Linux distro for a novice

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__philippe
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#46 Post by __philippe »

Midas wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 9:48 am ...here's Levin/UX a puny 20MB Linux distro based on Tiny Core...
Tiny indeed...but for their monster of a logo... :mrgreen:

freakazoid
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#47 Post by freakazoid »

From what I gathered from the site and videos, Levinux is a server, not an OS.
is it stealth? ;)

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#48 Post by Midas »

Still going at this quest... :mrgreen:

And just came across a distro/review that looks like it might interest portable freaks: it appears to be both portable (albeit only in the hardware sense), lightweight and suitable for older rigs -- talking about SparkyLinux, read more about it from the link below.
SparkyLinux performed with the USB installation far better than any other portable Linux-on-a-stick distros I've used over the years. SparkyLinux's USB installation worked so well, I used it on multiple computers for weeks without missing a beat.
The LXQt and Openbox combination runs fine on legacy gear with at least 256MB of RAM and 10 GB hard drive space.
I was additionally pleased to discover that I did not have to compromise on performance or other restrictions in my regular daily computing routine with SparkyLinux. It comes with my needed essentials preinstalled...

Image


FYI, some related older topics can be found at:

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webfork
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#49 Post by webfork »

talking about SparkyLinux ... The LXQt and Openbox combination runs fine on legacy gear with at least 256MB of RAM and 10 GB hard drive space.
Very nice. I love stuff like that.

I've been making some headway on Korora (https://github.com/kororaproject), maybe the friendliest of the Redhat-based Linux desktops. So far so good and hopefully I'll post more on that soon.

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#50 Post by Midas »

Here's a piece of interesting news, considering the price bracket of most Chromebooks:

At Google I/O in Mountain View, Google quietly let slip that "all devices [Chromebook] launched this year will be Linux-ready right out of the box."

It looks this is more akin to the Windows 10 Linux sub-system (WSL) than a full installation, but still.

:idea: Interesting recipe for someone already on Linux to try different distributions without having to install (or even running a LiveCD for) them:
  1. Install Remmina (https://remmina.org/; not available for Windows! :() and launch it;
  2. Go to Distrotest (https://distrotest.net/), select desired distro and click start button;
  3. Wait until the "Open VNC-Viewer" button shows, and look for the server and port info at the end of the menu;
  4. Input that info in Remmina, after pointing its VNC client to 'distrotest.net:5903'.
Next you should see the boot menu of your chosen distro display in Remmina -- provided all required ports are accessible from your network/router. :idea:

Procedure scraped from www.fosslicious.com /2018/08/try-linux-distro-on-remmina.html.

Another possibility would be using a remote desktop client like X2Go (viewtopic.php?t=23636), but that would still require setting up the distribution somehow.

Unrelated note: anyone looking to create Windows install disks from a Linux machine should have a look at WoeUSB (https://github.com/slacka/WoeUSB)-

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#51 Post by Midas »

Yet another interesting Linux manifestation...

Sparky Bonsai is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian/Sparkylinux in a portable form. Taking advantage of the experience of portable distros such as Slax, Porteus, Puppy and DebianDog, we made a remix of our favor[ite] Debian-based distro SparkyLinux. The idea was to make a portable version of the linux distro having already installed at home, in cases we can’t, don't need or wish to install it properly … Sparky Bonsai lives in a USB flash 4GB minimum and run with 512 MB of RAM on x86 processors.


Sparky Bonsai 335MB ISO released 2019-12-07 can be downloaded from https://osdn.net/projects/sparkybonsai/releases/.

thepiney
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#52 Post by thepiney »

Another beginner friendly option with emphasis on extending the life of older XP/Vista/Win7 systems.

Emmabuntus --> https://emmabuntus.sourceforge.io/media ... ity_portal

From the Community Portal:
This distribution was designed to facilitate the refurbishing of computers given to humanitarian organizations, especially Emmaüs communities, where the name comes from, and to promote the discovery of GNU/Linux by beginners, but also to extend the life of the equipment and to reduce waste caused by over- consumption of raw materials.
From the Main Page:
Emmabuntüs is a desktop computer type of distribution, easily accessible and ready to use. It was first based on the Long Term Support versions of Ubuntu, and is now based on Debian Stable. It is accessible for beginners and, since it uses relatively few hardware resources, can be installed on old computers which were previously running Windows XP, Vista or 7.

thepiney
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#53 Post by thepiney »

The Best Linux Distributions for Beginners - Article from How-To-Geek.

It's a bit dated as it's from July 2, 2017 but the suggestions are in-line with those here.

https://www.howtogeek.com/313423/the-be ... -beginners

and others for 2019 and 2020 --> Most appear to have similar suggestions but not all in the same order.

I saw a few that may not be quite the best option for someone new to Linux but at least they didn't copy the same list as some of the others.

https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-beginners

https://techlog360.com/linux-distro-beginners

https://techreviewpro.com/best-linux-distros-beginners

https://www.techradar.com/best/best-linux-distros

https://fossbytes.com/best-linux-distro-beginners

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#54 Post by Midas »

Recently installed SparkyLinux on a ten-year old netbook (an Asus EeePC 1015-PEM) and am quite pleased with the result: no incompatibilities, out of support hardware or noticeable lag.

The wireless adapter, being a Broadcom, wasn't immediately working after setup, but installing a package from the Debian repos solved that perfectly. It may also have helped that RAM has been upgraded from 1 to 2 GB and the HDD swapped out for an aging Intel SSD. 8)

thepiney
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#55 Post by thepiney »

Wireless adapters easily are the most common issue with fresh installs that I've had and/or heard about.

I usually do installs with laptops connected to the wired network and do the first updates and the wireless is usually fine when done. If the wireless is still not working, I do a manual install.

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#56 Post by Midas »

Quickly switched to Q4OS (https://www.q4os.org/) -- also Debian based and with the lightweight Trident desktop environment -- because not only it feels snappier but it's also so Windows like you're bound to feel at home. ;)

FTR, the wifi package I had to get was 'broadcom-sta-dkms'; and here's a screenie from a different PC:

Image

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Midas
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#57 Post by Midas »

This might be of interest to topic readers:
Looking for a Linux distribution that’s performance-optimized for your AMD processor? It may already exist, and it's called Clear Linux. That's right, Intel's Clear Linux. In a recent battery of benchmarks performed on a $199 laptop from Walmart, Ubuntu proved 15% faster than the default Windows 10 installation, but then Clear Linux blew both Ubuntu and Fedora out of the water.

tracyfe
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Re: Linux distro for a novice

#58 Post by tracyfe »

Linux Mint is quite good for novice. It is built with awesome UI and works like Windows

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