Lightweight Linux distros

[Jocklad]

Had a spare drive and successfully installed Archlinux last night.


When you do Arch you really appreciate how easy it is to install Linux lite.


Another rung climbed on the learning ladder. ;D

[elelme]

Sadly, I had to change my lesser machine from Linux Lite to PCLinuxOS. My newer machine is
happily Linux Lite, but with the continuous updating from Canonical and my obsession to maintain
a current live ISO with user data for insurance-- well, I was wearing this old man out and spending
hours online with no fun. Maybe this way I can manage to actually read this forum and my emails
and newspages, and still be able to get out of my computer chair with less pain. Make no mistake,
I love Linux Lite as it is, a clever and quick and stable Operating System on my newer desktop.

[Coastie]

... I think what you mean Coastie, is the look of the desktop environment - a bit old-fashioned - ...

Yes, that is a better way to say it.

[Artim]

Sadly, I had to change my lesser machine from Linux Lite to PCLinuxOS. My newer machine is
happily Linux Lite, but with the continuous updating from Canonical and my obsession to maintain
a current live ISO with user data for insurance-- well, I was wearing this old man out and spending
hours online with no fun.

The Xfce-mini does fit on a CD.  It's not "sad" that you installed another distro that meets the need, though.  This is Linux, it's all good!  I remain a fan of both distros, and a few I don't even use anymore - but I'm no less a fan of Salix, Mint (Xfce), MX, AntiX, and even a homemade Openbox mixture reminiscent of Crunchbang Linux.

[m654321]

Review of Linux Mint - Xfce / Cinnamon versions

Curiosity got the better of me with this distro - it was always at the "number one" position in the Distrowatch rankings, so it has to be good - doesn't it?  So, I just had to try ..

POSITIVES

• a very polished & professional-looking OS, nice sharp graphics, lovely wallpapers
  
• recognised nVidia & Intel graphics cards in setup[1], in footer below) -  Optimus with its dual graphics card switcher was easy to install using the terminal
  
• impressed by hardware compatibility, e.g. LM instantly recognised the two pairs of Fn keys that control backlight brightness for both the keyboard (F3+F4) and the display (F5+F6), with out the need to edit the file /etc/default/grub file
  
• comes prepackaged with most, if not all, of the software you'll need 
  
• a large archive of information from their forum community
  

NEGATIVES

• I found the size of their forum community a bit overwhelming - you never really got to know anyone
  
• the kernel is not updated automatically within a kernel release, as it is with LL & other distros - it more or less states that kernel updating is done at the user's own risk!  - a dangerous view as ignoring kernel updating will presumably lead to instability and increased vulnerability ...
  
• LM crashed on me a few times in setup(1). According to a comment by Quidsup in his Youtube video review, entitled Linux Mint vs Ubuntu, LM is known not to always cope well with nVidia graphics cards, so this may have been the reason for it crashing a few times over several months
  

          In the end, the significant negatives outweighed the very impressive positives - a shame really as it's a                    distro with a lot going for it .

       

[bermudalite]

First-timer here. 
I wanted to add my two cents on the topic of lightweight Linux distros.

First of all, I'm not "Linux proficient" by any stretch.  However I have used Linux off and on for 8 years...predominantly Linux Mint Cinnamon.  Lately Mint has been a bit slow on my old laptop and I thought I'd test drive some other distros to see if they were any faster.  To my delight this is how I discovered Linux Lite (hmm...maybe the name should be Linux DeLite instead.)  Anyhow here's a list of the distros I recently tried (in no particular order) with a brief description of my experience/impression.

