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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Linux on old School Machines? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi all, the private school I work at has a tonne of old windows 7/8 era desktops in a student library. The place really needs upgrades but they never seem to prioritise replacing these machines. Ive installed Linux on some older laptops of mine and was wondering if you all think it would be worth throwing a light Linux distro on the machines and making them somewhat usable for a web browsing experience for students? They’re useless as is, running ancient windows OS’s. We’re talking pre-7th gen i5’s and in some cases pentium machines here.

Might be pointless but wonder what you guys think?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think those reporting success running Linux on old hw should state the distro and window manager that they’re using if they want to provide useful feedback. I’m not in that group, but Tiny Linux comes to mind. Possibly Alpine? Probably better info to be had from daily-drivers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If the machine has 4GB of RAM, then MATE, XFCE, LXDE, and LXQT will work well. I've used all of them on older computers. The distro doesn't really matter. If it has 8GB of RAM or more, it will run any DE you want to use.

If the machine has less than 4GB of RAM and can't be upgraded, it's not going to be very useful. Sure, you can put a lightweight window manager on them, but they are not going to run a web browser well. They could still be used for teaching students how to install Linux though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

or they can be used as a server. trust me it works good as a server.