian/ubuntu based OS)
Lubuntu similar to RPi PC OS
Xubuntu & linux mint (XFCE desktop), but in my experience on celeron N3150, there will be a slight performance hit, minimal but noticeable.

@skorupion said: Not sure if this has the base from Debian but puppy Linux

Puppy linux is based on ubuntu, but the different UI design language might be a turn off to some newbie

For easy comparison, here is a Light-weight Linux distro wikipedia page

_MS_ · February 2023

The usual suspects are already here.

antiX, Lubuntu, Bodhi and Puppy are genuine lightweight distros.

MX Linux Xfce, Linux Mint Xfce, Manjaro Xfce, Xubuntu, Zorin Lite and Linux Lite are midweight, in my opinion.

One that has not been mentioned is Q4OS. Check out their Trinity variant as well if you're looking for a lightweight distro that also looks nice.
There's one more called Artix Linux. Based on Arch, Systemd-free.

Ympker · February 2023

Now, many people don't like Chromebooks, but I've come to enjoy mine. You could flash ChromeOS Flex which comes with the possibility of built-in Linux Container (Debian) iirc.
https://shakeuptech.com/linux-on-chrome-os-flex/#Why_Install_Linux_on_Chrome_OS_Flex

Recommend Lightweight Linux Distro for Old Laptop

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