• Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC?

    From Roger Blake@21:1/5 to Ant on Tue Aug 31 00:14:43 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 2021-08-30, Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote:
    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups, downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc.
    I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?

    I'm running Lubuntu 18.04 on a 2004-vintage Centrino laptop, and Debian 11
    with LXDE on an Asus Eee netbook from 2009. These are 32-bit 2GB systems
    with small SSDs installed. They're not speed demons but work fine. Don't
    expect to play HD video but SD works OK. (Though maybe with your video
    card you'll have better results.) I expect you'll do all right running
    Debian 11 on your setup. Some additional memory wouldn't be a bad idea.

    -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

    18 Reasons I won't be vaccinated -- https://tinyurl.com/ebty2dx3
    Covid vaccines: experimental biology -- https://tinyurl.com/57mncfm5
    The fraud of "Climate Change" -- https://RealClimateScience.com
    Don't talk to cops! -- https://DontTalkToCops.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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  • From Ant@21:1/5 to All on Mon Aug 30 18:22:37 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups, downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc.
    I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?

    Setup details:

    Intel Core 2 Q8200 (quad-core; default clock speeds; Socket 775 LGA;
    Yorkfield) with a Scythe Andy Master 120mm CPU cooler (SCASM-1000),
    Antec Sonata Proto mid tower ATX case, MSI P43 NEO3-F (MSI-7514)
    motherboard (latest BIOS), two 1 GB of Crucial RAM (Samsung DDR2 800
    (PC2-6400; 400 MHz), EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT PCIE video card (512 MB
    of VRAM), onboard RealTek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
    and Intel High Digital Audio (HDA), 600 watts Sea Sonic S12 PSU, ASUS TV
    Tuner Card 880 NTSC (cx23880), Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support, 3.5" floppy disk drive, Corsair Force
    Series F115 Solid-State Disk (SSD) (115 GB; CSSD-F115GB2-BRKT-A), two
    internal 3.5" SATA hard disk drives (HDDs) [Seagate ST3320620AS 320 GB
    and Western Digital Purple Surveillance 2 TB (6 Gbs; 50 MB cache; WDC WD20PURX-64P6ZY0)], Sabrent USB2+memory card reader front panel, and an
    Intel InBusiness 10/100 (82559) NIC (not connected). Running 64-bit
    Debian (Linux; oldoldstable v8/Jessie; kernel v3.16... x86_64) and
    updated 64-bit Windows 7 HPE SP1 (installed on 10/22/2016).

    Connected to an old (Y2K) Belkin Omni Cube (2-port; PS/2 and VGA) KVM to
    share a 23.6" 16:9 1920x1080 pixels ASUS VS247H-P monitor (LED; 2 ms,
    9/2014, etc.), a Dell 104-key PS/2 keyboard, and a three-buttons PS/2
    optical Logitech mouse.

    Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
    --
    Too many issues, allergies, videos, and free huge sized game trials!
    Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
    /\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
    / /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
    | |o o| |
    \ _ /
    ( )

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  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Ant on Tue Aug 31 04:39:44 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 31/08/2021 00:22, Ant wrote:
    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups, downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc.
    I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?
    Try Linux Mint Mate
    Verty good multimedia support. Not as dumbed as Cinnamon
    --
    "In our post-modern world, climate science is not powerful because it is
    true: it is true because it is powerful."

    Lucas Bergkamp

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  • From Marc Haber@21:1/5 to Ant on Tue Aug 31 10:59:26 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    [Please don't crosspost this wildly in the future, and at least set a Followup-To: header]

    ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
    Intel Core 2 Q8200 (quad-core; default clock speeds; Socket 775 LGA; >Yorkfield) with a Scythe Andy Master 120mm CPU cooler (SCASM-1000),
    Antec Sonata Proto mid tower ATX case, MSI P43 NEO3-F (MSI-7514)
    motherboard (latest BIOS), two 1 GB of Crucial RAM (Samsung DDR2 800 >(PC2-6400; 400 MHz),EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT PCIE video card (512 MB
    of VRAM),

    Do yourself the favor and upgrade your RAM to 8 GB, if the board
    allows that. Be careful not to exceed the remaining value of the
    entire machine doing so. And expect that the nVidia driver will not
    support the old graphics card any more.

