Looking to build a Linux machine out of an old XP laptop. The ethernet port on it is toast, but everything else including the wireless work. It a dual core laptop with 4G memory. (Windoze only sees 3G) I was wondering what the recommended Linux would be. I used Unix back in the 1980's, so I should be able to come up to speed on Linux fairly quickly. I hope to be able to download Linux files and burn a CD/DVD install disk for it.

Thanks Muchly!

Greg

your laptop doesn't seems so old to require a lightweight distro.

You should somehow chose, you may use Debian (or ubuntu) that are not exactly light but then will run better then xp, and "slim down" to your need...the advantage is that they usually include already everything you may need, the disadvantage is that they also include a lot of things that you will never need

or do the contrary start with something really light, and add what you may need

Maybe this may be a good start http://crunchbanglinux.org/ it is based on ubuntu so you may use same packadges (and often that for Debian ),and is already reasonably slimmed down.
same for https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu

here some alternatives http://www.tuxradar.com/content/whats-b ... nux-distro

Best try them first - a good list of live distros that can boot from a usb is here.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

(providing your computer supports booting from a usb) Why use a usb? - speed and if you don't like the distro you can overwrite with another. Otherwise its back to burning CD's or increasingly DVD's.

Having said that, I have a much more modest laptop than yours, an old Tosh Tecra M1, with XP, LinuxMint 10 KDE and PCLOS E17 Enlightement all on a 40 GB HDD. Distros such as Linuxmint come with more applications than you will ever need, so good for a try out. There are 64 bit versions but not absolutely necessary since there are 32 bit linux kernels that handle > 4 GB memory.

If you can get your head around it, E17 is wonderful.

Biggest snag when it comes to graphics is the screen resolution, most are xga and only 786 deep. You can just about get away with Gimp but say Inkscape can be a problem.

Also, don't give up if the display initially sets up as 800x600 - easily fixed even if it might need a bit of hand editing. For problems, most distros have helpful forums (although ubuntu might be an exception to this, IMHO some intolerent people there. )

I will definitely want something with a higher graphic setting than xga. Between my photography and Gimp I will exceed that in each. I never even thought that graphic resolution would be a question in Linux. Like I said, it's been many years since I touched Linux or Unix.

This is all very off gimp stuff but FWIW

nothing to do with the OS, it is a laptop hardware thing. Whatever the graphics chip will provide in WinXP, linux will match.

Best thing is to try and find out.

That's good. The laptop has a good resolution and I would love to use the full resolution of it.

Running Kubuntu (Ubuntu with a KDE desktop). Installed in 20 minutes in my Lenovo Thinkpad.

Your 3GB problem with Windows will also be here with Linux, your have 4GB or RAM but only 3GB of address are available due to the PC architecture (video buffer and I/O have addresses in the 3GB-4GB range). Anyway to use significantly more than 3GB you would have to use a 64-bit version and this requires at least 8GB (because programs in 64-bit mode eat a lot more memory).

I've been using Mint for a year now. I absolutely love it. Took a little ojt to make the from vista to linux, but it was worth it. I did try many distros from live cd, then dual booted for a while with various systems, then made the decision to go with Mint. It's great and has a great support system.

I'm assuming Mint is another "flavor" of Linux?

http://www.linuxmint.com/ that it is I have no idea about Linux just bored so I googled that

I do a really bad job recognizing Sarcasm sometimes by the way

Mint is awesome. Try Mint 10 - Julia - from usb or dvd. It was not too difficult to learn. And as my earlier post said, the support group -- live chat 24/7 -- is a great place to seek help if you need it. If you try any out, this is a must. I tried Mint, Sabayon - which a liked also -- Fedora, Debian, and various other ubuntu derivatives. Mint one out -- with Sabayon a close second. I still play with the Sabayon releases. Seemed just a little harder to learn.

Thanks Much! The machine I want to put it on, is a Lenovo Thinkpad.

so now if I am correct I could burn a form of Linux right onto a CD and "try it out" before installing it?

That would certainly be interesting.

Does that mean yes?

I don't know.

well you may always try before install, for sure is a good idea

But also after try you may have surprises..
I had a bad surprise with the wireless, using Ubuntu as a live everything went fine , it read my driver, asked about installing not free drivers, and once accepted connection was painless

That as Live Dvd ..instead once installed was a problem...to install the wireless drivers now UBUNTU required a internet connection for dl the driver!
And point as software source were search the driver the live DVD didn't helped
Fixed quickly
i just had to connect with a cable for a few minutes and all drivers were installed...but if the cable connection was not available would be a problem

Go back and have a look at previous post, about booting usb vs. CD/DVD. Nearly all the main distros have 'live' iso's available, so you can try before installing.

As for lack of ethernet, it should not be a problem, surely your laptop has regular wireless as well as 3G. The latest distros are very good at finding hardware and wireless is rarely a problem these days. As for 3G, even that is not so problematic. I have a usb 'dongle' 3G and PCLOS E17 found it and even had a preset for the service provider. Easiest setup ever. LinuxMint KDE found it but I had to enter the setup manually, (which amounted to entering *99#) not a big deal.

Here is are some screen shots from the same ancient Tosh M1
http://imgur.com/AuXos

If you look at them, they are quite different, E17 is a bit experimental and LinuxMint KDE more traditional. One thing you have to remember, Linux is not M$ so don't try and compare, just accept the differences and keep an open mind. Unlike windows linux does not spoon-feed you or treat you like a child, so be prepared for a (small) learning curve.

My experience with trying out different distros is that you never know in advance what will work with your computer. I tried Kubuntu and Lubuntu and on one computer Kubuntu worked out of the box, on another I couldn't get wireless to work. But on that other computer Lubuntu worked like a charm while I had nothing but troubles with it on the first computer. So you don't know until you try. Your laptop sounds like it can handle all modern ones when it comes to speed so that's not a problem.

Best thing you can do is try before you install. Burn a bunch of live CDs or make a live USB out of the ISO files you've downloaded and see which distro works for you and is compatible with your laptop. On the Ubuntu website is a very good guide on how to make a live USB.

I've had the best success with linux Mint 10.

If i were you i would order the CD through snail mail - takes about 4 weeks to get it.
Then you can either install it side by side with your windows - or un-install windows and do a full Linux install.

I ordered mine through the mail - it's free although you can give a donation if you would like.