Linux on T42

[ziloo]

Hello Folks,

Which Linux is the most stable OS on T42?
How about driver availability....

ziloo

[ajkula66]

What level of functionality do you require from that T42 ? What is it going to be used for ?

How familiar are you with *nix in general ?

[ziloo]

I have a T42 lying around and I am a newbie to Linux;
So I thought I could turn it into a Linux box and use it
for basic work such as serial communication and file management.

ziloo

[RealBlackStuff]

LinuxLite would a good choice: https://www.linuxliteos.com/
If you want something Windows-like, then try Zorin OS 15.3 Lite: https://zorinos.com/download/#lite
Download it and burn it onto a DVD, using e.g. https://www.imgburn.com/

[skx]

I would say Debian, but as you are not linux experienced, go for Ubuntu, play for a while and move to Debian

[josh5k]

@ziloo What is the configuration of your T42? Were you able to install either of the distros that @RealBlackStuff mentioned?

Looking to buy a T40/41 this week to run a linux server for learning purpose.

[skx]

@ziloo What is the configuration of your T42? Were you able to install either of the distros that @RealBlackStuff mentioned?

Looking to buy a T40/41 this week to run a linux server for learning purpose.

no worries, such old machines run any distro flavor without any issues which distro you will run is only depending on personal choice, all hardware will be fully supported

[josh5k]

@ziloo What is the configuration of your T42? Were you able to install either of the distros that @RealBlackStuff mentioned?

Looking to buy a T40/41 this week to run a linux server for learning purpose.

no worries, such old machines run any distro flavor without any issues which distro you will run is only depending on personal choice, all hardware will be fully supported

LinuxLite would a good choice: https://www.linuxliteos.com/
If you want something Windows-like, then try Zorin OS 15.3 Lite: https://zorinos.com/download/#lite
Download it and burn it onto a DVD, using e.g. https://www.imgburn.com/

Thanks much. For the record I ended up installing Elementary OS on my T430 (along with XFCE and Fluxbox for geekier days). Other than a SD Card reader issue, everything else has worked smoothly - almost too well

[TRS-80]

XFCE is a very good Desktop Environment - lightweight, yet not lacking anything at the same time.

As someone pointed out, most distros really are the same under the hood. Main difference is in philosophy, in particular how strictly they adhere to Free Software ideals.

[RealBlackStuff]

I thought OP was talking about a T42, not a T430.

[josh5k]

I thought OP was talking about a T42, not a T430.

That was my bad - I hijacked the thread for my T430 query.

[atagunov]

... as you are not linux experienced, go for Ubuntu

My advice as well. Even if I consider myself relatively experienced I prefer Ubuntu My reason: Ubuntu is quite close to no hassle experience. Things generally just work. Only problem for me now is that Ubuntu 20.04 seems to have gotten into a habit of installing updates whenever it pleases without asking me, and once it does this my whole GUI environment gets reloaded - I'm getting a black screen for 10-30 seconds and then all apps are closed. Next time I install Ubuntu I'll be very careful not to click any checkboxes that allow this behaviour. This is on T520 btw. On the plus side I just love how quickly T520 boots with Ubuntu 20.04 compared to earlier versions of Ubuntu.

I'm not sure if Ubuntu's preference to use "snap"-s is of a benefit for an older memory-constrained machine like T42 though.. A "snap" means - in my understanding - that we're no longer having the memory saving due to shared libraries (.so) being "shared" - e.g. loaded once and shared by a number of running apps.