Need a light-weight distro for laptop only used as a word processor.
 

I compose on a Dell laptop model #Latitude D505. I have Xubuntu 12.04 (it won't upgrade) on it. Here are the Dell's specs:

And it has 20 GB free space. I guess on paper it should run the Xubuntu easily but it is deadly slow. Most of the things I do in the terminal don't complete (I tried to install Dropbox--no luck.). Sometimes I can't even open the Ubuntu Software Center, let alone install stuff from there.

I have LibreOffice 4.2 something on there and that is all I need. Like I was saying Dropbox would be nice though.

So I stared checking out lighter distros. (I was told Xubuntu was one of the lightest--btw I have two desktops with Xubuntu on them as well--distros out there but was shocked when I started investigating.) (see screenshot)

So as long as I can install a relatively recent version of LibreOffice (and like I said Dropbox would be nice) I will be happy.

To reiterate: I'm just using the laptop as a word processor. Yes, I would have to be online (and can be) to use Dropbox but Dropbox is not essential.

Btw. The libreoffice on there now works well (once it gets going) as a word proccesor, but with all those distros that are so much smaller I was thinking that I could even improve on the word processor's speed.

Thanks.

I'd probably do a netinstall of Debian and install a lightweight window manager like Openbox/fluxbox/etc instead of a full desktop (although something like Cinnamon desktop might be light enough to run accpetably). I suggest Debian solely because it's my personal favorite distro, Any distro that can be customized to be lightweight and supports older 32-bit only cpu's would work though. I'm sure Slackware would work wonderfully if you didn't mind customizing it, or LegacyOS is good for older hardware.

Gregg Bell,

On the strength of this review, I would try Zorin OS 9 Lite:

http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.co.uk...best-lxde.html

Details for adding LibreOffice, Dropbox and other software are included in the review.

Quote from Linuxed reviewer Arindam Sen.

Available from:
http://zorin-os.com/free.html

I second debian net install with a super light wm. Even Xfce4 might run fine. Essentially you can run any distro; all you need is a light weight window manager.

Try Fedora XFCE or LXDE

Since you are used to ubuntu, Lubuntu would be worth a try since it (LXDE) is a little more lightweight than XFCE. Also, they have their own version of the ubuntu software center which is definitely more lightweight than the usual one.

Bodhie Linux is also good candidate.

Member response
 

Hi,

Look through this sticky; Newbie alert: 50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

the real problem is that libreoffice is not lightweight at all.
and i don't see any alternative except maybe abiword...
but check this out.

Hi all....

I would agree, except for that I've seen Lubuntu eat up almost an entire gig pretty quick depending on the software being used. I would recommend an even lighter distribution, if at all possible. :)

Regards...

Thanks ondoho. But the LO isn't slow. It's the laptop. It's the Xubuntu on it.

Thanks but like what? I'd kind of like to stay Ubuntu. And all I need is LibreOffice Writer. (I don't need the whole suite.)

Not sure why you won't try TinyCore Linux and just add what you want. You have the specs to handle it

http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/

http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/install.html

http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/downloads.html

or run with one of the BBQ Linux options (Debian Based)

http://bbqlinux.org/

Edit: I also used a Ubuntu minimal Iso (50MB) and installed Icewm and whatever else I wanted and it fit the bill just fine.

Try Mint with MATE, that should be quick and easy to install and test. If you want even more lightweight, you'll have to build up from a lower level distro.

Thanks. I installed this but as I try to use it it just seems so complicated. Cloud based. Applications reappear with every reboot. Don't know how to mount or unmount flash drive. Don't know where files are stored.

For a more technically skilled person I'm sure this is great. The concept is brilliant. Unfortunately, I think I need something a little more conventional (and with a shorter learning curve).

Puppy Linux is good too - (Slacko)based on Slackware and able to use all of its packages.
Puppy Forum

There are all kinds of Puppy Linux versions Slacko is the one based on Slackware but there are debian ones if you want, and even embedded ones.

Mine is Puppy Slacko 5.7 and it boots in about 45 seconds to the desktop and has abiword as standard along with many useful bits of software. You can easily run it from a memory stick as it has a 'frugal install' which keeps personal stuff in a .sfs savefile. So, in effect everyone in the family can have a separate savefile if a computer is used by more than one person and that person can take their savefile away on a memory stick so no-one else can corrupt/add to it. If you want a full traditional install, thats available too.

It is a single user(root) system with 4 screens on the desktop. Size roughly 170Mb but that varies depending on type of Puppy. Designed to run with old hardware and little memory.

Gregg Bell,

As pointed out earlier, Zorin OS 9 Lite has a small footprint and does not use a lot of resources.

This is the reason it is so quick.

You will notice from the Linuxed review that:

Using Synaptic, you should be able to install LibreOffice Writer on its own without the rest of the LO suite of programs.

