Lightweight Linux
I needed to set up a machine with 3 simple purposes:-
- Browse the net
- Flash
- Play video (DIVX)
Linux can do all of these, so Linux it was. I’d normally have used Ubuntu, but it’s an old Dell 2500 machine, and I wanted something light that would do all those things better.
I tried Puppy Linux, which has a good reputation, but just didn’t work out.
Then, I tried Xubuntu, which is Ubuntu for smaller machines. I couldn’t get the latest version to boot properly, but 6.06 worked just fine.
It is trimmed down, which means some compromises. Some of the things that are done nicely in Ubuntu have to be done manually. Installing Flash has to be done manually. You can’t go across the network to a Samba share with the same simplicity that the Ubuntu file manager does it - you have to manually mount the shares. But, the setup is done now and taking that route means that the file manager is using less memory than Ubuntu would have been.
Xubuntu is happily running, boots faster and launches Firefox faster, because there’s a lot less running. If you’re considering what to do with an old laptop, give it a whirl. You can run it without installation to try it, and install later if you wish.
RSS
Interesting! I’d meant to try Puppy Linux sometime, and I tried a Xubuntu installation once but didn’t go very far with it. Are you getting good speed with it?
Hi Catherine,
Yes. It seems to open up Firefox in a flash, probably because there’s more available memory.
I don’t mean to knock Puppy. I’m sure that it’s fine for other people. Maybe I’m just used to how the Ubuntu family are and where I expect everything to be.