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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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Best lesser-known distribution/DE for low-end machines? (lemdro.id)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

54 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I know Debian and others can breathe life into older machines. But i wonder if there are any distros with serious optimizations that I haven't heard of. I've already tried MX Linux on an old Thinkpad SL400, and didn't see any difference from plain Debian.

Update: thanks for the great suggestions. Forgot to say many distros feel zippy and fast until you open a web browser. Appreciate your thoughts on which web browser to use too. So far I've had a positive experience with Thorium and Chromium.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I've always had a soft spot for CrunchBang and its spinoffs, BunsenLabs and CrunchBang++.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

All three are just a reskinned Debian, as is MX Linux.

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

Absolutely. Just makes it a bit faster to get a slightly customised Debian out of the box.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What makes it a bit faster specifically? I've been interested for a long time.

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

You install and it's lightweight and already customised. If you like it, you're done. Gets you started much faster than customising from scratch. If you mean performance, then it's faster because they don't come with a full desktop environment. They're just using the Openbox window manager. Once you get used so it it's perfectly usable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What makes it lightweight when it uses the same packages with the same dependencies? And what does prevent me from install openbox on Debian?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Like I said before, it gets you started faster than doing it yourself. If you don't want to configure every little detail yourself then these are great options to get you going.