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Minimalist Distro

CornOnJacob
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Hi everyone,

    I'm looking for a minimalist distro, just to be used for internet, office applications, etc. I was thinking of installing Arch, because then I can just install the bare essentials, but I feel like there is an easier route. The computer is just for my friend and his siblings to use for homework at their dad's office while he is working. There is no point in spending $90 on a copy of windows, and distros like Mint (my favorite distro) have a lot of unnecessary programs for a basic PC like that. While a preinstalled IRC client might be useful, in this situation it is essentially bloat. 

    Also, the PC is a repurposed laptop--it isn't terribly weak, but the less stuff on it the better. (I don't know the exact specs of it).

 

TL;DR: recommend a good lightweight, basic distro for office applications that doesn't have a lot of stuff pre-installed.

 

Thank you,

    Jacob

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 | Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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Actually installing Arch is pretty painless nowadays.

I used the following tutorial, and had no problems (he also has some more vids on

setting up more stuff after the initial install):

I can't really comment on other lightweights from personal experience, but there's

actually a Wikipedia list on these things.

Not sure how up to date it is, but it might provide a starting point.

I've heard good things about Bodhi and Puppy, so maybe those are worth checking out.

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Debian Wheezy just came out, I would go with that. It's very minimal and the new gui installer makes it easy to get up and running.

Mess with the best, die like the rest.

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Debian Wheezy just came out, I would go with that. It's very minimal and the new gui installer makes it easy to get up and running.

 

Yea, id second that, its nice and basic.

Also Damn Small Linux isnt that bad either.

I'm just a soul who is up to no good.

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Really, just use Crunchbang. It's incredibly easy to install, super light weight, and very minimalistic with plenty of customisation to be had. I love it, I seriously can't use any other distro. I always go back.

Laptop Lenovo Thinkpad X220 - CPU: i5 2420m - RAM: 8gb - SSD: Samsung 830 - IPS screen Peripherals Monitor: Dell U2713HM - KB: Ducky shine w/PBT (MX Blue) - Mouse: Corsair M60

Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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Actually installing Arch is pretty painless nowadays.

I've installed Arch a couple times in a VM as practice, but I'm worried I'll forget to install something and it will be really hard to fix later on (e.g. I've read something about needing to install a package to control laptop fans, or else they won't work and the CPU will overheat). Is that true?

 

Debian Wheezy just came out, I would go with that. It's very minimal and the new gui installer makes it easy to get up and running.

I'll look into it, thanks!

 

Really, just use Crunchbang. It's incredibly easy to install, super light weight, and very minimalistic with plenty of customisation to be had. I love it, I seriously can't use any other distro. I always go back.

Thank you! It seems like my choices now are Debian Wheezy vs. Archbang/Crunchbang/Cinnarch (depending on DE).

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 | Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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I've installed Arch a couple times in a VM as practice, but I'm worried I'll forget to install something and it will be really hard to fix later on (e.g. I've read something about needing to install a package to control laptop fans, or else they won't work and the CPU will overheat). Is that true?

I used to have a Lenovo X300 a while back, and the problem was actually opposite: Without

that special program the fans would always run at 100%. Every other laptop I've installed

Arch on has not had this problem. I'm not sure if the problem was specific to Arch tbh, it

sounded like a power management issue, which would concern the kernel so it might have

affected other distros as well, not sure. I've never read about fans not spinning up at

all without additional tools (not saying it's impossible, but I've never read about it).

Anyway, the other suggestions that have been made sound reasonable as well, so if you don't

feel comfortable with Arch you should be able to find something that fits your needs. :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Peppermint OS is really easy to use for someone without linux experience, and will do the basics.

Otherwise, I'm a big fan of Manjaro Linux, it's Arch based, superfast, rolling release, no poisoned update packages like occasionally happens in Arch, but still AUR compatible.

The installer is ported from Mint Linux, very easy to use, Steam is preconfigured, which is a definite bonus.

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I used to have a Lenovo X300 a while back, and the problem was actually opposite: Without

that special program the fans would always run at 100%. Every other laptop I've installed

Arch on has not had this problem...I've never read about fans not spinning up at all without additional tools (not saying it's impossible, but I've never read about it).

Anyway, the other suggestions that have been made sound reasonable as well, so if you don't

feel comfortable with Arch you should be able to find something that fits your needs. :)

What happened to you is Probably what I read about--it's been awhile and I may have mixed up the details. Have you had any other similar problems?

Since a completely custom setup is not necessary in this case, I may go with something like Cinnarch instead. I guess it depends on the DE he wants.

