Good day

I would please like to ask for suggestions for first time installation of linux on an old pc that has recently come into my possession

It is

Pentium 4 3.4 Ghz (2 cpu) 2 Gb Ram 1Tb hardrive Onboard graphics 128 mb

I have been looking at Mint and I am assuming that the Xfce Edition would probably be the smarter choice, but I am curious to know if I could use something like Cinnamon Edition and will it run smoothly hitting at the minimum spec of 2Gb RAM. Is their other alternatives that provide a good exprience for the limited resources as I decide to take the plunge?

  • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    2 months ago

    I’d go with Mint Xfce and if that feels too sluggish, Lubuntu would be even lighter and also focussed on ease of use for new users.
    Keep in mind that the OS probably won’t be the biggest issue, running a modern web browser is.
    Cause nowadays that’s basically its own OS, running code from god-knows-who.

    • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
      OPEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      Thanks for the suggestion (Lubuntu added to my list) and the heads up in regards to me needing to do some research in regards to web browsers as well.

  • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
    OPEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    Hello, writing this from the recently installed Mint Xfce install. so far the only thing I am still a bit confused with is some of the keyboard input is swapped around like " is @ and a couple other keys. Also not too sure where the check if a headset I have has microphone drivers, but that is something I think I need to read up on

    • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      Sounds like you have the English keyboard layout set and expect German.
      This should be changeable somewhere in Xfce’s settings.

      • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
        OPEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        Thanks I will have a look at it

        Edit Exactly as you said, the language prompt that I thought as default language was the prompt for “keyboard language” during installation

        Thanks again for the help

        • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          The language you set during installation sets the environment variable LANG which is picked up by the desktop environment to set keyboard language, date format and a few other things.

          • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
            OPEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            The more I know, did throw me off though and changed the keyboard setting to US and haven’t had issues. At least all the other information will be to my liking so that is a happy accident at least.

            Appreciate the information, thank you

    • KoryEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      Hey, looks good! The sound panel (Menu - Sound & Video or simply type “sound”) should let you choose and test your headset. Let us know how it goes!

      • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
        OPEnglish
        4·
        2 months ago

        Thanks, and in regards to the sound I think it might be a failure of the mic itself and not a software thing ( seems to not pick up audio on two different devices - tried on one before and now again on the new install seems to be the case - audio just picks up a popping sound and not voice at all) . I probably need to look at a cheap one-off microphone to get me by. 2 Browser stuff is a bit harsh with only 2Gb - need to look at maybe getting firefox lite or something lightweight, but I can get used to 1 tab at a time, can think of it as an opportunity to try work towards something more, but overall pretty impressed by what it is able to accomplish with the old tech.

        I feel I have been converted away from microsoft and like what I am seeing with Linux systems so far. I will likely consider it for future systems if I am able to get something more capable later down the line

    • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
      OPEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      Thank you for the link. This is the site I found while browsing. It will require reading on my part to know which version is what I would need as I see, I stand to be corrected, there is 5 versions, but I am not exactly sure what the differences between them are. Which is something I would need to do further reading on

  • Handles@leminal.spaceEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    Mint might work but in my experience the big snag with older hardware is the desktop environment. I’ve had the most success with really low end DEs like Openbox (technically only a window manager I believe?). That frees up what little RAM is available for other processes.

    • JayEchoRay@lemmy.world
      OPEnglish
      5·
      2 months ago

      Thank you for your suggestion

      I am currently downloading cinnamon and xcfe (leaning towards this) but while waiting looking around a bit.

      I did have a quick look at Openbox wiki and looks like it is something to consider once I am more comfortable with the Linux environment as it seems to require a user to have a bit more experience with it. Or at least appears so from my very limited knowledge of what I am seeing

      I did run across something called “Puppy Linux”, that seems lightweight and geared towards older pcs and a consideration if Mint doesn’t work out. Again I am still very new to this and I think I looked at the distros that are considered best for beginners so I don’t mess anything up until I get more confident and knowledgeable