Innes

@aliengeo

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I'm a writer, artist, and game developer. Currently working on Unknown Station Echo, a translation-based mystery.
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Innes @aliengeo11/12/2023, 4:55 AM

advice needed re: linux

I am trying to resurrect a low-end, older model Windows laptop as a lightweight productivity machine.

What I would be using:

browser (stuff like email, nothing intensive)
music player (files, CDs)
LibreOffice
code/text file editor
desktop Twine
Obsidian

What I'd like is a newb-friendly, lightweight distro with a GUI, that I can set and forget as much as possible. Okay if there's some command line stuff during initial setup, but I don't want to have to deal with it on a regular basis.

But Linux is. daunting. So I'm hoping people have recs for distros I could look into? (If you have a suggestion that is technically not Linux that is fine! I don't really understand what is and isn't Linux. See above re: daunting.)

Any advice or sharing is much appreciated!

edit: Thanks y'all, I'll look into Linux Mint XFCE!

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in reply to @aliengeo's post:

dead flag blues custom stepmania chart @MxSelfDestruct11/12/2023, 5:03 AM

Mint is pretty light and good for beginners, as are some of the Ubuntu variants; I'm partial to Xubuntu. Debian is rock-solid. Not as noob friendly, but extremely stable.

queequeg @queequeg11/12/2023, 5:11 AM

I've heard good things about Mint in terms of user-friendliness but never tried it, have used Xubuntu and it's lightweight and easy to use

Various ubuntu flavors are good in general, I've set up many quick VMs in the past with plain old ubuntu

(:@kdx11/12/2023, 5:19 AM

the most common answer to your question will probably be Linux Mint, for good reasons. from what i know, it's pretty much designed to fit your requirements. if you are confused by the download options, pick the Xfce variant (this one)

if you plan on doing computer science or techy shit on this computer, i would recommend Manjaro Xfce instead, and it is one i can vouch for (i used it for a couple years, never had the opportunity to daily drive Mint)

oh, and i do not recommend Ubuntu. for stupid reasons its tech stack got shittier and shittier over the years, and i can't see any good reason to pick it over Mint or Debian

Innes @aliengeo11/12/2023, 9:03 PM

Appreciate the links! Yeah, not doing anything too techy—if it comes to it, I have another machine with better specs and I'll just use that.

M. Campbell @voidmoth11/12/2023, 6:35 AM

As mentioned, Mint XFCE is a good option. MX Linux also is, although it's more minimal which may or may not be your preference.

Omio (et. al)@Omio11/12/2023, 7:26 AM

If you do Ubuntu, use an older form of it first, so you have something more familiar (I think 10.x has the GNOME desktop). Use apt-get to grab synactic package manager, it'll help you find everything else you need, zero problem.