Help with my distro hopping

[Deleted member 151145]

Fedora Spins | The Fedora Project

spins.fedoraproject.org

Just
Just downloaded it! It will be the very first distro I burn this afternoon to try. It truly irritates me that I was never able to turn that spin up in any of my searches. Not too awful many years ago, I'd have found that in a heartbeat.

Anyway, thank you very much for that link. I'm just about caught up on all the posts I needed to reply to. Then, I'm burning that and will try it out on my test laptop. I'm actually kind of excited to see what it does for me. LOL! Just like a kind in a candy store.
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[Deleted member 137406]

Is that the Trinity desktop in your screenshot? I distinctly recall trying Q4OS more than once. I'm positive I had the Trinity desktop version running live. I also recall that I was completely impressed with how little of my physical RAM was being used to present the desktop. What I don;t recall is why I never decided to install it and try to make it work for me.

I definitely want some more info on Q4OS. Since you are running it. maybe you are the guy to finally help me get it installed and working. I'm sure I remember thinking that, OOTB it was good looking enough to meet my simple tastes. Yeah, Q4OS is a real possibility. Thanks for that one!
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Yes that is Trinity desktop.
There's really nothing to install and get it to work.

Once the install is complete restart the computer and then open the terminal and enter

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

when finished restart the computer.

This should be all yo need to get started.

Q4OS setup and using

q4os.org

I'll be out for a bit with the Wife but will check in when I get back.

 

[KGIII]

It truly irritates me that I was never able to turn that spin up in any of my searches.

To get directly to the page, I searched Google for "Fedoral LXDE" and that was the first result.

 

[Deleted member 151145]

To get directly to the page, I searched Google for "Fedoral LXDE" and that was the first result.

That's exactly what I'm complaining about. Just a few years ago that would have been one of my very first search strings. Recently, I've just been unable to get the old noggin to think of those things. It's irritating, for sure.

I have burnt a few of the distros that have been recommended to DVD and run them Live, along with a few I ran across while searching. So far, Fedora, LXDE, Q4OS, and Mageia are all real possibilities. I'd have to switch from the .deb world to the .rpm world to run Fedora and Mageia, but that's something I'm sure I can handle. SolydX really had my attention until I went to their site and discovered the last release was back in 2019. That is a real negative to me.

Q4OS has used the least resources so far, at least while running the distros live. It would also present the greatest learning curve, but I think I can get some assistance on here now. It's definitely in the running for what I'm looking for.

I still have to burn and try Bodhi, Porteus LXDE, and LXLE (again) before I pick one to install and try fully. Right now, I'm going to have to stop for the day. I managed to get a good case of strep throat somewhere. I've been fighting it for 4 days now. The antibiotics are working, but very slowly, I think. LOL! I'm about 99% certain that it is hitting me much harder than it would have two years ago. I had oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, or simply oropharyngeal cancer, which are both really long, medical terms for cancer of the throat. During two surgeries a week apart, they removed a very large tumor from my throat and took a large chunk off the base of my tongue, along with a lot of lymphnodes and other supporting tissue. I have sore throats pretty regularly now. This is the first time strep has hit me and I hope it doesn't happen again for a LONG time. It has really hit me hard. So, off to the couch for a while. I'll probably get back after things later tonight or maybe tomorrow, depending on how I feel. I'm going to check on other posts made and then it's nap time.
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[Deleted member 151145]

Yes that is Trinity desktop.
There's really nothing to install and get it to work.

Once the install is complete restart the computer and then open the terminal and enter

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade

when finished restart the computer.

This should be all yo need to get started.

Q4OS setup and using

q4os.org

I'll be out for a bit with the Wife but will check in when I get back.

I'm going to want to try it a bit further. It definitely has my attention. So far, it uses the least system resources of any of the distros I've burnt to DVD and run Live. I'm going to have to stop for the day, but I'll be trying Q4OS and a couple others more thoroughly.
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[KGIII]

Recently, I've just been unable to get the old noggin to think of those things. It's irritating, for sure.

