Time to find a new Distro to play with.

I've used Ubuntu for a while, and I'm ready for something different. The ones I'm considering are Debian, Arch, Mint, and Peppermint.

A big priority (other than having the drivers working) is having something (from those options, or something else you might recommend) that is as efficient as possible, since it will be on a 1.6GHz Celeron M system (My IBM ThinkPad R60e, meaning it also has to have an x86 version available).

Can't wait to hear some opinions! I'm leaning towards Arch currently.

 

I think you'll receive an abundance of opinions on the distros you listed. I had some trouble with Mint and Peppermint on an older desktop.

Currently, I'm using PCLinuxOS with the KDE version on my laptop and the XFCE version on my older desktop. If you are interested, PCLOS offers a full range of DEs: KDE, Gnome, Gnome ZenMini, LXDE, XFCE, Enlightenment, and Openbox.

 

At this point, I believe Arch is your best choice Plus it will provide you a lifetime of stuff to "play" with.

As it doesn't rely on any package other than the real core stuff, you are welcome to build it and take it apart as much you feel like

 

I have an .ISO for Arch now, and I'll burn/install it tomorrow. Although it really goes against learning Linux (I completely understand how relying on it is the fastest way to learn), I really just can't live without certain programs. I like to have three computers (ideally) at any given time; one for gaming, which means it has to run Windows, one for working, and I rely on certain features of Microsoft Office that Open Office doesn't have, and the last one is an older machine to use for internet browsing, and other simple tasks. The third one I could almost live without, so having a Linux distribution that takes a long time to set up and get used to won't really be an issue.

My goal here is to have this R60e running with all sound, network related, and graphical drivers working. I also want to put LXDE on it (or something else if anyone knows a lighter desktop environment), and hopefully find some sort of dock/launcher program. Then Firefox (and add-ons), OpenOffice (just to have), and Wine since I'll probably have a use for it eventually.

I'll post updates with my progress here.

 

If you wanting to find out about different OS you have to check out here, lots of good info. I'm using Lucid puppy at the moment, and love it. Everything runs great.

 

I second 'arch linux' ... I was/am a HUGE slackware fan (still run it on all my servers), but once I found arch I haven't looked back. arch imho is the perfect linux desktop OS. best of luck with everything!

 

I second the suggestion of trying PCLinuxOS. Arch is fun, but be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on the forums. With PCLOS much less so. Just try them both and let us know what you think.

 

A quick update on what's going on (from my M11x, for a few reasons):

I have Arch installed on the R60e, and after a few tries I have that part of it fine. I messed up the server list the first time and couldn't get packages. The second time around I went with the HTTP/FTP install instead of the CD and didn't mess up the mirror server list (last time I left the # in front of all the names, since I didn't edit that file). Now I used:

"pacman -S ldxe"

and got LXDE as well as a few other programs, but I wasn't sure how to open a certain configuration file. I want to make it so "startx" gets LXDE going. I also don't know/remember what to type in the main command line of Arch to start it up the other way. After that, all I have left to do is get wireless working.

Arch takes a lot longer, but it's more satisfying when I actually make it work as compared to Ubuntu, which is slower but really convenient for if I don't have time to play with something like Arch.

fnord, what makes Slackware better for servers and Arch better for desktops?

Also, as far as the PCLOS recommendations, why is the RAM requirement so high? I feel like 512MB (which is what I have in my R60e) for a minimum and 1GB for a recommenced are high by Linux standards. If only I had enough computers to try out all of these.

One last Arch question. This sounds silly, but how do I shut down? I've tried "shutdown" with different arguments, along with adding "now", and I've also tried "init 6", but all these do is make it reboot. Eventually I make it to single user mode and power off hard.

 

The .xinitrc file in your home directory contains what will be executed when you use xinit (or startx).

Code:

#exec gnome-session
exec startkde
#exec awesome
#exec startxfce4
#exec openbox-session
#exec startlxde
# ...or the Window Manager of your choice

Just uncomment which ever you want to use

Btw something that I love to do is to run two desktop enviroments at once:

Code:

xinit #run your first desktop environment

#edit your .xinitrc, comment that DE and uncomment another

xinit -- :1 #run xinit again; the -- indicates you will start putting server options instead of client options. :1 is the name of the new display you want to open

Just a tip, it's fun

try "halt" or you want to use runlevels, "init 0". Perhaps even "shutdown now".

 

I think those recommendations are just about right for a good KDE experience. However, if you are going for other DEs, the requirements are lower, of course.

I run PCLinuxOS KDE on an old PC that just keeps going. It has about 700 MB of RAM and a 900 mHz processor. The machine still works flawlessly. Sure, its is not as snappy as my quad core machine, but I still enjoy using it.

 

What about Crunchbang linux? It is suppose to be light, and fast to use. Or if you want something designed also for mobile devices, there is MeeGo(formally Moblin) from Intel and Nokia. It works with x86 cpu, and is fairly light on resource requirements.

 

So "exec startlxde" will start a session even if the .xinitrc has it commented? I likely won't run multiple desktop environments at the same time, but I will collect as many as I can so I can get an idea of how light or heavy each one is.

Since my console text editor is nano, does that mean:

"nano .xinitrc"

will open that configuration file?

Thanks for the help, I've been having a good time with Arch.

 

Never tested running exec like that.

I usually just uncomment a line, use xinit, then (inside that desktop or in another tty, whatever) just modify the .xinitrc commenting that line and uncommenting another one, and running xinit with those parameters.

You can edit .xinitrc with anything, even graphical editors. It should work with nano like that.
Also, if the file doesn't exist in your home directory (I'm not sure it is created by default) you can just create it.

Yeah I don't actually use multiple desktops but that's fun to do just for the lols.

 

I keep going back and forth between feeling as though I can't handle Arch, and wanting to give it more time. I really don't know what I did wrong, but I can't get a display manager working right. Also, if I only have a window manager running and not a desktop environment, can I still run programs but stress the CPU less?

I'm trying to get openbox working now.

Edit: one of the things I'm really not understanding that might make me try something other than Arch would be that I don't understand why I can't open things such as "/etc/rc.conf" even though I'm logged in as root.

 

Maybe a little, but it will definitely reduce your memory usage.

What do these commands return?

Code:

$ ls -la /etc/rc.conf
$ id

 

If you're looking for something that's easy to get started with but allows for a lot of tinkering, I'd recommend crunchbang. It's minimal and lightweight, but full of stuff to toy around with (like conky!)

 

Become familiar with Slackware, Gentoo, Arch, Debian, RedHat and maybe Suse and you'll be able to handle every other distribution because they are all derived or at least borrowed some ideas from them.

 

I'm off to try out Crunchbag

 

Don't know if I like Crunchbang, definitely not noob friendly.

Took me like 10 minutes to find the Super key, they couldn't call it the Windows or Flag key, nope, just the Super key LOL.

 

yup the superkey is the windows key. It took me a while to figure out that too. I'm such a noob.

 

I actually think it's pretty noobfriendly once you've located the super key . I love the easily accessable configuration files in the openbox menu, makes configuring it to your taste so much easier. Should you guys be looking for inspiration, be sure to stop by the screenshot and conky config threads on the cb fora - lots of awesome stuff there (like conky's with lua scripts for some very nice effects).

 

I've used Linux for a long time and I love Arch. For me it's the perfect balance of power user and ease of use. I don't have to get all super admin on it and the packages are very up to date.