Can anyone recommend a suitable Linux system?

[Rob54]

Hello All,

Fist post on forum, was looking for somewhere to introduce myself properly but was unable to find one.

As per the thread title, I have got hold of an old Advent laptop and was wondering about a Linux system
I could try on it. It's a pretty basic unit with a couple of gig of memory and a 30gig HD.

I have got fed up with all the Microsoft shenanigans, after putting up with all the rubbish since the first version of Windows, wished I could have stayed with DOS. I thought I would give Linux a try as having to virtually re-learn an operating system every time they bring out a new version of Windows based on the methods of the latest bunch of tecchie, wiz-bang kids they let loose on the OS, I may as well use/learn a system that I can customise to my own needs and change when I want to and not at the behest of the accounts department of Microsoft.


All the Best,

Rob54.

 

[beers]

Greetings

Is there a specific model for that? On older hardware you're probably looking at a XFCE or LXDE desktop environment since they are much less resource intensive.

XUbuntu might be a good place to start, although you can swap in XFCE or similar to any distribution you'd like.
http://xubuntu.org/

 

[Punk]

I would recommend either Ubuntu or Mint. They are both easy to use and friendly for new users and Mint is very much like Windows. Plus if you run into troubles, they both have a dedicated community that will help you fix anything.

 

[Rob54]

Greetings

Is there a specific model for that? On older hardware you're probably looking at a XFCE or LXDE desktop environment since they are much less resource intensive.

XUbuntu might be a good place to start, although you can swap in XFCE or similar to any distribution you'd like.
http://xubuntu.org/

Hello beers,

Sorry for the late response to your helpful reply. I had not recieved notification that I had any replies to my enquiry and only noticed because I came to read some of the threads.

I am not sure if this is because of a glitch or if I forgot to tick a box or somesuch to enable notifications to be sent to me. Could be old age I am afraid, a case of too much grey matter on the outside of the head and not enough on the inside, I think it all migrated. Hang on a mo', I just checked and I have got the box ticked to 'Receive email when a new conversation message is received', so it's not me going daffy. Any ideas as to why I didn't get any notifications?

The actual model is Advent7007 and a label on the underside lists the following:

14.1" TFT P4 1700 256MB 30GB DVD

As far as I am aware, the only change has been upgrading the memory to it's maximum capability of 2GB.


I tried booting it up to see if I could get ant further info but it appears that the return key is u/s. It used to belong to my son-in-law, ham fisted begar that he is.

Don't happen to know if it will work with an external keyboard do you?

I will have to scrounge one to give it a try. I used to have a Toshiba laptop that would and it automatically recognised if one had been connected to it.

All the Best,

Rob54.

 

[Rob54]

I would recommend either Ubuntu or Mint. They are both easy to use and friendly for new users and Mint is very much like Windows. Plus if you run into troubles, they both have a dedicated community that will help you fix anything.

Hello Punk,

Thanks for the reply, sorry for the late response, see my reply above to 'beers' for the reson why.

I will download a copy of Mint and will give it a try when I have sorted the return key problem, as mentioned above. Will be handy if it resembles Windoze as it should take less getting used to, something I could appreciate.

All the Best,

Rob54.

 

[Punk]

A USB keyboard should do it, although I doubt it but, sometimes it isn't recognized until the system is set up. I used Mint a while ago, it is very easy to use and there are tons of information and tutorials online. And it works with apps, kinda like a smartphone. Of course you still have the option to install independent programs.