That sort of stuff terrifies me. I'm not scared of much, but losing my faculties is like the big one.

 

[Tolkem]

If I were to attempt that again, I'd have to have somebody sitting there, waiting for my next question.

Well, hope this helps you get there:
1. Once you get here

Choose nothing but "standard system utilities", and hit continue. In the next screen, you'll be asked to configure the pkg manager, choose "No", and hit continue

After that you'll see this

Hit continue to restart the system. Upon reboot, you'll be presented with a black screen and a login prompt, here log in as root

As root, install sudo

Edit the file /etc/sudoers to include your user in the sudo group, as shown in the image below:

Save the file and hit CTRL + d to log out as root, then log back in with your username

Now you can install stuff as a regular user, so go ahead and install a desktop and your preferred browser:

NOTE: In the pic you see "xfce", but it actually is "xfce4". Done the install, reboot

Log in with your credentials

Launch your browser

Well, that's it, pretty easy, isn't it?

 

[forester]

@KGIII -- Oh, I did not know lubuntu did not currently offer a mini.iso minimal install of itself. It did, at one time, because I installed once. Their loss

 

[KGIII]

@KGIII -- Oh, I did not know lubuntu did not currently offer a mini.iso minimal install of itself. It did, at one time, because I installed once. Their loss

Yeah, that's gone. So too is gone the focus on 'low end' hardware, with the change to LXQt. It's still fine on low-spec gear, but that's not really the focus these days.

There's no minimum install right now. I can't give you a timeline. I can't say when it will happen. I can say that I believe it's in the cards for a future release. There's nobody working on it full time, or anything. And, it's not that I'm keeping secrets, it's that I truly don't know. We've discussed it and there's even a PPA you can add in the live instance that adds a minimum install option - but that's not even remotely close to production ready.

That's why the Fedora LXDE recommendation. As much as I love Lubuntu, it's not always the correct choice. Some distros will suit other people better and I try to give the *best* answer, not the answer that is based on my preferences.

 

[bob466]

My advice is...always install a new Distro on a spare HDD/SSD or create an image first because if something goes wrong you're screwed.

This could have happened to me with Mint Cinnamon 21.1 but I know better as I learnt the hard way years ago.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

For minimal resource use might want to look at Sparky Linux Minimal GUI - https://sparkylinux.org/download/stable/
or Antix-Linux here - https://antixlinux.com/
and BunsenLabs here - https://www.bunsenlabs.org/

 

[Deleted member 137406]

I'm going to want to try it a bit further. It definitely has my attention. So far, it uses the least system resources of any of the distros I've burnt to DVD and run Live.

Yep it don't seem to require much system resources which is a plus for me and my old desktops.

I'm going to have to stop for the day, but I'll be trying Q4OS and a couple others more thoroughly.

Yep take a break man ya don't want to burn yourself out.

 

[Deleted member 137406]

For minimal resource use might want to look at Sparky Linux Minimal GUI - https://sparkylinux.org/download/stable/
or Antix-Linux here - https://antixlinux.com/
and BunsenLabs here - https://www.bunsenlabs.org/

SparkyLinux is good I use LXQT and it's okay.

 

[Deleted member 137406]

To get directly to the page, I searched Google for "Fedoral LXDE" and that was the first result.

That's exactly what I'm complaining about. Just a few years ago that would have been one of my very first search strings. Recently, I've just been unable to get the old noggin to think of those things. It's irritating, for sure.

I'm 71 and I'm not as sharp as I used to be I just figure it's part of getting old kinda like the hitch in my get along I have regularly.

Q4OS has used the least resources so far, at least while running the distros live. It would also present the greatest learning curve, but I think I can get some assistance on here now. It's definitely in the running for what I'm looking for.

TBH in your case being a regular Linux user for as long as you have I don't see it being an issue at all.

Yeah Trinity desktop is a bit different but once you start using it it become second nature and easy to navigate.

