Linux for laptop

[Guest]

I have a windows 8 laptop that I mostly use as a folder (I got a desktop and ... you know the rest)

 

Windows takes FOREVER to load on my laptop, and is kinda a battery hog.

I was thinking of different Linux I could throw on that would be super lightweight.

I currently dual boot windows 8 and Ubuntu 16.04.01 but Ubuntu is still kinda hefty at times.

 

I had 2 thoughts so far. Browser OS, and DSL.

Browser OS cuz I basically use my laptop for word docs but I only use google docs so turning it into a chrome book seems like a good idea.

 

Or DSL. It's 50 MB.

 

I wasn't sure if DSL was a good idea as I wasn't sure how the driver support would be.
I have an i7 3450U, 16 GB DDR3L laptop, and an AMD R9 M275 mobile GPU.

 

 

 

The thing was to use it as a lightweight operating system for my laptop, but later to also install the same OS on my desktop where I use programs like;

Blender 3D, Unity Game Engine, Steam. (All 3 have Linux versions)

I considered running PC applications through wine, but I couldn't find out how it would if it would work on WINE. I have a few PC games, and Windows based game engines I wanted to use as well.

 

I previously heard that some Linux aren't Debian based or something, so certain Linux apps would run on Ubuntu, but not other distros of Linux because of the Debian base, so I wasn't sure if this was a common pitfall.

What is a good lightweight OS that has the potential for what I'm looking for? I want it to be as lightweight as possible. For instance, if I could run DSL (or puppy Linux (I think it's 12 MB)) but I have to manually install the drivers for everything, I'd do that if you can clearly explain, or show me a guide clearly explaining how to do so.

[Droidbot]

lubuntu or vanilla ubuntu running openbox and nothing else

 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

lubuntu or vanilla ubuntu running openbox and nothing else

Which version of Lubuntu or Ubuntu?

And what does openbox do? Is it a virtual machine software, or does it just let me install windows based applications natively?

[Droidbot]

2 minutes ago, fpo said:

Which version of Lubuntu or Ubuntu?

And what does openbox do? Is it a virtual machine software, or does it just let me install windows based applications natively?

 

Lubuntu latest LTS Release

Openbox is a super light super basic desktop environment

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, fpo said:

Which version of Lubuntu or Ubuntu?

And what does openbox do? Is it a virtual machine software, or does it just let me install windows based applications natively?

Newest version. No reason not to. 

 

Open box is a desktop environment. 

 

I gave fedora on my laptop and it's slower than yours. It runs fine. I wouldn't run a lightweight os. Not worth the drawbacks. 

 

 

Also for battery life windows Is normally better. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

Lubuntu latest LTS Release

Openbox is a super light super basic desktop environment

Why would I run Openbox instead of Lubuntu's built in desktop?

 

And can openbox run windows applications or no?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I gave fedora on my laptop and it's slower than yours. It runs fine. I wouldn't run a lightweight os. Not worth the drawbacks. 

 

Also for battery life windows Is normally better. 

What are some of the drawbacks that I would notice?
Does Fedora run better than Windows?

 

I haven't seen any tests of Linux vs windows so I wouldn't know. I just presumed lightweight OS use less resources and would use less battery.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, fpo said:

What are some of the drawbacks that I would notice?
Does Fedora run better than Windows?

 

I haven't seen any tests of Linux vs windows so I wouldn't know. I just presumed lightweight OS use less resources and would use less battery.

Using less cpu and ram doesn't always mean longerbattery . It's more how efficient you are with c states. 

 

Fedora runs about the same as Windows speed wise. I'd try it on a USB stick. Also in one's like dsl and Ubuntu with open be x you are missing out on lots of the pretty gui, one button search and others 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Using less cpu and ram doesn't always mean longerbattery . It's more how efficient you are with c states. 

 

Fedora runs about the same as Windows speed wise. I'd try it on a USB stick. Also in one's like dsl and Ubuntu with open be x you are missing out on lots of the pretty gui, one button search and others 

I grew up on windows XP. So is it basically just pretty and search functions? I'm mostly interested in speed, and being able to run windows based software. I want to get off of windows eventually. I'm just exploring how this stuff works. I'd be fine with a text based OS but I don't know the Linux command line commands.

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

2 hours ago, fpo said:

Or DSL. It's 50 MB.