Linux Mint - Cinnamon is great, but a little resource heavy for an older machine.  (I tried Mate, but it was not noticeably faster and I wasn't a fan of the layout.)
Anteros, Cinnamon - It worked and I considered it (because Cinnamon is a familiar place), but it was not super-fast and had a few style and layout quirks that bugged me.
Manjaro - It worked, but it too was not much faster and frankly in some ways it was just ugly.  I don't understand it's popularity....but I admit I am a Linux simpleton.
Solus, Budgie - Looked cool and seemed very quick!  Unfortunately it had glitches.  My wifi quit connecting and rebooting was a big issue.  I really wanted it to work, but could fix it.  Maybe next year.
Gecko, Budgie - After Solus I wanted that Budgie style, but Gecko didn't look as slick and had it's own glitches.  After a troubleshooting/reinstalling a few times I gave up.
SparkyLinux, Budgie - Again wanting the Budgie style...but had installation ISSUES! 
Vector 7.1 - It worked and it was fast...but way too simplistic.
Bodhi - It worked.  It was sufficiently quick, but the look and feel just wasn't right...and I was not too fond of the default Midori browser.
antiX 17 - It worked.  It's simple and quick.  It was certainly a consideration, but it felt a little too vanilla. [Modification - OK, vanilla maybe a little harsh because this distro was a close 2nd for me.]
Linux Lite 3.6 - Finally sweet bliss.  It worked right out of the box.  It is quick, but not too skinny.  I wasn't sure if I'd like Xfce, but I found it super-easy to customize.  I was sold.  I've been playing with it for over a week and now I have it on 2 machines.  Really really happy. 

Last thought:  This is probably sad to say, but I think I would have tried Linux Lite a lot sooner, if they had simply had a more stylish background image on the Distrowatch website.

[rokytnji]

antiX 17 - It worked.  It's simple and quick.  It was certainly a consideration, but it felt a little too vanilla.

Depends on the user, I guess.

[Valtam]

Thanks [member=7174]bermudalite[/member], looks like you tried some very popular distros there first before settling on LL

[bermudalite]

Actually Jerry...I tried Linux Lite fairly early in the process, but needed to satisfy my curiosity about the other Linux flavors.  Then I came back to LL after all my testing and trials.
When all was said and done it really was a no-brainer.
Thanks for putting together such a De-Lite-ful distro!

[br1anstorm]

I was interested to browse this thread, as the discussion included comments on most of the Linux distros I have tried in the three to four years since I moved from Windows. 

I use various computers (mostly laptops) which are getting old and have modest CPUs.  One or two have processors without "pae" (which can be a constraint).  My usage is not particularly demanding (no gaming....).  For what it's worth, here are my current thoughts on the distros that have become my favourites:

Linux Lite:  my joint favourite (with Mint).  It's lightweight, uses XFCE, is visually pleasing, works out of the box on my various machines (no headaches with wifi or printers), has excellent help and guidance, and a very good forum.  My only gripe is that the 'tweaks' to GRUB2 (details are in other forum threads) mean that it doesn't play nicely with other distros in a dual/multiboot installation;

Linux Mint - XFCE version:  equal favourite, for much the same reasons.  A very reliable, easy to use distro.  Although Cinnamon is pretty, I actually prefer XFCE both for its appearance and its lower demands on processing power.  Mint's larger user-base might make the forum busier and bigger, but the discussions there are polite and constructive.

PCLinuxOS:  Interesting to see so many comments in this thread, most of them positive.  I like it for the fact that it is stable, secure and polished.  Developers and users are proud of the fact that PCLOS is not just another Ubuntu derivative.  The KDE version has all the bells and whistles but is too big and complex for my tastes.  So I use the MATE edition.  I haven't tried the XFCE one (which is community-developed rather than a totally 'official' release).  I installed PCLOS precisely because it was a rolling release, so I hoped never to have to upgrade or reinstall.  My huge recent disappointment is that support for 32-bit versions has ceased, so no further updates or improvements and no further availability.  For those still trying to prolong the active life of older computers, this is a real blow.  A breakaway group of users is aiming to keep PCLOS 32-bit going under the label of UPLOS - but I'm not sure that will prove sustainable.  But I hope PCLOS  itself keeps going.

Zorin:  Intended to appeal to former Windows users, the different display/interfaces were an interesting idea.  But as a distro, style seemed to matter more than substance, and the combination of rough edges and gimmickry (3D displays) put me off - I haven't looked at recent versions.

LXLE:  I tried it because it claimed to be among the most lightweight.  But I didn't really get used to the menu-display or desktop environment, and both Mint and Lite are easier to use and slicker.