Which Linux Distro should I use?

[ModiBhai]

I have now decided to learn how to use linux.
I have an old sony vaio PCG-3C9P laptop which has a core 2 duo processor P8400 2.26ghz cpu and 3 gb ram.
My laptop does have 256gb ssd installed.
I want to learn linux, code on the laptop, basic web browsing, and basic media playback.
Can you tell me which would be the best distro for my use.
[Note: I am a noob, have hardware restraints]

 

[PsychoHermit]

Hi ModiBhai,

I would recommend downloading several "Live" iso's and testing them from a booting USB. Making sure that everything works as expected. Ubuntu and Mint would be good choices.

--glenn

 

[ModiBhai]

Hi PsychoHermit,

Thank you for replying but can you further elaborate what "Live" iso's are?
Thank you for suggestions but my laptop does not have much hardware to offer to Ubuntu, so would it be a good choice? Just asking since I read several threads on the forum.

 

[PsychoHermit]

Live iso's are a copy of Linux that can be burned to a USB stick that are bootable and will run out of ram. Giving you an opportunity to test the distro out and see that all of your hardware works. And the chance to see if you like the desktop that comes with the distro. Depending on how old your laptop is it may or may not be able to boot a USB.

Ventoy or Balena Etcher are tools to burn an ISO to a USB stick.

--glenn

 

[PsychoHermit]

The ISO's can also be burned to a DVD if your laptop won't boot from a USB stick.

 

[Brickwizard]

3 gb ram.

Strange amount...
Welcome to the forums
your machine will never be fast, but it will run Mint LMDE it will also run Linux Lite, Lubuntu,AntiX, peppermint, and many others.
as its a 2008 machine, you will probably need to install in legacy mode, I would expect it to be USB bootable.
the temporary boot key will be either F1,F2,or F3 sorry you will need to use trial and error to work out which

 

[GatorsFan]

You can have a look here - https://distrowatch.com/

 

[ModiBhai]

Strange amount...
Welcome to the forums
your machine will never be fast, but it will run Mint LMDE it will also run Linux Lite, Lubuntu,AntiX, peppermint, and many others.
as its a 2008 machine, you will probably need to install in legacy mode, I would expect it to be USB bootable.
the temporary boot key will be either F1,F2,or F3 sorry you will need to use trial and error to work out which

Thank you for the reply, I am downloading mint xfce version/flavour on my pc and creating its bootable usb drive, I'll update on this thread how it works.

 

[Cyberbleuet]

LinuxMint cinnamon for works and Debian Mx-23.

 

[kc1di]

Hello @ModiBhai
Welcome to Linux.org forum. You may want a slightly light distro with that processor and amount of ram. I would suggest you try Antix. It take a bit of learning but should run on that machine. Good luck.

 

[Alexzee]

My 11 year old Sony looks and runs very well with Linux on it.

Over the years I have ran Slackware, Linux Mint, LMDE6, and Linux Lite on it.
LMDE 6 was running very slow so I installed MX Linux a few months ago. It's running great!

I highly recommend Linux Lite and MX Linux.

Linux Lite

DistroWatch.com: Linux Lite

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

distrowatch.com

MX Linux

DistroWatch.com: MX Linux

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

distrowatch.com