• suggestions for a different distribution/project for older laptop

    From jkn@21:1/5 to All on Sat Aug 31 09:46:29 2024
    Hi all
    a slightly silly question ...

    I have a newly-spare old laptop; it's a Thinkpad T420 with I5 processor,
    8GB DRAMy, SSD.

    I like Thinkpads a lot - most of our 'household' machines are these. My
    own have got Linux distributions of various sorts on them (usually
    Kubuntu) and I use them for general 'work'.

    I have no pressing need to do anything with this one, but wondered about
    a little project to install and try out something 'different' on it.
    Trying Yet Another Linux Distribution doesn't sound too thrilling
    (although it might be nice to use something with a different window
    manager, and without systemd).

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the
    beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

    Thanks, J^n

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to jkn on Sat Aug 31 08:56:26 2024
    On 31/08/2024 in message <vaul95$v02f$1@dont-email.me> jkn wrote:

    Hi all
    a slightly silly question ...

    I have a newly-spare old laptop; it's a Thinkpad T420 with I5 processor,
    8GB DRAMy, SSD.

    I like Thinkpads a lot - most of our 'household' machines are these. My
    own have got Linux distributions of various sorts on them (usually
    Kubuntu) and I use them for general 'work'.

    I have no pressing need to do anything with this one, but wondered about a >little project to install and try out something 'different' on it. Trying
    Yet Another Linux Distribution doesn't sound too thrilling (although it
    might be nice to use something with a different window manager, and
    without systemd).

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the >beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

    Thanks, J^n

    There's an interesting summary here:

    https://www.techradar.com/news/best-alternative-operating-systems

    I quite fancy ReactOS or ArcaOS, just short of round tuits!

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it

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  • From jkn@21:1/5 to Jeff Gaines on Sat Aug 31 10:08:14 2024
    On 31/08/2024 09:56, Jeff Gaines wrote:
    On 31/08/2024 in message <vaul95$v02f$1@dont-email.me> jkn wrote:

    Hi all
       a slightly silly question ...

    I have a newly-spare old laptop; it's a Thinkpad T420 with I5
    processor, 8GB DRAMy, SSD.

    I like Thinkpads a lot - most of our 'household' machines are these.
    My own have got Linux distributions of various sorts on them (usually
    Kubuntu) and I use them for general 'work'.

    I have no pressing need to do anything with this one, but wondered
    about a little project to install and try out something 'different' on
    it. Trying Yet Another Linux Distribution doesn't sound too thrilling
    (although it might be nice to use something with a different window
    manager, and without systemd).

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off
    the beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

    Thanks, J^n

    There's an interesting summary here:

    https://www.techradar.com/news/best-alternative-operating-systems

    I quite fancy ReactOS or ArcaOS, just short of round tuits!


    Thanks, I think I have seen an older version of that article, that is
    the kind of thing I was looking for.

    I did slightly wonder about Plan9 (I have a very distant connection with
    some of the originators), but I think I have enough going on in my life
    without that.

    I always wanted to take a look at BeOS, now might be the time to try
    Haiku...

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  • From Daniel James@21:1/5 to jkn on Sun Sep 1 13:07:34 2024
    On 31/08/2024 09:46, jkn wrote:
    I have a newly-spare old laptop; it's a Thinkpad T420 with I5
    processor, 8GB DRAMy, SSD.

    Shame, if it were a T410 it would have a much nicer keyboard.

    ... it might be nice to use something with a different window
    manager, and without systemd ...

    Systemd is a curse, and learning to live without it would be a
    worthwhile endeavour. I must do that, sometime.

    Window managers and desktop environments are really not so different,
    but they give rise to a lot of strong feeling. When I first started
    playing with Linux I used KDE, and when I first found myself using it
    for client work I had (for various good reasons) to use Gnome. When I
    decided to get away from Microsoft altogether I tried a number of
    different distros and a number of different DEs before settling on
    Debian Mate. It's a journey worth taking, and it's interesting how the
    scenery changes (and how the presence or absence of even quite small
    features can make a huge difference to the usability of a system -- for
    one person but not another).

    When I first started playing I used Gentoo Linux, which was a great
    learning experience, but quite time- (and electricity-) consuming when
    you need to rebuilt the whole system. I haven't the patience to use it
    now, but I learned a lot. If you've never experienced Gentoo I'd
    recommend giving it a whirl ... or go completely crazy and try Linux
    from scratch.

    --
    Cheers,
    Daniel.

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Daniel James on Sun Sep 1 14:13:51 2024
    On 01/09/2024 in message <vb1lag$1frfa$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James wrote:

    When I decided to get away from Microsoft altogether I tried a number of >different distros and a number of different DEs before settling on Debian >Mate. It's a journey worth taking, and it's interesting how the scenery >changes (and how the presence or absence of even quite small features can >make a huge difference to the usability of a system -- for one person but
    not another).