    Consider ditching the entire machine and replacing it with a more
    recent, probably used, box.

    Greetings
    Marc
    --
    -------------------------------------- !! No courtesy copies, please !! ----- Marc Haber | " Questions are the | Mailadresse im Header Mannheim, Germany | Beginning of Wisdom " |
    Nordisch by Nature | Lt. Worf, TNG "Rightful Heir" | Fon: *49 621 72739834

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  • From Andreas Kohlbach@21:1/5 to Ant on Tue Aug 31 06:04:53 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On Mon, 30 Aug 2021 18:22:37 -0500, Ant wrote:

    Setup details:

    Intel Core 2 Q8200 (quad-core; default clock speeds; Socket 775 LGA; Yorkfield) with a Scythe Andy Master 120mm CPU cooler (SCASM-1000),
    Antec Sonata Proto mid tower ATX case, MSI P43 NEO3-F (MSI-7514)
    motherboard (latest BIOS), two 1 GB of Crucial RAM (Samsung DDR2 800 (PC2-6400; 400 MHz), EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT PCIE video card (512 MB
    of VRAM), onboard RealTek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
    and Intel High Digital Audio (HDA), 600 watts Sea Sonic S12 PSU, ASUS TV Tuner Card 880 NTSC (cx23880), Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support, 3.5" floppy disk drive, Corsair Force
    Series F115 Solid-State Disk (SSD) (115 GB; CSSD-F115GB2-BRKT-A), two internal 3.5" SATA hard disk drives (HDDs) [Seagate ST3320620AS 320 GB
    and Western Digital Purple Surveillance 2 TB (6 Gbs; 50 MB cache; WDC WD20PURX-64P6ZY0)], Sabrent USB2+memory card reader front panel, and an
    Intel InBusiness 10/100 (82559) NIC (not connected). Running 64-bit
    Debian (Linux; oldoldstable v8/Jessie; kernel v3.16... x86_64) and
    updated 64-bit Windows 7 HPE SP1 (installed on 10/22/2016).

    I wish I had your specs. My notebook is "only" nine years old, but with a Duo-Core CPU. Board has 4 GB RAM, running 32-Bit (PAE) Debian. The Gnome
    GUI runs fine - *if* not too many apps are running at the same time.

    Also have RealTek chips for network (Ethernet and WIFI) built in.

    F'up2 comp.os.linux.misc (I don't read the other groups).
    --
    Andreas

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  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Joerg Lorenz on Tue Aug 31 14:34:27 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 31/08/2021 14:19, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    Am 31.08.21 um 05:39 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 00:22, Ant wrote:
    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups, >>> downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc. >>> I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?
    Try Linux Mint Mate
    Verty good multimedia support. Not as dumbed as Cinnamon

    https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290

    Xfce should be even lighter on the system. Also good multimedia-support.


    Agreed, but if he can add some RAM. I feel Mate is a better "User
    Experience"

    --
    The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to
    rule.
    – H. L. Mencken, American journalist, 1880-1956

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  • From Joerg Lorenz@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 31 15:19:33 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    Am 31.08.21 um 05:39 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 00:22, Ant wrote:
    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups,
    downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc.
    I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?
    Try Linux Mint Mate
    Verty good multimedia support. Not as dumbed as Cinnamon

    https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290

    Xfce should be even lighter on the system. Also good multimedia-support.


    --
    De gustibus non est disputandum

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  • From Joerg Lorenz@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 31 16:16:57 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    Am 31.08.21 um 15:34 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 14:19, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290

    Xfce should be even lighter on the system. Also good multimedia-support.


    Agreed, but if he can add some RAM. I feel Mate is a better "User
    Experience"

    Really? I think that is a matter of taste. I always worked with Cinnamon
    on rather powerful machines. That is as good as a Mac OS-machine. This
    posting is written on a MacBook Air with a Cinnamon installed as sole OS.