 

[kc1di]

I have downloaded and tried Bodhi several times. Right now, I can't recall what it is that I don't like or that won't work for me. I'm going to go ahead and download it one more time. It's definitely one that I have at least THOUGHT might work for me. Now that I'm on here and have a little support, I might just try giving it another try.
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Well some don't like The E-17 desktop. But if you give your self time with it it grows on you. And it is light weight. I'm not overly zealous about it. As I normally use KDE or Cinnamon here but in your description of what you were looking for it seem to tick many of the boxes mentioned. Good luck in your search. I would caution that there are no perfect distros. And each presents it's own pluses and minuses. Let us know what you finally settle on. HNY!

 

[Deleted member 151145]

Well some don't like The E-17 desktop. But if you give your self time with it it grows on you. And it is light weight. I'm not overly zealous about it. As I normally use KDE or Cinnamon here but in your description of what you were looking for it seem to tick many of the boxes mentioned. Good luck in your search. I would caution that there are no perfect distros. And each presents it's own pluses and minuses. Let us know what you finally settle on. HNY!

You hit the old nail right on the head. I think one of the reasons I'm having some difficulty in picking one distro to go with is because each one does present slightly different, but definite pros and cons. If my only requirement for a distro is that it uses the least resources, I'd be installing and running Tiny Core or Crunchbang and be done with it. I know there are other guys out there that look for the same thing I am looking for, a distro that uses less than 100 MB of RAM to present the desktop, but has every bell and whistle known to man. LOL!
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[Deleted member 151145]

I'm 71 and I'm not as sharp as I used to be I just figure it's part of getting old kinda like the hitch in my get along I have regularly.

Yep, I have those danged hitches too. I'm still looking for that dip stick that coined the phrase, "The Golden Years". He and I need to have a very intense conversation. LOL!

TBH in your case being a regular Linux user for as long as you have I don't see it being an issue at all.

Yeah Trinity desktop is a bit different but once you start using it it become second nature and easy to navigate.

I played with it for maybe 30 minutes or so when I saw how little RAM it required to run the desktop. I see lots of promise. I didn't try to find out of I can install the few programs I really like to use. Do you know if I can install Synaptic, Gimp, LibreOffice, Simple Screen Recorder, and Mirage? I should have checked that out while I was playing around with it. I do prefer Celluloid and Rhythmbox, but I'm not dead set on those. I can easily learn to use something different there.
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[f33dm3bits]

I think one of the reasons I'm having some difficulty in picking one distro to go with is because each one does present slightly different, but definite pros and cons. If my only requirement for a distro is that it uses the least resources, I'd be installing and running Tiny Core or Crunchbang and be done with it.

I generally don't care for lightweight distributions but I know some other people here do, I went searching and came across this list on wikipedia, there might be still a few you haven't look at on it.

Light-weight Linux distribution - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Deleted member 151145]

Well, that's it, pretty easy, isn't it?

Well, yeah. It does seem pretty easy. I will admit that I have gotten WAY too lazy and soft when it comes to doing stuff on computers anymore. I guess maybe I spent too many years writing code in COBOL and FORTRAN, followed by way too many years of DOS and later using DOS to tweak the various versions of Windows. Yes, I was still using the command line to accomplish what I wanted to as late as WinXP. Anymore, when I run into a glitch I need help with, I search and search until I find a web page that has the exact commands that need issued. I then copy and paste those commands in a terminal to accomplish my task. Lazy? Yep, I am.
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[Deleted member 151145]

That sort of stuff terrifies me. I'm not scared of much, but losing my faculties is like the big one.

I can tell you it's NOT a fun thing. Along with my age, I have a laundry list of ailments requiring different medications. Some of them are known to cause problems with memory and the ability to reason. I take large doses of Morphine, Hydrocodone, and I take 3600 mg of Gabapentin daily. The max recommended dosage is 2400 mg. On top of that, I wear a 20 mcg/hr buprenorphine patch. It's a wonder I can get out of bed and dress myself. LOL! Everybody that is close to me says I'm no longer the same person I once was. I'd have to agree. Not sure I like it, but I do have to agree.
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