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    Linux Distro for an Old, Really Old Desktop

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by Leon, Jul 13, 2008.

  1. Leon

    Leon Notebook Deity

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    Well, I'm building a new desktop to replace a really old desktop. Now the question is, which Linux Distro should I install on the really old desktop for some meager internet surfing and very small media tasks?

    Specs for desktop:
    1.6 GHz Pentium 4
    256MB of RAM
    40GB Hard Drive
    Windows 98

    I'm thinking about Xubuntu or Linux Mint right now.
     
    Leon, Jul 13, 2008
    #1
  2. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Is not THAT old. Xubuntu should run fine on it. If it had more ram then any other distro would also have been fine.
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 13, 2008
    #2
  3. ajhizzle

    ajhizzle Notebook Consultant

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    One question why are you asking this on a laptop forum. Just askin....
     
    ajhizzle, Jul 13, 2008
    #3
  4. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    Why does it have Windows 98 lol?
    I would go with something like Xubuntu, Zenwalk or some other xfce distro.
     
    Thomas, Jul 13, 2008
    #4
  5. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    Its a software question, not a hardware question.

    Leon, that desktop will run Linux very well. Xubuntu, Arch, zenwalk, and Vector Linux are all worthwhile distros. BSD is another very good option; of the four, I would recommend PC-BSD.
     
    Bog, Jul 13, 2008
    #5
  6. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Would it be expensive to upgrade the RAM ? If not, I'd recommend doing so. Plus, the RAM should hold some value when you sell it later on.
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 13, 2008
    #6
  7. Gintoki

    Gintoki Notebook Prophet

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    Xubuntu for sure, Ubuntu would run fine but Xubuntu would be faster. Linux Mint would also be fine though.
     
    Gintoki, Jul 13, 2008
    #7
  8. srunni

    srunni Notebook Deity

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    Go with Xubuntu. I have a desktop with exactly those stats, except a 1.3 Ghz AMD Athlon instead of the Pentium. It runs just fine. I've even used Ubuntu on it, and it wasn't that bad. But Xubuntu runs a bit faster, and Xfce > GNOME ;/

    Then again, * > GNOME ;p
     
    srunni, Jul 13, 2008
    #8
  9. theZoid

    theZoid Notebook Savant

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    Another one you never hear about, is Mandriva Spring Xfce (Community) edition. Great implementation of Xfce....I just found out about it today and checked out the liveCD. FWIW.
     
    theZoid, Jul 13, 2008
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  10. v1k1ng1001

    v1k1ng1001 Notebook Deity

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    I would start with xubuntu and if, for some reason, you don't like it please get back to us. There are other distros out there that would probably work too. It's just that xubuntu is a good place to start. Xubuntu ran fairly well on my old HP desktop and I only had a 1/3 of the processing power that you have.
     
    v1k1ng1001, Jul 14, 2008
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  11. Leon

    Leon Notebook Deity

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    Just installed Xubuntu. Quite fast, actually. A lot faster than Win 98. And for all those wondering why I'm not upgrading the RAM, it's Rhombus RAM, which for 1GB of, you have to pay the price of a cheap computer.
     
    Leon, Jul 18, 2008
    #11
  12. steve p

    steve p Notebook Evangelist

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    You can actually get Rambus memory on ebay quite cheap look here:
    http://computers.shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=rambus+memory&_sacat=58058&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270
    And just a few $ invested can turn it in quite a capable little computer.
    Any way just my 2 cents.
     
    steve p, Jul 18, 2008
    #12
  13. v1k1ng1001

    v1k1ng1001 Notebook Deity

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    I'm hyped on Sabayon 3.5 w/xfce right now, but you can't go wrong with xubuntu which is better supported/more dependable.
     
    v1k1ng1001, Jul 19, 2008
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  14. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    Maybe openbox?
     
    Thomas, Jul 19, 2008
    #14