Linux

48214 readers

632 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Looking for a good Linux to install on a slow 2019 machine. Relative beginner with Linux. (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello! My old laptops hard drive packed it in, so I got a new one and now need to flash drive an operating system on it. I think this is my time to give Linux a proper go. I tried it before for my gaming PC but switched for a cracked Windows key because I was young and not bothered to learn.

Well, now is my chance to give it another go. I'm looking for a Linux optimised for performance on an HP 255 G7. Threadbare, but not so bare that it'll require me to do a load of complicated stuff to do the basics. I'll just be using it for YouTube and Google docs really. Any help/advice/orders are appreciated.

Thanks!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Barebones" usually just refers to a machine that is not complete, missing CPU, memory, storage, for customization. I assume you mean it's a basic/low-end configuration. Still, it seems to be a fairly recent generation of hardware. If you have a spinning disk, you'll see a huge performance increase by upgrading to an SSD. You can get a 512GB SSD for $25-35.

If you look at minimum/suggested requirements for almost any distro, I think you'll be comfortably above that. I looked up the laptop and it seems to have an AMD APU (similar to what's in a Steam Deck), optional NVMe drive, 8-16GB DDR4, WiFi 5... I'm running Ubuntu 23.04 on a 2015 laptop and it's fine, no difference at all from a current gen in Google Workspace.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ah, yeah. I don't know the terminology. I'll change it to threadbare My level of tech awareness is like... my friends think I know stuff but actually I'm just great at taking a punt and watching tutorials.

Anyway, yeah, I changed the old one to a nifty NVME and now it runs like a dream.

Currently I'm using Zorin OS Alite - do you really think I should go to mint or Ubuntu before I start settling in? My initial reaction to Zorin is that I'm satisfied with it, but if it's not as reliable as mint then maybe I should just start again?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Most tech people are just better than average at looking stuff up :)

I have never used Zorin, but it looks good - it's based on Ubuntu but tweaked to be more friendly to Windows/macOS users. If it's working for you, that's what counts. There's a lot of documentation around Ubuntu which should apply to your system.