Need reccomendations for distro. Old laptop from like '10 (shipped with windows 8, not even 8.1), touchscreen needed so no Mint unfortunately. No linux experience whatsoever beyond using tails and I know what the terminal is but have NO clue how to use it.

Need a daily driver for light tasks (just gimp, handbrake, internet, qbittorrent, and libreoffice type stuff, no games), would prefer security and privacy, but idk if Whonix can run on my old machine and with my nonexistent linux exp idk if it is a good one for me yet, may need exp with something else first? Idk, y’all tell me!

Was reccomended Fedora, has touch support and supposedly good for the light tasks and will run in my old laptop, but figured I’d ask what y’all think because you guys seem knowledgeable.

It is my only computer besides my phone so I can’t afford the time to fuck around lol.

    • ArcaneslimeOP
      2·
      3 years ago

      OH you can live boot fedora?! With persistent memory? That is the ticket for trials then for sure! I only use the touch minimally so I could conceivably lose it, but it has gotten me out of jams where my mouse was shitting out, though who knows, that may be an issue with windows and I won’t need it! No clue as to RAM without booting up and going to system specs but this here little sticker says “intel inside core i5” so maybe? To give a more accurate picture of time and therefore possibly it’s components, usb 3.0 was still fairly new and it boasted it had one port for it! Haha.

        • ArcaneslimeOP
          2·
          3 years ago

          Hell yeah! I’m sure I can run it fine then! And on a hunch I just called my mom to see if she held on to her old laptop from a few years later and she did, so looks like I have a backup instead of fiddling with live boot beyond function checks! She has her work pc she uses so she doesn’t need it! Love it when a plan comes together lol, I will be trying Fedora as soon as my 2 weeks seeding these last few torrents are over!

            • ArcaneslimeOP
              1·
              3 years ago

              For sure, that was always the worst part, thinking “what am I going to do if it doesn’t work, then I have nothing but a phone” well problem solved! Haha.