    --
    De gustibus non est disputandum

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  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Joerg Lorenz on Tue Aug 31 15:47:16 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 31/08/2021 15:16, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    Am 31.08.21 um 15:34 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 14:19, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290

    Xfce should be even lighter on the system. Also good multimedia-support. >>>

    Agreed, but if he can add some RAM. I feel Mate is a better "User
    Experience"

    Really? I think that is a matter of taste. I always worked with Cinnamon
    on rather powerful machines. That is as good as a Mac OS-machine.

    In my book that is not really an upward step from Windows ;-)



    --
    “Progress is precisely that which rules and regulations did not foresee,”

    – Ludwig von Mises

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  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Joerg Lorenz on Tue Aug 31 17:59:25 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 31/08/2021 17:54, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    Am 31.08.21 um 16:47 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 15:16, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    Really? I think that is a matter of taste. I always worked with Cinnamon >>> on rather powerful machines. That is as good as a Mac OS-machine.

    In my book that is not really an upward step from Windows ;-)

    *Really*?!
    Everything is an improvement over Windows 1X, IMHO.
    MacOS is more sophisticated as far as the look is concerned but it is a digital prison.


    In a nutshell yes. My desktop is set up with a MAC look, but that's all


    --
    “It is not the truth of Marxism that explains the willingness of intellectuals to believe it, but the power that it confers on
    intellectuals, in their attempts to control the world. And since...it is
    futile to reason someone out of a thing that he was not reasoned into,
    we can conclude that Marxism owes its remarkable power to survive every criticism to the fact that it is not a truth-directed but a
    power-directed system of thought.”
    Sir Roger Scruton

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  • From Joerg Lorenz@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 31 18:54:02 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    Am 31.08.21 um 16:47 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:
    On 31/08/2021 15:16, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
    Really? I think that is a matter of taste. I always worked with Cinnamon
    on rather powerful machines. That is as good as a Mac OS-machine.

    In my book that is not really an upward step from Windows ;-)

    *Really*?!
    Everything is an improvement over Windows 1X, IMHO.
    MacOS is more sophisticated as far as the look is concerned but it is a
    digital prison.


    --
    De gustibus non est disputandum

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  • From Charlie Gibbs@21:1/5 to Joerg Lorenz on Wed Sep 1 04:21:00 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 2021-08-31, Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> wrote:

    Am 31.08.21 um 16:47 schrieb The Natural Philosopher:

    On 31/08/2021 15:16, Joerg Lorenz wrote:

    Really? I think that is a matter of taste. I always worked with Cinnamon >>> on rather powerful machines. That is as good as a Mac OS-machine.

    In my book that is not really an upward step from Windows ;-)

    *Really*?!
    Everything is an improvement over Windows 1X, IMHO.
    MacOS is more sophisticated as far as the look is concerned but it is a digital prison.

    On the rare occasions that I use my wife's Mac, I feel that
    I'm not so much using it as it is using me. See my .sig...

    --
    /~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
    \ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
    X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
    / \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.

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  • From TJ@21:1/5 to Ant on Tue Sep 14 22:42:55 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help
    XPost: comp.os.linux.misc

    On 8/30/21 19:22, Ant wrote:
    I'll be mainly doing basic stuff like web browsing, e-mails, newsgroups, downloads, listening to audio, watching videos, simple SSH2 server, etc.
    I currently run updated Debian Jessie v8's KDE which is fine but it
    doesn't get updates for years so it's time to move on for a clean/new
    Linux installation. Will getting Bullseye v11 be OK?

    Setup details:

    Intel Core 2 Q8200 (quad-core; default clock speeds; Socket 775 LGA; Yorkfield) with a Scythe Andy Master 120mm CPU cooler (SCASM-1000),
    Antec Sonata Proto mid tower ATX case, MSI P43 NEO3-F (MSI-7514)
    motherboard (latest BIOS), two 1 GB of Crucial RAM (Samsung DDR2 800 (PC2-6400; 400 MHz), EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT PCIE video card (512 MB
    of VRAM), onboard RealTek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet
    and Intel High Digital Audio (HDA), 600 watts Sea Sonic S12 PSU, ASUS TV Tuner Card 880 NTSC (cx23880), Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support, 3.5" floppy disk drive, Corsair Force
    Series F115 Solid-State Disk (SSD) (115 GB; CSSD-F115GB2-BRKT-A), two internal 3.5" SATA hard disk drives (HDDs) [Seagate ST3320620AS 320 GB
    and Western Digital Purple Surveillance 2 TB (6 Gbs; 50 MB cache; WDC WD20PURX-64P6ZY0)], Sabrent USB2+memory card reader front panel, and an
    Intel InBusiness 10/100 (82559) NIC (not connected). Running 64-bit
    Debian (Linux; oldoldstable v8/Jessie; kernel v3.16... x86_64) and
    updated 64-bit Windows 7 HPE SP1 (installed on 10/22/2016).

