Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008? MacBook Pro?

From	The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.hardware, comp.os.linux.help, comp.os.linux.misc, comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup
Subject	Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008? MacBook Pro?
Date	2022-06-19 13:49 +0100
Organization	A little, after lunch
Message-ID	<t8n617$76u$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<gYWdnXiEs-uJtTf_nZ2dnUU7-QVQAAAA@earthlink.com> <g1q1oi-oi3.ln1@lazy.lzy> <NIWdnaPTPMVr8zP_nZ2dnUU7-bvNnZ2d@giganews.com> <b5a3oi-hv5.ln1@lazy.lzy> <jd-dnfy9xauJlDL_nZ2dnUU7-c_NnZ2d@giganews.com>

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On 19/06/2022 12:31, Robert Heller wrote:
> At Sun, 19 Jun 2022 12:25:15 +0200 Piergiorgio Sartor? <piergiorgio.sartor.this.should.not.be.used@nexgo.REMOVETHIS.de> wrote:
> 
>>
>> On 19/06/2022 02.33, Robert Heller wrote:
>> [...]
>>>>> I have a 14 years old old MacBook Pro (15" A1260 model, unibody; 2.4 Ghz
>>>>> Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB (667 MHz) of DDR2 SDRAM, 200 GB HDD, NVIDIA
>>>>> GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB of VRAM), & Mac OS X (El Capitan v10.11.6))
>>>>> from early 2008. Its software are too old, unsupported, and too slow.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm thinking about replacing them with Linux, but which one would be
>>>>> suitable for it? I still want basic GUI like web browsing. I remember
>>>>> trying doing the same for an old PowerBook G4, but I couldn't get its
>>>>> wifi to work with various Linux installations. I hope this won't happen
>>>>> again with it.
>>>>
>>>> Do you really believe that Linux, magically,
>>>> will make things faster, better?
>>>>
>>>> A modern web browser alone will eat up all
>>>> the available RAM in few tabs...
>>>
>>> I've run Firefox with with like 6-8 windows (maybe as many as 10-12 tabs
>>> total) on a machine with only 2 Gig of RAM (still do [different machine]). I
>>
>> Oh, come on!
>>
>> Wasn't enough clear the example?
>>
>> 12 tabs with what? All with heavy javascript,
>> graphics, animations, videos?
> 
> Generally not videos, maybe animated ads (depends on what E-bay might be up
> to). .
> 
>>
>> And having also "libreoffice" with some large
>> document(s) open?
> 
> I don't use LibrOffice...  OTOH, I did use FreeCAD, KiCaD, and Fritzing on the
> Lenovo with only 2G and these programs worked reasonably well, as did Gimp.
> And I did do medium sized C++ compiles and non-trivial LaTeX runs.
> 
>>
>> And... And... And...
>>
>> The point is that the "desktop usage", or
>> "web browsing" means nothing.
>>
>> If the system is slow with the current OS,
>> does not mean that Linux will make it
>> suddenly faster. By magic.
>>
> 
> I've only ever used Linux, so I have no clue as to how the machines(s) would
> work with other O/Ss.
> 
>> Clearly, one can strip down everything and
>> browse the web with "lynx" or "links" or
>> whatever is that.
>>
>> Is this what the OP wants?
> 
> No clue.  I was just describing my experience. OTOH, if he keeps he current
> O/S, he is stuck with out-dated and unsupported O/S, which is probably bad.
> He would be better (?) off with a modern up-to-date Linux system.  Maybe not
> super fast, but usable for basic web-browsing and light e-Mail.
> 
> The idea that one needs a zillion gig of RAM is as silly as the need for a car
> < 2 years old.  Many people drive cars 10 (or more) years old.  The
> "obsession" with getting a NEW computer every 2 years is insane.  There are
> lots of older machines that are quite usable for most use cases.  Not, not so
> good for heavy gaming or high end office work maybe, but certainly for use for
> lightweight use cases.
> 
> 
The fact of the matter is that the only MINT installation that was 
barely useable was on a notebook with less than 1GB RAM.

2GB is usable.

BUT the cost of upgrading to an SSD and 4GB is probably less than 
$30...at which point its a totally new experience.

So its a question of value for money. Resale value of existing kit 
approximately zero.

so for an opportunity cost of $30, you can get performance and build 
quality that would cost $n00s


> 
>>
>> bye,
>>
> 


-- 
"The great thing about Glasgow is that if there's a nuclear attack it'll 
look exactly the same afterwards."

Billy Connolly

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What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-15 13:42 -0500
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? John McCue <jmccue@fuzzball.mhome.org> - 2022-06-15 20:23 +0000
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2022-06-15 23:16 +0000
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2022-06-15 18:48 -0500
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2022-06-16 02:52 +0000
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2022-06-16 16:29 -0400
          Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2022-06-17 08:17 +1000
          Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2022-06-16 18:01 -0500
          Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-17 11:03 +0100
            Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2022-06-17 21:58 +1000
              Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-17 16:32 +0100
              Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-17 16:33 +0100
                Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2022-06-18 10:28 +1000
            Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2022-06-17 17:35 +0000
            Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008 MacBook Pro? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2022-06-17 20:27 +0000
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2022-06-15 20:13 -0400
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2022-06-16 02:56 +0000
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org> - 2022-06-18 19:49 +0000
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-16 12:19 +0100
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2022-06-16 16:36 -0400
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-17 10:59 +0100
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net> - 2022-06-18 20:09 -0400
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net> - 2022-06-16 22:31 -0400
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? Piergiorgio Sartor <piergiorgio.sartor.this.should.not.be.used@nexgo.REMOVETHIS.de> - 2022-06-18 22:44 +0200
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008? MacBook Pro? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2022-06-18 19:33 -0500
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008? MacBook Pro? Piergiorgio Sartor <piergiorgio.sartor.this.should.not.be.used@nexgo.REMOVETHIS.de> - 2022-06-19 12:25 +0200
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008? MacBook Pro? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2022-06-19 06:31 -0500
          Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old? 2008? MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-19 13:49 +0100
            Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2022-06-19 09:25 -0500
              Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-19 17:37 +0100
              Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net> - 2022-06-21 00:48 -0400
                Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2022-06-21 11:11 +0100
                Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? "25.BX945" <25BZ495@nada.net> - 2022-06-22 00:48 -0400
                Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2022-06-22 16:23 +0000
                Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old?? 2008? MacBook Pro? "25.BX946" <25BZ496@nada.net> - 2022-06-23 01:22 -0400
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008? MacBook Pro? "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2022-06-19 09:36 -0400
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-25 23:59 -0500
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "25.BZ959" <25BZ959@nada.net> - 2022-06-26 01:31 -0400
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-26 01:42 -0500
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "25.BZ959" <25BZ959@nada.net> - 2022-06-26 23:34 -0400
  Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-27 14:13 -0500
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-27 14:15 -0500
    Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2022-06-27 15:59 -0400
      Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2022-06-27 18:02 -0500
        Re: What's the best low-end supported Linux to use in a very old 2008 MacBook Pro? "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2022-06-27 20:54 -0400

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