DSL is dead, its too old now

2 hours ago, fpo said:

I previously heard that some Linux aren't Debian based or something, so certain Linux apps would run on Ubuntu, but not other distros of Linux because of the Debian base, so I wasn't sure if this was a common pitfall.

debian does have a lot of software but the above is generally not true. popular applications will be available in repos for other distributions

2 hours ago, fpo said:

What is a good lightweight OS that has the potential for what I'm looking for? I want it to be as lightweight as possible. For instance, if I could run DSL (or puppy Linux (I think it's 12 MB)) but I have to manually install the drivers for everything, I'd do that if you can clearly explain, or show me a guide clearly explaining how to do so.

you could use a base net install of debian or arch linux to achieve a lightweight custom installation, go to their respective wikis for instructions

1 hour ago, fpo said:

Why would I run Openbox instead of Lubuntu's built in desktop?

Open box is just a window manager it is not a complete desktop, no panels, or built in gui for wifi. Lubuntu uses LXDE which includes Openbox as its default window manager and has all the additional software required for a complete desktop environment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LXDE

 

If I were you i would just install a lighter desktop like LXDE or Mate on your existing Ubuntu installation; however Ubuntu's Unity desktop is pretty mature now and I doubt it will use more power; on a slower system with low ram and slow HDD you will notice a difference

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

DSL is dead, its too old now

debian does have a lot of software but the above is generally not true. popular applications will be available in repos for other distributions

you could use a base net install of debian or arch linux to achieve a lightweight custom installation, go to their respective wikis for instructions

Open box is just a window manager it is not a complete desktop, no panels, or built in gui for wifi. Lubuntu uses LXDE which includes Openbox as its default window manager and has all the additional software required for a complete desktop environment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LXDE

 

If I were you i would just install a lighter desktop like LXDE or Mate on your existing Ubuntu installation; however Ubuntu's Unity desktop is pretty mature now and I doubt it will use more power; on a slower system with low ram and slow HDD you will notice a difference

Do I need wine to install wine or something to use windows applications?

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

56 minutes ago, fpo said:

Do I need wine to install wine or something to use windows applications?

yes of course

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

yes of course

thanks. I'll see how to install Debian or arch Linux depending on which one is easier to figure out, or which one I like more. (Both sites are not beginner friendly imo.)

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

23 minutes ago, fpo said:

thanks. I'll see how to install Debian or arch Linux depending on which one is easier to figure out, or which one I like more. (Both sites are not beginner friendly imo.)

debian is much easier and quicker to set up. use the net install ISO to get desktop options at install time

[VicBar]

I would also recommend Arch (build it yourself), or if you want a graphical installation try Manjaro (prebuilt Arch). Manjaro comes with xfce4 Desktop environment which is lightweight and very customizable, or try lxde on a custom Arch install. Manjaro also has a program to install software, not unlike the ubuntu software center, so that can help you out.

 

Now about the "some programs working on Debian but not other distros".. Each distro can use a different package manager. Debian uses aptitude, (apt-get install...), and the packages are in lovely little .deb. Fedora for example uses DNF and .rpm for the packages. Arch (and therefore Manjaro) uses the pacman package manger with .pkg.

So if there is a program in Ubuntu which you want to install in another distro, you cant use the .deb BUT most assuredly the provider for that software may also provide the source code which you can build into whatever distro you use: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Build_System for more info..

 

The Arch Linux wiki is marvelous and helps no matter what distro you use.

[Dat Guy]

Given that the Linux ecosystem becomes fatter all the time and in the light of horrible quality assurance on Linux distributions, you might or might not be interested in giving OpenBSD a run too. Works great with ACPI and is very resource-friendly.

[Genius1237]

Your laptop's specs are pretty good. It should easily run Unity, GNOME or any other heavy desktop.

What kind of problems are you facing with Ubuntu?

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

My own laptop (Samsung NP900X4D-A01) uses an i5- 3317U and it's real fast on Mint MATE. 

Granted, the SSD helps a lot so you may want to look into that too if you're still using spinning rust. 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

debian is much easier and quicker to set up. use the net install ISO to get desktop options at install time

I watched this tutorial before I fell asleep and Arch seemed pretty easy to install, just I'd have to find a documentation. I used open suse at one college where most of what we wanted to do was with the command prompt or command line. (Forget what it was called.)

 

I couldn't find an installation guide, but I found this, and well... I didn't quite finish reading it.
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/install.pdf.en

 

9 hours ago, VicBar said:

I would also recommend Arch (build it yourself), or if you want a graphical installation try Manjaro (prebuilt Arch). Manjaro comes with xfce4 Desktop environment which is lightweight and very customizable, or try lxde on a custom Arch install. Manjaro also has a program to install software, not unlike the ubuntu software center, so that can help you out. I'll have to look into those.

 

Now about the "some programs working on Debian but not other distros".. Each distro can use a different package manager. Debian uses aptitude, (apt-get install...), and the packages are in lovely little .deb. Fedora for example uses DNF and .rpm for the packages. Arch (and therefore Manjaro) uses the pacman package manger with .pkg.

