By choice, I am in the habit of using computers that are in the age range of 10-15 years old. My new/old motherboard is possibly fifteen years old, because I saw copyright 2009 on the BIOS. (Going to flash it soon, hoping for an update.) Same thing for my laptops: I prefer Thinkpad T series laptops, and the ones I have had tend to be from 2008-2011. My distro runs well enough on any of them; but in recent years, I have seen odd behaviors--small and subtle oddities that I can hardly even call "errors" but that make me suspect the distro was designed not for my aging circa-2010 computers but more with the latest, greatest technology in mind.

Anyway, do you have any particular recommendation within the Debian family that is more designed to accommodate computers not ancient but fairly old and obsolete? Memory isn't a great concern. I have 8 GB RAM installed in this board, and that amount serves me well enough. (Probably doesn't support more than 8 GB anyway--I'd have to check--but I don't need more.) I certainly wouldn't need a specialized distro like Damn Small; my computers aren't even close to that old.

Off the top of my head, I see no reason why Debian itself wouldn't run on that box.

I have debian 12 running on a Dell i3 8GB and it runs fine but I don't do much with it. My only other suggestion would be MX.

I also thought of MX, but, I figured, with that much RAM . . . .

Yeah, with 8GB, I'd just do basic Debian and be done with it. No need for the derivatives IMO.

ubuntu should run on a 6-8 years old laptop too. I think you can safely pick your preferred distro. Mint, ubuntu, debian or anything else.

Debian = MX Linux or antiX

Devuan = Live XFCE (installable)

Could those who recommend distributions, point out some reasons for their conviction that they should be preferred?

While not having an awfully big amount of experience with distributions other than the two I have been using principally, it has in my past 25 years of Linux usage *always* been possible to use any of those two Linux-flavors on small or older computers. I do probably know nothing about the obstacles which prevent the configuration of other systems to specific needs, but would like to.

In short: What keeps you from configuring any distribution for a given, older hardware?

? Begging your pardon, but that comment is not very clear. Please clarify.

If you specifically want a Debian based system, MX or antiX, but if you want something slightly different, try Devuan instead.

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Debian will run great on those specs.

Yeah, Devuan is at or near the top of my list. Also planning to look at Q4OS.

Certainly, it must be Debian-based for me. I'm not going to be a Debian partisan, but I have no interest in leaving the Debian distro family. 50% because I'm very comfortable with apt, 50% because I don't feel the energy or patience for learning a completely new way of doing things. I would need a crisis in order to push me. The reason I started using Linux seriously in the first place, after a couple of years of playing with it on and off, was because someone taught me how to make a Knoppix liveCD and use it to rescue files I had done something to lock up.

Another alternative to a Debian/Devuan system could be Void/XFCE (live installable).

newbiesforever: it must be Debian-based

fatmac: Void

???

Please be more specific. ...If Void isn't Debian-based (dunno why else you'd be puzzled), I didn't bring it up. [shrug]