    May I ask a question about mate, mate :-)

    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in
    "hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I
    don't know its roots.

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant

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  • From Jaimie Vandenbergh@21:1/5 to All on Sun Sep 1 14:17:34 2024
    On 1 Sep 2024 at 15:13:51 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 01/09/2024 in message <vb1lag$1frfa$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James wrote:

    When I decided to get away from Microsoft altogether I tried a number of
    different distros and a number of different DEs before settling on Debian
    Mate. It's a journey worth taking, and it's interesting how the scenery
    changes (and how the presence or absence of even quite small features can
    make a huge difference to the usability of a system -- for one person but
    not another).

    May I ask a question about mate, mate :-)

    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in
    "hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I
    don't know its roots.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATE_(desktop_environment)

    Mah-tey, from the tea.

    Cheers - Jaimie
    --
    Sent from my Amiga 1000

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to Vandenbergh on Sun Sep 1 14:57:19 2024
    On 01/09/2024 in message <ljjbbuFk3pjU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
    Vandenbergh wrote:

    On 1 Sep 2024 at 15:13:51 BST, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
    wrote:

    On 01/09/2024 in message <vb1lag$1frfa$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James
    wrote:

    When I decided to get away from Microsoft altogether I tried a number of >>>different distros and a number of different DEs before settling on Debian >>>Mate. It's a journey worth taking, and it's interesting how the scenery >>>changes (and how the presence or absence of even quite small features can >>>make a huge difference to the usability of a system -- for one person but >>>not another).

    May I ask a question about mate, mate :-)

    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in >>"hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I >>don't know its roots.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATE_(desktop_environment)

    Mah-tey, from the tea.

    Cheers - Jaimie

    Ooh, there's posh :-)

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    I was standing in the park wondering why Frisbees got bigger as they get closer.
    Then it hit me.

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  • From Daniel James@21:1/5 to Jeff Gaines on Sun Sep 1 17:13:16 2024
    On 01/09/2024 15:13, Jeff Gaines wrote:
    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in
    "hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I
    don't know its roots.

    As Jaimie says, it's mah-tey (or mah-tay, perhaps) from the drink (it's
    an infusion, but not really a tea as it's from a different plant).

    As you might imagine, this has been asked before ...

    https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/how-to-pronounce-mate/

    --
    Cheers,
    Daniel.

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  • From Raj Kundra@21:1/5 to jkn on Sun Sep 1 18:47:00 2024
    On 31/08/2024 09:46, jkn wrote:
    Hi all
        a slightly silly question ...

    I have a newly-spare old laptop; it's a Thinkpad T420 with I5 processor,
    8GB DRAMy, SSD.

    I like Thinkpads a lot - most of our 'household' machines are these. My
    own have got Linux distributions of various sorts on them (usually
    Kubuntu) and I use them for general 'work'.

    I have no pressing need to do anything with this one, but wondered about
    a little project to install and try out something 'different' on it.
    Trying Yet Another Linux Distribution doesn't sound too thrilling
    (although it might be nice to use something with a different window
    manager, and without systemd).

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

    Thanks, J^n
    Install MSDOS on it and play.
    then install Windows 3.1 and see if you can get sound card etc working
    under it.

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  • From wasbit@21:1/5 to Jeff Gaines on Mon Sep 2 09:53:56 2024
    On 01/09/2024 15:13, Jeff Gaines wrote:
    On 01/09/2024 in message <vb1lag$1frfa$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James wrote:

    snip <

    May I ask a question about mate, mate :-)

    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in
    "hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I
    don't know its roots.


    Probably a mispronounced instruction by a native whilst passing on an
    order from his colonial master to bring me meh tay.

    --
    Regards
    wasbit

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  • From Jeff Gaines@21:1/5 to wasbit on Mon Sep 2 09:05:42 2024
    On 02/09/2024 in message <vb3uf4$351g9$1@dont-email.me> wasbit wrote:

    On 01/09/2024 15:13, Jeff Gaines wrote:
    On 01/09/2024 in message <vb1lag$1frfa$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James
    wrote:

    snip <

    May I ask a question about mate, mate :-)

    My Linux box has Ubuntu MATE on it. Is MATE pronounce like mate as in >>"hello mate, how are you" or something more complicated like "matay", I >>don't know its roots.


    Probably a mispronounced instruction by a native whilst passing on an
    order from his colonial master to bring me meh tay.

    Yes, massah :-)

    --
    Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
    Thanks for teaching me the meaning of plethora, it means a lot.

