2007 Macbook user/linux noob needs help choosing distro

I

inkblot

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Hello.

I've been sifting through tons of forum posts and distro guides but I'm having trouble seeing what would be best for me.

1. I'm not sure whether my 2007 Macbook is old enough to need one of the more lightweight distros. It has 2GHz processor speed, 2 GB memory, and 200 GB HD. It's getting old and slow, which is one thing prompting a switch.

2. I am ready and willing to put the time in to learn how the OS and command stuff works. I like tinkering and customizing and learning stuff.

3. I could not quite figure out which distro will start off with the absolute basics and simple few applications (like a word processor and web surfer) and still leave a lot of room for me to build it up and explore other things I can do.

In other words, I want something that starts simple and easy enough but not totally set up with everything for a total noob.

4. The main things I want to do with it is extensive word processing, web surfing, and just go from there to other things once I get better at the system.

I really appreciate any advice you can give. I've looked at several things but there's so many it's starting to get a bit overwhelming all at once.
 


I definitely think you need a lighter distro. I am assuming this is an x86_64 computer so maybe Debian or Lubuntu or Xubuntu or enlightenment.
 
Great suggestion, but I think SliTaz can be a little harder for configuration, and I believe that Puppy have greater hardware support (shouldn't be a problem for OP). Besides I think he said he is new to Linux. So I think he want "easy" and lightweight.
 
I'd also suggest CrunchBang. The OpenBox environment is different, but the OP could probably handle it. It's very basic and lean. Also, it has the shortcut keys listed on the screen with Conky.

Mostly though, in my experience it's been great for hardware support.
 
It is a bit difficult to follow the line of argument here.

With 2 GB of RAM you should be able to run many distros.

But the suggestion of a lightweight distro, started out as Debian, Lubuntu or Xubuntu and has now become superlightweight distros or distros for old computers - Puppy, Antix or SliTaz. I only see Linux Mint as a regular distro...

3. I could not quite figure out which distro will start off with the absolute basics and simple few applications (like a word processor and web surfer) and still leave a lot of room for me to build it up and explore other things I can do.
Unfortunately many distros load a lot of stuff. They are top down and not bottom up. If you install Gnome you will usually get a lot of "Gnomey" stuff, similarly KDE or moreso LXDE - Lubuntu.
 
Wow, thank you so much for replying. I'll definitely go with something lightweight. I hadn't even heard of CrunchBang and a few of the others, but that really helps narrow it down and I'll definitely look them up.

Unfortunately many distros load a lot of stuff. They are top down and not bottom up. If you install Gnome you will usually get a lot of "Gnomey" stuff, similarly KDE or moreso LXDE - Lubuntu.

Thanks arochester, that answers one of my questions.
 
Maybe kubuntu?
Your specs aren't that bad. kubuntu uses kde which lets users have a lot of fun designing their desktop (it reminds me of mac the most)

But, speaking back to when i first started using linux (Ubuntu --> Linux Mint), I would greatly reccomend Linux Mint with a cinnamon desktop.
It's simple, easy to install, doesn't use a lot of resources. I easily run MUCH older computers then yours - budget level in their prime..
Atm, with a old computer I revived after it no longer could run windows, is running LMDE with kde and a bunch of fun little widgets at 300mb of ram. I even ran a successfull 3 player lan of Stronghold Crusader on it ;) Till the poor thing overheated and shut-down lol. I was very impressed. Try That on windows :D

Then, with the magic of linux, you can run "sudo apt-get install plasma-desktop" to get the kde experience. Pretty cool.

Settle with a easy to install with a lot of packages (ubuntu, linux mint) and expierment from there! Some possibilities:
Cinnamon
Mate
Unity
KDE
Xfce
Gnome 3
etc?
 
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