Hi Beachboy...

Is that possible? I figured at the very least, it would try to install the base and other related packages, not including any dependencies. :confused:

Regards...

ardvark71,

I have just installed Zorin OS 9 Lite on an old laptop and everything works perfectly.

I had the option to install LO Writer on its own using Synaptic but I then decided to install the complete LO.

I am not sure how much space would have been saved by only installing Writer.

In any event I am confident that Zorin OS 9 Lite will perform well even with the full LO suite installed.

What is more Zorin has a very attractive and easy-to-follow layout. I am impressed by it.

I changed the overwhelming blue of the desktop wallpaper to Moon.jpg. Just a personal thing and it makes a change from the Windows Blue Screen of Death!

In my opinion, novice Linux users could do a lot worse than try Zorin OS 9, either Lite for older hardware or the fuller version Zorin OS 9:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/zorin-os-9.html

Cool. I understand. At least you tried it.
I was just going by the thread title.
You did not mention you wanted a lightweight Desktop Environment
distribution that automounts and does more than supply a word processor.

Good luck with it.

Thank you for your thoughts, I'll have to try it when I get another older system to refurbish. :)

Regards...

this is possible, but it has no impact on the runtime resources LO Writer is using.
in other words, libreoffice won't be less sluggish if you go this way.

ondoho,

That is good.

Thanks for that information.

Thanks Paul. I've heard good things about Puppy. There are just so many choices!

All I know is that I have LO Writer alone on one computer and the full suite on another identical computer and the full suite takes three times as long to open. However, once open, LO Writer works at the same speed on both.

Thanks for suggesting it. I played around with it. I may not use it now but I'm keeping it in mind for future purposes.

Tried Zorin but needed a non-Pae file and they didn't seem to have one.

Might not be too geeky for you and easy to use and 1 gig of ram will run it just fine and it comes with Libre Office already and fits on a CD and comes with a non pae kernel.

MX-14.4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P1oH3y0r6M

Oh. And it comes with Broadcom Wireless support OOTB also.

Ha ha, rokytnji, I already tried it. (What are the odds of that?) And I really liked it. And I liked the idea that it comes with LO. I'm wondering if I'd be able to get LO upgrades there. Anyway, everything was good about it except that the internet (it uses a browser called Iceweasel) was slow and bogged down in a hurry. Besides that it was great. I'm wondering, do you think the internet would work a lot faster when the distro was installed (as opposed to running off the usb drive)?

I also tried a distro called Bodhi. The internet seemed to work much better. I'm leaning toward that if I can get LO and Dropbox there, but MX is running a close second. Thanks.

Looked Puppy over and got lost in the number of versions available. Looks good but didn't know what to try. Plus ran into this notion that I need a non-PAE file for my ancient laptop. :)

veerain, Bodhie rocks! My favorite so far. And it's the only one that the internet worked well on. Think I can get LibreOffice and Dropbox on it? (Thanks for suggesting it.)

Absolutely! If that doesn't work, you can try this command...

If you want just the writer, just check to see if the package manager will install that by itself. Perhaps it will also have a package for Dropbox. :)

Regards...

Gregg Bell,

According to this, Zorin will work on non-pae machines using the boot option forcepae:

http://zoringroup.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8099

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu-fake-PAE

Awesome, Ardvark. Thanks. Hey, do you happen to know, does that Bodhi app center function like the Ubuntu Software Center on other distros? Does it have the same exact programs?

Thanks beachboy2. I looked at it. A little complicated for me. But when I get a chance I'll look at it closer.

Hi Gregg...

You're welcome, glad it helped. :)

I've not actually seen or used Bodhi so I really couldn't tell you. I would imagine the functionality is similar but I doubt it would have the same exact programs as other distributions. Give it a shot and see. :)

Regards...

Thanks :)

No problem :)

Actually went to install Bodhi and it wouldn't install. (fate?) So installed MX14.4 and it's absolutely money! Yeah, LO. Quick. I like everything about it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Congrats Gregg! How was the installer? I would imagine it would be more difficult than the xubuntu? I just looked at some info on this MX14 quickly and it looks really interesting. It kinda gives me the initial impression of having a lot of the debian benefits but they seemed to add some interesting "user friendly" ideas that would be great for the average user. Please follow up with your experience with this. It does sound like a winner for low spec machines, but I would be interested in your impressions of using it coming from xubuntu.

Thanks jross! Yeah, the installer was a little more complicated than all the others I tried. (Mint, Linux, Tiny Core) But just a little. It gave me the option of how much of the disk to use for the install and the rest for something else (maybe swap, I don't rememember). I stayed pretty steadily with the defaults and there were excellent explanations (for the most part anyway) as to what the choices in the install meant. I was thrown a little at the end when it said to reboot without the bootable USB attached. I pulled the USB right then and the screen went black. But then when I shut it down and brought it back up the MX14 was there.

