The classic story we've heard a million times

the classic story we've heard a million times
>have an old laptop
>want to breath new life into it by installing a linux distro
>ubuntu is really fat

I want to put a new, lightweight linux os onto my decrepit laptop but there are too many options, I'm like a kid in a candy store. I've kinda narrowed it down to lubuntu, linux lite or debian but I can't choose. what do you guys recommend?
I'm basically just going to be using it for looking at pictures, some basic photo editing with gimp, maybe some writing, and simple internet / google docs stuff. nothing fancy
im not sure if this is the type of thread that should get canned to /wsr/ but whatever. I want the big brains to school me

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xubuntu

debian

manjaro with xfce

Debian Netinstall

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux version, is in fact, GNU/Linux version, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux version. Linux version is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system.If you read this you lost the game. Reply or your mom will die in her sleep: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

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Debian netinst, then install xfce on it. Noob-friendly, fully functional and as lightweight as it can get.

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I. have FUCKING heard it already
how much performance will xubuntu give me over ubuntu?

you should start with listing your laptop specs. then you can ask for advice from there. in addition, since the ones you listed are quite easy to install, you could just test them all out within a matter of less than 2 hours.

Manjaro i3. Works well on my mother's trash 10 y/o laptop with some shitty 1.3ghz single core and processor.

>CPU
AMD A8-4500m 1.9 ghz
>Ram
3.49 gb
>Display
1366x768

Debian is looking cool right now, I might give it a shot.

antergos with Xfce.

I have the same apu and 8 gb ram and i run linux mint just fine

> there are too many options
Debian w/o GUI + install core GUI later. All distros with GUIs are bloated because they install it as one metapackage, if you remove OpenOffice form it, for example, everything goes to hell.

>how much performance will xubuntu give me over ubuntu?
A lot. Xubuntu works well on pretty much all computers built after 2008. If Xubuntu won't do the job for you, try Lubuntu, which is even lighter. You'll have full Debian/Ubuntu compatibility.

oh lol debian or lubuntu should be perfectly fine them, use lxde or something on top of it.

What theme? No way it's Arc Dark.

I'm gonna give debian a shot but I can't find any guides on installing a new linux distro from a usb when ubuntu is already installed. all the guides I find are one setting up dual boots and partitions. I want to get rid of ubuntu entirely and only have debian. i've got my drive already set up

I have an old thinkpad thats been running slow for a while now
will factory resetting it and installing linux help it run normally or will it be just as slow

> any guides on installing a new linux distro from a usb when ubuntu is already installed
dd if=/path/to/iso of=/your/USB/device
Not a partition, but a whole sdb or whatever you have, find its name with lsblk. Then boot from it

I broke it

debian + xfce

your ubuntu install sits on a partition of the harddrive. you need to format your drive and then select the empty space as an install point for debian

the debian installer allows me to select the entire drive as a partition, and I did so without formatting prior to that. the install failed initially and I got stuck on the grub2 screen with no kernel to be found

Well then, boot again and repartition.
It really does work with some filesystems, I have my exfat SD without partitions.