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

From	TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.questions, comp.os.linux.setup, comp.os.linux.help, comp.os.linux.misc, comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject	Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC?
Date	2021-09-14 22:42 -0400
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<shrmjh$771$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<m9Sdna3loJ6g9bD8nZ2dnUU7-e1QAAAA@earthlink.com>

Cross-posted to 5 groups.

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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

Thread

Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2021-08-30 18:22 -0500
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2021-08-31 00:14 +0000
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-08-30 17:57 -0700
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 04:39 +0100
    Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-31 15:19 +0200
      Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 14:34 +0100
        Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-31 16:16 +0200
          Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 15:47 +0100
            Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-31 18:54 +0200
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 17:59 +0100
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-08-31 11:52 -0700
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2021-09-01 04:21 +0000
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-08-31 01:07 -0400
    Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-08-31 11:01 +0200
      Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-08-31 11:01 -0400
        Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-01 11:07 +0200
          Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-09-01 07:55 -0400
            Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-01 13:10 +0100
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-01 23:58 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2021-09-02 13:04 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-03 01:56 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-03 08:44 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2021-09-03 11:22 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-04 00:31 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-04 10:56 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-09-04 11:44 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-09-04 08:04 -0700
                OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Rinaldi <rm@nunya.inv> - 2021-09-04 10:28 -0500
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-09-04 08:41 -0700
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-04 18:33 +0100
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-05 00:53 -0400
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-09-05 08:57 +0200
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-09-05 12:12 -0400
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-05 20:01 -0400
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-09-04 08:42 -0700
                Re: OT Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-09-04 08:45 -0700
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-04 18:32 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-09-03 19:51 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-03 23:48 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-04 08:44 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-05 00:07 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-05 08:16 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-05 09:36 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-05 12:50 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2021-09-05 09:33 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2021-09-04 11:22 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-09-04 11:46 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Stéphane CARPENTIER <sc@fiat-linux.fr> - 2021-09-04 17:47 +0000
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-05 09:35 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-05 19:34 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2021-09-06 02:14 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 08:43 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 08:45 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-07 01:54 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-07 08:44 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-08 01:36 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 07:46 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-09 01:53 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-09 07:41 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-10 01:52 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 08:46 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 10:57 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 12:12 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 13:06 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-08 13:29 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-09-08 14:17 +0300
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-09 02:04 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-09 07:46 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-10 02:51 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-10 09:49 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-11 02:03 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-11 07:19 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-11 08:32 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-12 00:17 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-12 09:09 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-12 23:43 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-12 11:33 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-09-06 11:08 +0300
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 09:24 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-09-06 12:38 +0300
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 12:21 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SevenOverSix <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-07 02:20 -0400
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 11:39 +0100
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-06 12:22 +0100
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-02 09:29 +0200
                Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-02 09:48 +0100
          Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-01 23:32 -0400
            Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-02 09:30 +0200
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-03 00:04 -0400
            Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Stéphane CARPENTIER <sc@fiat-linux.fr> - 2021-09-04 17:58 +0000
              Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? SixOverFive <hae274c.net> - 2021-09-05 00:22 -0400
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-08-31 10:59 +0200
    Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 10:46 +0100
      Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 10:50 +0100
        Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 10:57 +0100
      Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2021-09-01 11:09 +0200
        Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-01 10:42 +0100
          Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2021-09-01 13:47 +0200
            Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Stéphane CARPENTIER <sc@fiat-linux.fr> - 2021-09-04 18:09 +0000
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-31 06:04 -0400
    Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-31 11:42 +0100
  Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2021-09-14 22:42 -0400
    Re: Is Debian still good for GUI stuff in an over 12 yrs. old PC? Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2021-09-16 08:02 +0000

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