If anyone is interested, I'll post how the setup went + laptop specs once I do it.

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 | Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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I'd just install crunchbang. It's fast, and pretty minimal. Comes with basic office apps along with openbox wm.

Tried arch but it broke for some reason... Might have another go some time.

Current rig: i5 2500k & Gtx 560ti With Filco MJ1 TKL & Neutron Gtx 120gb SSD

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What happened to you is Probably what I read about--it's been awhile and I may have mixed up the details. Have you had any other similar problems?

Nope, only on that laptop. I've installed Linux on two other laptops besides that one

(a Dell Precision M60 and a Dell XT2), both of them had no issues whatsoever.

Since Arch switched to systemd my XT2 even has very nice power management; standby works

on closing the screen. I turn the machine back on by opening it again and everything

works nicely.

If anyone is interested, I'll post how the setup went + laptop specs once I do it.

Always good to know what works on which laptop.

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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what an elegant way to say:

 

My computer is frikin slow...!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Really, just use Crunchbang. It's incredibly easy to install, super light weight, and very minimalistic with plenty of customisation to be had. I love it, I seriously can't use any other distro. I always go back.

screenshot please?

Cpu: Intel i5- 4570 | Ram: Crucial DDR3 8GB | Video Card: Evega GTX 660 Ti 2GB Super Clocked


Monitor: Philips 24" | Keyboard: CM Storm Quickfire TK | Mouse: Logitech G700s |


Steam

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screenshot please?

This is my laptop, Lenovo X220, it's customized a little. The Crunchbang installer is incredibly straightforward, and on fist boot will take you through a bunch of optional installed like Libre Office, printer support, web browser installation etc. By the way, Crunchbang is basically just Debian with the Openbox WM.

post-2523-0-40104500-1370146186_thumb.pn

Laptop Lenovo Thinkpad X220 - CPU: i5 2420m - RAM: 8gb - SSD: Samsung 830 - IPS screen Peripherals Monitor: Dell U2713HM - KB: Ducky shine w/PBT (MX Blue) - Mouse: Corsair M60

Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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This is my laptop, Lenovo X220, it's customized a little. The Crunchbang installer is incredibly straightforward, and on fist boot will take you through a bunch of optional installed like Libre Office, printer support, web browser installation etc. By the way, Crunchbang is basically just Debian with the Openbox WM.

wow its quite beautiful. as a fourteen year old i think it's quite important to have a pretty desktop even tho ill be using the terminal alot. anyway thanks for that.

Cpu: Intel i5- 4570 | Ram: Crucial DDR3 8GB | Video Card: Evega GTX 660 Ti 2GB Super Clocked


Monitor: Philips 24" | Keyboard: CM Storm Quickfire TK | Mouse: Logitech G700s |


Steam

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If you are looking for an Arch based distro but dont want to go thought the Arch install (which isn't too hard) then you could take a look at Archbang. http://archbang.org/

Rig: CPU: 1x quad core potato(4.6GHz). Cooling: Iced Tea. GPU: AMD HDToaster. Motherboard: Asus "Stale Bread Extreme Edition". RAM: 2x 4GB sticks of 1600MHz celery. PSU: 650w Roborovski Hamster in wheel.  Storage: Many Floppy Disks. 

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If you are looking for an Arch based distro but dont want to go thought the Arch install (which isn't too hard) then you could take a look at Archbang. http://archbang.org/

I've been thinking about Archbang, and it is my second choice. I don't actually know the specs of the laptop I will be installing this onto, so I don't know how lightweight the OS actually needs to be. (I finish the school year on the 12th, so I will be setting everything up after that). I think the XFCE desktop (in Manjaro) would be an easier transition for my friend and his siblings from Windows.

 

As my choices stand now:

 

1. Manjaro: Straightforward XFCE desktop, relatively lightweight, rolling release with a focus on stability (so I don't need to worry about an update breaking things, or lack of updates leading to a virus).

 

2. Archbang: Even lighter weight, rolling release.

 

I'll update this thread once I go through with the install.

[spoiler=My Current PC]AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2 Ghz | Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk II | Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 | 8GB Adata XPG V2 Silver 1600 Mhz RAM | Gigabyte 3X Windforce GTX 770 4GB @ 1.27 Ghz/7.25 Ghz | Rosewill Hive 550W Bronze PSU | Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 | Samsung Evo 250 GB SSD | Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD | ASUS VS239H-P | Razer Deathadder 2013 | Partlist

 

LTT Build-Off Thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/35226-the-ltt-build-off-thread-no-building-required/

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