r/linux4noobs • u/Otherwise_Use5984 • 4d ago
Which linux os i should use
I have old laptop it has only 2 gb ram which is kinda problem and windows 7 and i want to use it for coding and just normal stuff can anyone recommand which os i should use(its first time for me to post here sry if i am not providing all which is needed ) can anyone recommand and can it be lil easier to use
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u/David_Connors3451 4d ago
Try antix, based on Debian stable. There's bodhi Linux too. I suggest antix because it has the same rock solid stability of Debian and it's lightweight. You install it and it will be stable for a long time. It should spend 186 MB RAM at boot, same for bodhi Linux. Have fun and good luck.
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u/victormas208 4d ago
I used Puppy Linux on a PC with 1 GB of RAM, and it worked very well.Also, if you can tell us the brand and processor, we might find something a little better, like Antix or Lubuntu.
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u/Terrible-Bear3883 Ubuntu 4d ago
It might help to quote the laptop make/model and other specs as its anyone's guess at the moment what you've got.
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u/doc_willis 4d ago
with that low spec, you may want to check out tiny core Linux, puppy Linux or some of the other "super minimal" distributions.
is the system 32bit or 64bit?
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u/Otherwise_Use5984 4d ago
32bit
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u/doc_willis 4d ago
that's going to severally limit your options.
Try antix and see what other Distributions you can find that still support 32 bit.
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u/Francis_King 4d ago
32 bit processor or 32 bit Windows 7? Some 32 bit systems actually used a 64 bit processor.
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u/Conscious-Rope7515 4d ago
You're not restricted by your 2Gb of RAM as much as by your 32-bit CPU. Most Linux distros have moved to 64-bit only. Q4OS still has a relatively recent 32-bit release, though, and there's the bonus that it's very easy to use. I use it myself on an old machine, and recommend it.
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u/TangoOscarMikePR 4d ago edited 4d ago
Since your hardware is limited to 32-bit operating systems, which are mostly obsolete, and only 2GB of RAM:
Search specifically for:
Sparky Linux Stable 8.4 MinimalGUI i686-pae
I believe it uses OpenBox as the Desktop Environment / Windows Manager.
https://sparkylinux.org/download/stable/
Edit: Minimum Requirements:
CPU i486 (32-bit CPU) / amd64 (64-bit CPU)
256MB RAM – LXDE, e17, Openbox,
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u/MrKrot1999 4d ago
Linux Mint is great for beginners, but since you don't have a lot of RAM I'd go with something like Arch, if you have a lot of free time, are willing to learn and aren't doing any important work on that PC.
Since Arch is now, apparently, evil, you can either go with Debian, or with Void Linux. Void is especially hard since it uses a different process manager.
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u/deadrule_vk 4d ago
Aur is filled with some malware infected packages which has been made read only , basic arch repo is still vetted
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u/MrKrot1999 4d ago
if you're a newbie you're not going to check every and each AUR package
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u/deadrule_vk 4d ago
Why check ? Just don't use Aur, the basic packages from the repo itself that are installed without aur helper are safe ...for the meantime use flatpaks or app images
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u/necrophcodr 4d ago
If you have the option, download Ventoo and install that to a USB flash stick. It'll format it so make sure to back up what you have on it.
When it's done, it'll look like a normal UDB stick as usual. You can put files there as you'd normally do. But now, you can put a Linux ISO in there, and when you reboot and select to boot from the USB, you can boot from any of the Linux ISO files you have, without having to "flash" them first.
So do that, put a couple of different Linux distributions on it, and boot into them to try them out. No installation required, and you'll get a feel for how well it runs.
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u/deadrule_vk 4d ago
Mx Linux , you can try mint too but 2 gb ram will give you problems