Mikey007,

For an OLD machine. To be fast. Light. Stability of a Slackware. Absolute Linux 11 has helped me most. Download Absolute Linux here, unzip the archive to get an Installer ISO to burn, and html help files. Absolute Linux also has minimized Open Office Suite CD available for separate download.

Hope it helps.

Good luck.

Try several live cd's of various distro's till you find one you like. Don.t be afraid to distro hop, most do untill they find something that they like. There are many out there based on Debian, Fedora, and Slackware that are user friendly. The majority of them will run quite well with your computer specs. As far as which distro is best, it's all a matter of personal preference, how well the distro supports the hardware your using.

Since I had a laptop with similar config (512MB RAM, 100GB HDD and Intel Centrino) and since I have tried Ubuntu on it, my suggestion is going to be Ubuntu. If you have Windows XP installed in your laptop now, my first suggestion to you will be to install Ubuntu as an application using Wubi. Try it and if you like it, go ahead with the complete install. If you dont like it you can uninstall Wubi via Control Panel.

The 'unrelated question' came as a result of previous post in this thread.
Is asking questions that come up as part of thread against forum rules?.

trooper;

Let's not have this be a major issue-----my point was only that your post did not relate to the original topic of the thread. The best practice is to put new topics in a new thread.

Thanks to all who replied to my question. I have JUST installed UBUNTU, and so far so good. I am looking at other unix/linux based OS as well. I am amazed at the Multiple choices that are available! Shows what can be accomplished when people put their minds to it.Thanks again...Mikey007.

You are the latest poster child for how to follow-up on a thread!!! Glad to see you are on you way----and thanks for the follow-up.

Any linux should work reasonably well with that hardware. I'd try Ubuntu, opensuse, or fedora.

nonsense. I used it as a newbie myself, which is why I recommend it. It provides a gentle and well reasoned system; an excellent introduction to a complex system.

GooseYArd ++

GooseYArd,

Pixellany has good reason to offer that opinion. Slackware, no matter how you praise it, cannot be easier than any of the top-ten in the distrowatch.com. Maybe you had a fine experience as a slacker-newbie, maybe you have an exceptional adaptability or IQ, or maybe you did not engaged Slackware those days into serious app and networking works, or finally, maybe you are not a computing newbie at all, one who has extensive computing experience before getting into linux. There are a lot of things to do after installation to make Slackware comfortably suited to our taste and be useful to our purpose, unlike ubuntu or suse, and these things must need be first honestly declared to a newbie in any form of language or warning.

Most of the migrants from M$ Windows are "click this click that" advance users, but Slackware to be fully exploited is a terminal workhorse. Most migrants cannot be happy at being dead dropped at run level 3 the first boot from fresh installation. So don't be surprised, pixellany is always a devoted watchman-reminder when this kind of thread erupts in LQ.

And please let us avoid pointed language and minimize debates.

Thank you for the time.

I don't hold hold new Linux users in the same low esteem. I presume that most of them are intensely curious computer enthusiasts, who are both interested in and capable of the challenge of jumping into the Unix system.

To suggest someone who recommends Slackware to such a new user is doing that user a disservice is really to ignore the larger world of Unix. These same users have every likelihood of encountering, during their future with Unix, anything from an ancient DG-UX box, to version 27 of Unbuntu, to FreeBSD. A system like Slackware is a decent example of one that blends many of the common idiomatic aspects of Unix with relatively recent versions of software, and even if the new guy winds up preferring another distribution with a little more flash, no harm will come of it. We're not here to sell distributions or to minimize the number of support issues, just to answer questions.

I agree that politeness must rule in a place like this, but for a moderator to suggest that its somehow out of line to recommend Slackware is not appropriate.

How about a compromise then:

Folks can suggest Slackware, with a disclaimer that it might be found overly complex as a starting point for someone new to Linux; and folks can at the same time recommend Ubuntu or whatever, with a disclaimer that it is a popular and common distro amongst those just starting out with Linux.

Sasha

I don't agree. I'd recommend Slackware specifically because it is much less complicated for a new user. I might make such a distinction to a person who was required to use a Linux computer, but otherwise had no interest in it. However, I assume that it is implicit that anyone who goes to a message forum to solicit advice about which Linux distribution to try is in it for the experimentation and not out of obligation, therefore I'd recommend a system where common Unix operation is simplest.

Never assume anything.

Hey, you're not making this easy!! I'm just trying to maintain peace here, so let's stop bickering about semantics. You're entitled to not agree, and you've established that that is the case.

Now, can we please let the thread get back on track?

Sasha