    Connected to an old (Y2K) Belkin Omni Cube (2-port; PS/2 and VGA) KVM to share a 23.6" 16:9 1920x1080 pixels ASUS VS247H-P monitor (LED; 2 ms,
    9/2014, etc.), a Dell 104-key PS/2 keyboard, and a three-buttons PS/2
    optical Logitech mouse.

    Hello, Ant.

    I can't answer your question, because I have zero experience with
    Debian. I use Mageia Linux, and have since its inception a decade ago,
    and I can say that your hardware would work just fine with Mageia 8.

    I would, however, echo some of the advice you've been given here to get
    the best you can out of Mageia. You should add some RAM - bring it up to
    4GB at least, and 8 would be better. With just 2GB you are likely to be
    using swap if you try to do more than one thing at a time, and that will
    hurt performance, even with an ssd.

    I'd also replace the Nvidia card with one from AMD, because Nvidia has
    become notorious for not supporting their older cards with proprietary
    drivers. While your current card may work OK with the open source
    nouveau driver, it also may not. I dumped my last Nvidia card two years
    ago because of this. The open source AMD drivers are much more capable
    in my experience.

    Ebay is an excellent place to look for lightly used older hardware
    upgrades - it is where most of my hardware has come from.

    I have a PC, on loan to my brother, with a 13 year old Intel DQ45CB motherboard, a Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, 8GB of RAM, AMD HD 8570
    video, and an ssd drive. He connects to the Internet with an Atheros
    AR9485 PCIe card. He is running Mageia 8 Linux with the Plasma DE, with
    no troubles at all. The video card uses the AMDGPU driver, but actually,
    for anything he's likely to do the onboard Intel graphics would be
    perfectly adequate.

    I also have an 18 year old Dell Inspiron 5100 that is successfully
    running Mageia 8 Linux. It has a 32-bit P4 processor, 2GB of RAM (the
    max for the hardware), downright ancient Radeon RV200 graphics, and an
    old Atheros wifi card. It is running 32-bit Mageia Xfce, currently using
    the 5.10.62 kernel. It's definitely no speed demon, but it works.

    TJ

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  • From Charlie Gibbs@21:1/5 to TJ@noneofyour.business on Thu Sep 16 08:02:12 2021
    XPost: comp.os.linux.help, comp.os.linux.misc

    On 2021-09-15, TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> wrote:

    I'd also replace the Nvidia card with one from AMD, because Nvidia has
    become notorious for not supporting their older cards with proprietary drivers. While your current card may work OK with the open source
    nouveau driver, it also may not. I dumped my last Nvidia card two years
    ago because of this. The open source AMD drivers are much more capable
    in my experience.

    I've had good results with nVidia cards. I have older ones (e.g.
    GeForce 630) in two of my boxes, and they run just fine with the
    proprietary drivers. You can get versions for older cards like
    mine from the Debian site.

    I've had trouble with nouveau - one of my boxes was locking up
    from time to time, and it straightened out when I replaced nouveau
    with the proprietary drivers. This was a few years ago - perhaps
    nouveau is working better now.

    I tried borrowing an ATI video card from a friend, and couldn't
    get it to work at all.

    I'm running Debian Buster on my machines.

    I'm writing this message on a Lenovo T410 laptop. I can't find
    an exact release date for it, but it came with Windows 7 and I've
    found reviews from 2010. So it might not be over 12 years old yet,
    but it's getting close - and although I'm not doing high-powered
    graphics on it, it does manage fairly well with Zoom and Skype.

    --
    /~\ Charlie Gibbs | They don't understand Microsoft
    \ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | has stolen their car and parked
    X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | a taxi in their driveway.
    / \ if you read it the right way. | -- Mayayana

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