DELL Latitude E5430 distro options for beginning user

[rudyard]

DELL Latitude E5430
Processor: Intel (R) core (TM) i5-3230M CPU 2.60 GHz
RAM 8 GB
64-bit operating system

Hey Folks,

setting up a laptop for a complete Luddite. He will not budge beyond Windows 7* ... The problem is that browsers have stopped updating. So he has an extra laptop that I'm setting up with Linux. My knowledge of Linux is rather thin, I can install it and use it, and currently that's about it.

This machine will primarily be for the internet but he'll probably use it to look at, but not edit (?), Word and Excel files.

Right now I'm looking at either:

Linux mint (though I'm seeing a lot of references to cinnamon and I'm not sure what the difference is)

Elementary OS

I've heard mixed things about Ubuntu

These choices are not written in stone but I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations based on the hardware capacities of this laptop

The user interface has to be fairly intuitive
Future updates can't change the GUI, meaning, nothing would change in how you navigate to run an app. (Oh the complaints on this one!)

Can any distro be set to do automatic system updates? Or is this not recommended?

I noticed with many of the distros you can either install it with all the bells and whistles, or a bare bones version. Considering the hardware overview on this laptop, what would be recommended?

Virus and/or malware prevention app recommendations?

And lastly, this is a scientist mind you, *he has virtual disc installed so that he can run Windows 98! Through there he runs a dos program, dBase, to access a massive natural History database and export data. He does it this way because he's familiar with dBase and doesn't want to learn anything new. So I'm thinking there must be a way to install something like dosbox, and just run d-base directly from that, rather than jump through all these hoops.

Any thoughts are recommendations are greatly appreciated

Thanks much!

Rudyard


Oh and is there a way to download a distro on a Windows 7 machine and run it from the install? Or do I have to do boot from a USB or DVD (I have a DVD burner)

 

[KGIII]

Linux Mint is the distro. Cinnamon is one of the desktop environment choices and is probably the most popular choice based on the questions we see. I have noticed an uptick in Mint questions as of late but many people are quite happy with it. Indeed, I have it on one of my desktop computers.

You can configure automatic updates. It's fine 99.999% of the time. That one time it isn't okay, you're gonna need some help. But, you'd have installed all the updates anyhow, so it's not much worse.

 

[rudyard]

Ahhh, got it. Quick check and- do you think that hardware config satisfy Cinnamon or would MATE or Xfce be better?
thanks KGIII!

 

[MikeWalsh]

Yup. I concur. Linux Mint will be your best bet, and you'll get lots of help here, 'cos many of our members run it.

The interface - if you choose Cinnamon; that machine will easily run it.....I have the next gen up from yours (an E6430), though specs are much the same - will be very familiar to a Windows user. Start Menu is much the same, graphical file-manager isn't too dissimilar. Most browsers are cross-platform; in fact, you may even find a bigger selection on this side of the fence!

Future updates can't change the GUI, meaning, nothing would change in how you navigate to run an app. (Oh the complaints on this one!)

Heh. Yah, I know just where you're coming from on that one.....been there, bought the T-shirt, worn it out AND replaced it, etc. Too many people get stuck in a major rut with regard to the way they do things, and if the slightest thing about their "routine" changes in any way at all, they moan & whinge like a good'un, and keep running ON and on about the 'issue' until everyone else is utterly fed-up of hearing about it.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

I run Puppy Linux on mine, but I'm a confirmed Puppy nut; been running it for over 10 years. I started with Puppy 'cos it's as light as a feather AND keeps very old hardware useful.....and what I was running a decade ago WAS ancient, AND under-powered. This Latitude can easily run any distro, but I stick with what I know and am used to.

I won't recommend Puppy to beginners because she's a bit "odd" compared to 'mainstream' distros, and it's better that beginners should learn the 'standard' Linux ways of doing stuff first.....but I will, and frequently DO recommend Mint, because it really is very user-friendly & easy to live with once you're up-and-running.

Go for it! What have you got to lose?


Mike.

