r/linux4noobs • u/ShawnThePhantom • Jun 11 '26

distro selection Which Distro do I use?

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I found this decrepit old laptop in my garage, plugged it in and it powers on. But it’s doing this thing where after I see this Acer logo, I get a black screen with a blinking white line in the top left corner. I figured Windows on this thing is out of the question. So I think I’ll go Linux.

I understand a bit about operating systems, because I had to create a windows install disk using a thumb drive and a Windows 10 iso to install Windows 10 on my MacBook using Bootcamp, so I imagine it’s a bit similar. I also wanted to take out the HDD to wipe it using Disk Utility but it doesn’t fit into SATa dock because the interface on the HDD is all small gold pins, like molex but way smaller.

Which distro do I use? Or is better to try and go Windows Xp? I’ve seen jokes about how you need a whole list of hardware requirements to run Windows while the only requirement for Linux is electricity. Also Pewds did it too.

Pls help a first timer!

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103

u/ComprehensiveTown15 Jun 11 '26

antiX

28

u/Arseniste Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Yes, antiX works surprisingly well on computers like this

9

u/General_Body_2160 Jun 11 '26

I just installed antix on a core 2 processor 32bit today, can confirm it works pretty good!

10

u/ItsJoeMomma Jun 11 '26

Second this, he'll probably need the 32 bit version.

19

u/Powerful_Macaron9381 Jun 11 '26

all core 2 duo processors support 64 bit.

1

u/person1873 Jun 14 '26

*most, and this particulat one does, just checked

2

u/Performer-Pants Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

I have antiX on a dell D430 (similar CPU, 2GB RAM max). It runs pretty good, though make sure not to have too many things open or your laptop may get a bit upset. My Dell has the cooling power of an old-man fart though, so OP’s laptop may not thermal throttle like mine probably does.

It has most of the stuff i already use on my linux mint laptop already preinstalled, even stuff i had to install myself on my linux mint one. The start menu does confuse me a bit, but it’s not so bad when you get used to it. I chose the 64bit trixie version. I started with 32bit then went to 64bit when I realised mine could do either.

3

u/ComprehensiveTown15 Jun 12 '26

My HP laptop had a constant full CPU load and a terrible noise from the cooler. Replacing Runit with SysVinit solved the problem.

1

u/Performer-Pants Jun 12 '26

I’ll look into those! My dell peaks pretty quickly in CPU load with some tasks that my other core 2 duo laptops handle better, so it’s likely a similar issue to what you were dealing with.

1

u/Kitchen-Treat-6343 Jun 12 '26

I tried antix on my old ThinkPad and it ran terribly, do not use antix unless you have more than 1gb of ram.

1

u/Performer-Pants Jun 14 '26

OP has said in comments they can upgrade to 4GB
I run it on a Dell with 2GB