So if there is a program in Ubuntu which you want to install in another distro, you cant use the .deb BUT most assuredly the provider for that software may also provide the source code which you can build into whatever distro you use: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Build_System for more info.. So I just have to copy the source code and paste it into a Visual Studio equivalent?

 

The Arch Linux wiki is marvelous and helps no matter what distro you use. I don't quite understand it yet (I don't know a lot about linux) but it seems like it's pretty good for once you start getting a bit of understanding.

 

5 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

Given that the Linux ecosystem becomes fatter all the time and in the light of horrible quality assurance on Linux distributions, you might or might not be interested in giving OpenBSD a run too. Works great with ACPI and is very resource-friendly.

That sounds good. Is there a way to run windows applications on OpenBSD? Without running a full fledged virtual machine I mean.

3 hours ago, ptrck said:

Another distro you could look at is LXLE: http://www.lxle.net/

It's a relatively stripped linux version running on LXDE.

I'll check it out! VicBar recommended the same thing.

1 hour ago, Genius1237 said:

Your laptop's specs are pretty good. It should easily run Unity, GNOME or any other heavy desktop.

What kind of problems are you facing with Ubuntu?

I have no problems, it just seems slow, and bloated.

50 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

My own laptop (Samsung NP900X4D-A01) uses an i5- 3317U and it's real fast on Mint MATE. 

Granted, the SSD helps a lot so you may want to look into that too if you're still using spinning rust. 

I think I have a hybrid drive in my laptop. I saw mint before but I wasn't sure about it.

I just installed an SSD into my desktop. I don't know that I can afford a second. I'm mostly just installing it on my laptop to learn and get used to it before I put it on my desktop as my main Operating System.

[Dat Guy]

1 minute ago, fpo said:

Is there a way to run windows applications on OpenBSD? Without running a full fledged virtual machine I mean.

No, sorry - Wine is not compatible with OpenBSD and will probably not be any time soon because of security implications. (But then again, Wine is not known for being better performing than a real Windows anyway.) You might want to upgrade your hardware. FreeBSD supports Wine, but it has a notably larger overhead.

[Sprawlie]

The problem you've got doesn't sound like an OS problem, just a slow drive problem

 

your hardware listed so far is more than enough to get good performance out of any modern OS, including windows. your bottleneck isn't the software here, but the hard drives. 

 

I recommend if you can, the first thing you try is replacing your primary boot drive with an SSD. this will have tremendous performance gains over any mechanical drive. Especially Laptop focused ones that often trade performance for battery and heat management

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

snip

Ahh okay. I've been looking for ways to install wine on some of the different distros people have been recommending. I installed Virtual box onto the mac in my school's maclab. 

I understand enough German to follow what this guy is saying:

I'm trying to install it on a 16.04.01 version of Ubuntu even though the tutorial is doing a 10.04

 

7 minutes ago, Sprawlie said:

snip

I'm not looking at linux because my hardware is slow. Windows just bothers me for some reason. 
I do think my laptop's drive is slow, it's also about 3 years old now. I have seen an SSD boot up a laptop in about 3 to 5 seconds before in person. 

I'm just learning how linux works, and getting into having all open source software as opposed to Microsoft's closed software, and things like Autodesk and Adobe's subscription based licensing. Open source also helps a lot as I'm going into game development. Not having to pay someone else to make your game feels better. 

[Nfan]

Some laptops have better battery life with clean windows (bc proprietary drivers =( ). But if you want to improve linux battery life you should read these two and related articles: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop , https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Power_management . And it shouldn't be necessary Arch.

[Guest]

23 hours ago, Nfan said:

Some laptops have better battery life with clean windows (bc proprietary drivers =( ). But if you want to improve linux battery life you should read these two and related articles: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop , https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Power_management . And it shouldn't be necessary Arch.

I read through a little bit. It does look useful. I'll re-review these when I install my Linux OS. 

[VicBar]

Quote

So if there is a program in Ubuntu which you want to install in another distro, you cant use the .deb BUT most assuredly the provider for that software may also provide the source code which you can build into whatever distro you use: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Build_System for more info.. So I just have to copy the source code and paste it into a Visual Studio equivalent?

Not... exactly. You wouldn't build it with a VS equivalent (or any IDE for that matter), you would use a series of commands in the console (or terminal or cmd line or prompt - all synonims -). A series of comands that may be similar in any distro, (make all, make install) or specific like in arch you would use the ABS (Arch Build System):

Also maybe it comes from a git repository, Git being so useful to share code (and therefore open source software). Installing programs that require a git download usually give you the commands that you need to use in the terminal and include a script to do the installing for you (I've found).

 

Any way another short video that explains basic concepts in hopes that its useful to you: