DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Suggest some Light Distro

31 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/suggest-some-light-distro.110420/

saurabh kakkar
saurabh kakkar Original post #1
Mar 10, 2009 at 12:59 AM
After using Ubuntu 7.10 4r long I have decided to move to some other distro
Since i m having a low configuration (P4 2.4 ,256 ddr, 80 gb) so want some light distro Will be using it mainly 4r net (Firefox must) ,Chatting ,Music ,Watching Videos(VLC must),Viewing Picks,creating nd editing world docs :)

Plz suggest me some Light distro considering my config which looks sexy,has gud customization option and good documentation or user support (so that i dont have to bang my head :))).

Regards
Saurabh kakkar
infra_red_dude
Mar 10, 2009 at 1:16 AM
After using Ubuntu 7.10 4r long I have decided to move to some other distro
Since i m having a low configuration (P4 2.4 ,256 ddr, 80 gb) so want some light distro Will be using it mainly 4r net (Firefox must) ,Chatting ,Music ,Watching Videos(VLC must),Viewing Picks,creating nd editing world docs :)

Plz suggest me some Light distro considering my config which looks sexy,has gud customization option and good documentation or user support (so that i dont have to bang my head :))).

Regards
Saurabh kakkar
If thats all you wanna do then I'd suggest Zenwalk. Actually even Puppy or DSL would all do just fine for the tasks you've listed :D

If you can manage compilation and stuff then I'd suggest Arch. That would be the best bargain between performance and 'lightness' for your system.
saurabh kakkar
Mar 10, 2009 at 11:43 AM
If thats all you wanna do then I'd suggest Zenwalk. Actually even Puppy or DSL would all do just fine for the tasks you've listed :D

If you can manage compilation and stuff then I'd suggest Arch. That would be the best bargain between performance and 'lightness' for your system.

thanks 4r Reply mate I have tried DSL Though its fast but i don't like it much
I will not be able to compile so Arch is out :(
I want a Distro which involves least headache :D also its boot nd shutdown time shud be minimal :D.
How gud is Mint considering my criteria ??
Cool G5
Cool G5 #4
Mar 10, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Try Xubuntu, I guess Mint will be heavy on your config.
anurag_bhd
Mar 10, 2009 at 2:12 PM
I too would suggest Puppy (definitely, give it a try) and the latest Zenwalk 6 release.
A
anarchist #6
Mar 10, 2009 at 3:53 PM
thanks 4r Reply mate I have tried DSL Though its fast but i don't like it much
I will not be able to compile so Arch is out :(
I want a Distro which involves least headache :D also its boot nd shutdown time shud be minimal :D.
How gud is Mint considering my criteria ??
Distro light on resources would be tough, or cause headache in your terms :D
so, you can try Xubuntu, which is slightly lighter than ubuntu and still manageable for beginners.

but you are having too low RAM, better upgrade your RAM to 512MB or higher (512MB DDR RAM costs around Rs 700/-)
saurabh kakkar
Mar 10, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Distro light on resources would be tough, or cause headache in your terms :D
so, you can try Xubuntu, which is slightly lighter than ubuntu and still manageable for beginners.

but you are having too low RAM, better upgrade your RAM to 512MB or higher (512MB DDR RAM costs around Rs 700/-)

I know that my RAM is Low :( but Cant help it as of Now i have tried Xbuntu but its almost same like ubuntu i want something different 4rm Ubuntu something like Suse :D which has good feel nd support any sugestion ???
shady_inc
Mar 10, 2009 at 5:50 PM
I will not be able to compile so Arch is out :(
What.??!!
Arch has a very good binary package management [handled through pacman.], better than even apt-get IMHO.
Frankly, I think Arch will be a good bet for you.After installing and configuring the system,it occupies ~200 MB RAM on a full-blown GNOME installation [apache,beagle,hal,bluetooth etc. running too.], boots up in 45 secs, shuts down in 10 secs on my *ancient* config.
Unlike Ubuntu whch are i386 optimized,Arch is optimized for i686 architecture.
Liverpool_fan
Mar 10, 2009 at 8:29 PM
^ ^ ^ +1

Arch is reasonably fast and light weight. I'll recommend Xfce for your requirement.
Remember Arch unlike Gentoo does not require you to compile. It has great binary packages. :)
infra_red_dude
Mar 10, 2009 at 8:49 PM
I was reluctant in suggesting Arch thinking about the effort required to install based on the thread starter's first post.
comp@ddict
Mar 10, 2009 at 8:53 PM
1. Puppy Linux
2. DSL(Damn Small Linux)
F
FilledVoid #13
Mar 10, 2009 at 9:46 PM
Im a user of ArchLinux although I use it I would rather suggest some other distro like PuppyLinux , Zenwalk , Xubuntu , NimbleX for your purpose simply because the amount of configuration required to get a running distro up is much lesser than Arch. However if you enjoy tweaking the distro and performing all those configurations then go ahead and try out Arch. As long as you follow the Beginner guide to the last word you should be fine.

