I'm resetting windows 10 on my Thinkpad T580 for work but would like to create a partition for linux. It's an older laptop and really chugs through games like Minecraft or RuneScape but I enjoy playing relaxing games while I listen to audiobooks at night. I grew up using windows which is why I've mostly used Ubuntu and ZorinOS in the past but I'd like to expand my horizons to something like kubuntu. I value good UI/UX design and something lightweight for my old potato. Any recommendations on Linux distros?
** Thanks for all the input! I tried Fedora first but it felt kind of clunky to me. Then I tried out Mint xfce and it's right up my alley! I can run a separate Firefox profile right off the task bar that runs outside of my VPN which is perfect for Netflix and other sites that have issues. So far loving how customizable it is. Minecraft runs ok off GDLauncher, and lutris is really cool. I forgot I had a boat load of old GOG games that are perfect for this laptop. I really fucking love Linux π
If you want to shake things up with an arch derivative you can try EndeavourOS, there are a lot of different DEs you can choose straight from the installer
If your laptop is on the potato side I would personally avoid kde, it's much lighter now than it used to be but still heavier than other options. Mint looks good in my personal opinion and, again in my opinion, is a better alternative if compared to ubuntu, it's based on it but with some improvements. The default flavor comes with cinnamon, but if your laptop struggles it's also available with xfce, which even older machines should be able to handle.
@raccoon @Triage8420@lemmy.ml @linux_gaming
I put xfce on a garbage laptop for my parents (who are used to much older windows) and they loved it, the laptop ended up breaking eventually but that was a hardware issue and they regularly ask me when I'll be able to replace it
I'd say give a few Arch-based distros a try, or just straight up Arch if you're feeling adventurous. Arch distros are just slim and speedy, which could be good for your old laptop. The new official archinstall tool makes it relatively easy compared to installing Arch the manual way, but if you're looking for more ease of use EndeavourOS is a great option.
Imagine Linux Mint Debian edition, but it isn't green and there are a lot of useful GUI tools. It's also so near to actually being Debian that you can just install things meant for Debian on it. It also runs a backported kernel for modern graphics driver and chipset support so you get your stability and your performance all in one.
I'm personally using Kubuntu because a lot of programs I like are built for Ubuntu already and while I'm fine with messing with building from source for some things, for most, I like my binaries prebuilt on a distro package service. Also I like KDE Plasma.
If they want to tinker, but dont want to install arch from scratch, endeavour is the way. If they want their system to just work, they should go with Pop!.
If you're on well-documented hardware, I agree that Arch is definitely a contender. I've been using it on my gaming pc for a few years now and it's been more stable than any Windows install, not including the occasional self-inflicted damage from tinkering.
My vote goes to OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It's a beautiful system, and the most stable rolling release I've ever had the pleasure of running. I've tried so many different distros, and I always end up coming back to OpenSUSE.
I really think having a stateless root is the future of computing. Silverblue has a big focus on using Flatpak and containers to cover most use cases.
The only issue is the default Gnome would probably be too heavy for your hardware but (as others have mentioned) you can overlay KDE and use that instead.
Edit: as others have said below check out Kinoite for a Silverblue spin with KDE by default.
The root filesystem is read only so neither you or applications can write to it. If you wanna find better results it's probably more often referred to as "immutable" since calling it stateless is maybe a bit loaded on my part.
I think plain, vanilla, mutable Fedora is still a more solid choice for newcomers, it's just easier to find help with a "regular" distro.
I've been trying uBlue on my daily driver laptop, and so far, the immutability of the system has not really hindered me, but I still think it's not ready for primetime yet.
Probably true, but I find that new users tend to try to solve problems by installing random RPMs they find online and tainting their systems.
Pushing an immutable OS puts up a barrier that may be annoying, but forces them to do things in a more reasonable way (or they can overlay those random RPMs, with the advantage that they are easier to track since rpm-ostree status will always show a list of manually overlayed packages)
Flatpak apps are a PITA for interoperability and modifications though, so I'll stick to traditional RPMs thanks. I prefer the ease and flexibility of tinkering with my system more than anything else.
I actually disagree. I use Flatpak and also maintain a Flatpak myself and I think nowadays they're mostly af parity with regular applications.
They also solve dependency issues in neat ways which is nice. For example the application I use makes use of a Wine extension that tracks an older Wine, which is something that is particular annoying to deal with outside of the Flatpak environment IMO.
Stick to the main distros unless you have a specific reason to use a novel one. Despite its drawbacks, KUbuntu is great and I definitely recommend it. Once you find a thing or two you don't like about it, you can swap to a distro that does those things differently and you're off to the races :)
PS Linux can breathe new life into a laptop, but if apps are too intense for your hardware it won't magically give you more RAM.. With the exception of Minecraft Prism Launcher + Fabulously Optimized, then your Linuxtop turns into a NASA supercomputer
I'm not sure how lightweight Fedora is, but it's currently my favourite distro. The harder choice for me is the desktop environment, I'm currently using KDE, however Gnome looks more modern.
I'm using Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop on a Thinkpad older than yours, and everything works fine for me. I've seen somebody saying that the Xfce edition is slow for them, but maybe the MATE one is lightweight enough for you.
Linux Lite is worth a look, it's designed for old machines as well as folks moving over from Windows.
Edit: Porteus is another good lightweight distro to checkout. It's light enough to run off a USB but can also be installed on the hard disk. It has KDE, Xfce and Cinnamon environment options too.
Yeah, SteamOS is great for gaming, I suppose we'll have to wait for the release of the non Steam Deck version, but you can still have the benefits of Proton on other distros, I really like Fedora, and there's a Fedora fork named Nobara which is gaming oriented, I've never used it but I've heard good things about it.
I'm running Nobara right now on my AMD Thinkpad and it's been great for gaming. Steam, Proton, Lutris and ofc all drivers and codes are already included by default which greatly simplifies install, plus the kernel is already tweaked so there's no need to install a custom kernel.
Wouldn't use SteamOS on a PC. It only supports a certain set of hardware, is not really meant to be used on a desktop pc and they don't seem to provide updates that frequently/often. Also installation is not that easy for non-technical users. But feel free to give it a try.
I'm a Linux vet who's been around the block. I've tried all the major distros, used Gentoo for a few years, Arch the same, and a bunch of smaller distros.
Nowadays, I just want my computer to start up and run my programs with as little fuss as humanly possible. I'm far too lazy to rice or optimize anything, and I have little patience to troubleshoot the next big awesome thing.
Consequently, I use Kubuntu with Wayland. It chugs along and does everything I need it to.
Same but with mint.
I used arch when it didn't have an install script, now I'm far too lazy for it. I'm not as experienced as other arch users or gentoo users but I could set my arch up no problems. Now I just don't see the point, it's not like my pc can't handle some bloat.
Resources not being used are wasted resources so... may as well use them for quality of life.