Please recommend an ubuntu replacement for me!!!
 

Hi i am using ubuntu since version 5.04.. But as it is getting better it is getting heavier. And I am in no position to upgrade my machine. Can anyone recommend a good replacement for ubuntu?? It should be free ofcourse (at least for download). It should preferably be easy to use. I dont mind the look. Preferably have a repository.

I'll tell u my system specs, here goes:
Intel pentium-4 1.7ghz
354 MB SDRAM
40GB HDD sharing it with my windows(only 5.5GB for linux)
VIA chipset with all the audio and video card.

Can you help me?

Sure I Would Get A Copy Of openSUSE Linux http://www.opensuse.org/ Grab The LiveCD You Got A CD Recorder Heres A Burning Program I use Infra recorder
http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/ Its Very Easy But Not That Quite Easy As Ubuntu Thats TOO Easy. So I Hope This Help And Hey Check Out There Forums & Wiki

Wiki- http://en.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org

Forums- http://suseforums.net/
k Just Wipe your Hard Drive And Make The Hard Drive OpenSuse Linux File system Because You Can't Uninstall It Just boot From The live CD Wipe You Drive.


P.S I Thank Opensuse Is Alot Like Windows XP Pro Or Home Editon Or Just XP Becouse The Desktop layout Is Just like Windows Xp.

I Would Prefer KDE For SUSE Becouse Its More Like Windows That Way GNOME On SUSE I Just Don't Like It.

For A Faster KDE Just Get KDE-Core Then Get The Apps You need From The Termel To Update sudo apt-get update

~Richard

after using mandriva 2008 for few months, I can suggest for you. At least give it a try in Live CD mode.

No question.
Get ubuntu's daddy Debian.

Grab the net-install iso and burn it.

configure your internet connection and install
these packages.

kde-core
alsa-base
xorg

to get a nice kde gui. Then add any other app you use.

thanks for the reply guys, but i forgot to mention firstly I am not looking for windows alternative. I want windows for some of my actually(very important)programs which have no linux alternative. Ofcourse I love ubuntu and hence need a similar OS. I mentioned "preferably easy" It doesn't mean it sould be easy. And debian?? as i said i can only use 5GB of space for my linux os(I am using only 5GB even for windows) rest of the space is some very important data. Is Mandriva free?
As I already mentioned it should be light. It should run smoothly on my hardware.

Debian can be as light or as heavy as you like. It is very very configurable.

Yes I know that but I am not sure how to do it. I mean I had been using ubuntu so have never come across such a situation.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux Distributions and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

What do you mean by "heavier"? Is it making your system feel sluggish for the work you do? Is it using too much disk space (ie, installing lots of applications you don't use)?

For the latter, one can always uninstall applications after they've been installed. To me, this is a minor nuisance but you don't have to do this regularly.

For the first problem, I've switched to xubuntu, and have been reasonably happy with it's performance on my computer which is about 5 years old.

I am not sure what parts of Ubuntu are getting heavier. Could be the desktop (Gnome) and apps.
I have 833Mhz P-III with 1GB ram and old (intel i740) graphics card.
After many experiments with various 'lightweight' Linux'es I run Xubuntu.
It uses the XFCE (lightweight) desktop, which is quite nice, comes with some more lightweight apps such as AbiWord and seems to run fine. Best of all for me is that it does not have that annoying bug that a lot of Ubuntu based distros have of accessing the disk every two minutes.
My current version is based on Feisty, but the Xubuntu folks now have a Gutsy version out. This is an advantage in that you can stay up to date.
Because you can also use the Ubuntu repositories, you can install other apps that are heavier if you want. I.e. the complete Open Office suite etc.

I also run DSL (Damn Small Linux) on an old Pentium MMX with 256MB. It works ok too. Less choice in applications of course.

PCLinuxOS has gotten some good press as a lightweight linux; there is a version called 'sam' I think that is a complete desktop using the XFCE desktop. Havent looked at that one yet.

All of these are free for download, or you can buy a copy of a linux mag for about $20.00 and get a DVD; recent issue is PCLINUXOS, issue before that was Mandriva, prior to that DSL etc.

PS. If your machine has USB ports, you could buy a 4GB USB stick, pretty cheap and use that as your place to store all the linux apps etc.

pgmer6809

Actually i also tried XFCE but even then the cpu usage remains 100%. I am not sure y this is happening but most of the time that is whenever i try to run a program the cpu usage remains 100% for a long time. Especially while browsing or watching a movie. Playing movies is like a nightmare to me. In mplayer the video is very slow but audio is fine other players r just the same. Even vlc has problems. This problem has been since i installed 6.10.
Overall the system is very slow even slower than my XP on an old box. Any sugessions???

What is the maximum RAM that your mainboard supports? Can you upgrade?

Thanks 2damncommon as i told you I am in no position to upgrade my system.. That is the reason i am asking for help replacing my linux. I hope you will understand.

Grafpup booted quite fast on my system, and the GUI was very quick and responsive.
It has all the stuff required for watching movies and stuff, so give it a try. Its only ~100Mb iso.

Upgrading to maximum RAM is the best option, but one can only understand if you cannot at this time.

Would something like Absolute Linux or VectorLinux work for you? They are Slackware based but offer low resource basic functions.