By the way I seriously doubt Mandriva being a light distro :O .
Dark Star
Dark Star #14
Mar 10, 2009 at 10:05 PM
^^He forgot to add XFCE edition :p
saurabh kakkar
Mar 10, 2009 at 10:12 PM
I was reluctant in suggesting Arch thinking about the effort required to install based on the thread starter's first post.

U r right dude i m reluctant to put in much effort i.e i m thinking of installing
Puplets :D ( Puppy Linux ) .
*www.puppylinux.org/downloads/puplets

How Gud option is this :) ??
thewisecrab
Mar 10, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Puppy Linux, Zenwalk, Arch (with Xfce) should suit you :)
-----------------------------------------
Posted again:
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Puppy Linux, Zenwalk, Arch (with Xfce) should suit you :)
saurabh kakkar
Mar 11, 2009 at 11:12 AM
I am running puppy linux in Virtual PC 2007 on Windows XP Home Edition. My virtual RAM is 100Mb. I cannot get my Logitech PS2 mouse to work inside puppy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cool G5
Cool G5 #18
Mar 11, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I know that my RAM is Low :( but Cant help it as of Now i have tried Xbuntu but its almost same like ubuntu i want something different 4rm Ubuntu something like Suse :D which has good feel nd support any sugestion ???

Suse would be too heavy for your system.
Liverpool_fan
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Also I forgot to mention before...Debian. It can really be configured well and since you already use Ubuntu you would have some idea about basic configuration and package management.
saurabh kakkar
Mar 11, 2009 at 9:53 PM
I am running puppy linux in Virtual PC 2007 on Windows XP . My virtual RAM is 100Mb. I cannot get my Logitech PS2 optical mouse to work inside puppy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Liverpool_fan
Mar 11, 2009 at 10:40 PM
^^^ I think you should edit your xorg.cong
As root:
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

And set correct mouse settings? For instance mine (in Arch) is:
Code:
Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Xorg Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice    "PS/2 Mouse" "CorePointer"
EndSection


TBH I am not much experienced with Puppy so cannnot help further.
Rahim
Rahim #23
Mar 11, 2009 at 11:16 PM
Zenwalk would be fine.
saurabh kakkar
Mar 13, 2009 at 12:35 AM
After encountering mouse Undetection problem in puppy 4.1.2
I downloaded puppy 2.1.6 to gave a try and to my surprise it detected my mouse :D
I m using puppy linux 2.1.6 on Virtual Pc 2007 but I m unable to use internet it is not able to detect my MTNL broadband earlier i had used DSL and ubuntu both detected my MTNL Broadband out of box what shud i do ??
talktorishav
Mar 13, 2009 at 6:05 PM
I havn't used and may be offtopic here, but I was reading about tiny core linux alongside. Its only 10 MB.
V
vaithy #26
Mar 16, 2009 at 10:07 PM
O.K. Go for Moon OS which is based on Ubuntu but uses LXDE and enlightment DE but has the bell and whistles of regular Heavyweight like KDE..Lxde and Enlightment aare very light on your system

*farm4.static.flickr.com/3590/3283623619_cc52e16e5c_m.jpg *farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3273452797_68b303bcc5_m.jpg

*farm4.static.flickr.com/3624/3284449398_ffe66e36ee_m.jpg *farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3283629023_26f61124cb_m.jpg
anurag_bhd
Mar 17, 2009 at 3:36 AM
From the screenshots, Moon OS is looking like a pretty nice distro. I also happened to read about it today on the DistroWatch Weekly.
saurabh kakkar
Mar 17, 2009 at 11:00 PM
^^ Thanks for the update man :) Moon OS is looking Cool
but As of now I m trying my hand at puppy :D
V
vaithy #30
Mar 18, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Puppy is a good choice for old hardware but many applications are still in old version..But in case you want to amaze your friend with your old hardware with Puppy there is a way out!! this thing called 'Puplet' which means' little darlings of puppy'. Actually they are not little compare to puppy but simply a remastered Puppy with added / customised puppy for special purpose, some puplets has more than 700 mb ISO
here some examples: PupFluxLite
*www.puppylinux.org/files/images/pfl-default.jpg

At 84 mb, this fluxbox version of Puppy is very quick. It has gnumeric and abiword and a couple of other things removed, including JWM. download here

2. Growler

*www.puppylinux.org/files/images/growler2.jpg

This one kept the kid's in mind for their Gaming but 635MB download here

there are still some good puplets are there for more information visit here
U see I am wasting more precious bandwith here

Happy Linux!!

vaithy
saurabh kakkar
Apr 4, 2009 at 10:57 AM
^^ thanks buddy for this valuable input I m already using
Macpup 412 puplets with my own Customization :)
will post screenshot soon
IMO Puppy Linux is one one of the best Distro with lots of applications nd gud Documentation support and very active forum ofcourse after ubuntu :)

Thanks everyone for there suggestions

Regards
saurabh kakkar