Which Linux distro should I use?

TortugaNeve · 08-06-2013, 10:59 AM

I have a six-year old Dell Latitude D620. It has a Core 2 Duo processor, and 512 Mb RAM. I plan to use it in the Department Library at my college, so I need a distro that could be used by people not used to a computer.

Any suggestions?

Can someone also suggest a good software on Linux which can be used to manage a library?

Any help is appreciated.

Janus_Hyperion · 08-06-2013, 11:09 AM

Try something that's lightweight - Lubuntu for instance.

There are other lightweight distributions too - Semplice Linux and Bodhi Linux. Semplice uses Openbox Window Manager while Bodhi uses Enlightenment.

snowday · 08-06-2013, 11:14 AM

Welcome to the forums! This is the most frequently asked question, so I suggest you use the Search and Similar Threads features to read the existing discussions of this topic.

Here is a fun quiz: http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

And here is a nice comparison of the top 10 distros: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Whichever distro you choose, I recommend you increase your RAM to at least 1gb. I checked crucial.com for you and it will cost less than $20.

TortugaNeve · 08-06-2013, 11:33 AM

Thanks to both nonamedotc and snowpine.

YellowApple · 08-06-2013, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TortugaNeve

I have a six-year old Dell Latitude D620. It has a Core 2 Duo processor, and 512 Mb RAM. I plan to use it in the Department Library at my college, so I need a distro that could be used by people not used to a computer.

Any suggestions?

Can someone also suggest a good software on Linux which can be used to manage a library?

Any help is appreciated.

I'd go with openSUSE. During installation, pick LXDE, or perhaps stick with KDE but disable desktop effects. Should do the trick rather nicely.

Debian is also worth a shot. You could also try Slackware; it's certainly light enough to run on hardware even worse than that, though it'll take a bit of tweaking to set up things like autologin. Really, once the desktop environment is running, most modern Linux distros will be pretty easy to use.

DavidMcCann · 08-07-2013, 04:02 PM

Not Ubuntu or any of its derivatives like Lubuntu: the installer locks up with older Intel video chips, which I think your computer has.

For reliability, and something that will work in 512MB, try Salix (Slackware with added user friendliness) or SalineOS (based on Debian Stable). OpenSUSE is nice, but the alternative GUIs to KDE are often poor (bugs, missing components).

For library software, you could look here
http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20...ntSystems.html
http://library-management-software.winsite.com/linux/
http://linuxappfinder.com/databases/collectionmanagers

liquorUp · 08-07-2013, 06:41 PM

How about pclinuxOS LXDE version
http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=188

Also you can try

Tinycore linux
Bodhi linux

You can visit distrowatch.com for more options. On the right side there is a list of 100 top rank distros. When you click on one it will give you a brief description on the distro.

k3lt01 · 08-07-2013, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMcCann

Not Ubuntu or any of its derivatives like Lubuntu: the installer locks up with older Intel video chips, which I think your computer has.

Not only that ureadahead will cripple 512 MB RAM whenever it reprofiles the start up sequence.

I'd go with Debian 7 (Stable but also called Wheezy) with either LXDE or XFCE if you are a Linux beginner and the people using it are also Linux beginners. You can download Debian Live in 64 bit or 32 bit. Make sure you choose either LXDE or XFCE. Don't choose Gnome, KDE, Rescue, or Standard as they are either to heavy (Gnome and KDE) for your system or don't have a Desktop Environment (Rescue and Standard).