 

[rudyard]

Cool, I started the Mint download and will install tonight
Cheers!

Haha, "I'm a confirmed Puppy nut"

 

[KGIII]

Ahhh, got it. Quick check and- do you think that hardware config satisfy Cinnamon or would MATE or Xfce be better?
thanks KGIII!

Yeah, it'll run Mint Cinnamon just fine.

There are a zillion other distros. It will run those well enough. We do have 'lightweight distros' available too us, but you should be just fine with any mainstream distro and with any desktop environment (DE is what we call it, so that you'll know when you see the abbreviation) you might want to use. Some will run a bit slower and some will run faster. One one end you have things like GNOME and on the other you have things like LXQt. However, the differences will be fairly slight on your hardware.

You're good to go, in other words.

I assume you're using on-board graphics? If so, that's just fine. In fact, it'll quite likely make things easier for you. You won't have to install drivers. You won't have to manually update drivers when the kernel changes. You'll find that Linux just works for you.

If you're using a wireless connection, there's some chance that it will not function. Check in the live instance (before installing) and see if it does install. If you can connect via ethernet, that's even better. Today, pretty much every ethernet card on the market is going to work just fine with Linux. Wireless is a bit different and can be a bit of a hit-or-miss and may require a few extra steps to get working.

Good luck and you've found the right place to start your Linux journey. I'm biased, but we're the most civil Linux forum on the internet. We skew heavily towards desktop users as opposed to enterprise//server users but we have a collectively broad knowledge. You may need to wait a while, 'cause not everyone is in the same time zone (of course). Patience is a good thing and will help you on your Linux journey.

 

[rudyard]

"... we're the most civil Linux forum on the internet..." haha, awesome!!

 

[KGIII]

There are some places on the 'net that are pretty rough, especially on a newbie.

You'll be expected to have done exhaustive research on the subject before asking questions. You'll be expected to detail that research in your comment. They have no patience for new users who aren't even Linux-fluent enough to ask good questions.

They not only expect a base-level of technical skill, they expect you to have done as much work as you could have (beyond what your skill level is, in fact) and will (at best) ignore your questions. You'll see a lot of people telling you to "RTFM".

If you were to distill all of our rules into one nugget of information, it'd be "Be civil!"

 

[Egzoset]

I'll only evaluate what's booting from YUMi-exFAT: time is of the essence and i must also spare my patience...

 

[Brickwizard]

I only use Dell lappies, any made after 2010 will run any distribution, I run Parrot on mine along with MINT, but I use Mint LMDE, looks the same and works the same as the main distribution but is a bit lighter and a tad faster

 

[Brickwizard]

ok so now I have a bit of time

, Word and Excel files.

Linux usually comes with LibreOffice, you can use it with Microsoft files

Right now I'm looking at

https://www.linux.org/threads/what-is-the-best-linux-distribution-which-should-i-use.43789/

The user interface has to be fairly intuitive

most DE's are point and click capable as he is W7, I would look at Cinnamon or XFCE desktops

Can any distro be set to do automatic system updates

We recommend you keep your system up to date, unlike Windows, Linux updates are not known to regularly break systems

I noticed with many of the distros you can either install it with all the bells and whistles, or a bare bones version.

As a newbie, when installing ,I strongly recommend to you install the non-free [propriotry] driver pack [non-free doesn't mean any cost involved, it referrers to non FOSS applications]

Virus and/or malware prevention app recommendations

Most of us do not run any Antivirus we do however use the Linux firewall [usually installed with most distributions you just need to enable it]

And lastly, this is a scientist mind you, *he has virtual disc installed so that he can run Windows 98! Through there he runs a dos program, dBase

he can run any Windows version in a VM [virtual machine] however many windows programs will run in Wine
I haven't use either MS dos or IBM dos for around 30 yrs so can't help with that

ADDENDUM
to run 32 bit windows in wine you will need to enable 32 bit codects this is done via the terminal for debian based distributions
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt -get update

 

[rudyard]

All of this is super helpful, thanks!