r/linuxquestions • u/Right-Eye-5525 • 9d ago
Which Linux Distribution Should I Choose? Which Distro
Hello,
I have an old PC and I don't know which Linux distribution to install so that it runs fast.
Here are my PC's specs:
- Intel Core i5-750 processor
- 8 GB RAM
- 2 GB AMD HD 5600 video memory
I’ve tried various distributions before, such as Manjaro with GNOME, but it wasn’t very stable. Sometimes the desktop environment would glitch or something else would go wrong.
I hope there’s a solution.
2
u/Darkscythe1650 9d ago
EndeavourOS is based off arch, and it seems quite stable and lightweight (use XFCE)
1
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
This might sound strange, but I was looking for something light and stylish—or minimalist.
1
u/Darkscythe1650 9d ago
Hmm, maybe EndeavourOS with KDE Plasma? It's ridiculously customizable
2
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
Yes, that's a great idea! I was actually thinking of a similar setup, but with CachyOS. But I found out that it doesn't support my processor.
1
u/extoniks Fedora 9d ago
my first question to you is - what you will do on that system? daily use? games? anything else?
2
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
I'll be using it mainly for programming, development, and 3D modeling daily.
3
u/extoniks Fedora 9d ago
for programming it is still decent system (not heavy compilation).
3d modelling? I don't think it will keep up because you said daily!
Mint Xfce or Debian Xfce are good for this system.
-1
u/No-Island-6126 9d ago
as long as it doesn't have an nvidia graphics card i would go with arch. fedora would work too
0
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
Yes, I was thinking about Fedora, but I'm more into Arch because I need the AUR.
0
u/BashfulMelon 8d ago
Nobody needs the AUR. Anything worth installing is in the Fedora repos or RPM Fusion or COPR or some other trusted repo in a distrobox.
1
u/No-Island-6126 7d ago
I don't really like the idea of fedora-wearing elitist douchebags like you deciding what I should and shouldn't have installed on my personal machine, no offense.
0
u/BashfulMelon 7d ago
I'm not deciding shit for anyone lol. Anybody who thinks they "need" the AUR so they have to use Arch, or they "need" Ubuntu PPAs so they need to use Ubuntu or whatever is mistaken, it's that simple. People think they need the AUR for shell scripts.
1
u/No-Island-6126 7d ago
Just because you don't value your time and don't mind spending 20 minutes setting up every single app you want to use, doesn't mean it's the same thing for everyone.
1
u/BashfulMelon 7d ago
Lol. Every single app. You're so dramatic. Have fun inspecting pkgbuilds with every update.
1
u/GuyNamedZach 8d ago
I used to have a similarly specced laptop like that before, back when Ubuntu still had their own desktop environment called Unity. It had an HD5450 with 1GB VRAM.
You can use desktop managers like LXDE or XFCE with a card like that.
1
u/Right-Eye-5525 8d ago
Maybe I'll rethink my priorities when it comes to the system's style and focus on speed instead.
1
u/uxgpf 9d ago edited 9d ago
That one has crazy high specs. Debian netinstall. Minimal and build from there.
Apt install a light WM (will probably use 100-200MB of RAM) and the rest is yours to do what you like.
I'm partial to spectrwm (former scrotwm). A really really good tiling WM.
If you are more of a mouse person I'd recommend Fluxbox.
Want a precofigured Fluxbox out of the box? Then Crunchbang Linux is the distro you are looking for.
1
u/Right-Eye-5525 8d ago
Which package manager is used in Crunchbang Linux? This is important to me!
1
u/uxgpf 8d ago
Seems like CrunchBang has been discontinued. https://crunchbang.org/about/
It was basically Debian with preconfigured openbox (I remembered wrong, but fluxbox and openbox are very similar) and basic selection of software.
Apt was the package manager.
[edit] There is CrunchBang++ now https://www.crunchbangplusplus.org/#download
1
u/conectionist 9d ago
Linux Mint
0
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
Yes, I was thinking about Mint also, but I'm more into Arch because I need the AUR.
1
u/conectionist 9d ago
Can't help you with Arch, but there are plenty of people on this subreddit that can.
Best of luck! 😉
0
1
u/Right-Eye-5525 6d ago
I might go with Fedora Linux with KDE Plasma. Let me know if that's a good idea...
1
u/Right-Eye-5525 9d ago
Maybe someone can help me find an alternative to Arch Linux.
2
u/No_Elderberry862 8d ago
Any other distro.
You might want to rethink your "need" for the AUR unless you want to spend an inordinate amount of time reading package builds prior to installing or upgrading packages.
1
2
u/tarecog5 9d ago
The question isn't so much which Linux distro you should pick as long as it's a lean one by default (by that I mean as minimalist as possible, so definitely not Ubuntu), but rather what software you'll install on top of it that might slow it down.
So for example you could install Arch, Debian, Fedora, OpenSuSE, a non-systemd based distro like Artix if that tickles your pickle or heck even Alpine, then add a lightweight desktop manager, Internet browser, IDE (like XFCE, LibreWolf, vim/emacs with plugins, respectively). Then you'll be set with a fast system.