Hi all, it's my 1st post here - thanks in advance for taking the time to read and offer any constructive assistance and counsel!

I have an old ThinkCentre Lenovo PC. All of my computer use revolves around web browsing (Firefox), word processing (LibreOffice) and saving screenshots and images and adding text to them, if possible...

I've currently got Manjaro XFCE(?) which I do like but it's freezing up 3+ times per day and I have not found out how eliminate that behavior. I've used Linux for the past eight years or so but my understanding is minimal outside of how to flash and install a given OS and use that OS when it's basic/clear without special knowledge.

I have Archbang, TinyLinux, Absolute Linux, Slitax(?) on flash drives but haven't been able to get Archbang to do literally anything - hot keys, mouse, nothing works - and I wonder if those are all too small to operate or use without far more understanding of Linux than I have at the moment.

I am looking for a form of Linux that is stable and fast, that has Firefox, LibreOffice, VLC and a way to simplistically view/edit jpg/jpeg/png/etc... I don't need anything beyond that ever.

Any help is appreciated!

Unfortunately, your "first post" is muddled and unclear. Please start by telling us about the hardware that you would like to use, and what operating system (version) is running that hardware right now. And, is the hardware failing? Is this a crisis, or do you simply choose to move to Linux for your daily operations?

You have said that your needs are – Firefox, LibreOffice. It is not at all clear what you mean by "various Linuxes on flash drives" – it is not at all clear to me where you are going with that.

Help us, please, by making it clear where you are now coming from, and how much experience you generally think you have with Linux and Windows. I'll assume that your "desired target state" is: Firefox, LibreOffice, and basic image manipulation (e.g. GIMP).

Your requirements can of course be handled by almost any modern distro – I tend to come back to Ubuntu if only out of habit.

Take a look at MX Linux, AntiX, Devuan live, to name but 3 worthwhile distros to consider, there are others, but these are what I would recommend.

https://mxlinux.org/

https://antixlinux.com/

https://www.devuan.org/

I think Debian Stable might fit your needs. Not the latest software, but proven to not be crashy.
You say your old system is freezing up, but don't point to anything in software causing it, so you have not ruled out a hardware problem. I think you need to ensure your hardware is not failing you before moving on.

We need to know a bit more about your computer. From the fact that you have Manjaro, I can see that it's a 64-bit model, but which one, and how much memory does it have?

As others have said, the hardware may have reached the end of its life. The Hardware forum has a sticky post about diagnosing problems.

Thanks for the responses!

I'd like to give more detailed info based on what's important to know - are there specific commands in terminal, the output of which would help?

My PC isn't that old. I have 16GB DDR3 RAM.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz

Manjaro has worked well for three years plus. I really dislike the rolling release aspect.

I've read that Debian is generally the most stable but that it's super high security generally and my presumption is that is high demand on system resources - is that accurate?

Does the info provided now rule out a hardware problem? Is there a terminal command I can provide output from that will clarify?

AntiX seems like it'd be good but the tz file or what have you I'm not sure how to get that into iso format to make the flash drive work. I also have read there's a big communism/socialism aspect to it built in for whatever reason...?

I have also used mint, peppermint as well but will check out the other two also, thanks!

No, it isn't. Debian is stable, but not 'super high security'.
Based on your hardware, and the fact that Manjaro works, is there a specific PROBLEM you're having??? What is your rationale to disliking a rolling release? What is the PROBLEM you have with it? Does it break things? What happens??

I use openSUSE Tumbleweed as my 'daily driver' and have for years...I can count on two fingers the issues I've had, which were resolved within 24 hours. What is the problem using Manjaro, Mint, Fedora, or any other distro?? What is the concern with 'long term'???

You seem to be searching for problems to solve, but haven't actually said what the issues or concerns ARE.

TBone, some people don't like rolling releases on principle. I know I don't. It's not that one ever broke on me (and I've used both Arch and Gentoo in my time), but I simply prefer the stability of a distro where the only updates will be security patches or bug fixes.

I would recommend a Debian Stable net install; then add in a lightweight desktop like lxde and whatever applications you want.

1John2:22-23,

I recommend using Etcher to produce a bootable USB from a downloaded ISO image of whatever Linux distro you plan to use.

https://www.balena.io/etcher

For simplicity and ease of use I would advise using Linux Mint 21.1 MATE:

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

One other issue I've had in switching the OS is that the word and image files often don't map over and seem to then be corrupted and inaccessible. So if manjaro is arch-based, I thought that going to archbang would make the most sense because they seem to have essentially the same applications I routinely use.

Etcher is awesome! That's what I'm using after issues with rufus, unetbootin, etc...

I have tried mint several years ago but it seemed like there were audio issues IIRC...

It freezes up multiple times a day. Every day. I have to restart, re-enter my logon password, go back into my word doc to find the redshift command in terminal to get the blue light down and then get back to whatever I had been doing prior to it freezing...