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  • From Daniel James@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 2 13:01:58 2024
    Probably a mispronounced instruction by a native whilst passing on an
    order from his colonial master to bring me meh tay.

    ... except that it's a South American drink made fron a local herb now
    known by a name that is a Spanishification (Hispanization?) of a native Paraguayan word. It doesn't have an accent because it's Spanish and in
    Spanish it doesn't need one.


    --
    Cheers,
    Daniel.

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  • From IanJ@21:1/5 to jkn on Mon Sep 2 22:56:18 2024
    jkn <jkn+es@nicorp.co.uk> wrote:

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.


    You could give OpenBSD a go. I run it on my X61s, my VPS and my HP T620
    thin client, which is my desktop computer.

    If you wish to stick with linux, but without the systemd, you could try
    devuan, if you like debian-like distros. Or you could try something a
    little more out there like void linux or alpine linux.

    Have a look see if any of those take your fancy.

    --

    IanJ

    gopher://gopher.icu

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  • From SH@21:1/5 to IanJ on Tue Sep 3 08:36:51 2024
    On 02/09/2024 23:56, IanJ wrote:
    jkn <jkn+es@nicorp.co.uk> wrote:

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the
    beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.


    You could give OpenBSD a go. I run it on my X61s, my VPS and my HP T620
    thin client, which is my desktop computer.

    If you wish to stick with linux, but without the systemd, you could try devuan, if you like debian-like distros. Or you could try something a
    little more out there like void linux or alpine linux.

    Have a look see if any of those take your fancy.


    what is the issue with Systemd?

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  • From Mike Scott@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 3 08:47:34 2024
    On 03/09/2024 08:36, SH wrote:
    On 02/09/2024 23:56, IanJ wrote:
    jkn <jkn+es@nicorp.co.uk> wrote:

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off the >>> beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.


    You could give OpenBSD a go. I run it on my X61s, my VPS and my HP T620
    thin client, which is my desktop computer.

    If you wish to stick with linux, but without the systemd, you could try
    devuan, if you like debian-like distros. Or you could try something a
    little more out there like void linux or alpine linux.

    Have a look see if any of those take your fancy.


    what is the issue with Systemd?

    Principle. It seems to me that it's a break with the *nix concept of
    having one program do one job and do it simply and well. It seems to me (outside the circle of systemd experts) that it's monolithic, arcane and
    a big shift in a windows-like direction, trying to be an OS in its own
    right. A bit like windows under msdos. IMBW.

    BTW BSD's work well. I've got FreeBSD running on a Pi4 as our family
    server. Been running for about 9 months solid now since last booted.
    OTOH outside s/ware tends to be linux- oriented if it's not windows,
    although the fbsd package repo isn't bad.

    --
    Mike Scott
    Harlow, England

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  • From jkn@21:1/5 to Mike Scott on Thu Sep 5 20:12:39 2024
    On 03/09/2024 08:47, Mike Scott wrote:
    On 03/09/2024 08:36, SH wrote:
    On 02/09/2024 23:56, IanJ wrote:
    jkn <jkn+es@nicorp.co.uk> wrote:

    So I'm looking for suggestions as to something a teensy bit more off
    the
    beaten track. I realise this is a 'how long is a piece of string'
    question, but I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.


    You could give OpenBSD a go. I run it on my X61s, my VPS and my HP T620
    thin client, which is my desktop computer.

    If you wish to stick with linux, but without the systemd, you could try
    devuan, if you like debian-like distros. Or you could try something a
    little more out there like void linux or alpine linux.

    Have a look see if any of those take your fancy.


    what is the issue with Systemd?

    Principle. It seems to me that it's a break with the *nix concept of
    having one program do one job and do it simply and well. It seems to me (outside the circle of systemd experts) that it's monolithic, arcane and
    a big shift in a windows-like direction, trying to be an OS in its own
    right. A bit like windows under msdos. IMBW.

    BTW BSD's work well. I've got FreeBSD running on a Pi4 as our family
    server. Been running for about 9 months solid now since last booted.
    OTOH outside s/ware tends to be linux- oriented if it's not windows,
    although the fbsd package repo isn't bad.


    Hi all - sorry for the delayed reply, I have been away.

    Brief summary - I used to use Gentoo years ago, but it got to need more enthusiasm than I had at the time. I see Daniel Robbins had a bit of a
    falling out ... I probably won't head back there, although I remember
    Gentoo with some fondness.

    I am probably going to choose between a BSD, or Haiku, as mentioned
    previously.

    Oh, and the T420 *does* have the proper Thinkpad keyboard. Later models
    don't ... but I am actually typing this on a T430 which I have
    retrofitted with a T420 keyboard ;-)

    Cheers, J^n

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