Hi all,

I've got an "old"machine (probs bout 3 yr old) I use for tinkering and testing, at the moment i'm running Win 7 on it and it goes like $h!t off a shovel !

It's not a high spec machine something like 768Mb Ram, 0.95Ghz processor, 40Gig HD and a gigabyte mother board.

Just wondering if i could install Linux on it and if i can how would i go about it as it is the only OS ive not had experience with lol (total linux noob).

Thanks in advance

13

Running those specs I would recommend a minimal distro. A Really good one that is ubuntu based is Crunchbang Linux, or if you really want to get down and dirty with linux go with Arch. However with Arch you practically have to build your OS from the ground up.

If you want to stick with a LiveCD Distro, go with either Crunchbang linux, or the DEBIAN DVD and install as lxde or xfce.

How to install them, is to download the ISO and burn to either cd/dvd and insert and reboot. Make sure your bios can boot to cd and then just follow the instructions.

If you need any more help just ask and I can help.

if ubuntu is debian based, would crunchbang not be debian based as well and not ubuntu based?

ubuntu they say is best for transitioning, but i find opensuse to be quite easy and has everything i want out of the box....or out of the .iso i should say

xfce is my favorite minimalistic desktop environment, i run it on my 700mhz laptop and it goes very quick (whether on livecd or hard disk) KDE looks like windows and gnome is more unix based (think mac)

the thing i would recommend to you is to grab ONE book, i think tqw has it, it's Practical Linux published by QUE, worth the money if you want the printed copy, it will get you to a level where you can just about pick up any distro and at least work with it (command line or GUI) otherwise, grab a bible (he has a couple) suited to your distro of choice

You are correct in a sense but Ubuntu is so far diluted from Debian that most Ubuntu based releases are just considered to be Ubuntu spinoffs.

XFCE might be a bit much for the machine he is pushing and KDE would be a complete dead stick. For the specs he stated his best bet would be LXDE or just a pure Openbox session.

I don't want to start a "Blank is better, no blank is better war" however it has been my experience that a lot of the people I work with and go to school do not like OpenSUSE me included in this. Furthermore they have signed agreements with Microsoft that in the long run will prevent them from bring alot of new things to the distro.

I will have to disagree with many of the "xxx is to much for that, go minimal..."
I had a p3 w/ 256 mb ram, and it ran ubuntu (with gnome) good enough for web browsing. with 3x the ram, you should be able to do way more.
also, if it's really 3 years old, or so, I doubt it's really only 0.98ghz. even if it is, you should be okay to run a normal install of ubuntu on it. easy distro to install.
(or, you may want to check out xubuntu, has the kde interface maz was referring to).
also, as maz pointed out, there are plenty of good books out there. I haven't read the first one he said, but the Linux Bible is an awesome book.

Yes you are right that it would do way more than on your ps3 however it will still run at a crawl with those specs, All I am meaning by minimal is that I think he should use a XFCE, LXDE, or Openbox session.

P.S. You made a type Xubuntu uses XFCE, its Kubuntu that has KDE.

If you're a noob then it's best if you stick to ubuntu as it has quite a large community that can help you when things go wrong. Also it has the look and feel similar to windows, but you can customize it and make it better.

With those specs it might be best to stick to no visual effects and stay away from compiz fusion (this makes the desktop environment look shit hot, but is not essential).

Check out the ubuntuforums.org for help on just about anything.

Welcome to the linux community, I hope you like it!

Thanks for all the info guys much appreciated

Im working till friday so wont get to install it till saturday but i downloaded the Ubunto iso, downloaded Practical Linux book you suggested maz its still a bit gobbledy gook like but should make sense once i install the os lol,
I hope that the OS runs quite quick because as i stated win 7 is speeedy as anything lol

Embarking on a (hopefully) long and eventful linux journey

as soon as you get the hang of it, believe me, linux runs faster :)

Cheers Maz

Right a wee update

Burned the ISO for Ubunto, turned on my machine, put in the boot DvD and........................the dang flatscreen monitor has packed in haha, its not really funny but if I didnt laugh I would cry lol.


**Heads up the loft to humph down the old CRT ** will report back once i've got it installed lol

Must be a long install, been going for 9 months