I do think MX would be great for the average user. It seems very user friendly, esp. for very weak machines (like my laptop). With Xubuntu that laptop couldn't do some of the simplest things. (Half the time it couldn't even open the Ubuntu Software Center, let alone do anything there.) MX is much more functional. I can get online easily and actually move around without it bogging. (It did bog once moving around in a weather site, which is not surprising with all the radar animation and what-all happening on that site.)

The browser is Iceweasel. I'd never heard of it. Seemed to me to be a little brother to Firefox. If you use Firefox you'll be comfortable with Iceweasel. (But you have to wonder what Einstein came up with that name. :)) The search engine is ixquick. Which is great for privacy but if you're used to Google, well, it's not quite there, but certainly adequate.

I loved the UI. Clean. Simple. AND it has an actual clock face (Xubuntu with it's mandatory 24-hour time or just about unreadable analog can be so hard for me to read.) with even a secondhand.

I'm even thinking about switching my Xubuntus for MX14s. I have yet to use the laptop loaded with the MX14 much. Although, obviously I did test the browser and snoop around. And I tested the libreoffice and it was fine.

It just runs so easily. So far it's been and out and out pleasure.

Hi Gregg...

Does this distribution have a large repository of software with a good package manager? I'm looking for a good distribution (to replace one I was using before) that would be good for novice computer users and is lightweight as possible. What is your laptop's specs, if I could ask? :)

Regards...

ardvark71,

Basically MX14 is based on Debian Testing, plus some Community repositories, so need to worry about a shortage of software:

http://main.mepis-deb.org/

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Good old Synaptic and apt-get take care of the packages.

Why not give it a try and report back?

That would be my pleasure as soon as I can get a hold of some blank CD-R's. :)

Thank you for the software information, too. (insert thumbs up smiley here)

Regards...

Yep, synaptic package manager is the thing. There is no software center as in Xubuntu. But as I said it has synaptic. However,synaptic does not have a search box (like Xubuntu does). You can, though, search from the edit feature dropdown on the toolbar.

And to my delight there are all kinds of useful programs already on MX. Things like VLC Media Player, Xfburn, Catfish file finder, Clipman, Bleach bit, Gdebi package installer, Gparted.

I installed the screenshot software Shutter via Synaptic and it took about three minutes. I took the screenshot with it.

My laptop stats:

model: Dell Latitude D505
Hard drive:30 GB
Processor 1.4Ghz CPU (celeron)
RAM: 256 MB

I'll attach another testimonial I found from a Xubuntu user.

"This is Debian Stable with up-to-date applications from the Mepis repository. And remember what I wrote before about choosing distros? One of the things to consider is the repositories. Choose a distro and you’re also choosing it’s repositories. Y’wanna talk about huge, vast, ginormous, mondo-mucho gargantuan repos? Debian has the biggest and richest repositories in the entire universe! And installing software in MX is easy with the Synaptic Package Manager. I always used Synaptic anyway rather than that slow, bloated Software Center, so again, this has been an easy transition from Xubuntu so far.
And when I need support, Mepis has forums where lots of wonderful people make themselves available to technophobes like me. On my first day they helped me solve two minor problems (one just by browsing the topics and reading, and the other in reply to my screenshooter issue).
I’m a happy li’l sidekick today. My technophobia has not stopped me from trying out yet another Linux distro, and this one looks like it could well take Xubuntu’s place in my heart, becoming the distro I would always “run home to.”"




And here's the deal. I'm doing all this from the MX. This would have been IMPOSSIBLE from the Xubuntu. So I'd say yes, the Xubuntu is more powerful, but MX14 is light enough to actually use. (And I checked and synaptic does have Dropbox, which I wanted.)

Here's a couple more MX links:

downloads: http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx

manual: http://www.mepiscommunity.org/user_m...mx15/mxum.html

forum: http://forum.mepiscommunity.org/index.php

videos: http://www.mepiscommunity.org/videos/mx14

Gregg Bell and ardvark71,

Those video links are truly excellent and some of the best Linux installation videos I have ever come across.

This is the main installation video for MX14:

http://www.mepiscommunity.org/videos/installing-mx14

The other videos feature customization etc.

Use Arch Linux and Vi

standards,

I also think Arch is great, but in the right situation.

I don't think Gregg Bell would be enamoured of extensive and intensive use of the command line during installation (see post #35).
Obviously he can answer for himself.

I think he has already found a perfect solution for his particular situation with antiX MX-14.4.

PS Your two videos are a laugh.

ardvark71,

I have just installed antiX MX-14.4 (the pae version) inside VirtualBox on my main computer and it works a treat. No problems at all with the installation.

Distrowatch:
http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=08858

Arindam Sen has done a very positive review:

http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.co.uk...iew-truly.html

Extract from AS's review: