Best Distro for Lenovo x61s (ssd & 2gb ram)

[Fixed_Rider]

Hello All,

I have rediscovered Linux in the past few months. I really like what I see. I'm still baffled by all the distros and variations that are out there.
What I have tried on the above machine is Win 8, XP Pro, Ubuntu 12.10 & Mint 13.
I put Win8 on another machine as I really like it, but I want to run Linux full time on my x61s (1.6ghx dual core, 2gb ram. Intel 120gb SSD)
Ubuntu 12.10 appears to be a resource hog. If I do not have 4gb ram it really crawls. Is it the Unity desktop that is dragging things down?
Mint is good but it's appearance looks old kind of XP'ish to me, other than that is really flies. I guess what I like is the looks and function of Ubuntu and the performance of Mint. All I am really using it for is torrents, surfing, word processing, etc.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[mikemex]

Ubuntu 12.10 appears to be a resource hog. If I do not have 4gb ram it really crawls.

Ah Linux, the great promise that never quite delivers... am I the only one who remembers when they marketed Linux as an operating system that could run on older hardware? That you could even run it on a 386?

I tried the 64 bit version of Ubuntu briefly on my X300. It ran fine but had lots of issues. I ended up uninstalling it after a few days. If I were you I would wait until they stabilize Linux into something like Chrome OS (like they did with Android).

But if you're determined to run Linux, I would recommend you SuSE. It's one of the oldest distros and that's a good thing (it has survived several waves of massive extinctions...).

[Tasurinchi]

I've used different versions of Mint and Ubuntu in my X6xx machines. Never had any performance problems and everything always worked out of the box.

I'm typing this in my X60s with 2GB RAM and Ubuntu 12.04 and no feeling of it being a resource hog. I also had a Mint 12 64 bits (now Mint 13 64 bits) in one of my X61s with 4GB RAM and a SSD and that thing flies!

I switched to Mint instead of Ubuntu because I like the desktop better. The latest version comes with a series of different graphics environments (Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, LXE, etc).

My 2 cents...

[Neil]

It's not so much a question of which distro, as it is which desktop environment you like best. If you don't like the Gnome3 Unity mess, you can still run Ubuntu with XFCE, LXDE, KDE, Enlightment, etc., or just use one of the 100's of window managers without a desktop environment. Same is true with Debian, on which Ubuntu is built. Fedora, Suse, etc., are just other implementation of the Linux kernel with various package management systems and a few other tools. There really isn't much difference between distributions at the core. It's what you add to it that can make it your own. It's all about freedom of choice, and finding what you like best.

That said, I'm running Xubuntu 12.04 LTS on my T43 with 2GB RAM, and have no issues. Works great, and I'm able to do anything I need to, or want to do. Would not hesitate to recommend it for almost anyone.

Most important, though, is too keep experimenting by booting from a CD or live USB until you find something that work well for you and that you like the feel of.

[Fixed_Rider]

Tasurinchi,

Let me clarify a bit. Everything does work right out of the shoot. Installation couldn't be easier when I use the WUBI executable. That said I always get a failed installation when I try to install Ubuntu 12.4 or 12.10 from USB stick. It fails right at the point of installing the software packages.
My definition of a resource hog is with 2gb of ram and even with 4gb (sometimes) if I have to many things going on or tabs open the screen will dim while the machine processes (thinks). A good example is if I have qBittorrent open and downloading while I am browsing my home folder and have any web browser open with more than one tab the dimming happens and the unit is totally unresponsive for a few minutes, and heaven for bid I choose to copy a file to my backup drive around the same time. That never happens with Mint, But I really like the Unity desktop.

When you say "The latest version comes with a series of different graphics environments (Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, LXE, etc)." are these desktop packages to down load or do I have to grab the correct iso that has these and reinstall.

Thanks

[Fixed_Rider]

Neil,

Is Xubuntu a variation of Ubuntu without the Unity desktop? That is what is baffling me is all the little variations Ubuntu.
I'll start cruising around for other distros and run them off a USB for testing.

Thanks

[Neil]

Yes, Xubuntu is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop environment.
Some others I forgot to mention that are worth looking at are:
Zorin OS if you like the Windows 7 look to your desktop
Hybryde Linux if you are just wanting to experiment, as it has most of the desktop environments built in and you can switch from one to another without even having to log out and back in. Way cool! But, still kind of a gimmick, and only available in French, so if you don't read the language, you'll have to do some translating.

When you say "The latest version comes with a series of different graphics environments (Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, LXE, etc)." are these desktop packages to down load or do I have to grab the correct iso that has these and reinstall.

Once you have installed the basic system, be it pure Debian, or an Ubuntu derivative, any of those desktop environments are just an apt-get install away. Then if you find you don't like one, just apt-get remove [whatever], and it's gone.

[Tasurinchi]

That said I always get a failed installation when I try to install Ubuntu 12.4 or 12.10 from USB stick. It fails right at the point of installing the software packages

That's weird. So far I never had any problem installing from a USB Stick, and I have different distros on different sticks. Normally I use the universal USB installer from here.

The same link has also a multiboot installer, you can put all the distros you want to test in a single stick

[Fixed_Rider]

Yeah, I thought so myself. I have zero issues installing Mint along side Windows or as a standalone. But I only can install Ubuntu from the wubi.exe. I make my bootable usb's with a Win7 app "iso to usb".

I have the universal installer so I'll give that a shot.
Currently I have Win8 running on my x61 with 4gb ram and it runs very well. On x61s I am running Mint 13 now. I'll get some other distro's onto the usb stick and give them a whirl.

Thanks

[mikemex]

What happened to me is that I installed it and worked fine but on the first try to install something using the package manager something broke. And then on the next install for updates it simply refused to boot.

Not all distros are the same, there are a few worth noting such as GoboLinux. In GoboLinux every program is installed in its own folder, unlike the traditional UNIX arrangement in which you throw everything into a single folder. Shared folders are created from symlinks. It worked very well when I tried it it's just that the latest release is already years old.

[Fixed_Rider]

All,

I am happy to report I have found the solution!
I am running Unity on Mint Maya.
sudo apt-get install unity
hit Y when asked, then type in Unity after the install in complete to launch it.

so far I have opened quite a few apps without any dim screen lock ups.

I'll report back if anything changes

[Fixed_Rider]

Well I did post to soon. While running Mint with Unity I was watching my battery drain right before my eyes and the laptop got extremely hot.

Now for the life of me I cannot get Ubuntu to successfully install I've tried running the install from Win8 using the Wubi.exe. I've tried the universal installer and they all crap out when it comes to installing the software after the core components are installed.

Grrrr It appears that I may just run plain old Mint. I did try to install Precise Puppy and that it a bit technical for me and I trashed my Windows Partition too. 2x Grrr.

The saga continues

[Cigarguy]

Just installed Mint Maya on one of my T400 recently. I'm pleasantly very happy with this particular OS on this particular machine.

[Cigarguy]

Instead of installing from a Windows environment, have you tired a clean install from the Live CD?

[Fixed_Rider]

Yea, that was my intention was to run it standalone. Now I just successfully got it installed dual boot with Win8 RP and Ubuntu 12.10.
I'll run it a bit and see. if it performs any different but most likely I'll just wipe it all down and run Mint Maya.

[Dawnbreaker]

I'm a big fan of Kubuntu, however new versions of KDE are nice and stylish, but seem to run a bit laggy on my T61. That's why I swtiched to a light desktop environment, the LXDE (Lubuntu 12.10). Though it's way more simplified (some would even call it boring) than KDE (no widgets & fancy settings, at least not that much), it runs smoothly on my laptop. You can also check this Lubuntu 12.10 review -> http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.com/2012 ... eview.html

[farmall]

I just dumped Ubuntu for CentOS on my T61. Might as well use an "Enterprise" distro (essentially Red Hat) on business class hardware. I'm tired of Ubuntu substituting arbitrary "change" for quality. I've used Linux since 1999 and demand reliability and stability. I thus don't want any Ubuntu forks either. Debian Stable doesn't support my Intel wifi so that's out too. I require distros which run from their live media in case I need to rescue a system, and to download updates while installing.

Try the live DVD, from which you can also install effortlessly:

http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/6/isos/x86_64/

[DRobinson]

Why 12.10? You should use LTS version imo. That would be 12.04. I run Linux on many computers with lesser specs than your machine without issue. I have 12.04 with unity on a fujitsu slate. Unity is not the best on it. I do not do much multitasking with the slate.

I am running Xubuntu on a frankenpad-T20 now. Works well. I also have it on an old Eeepc w/ 2gig ram, no issues. I would stay away from wubi and probably even unity. Debian testing/wheezy is very stable. Pick the wm of your preference. I have a T60 that I will be getting going soon. Still debating if I should go Xubuntu on it or pure Debian (my work stations all run Debian)

The advantage *Ubuntu has over Debian is just in the initial setup. I tend to build my Debian installs up from a base install, so there is more package selection and tweaking initially. Ubuntu, I tend to stay closer to the default install.

[farmall]

aptosid, formerly Sidux, is an interesting Debian-based distro worth a shot for those who don't want to build from base, or just curious about aptosid defaults. It was fast on machines which were junk compared to OPs specs, so he might like to try it:

http://aptosid.com/

[tagumcity]

We've been running Arch Linux on the x31 and x200 with good results.