Computer touchers: what's a good easy to install linux for a low power streaming box?

Submitted by Dogmantra in just_post

I have an old junky netbook that I am using to "ensmartify" my television (read: watch streaming things on). However it came with windows 10 and does not have an easy time with it and tbh neither do I, I hate windows 10. I desire a more lightweight OS with the following being my requirements:

  • I can put firefox with ublock on it and go on video websites.
  • works with my wireless mouse/keyboard (this is almost certainly given, it claims to work with basically any OS)
  • very little or ideally no messing about with command lines
  • the netbook has a broken screen and will only work with an external display. The setup process must allow me to exclusively use an external display

I have no idea about linux beyond messing about with knoppix discs as a teenager. Help would be appreciated :)

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twovests wrote

Pop! OS: https://pop.system76.com/ is the Linux distro I recommend for basically everybody.

It's based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian, so it has most of the community knowledge around support. It's the "happy path". Pop! OS is nice because it removes the bad part of Ubuntu, called "snaps", but keeps the rest.

The only thing I'm not certain about is using the external display. That's something you will probably need to figure out from googling ;(

As a side note: Befriending the command line is daunting, but pays dividends. A lot of the help online will recommend the command line. You can't avoid it entirely, and it's a superpower.

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twovests wrote

I forgot to ask, can you give the make/model/specs of your netbook? That will help a ton

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Dogmantra OP wrote

it is a very generic piece of garbage by Thomson which is a company I did not know made computers before I got it, and the model number is UK-NEO10A-2BK32. It has an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (1.44GHz) and a whopping 2GB of RAM. I can't imagine it has anything but integrated graphics.

Has a micro SD slot if that is in some way more useful than installing via USB.

Thank you much! I shall look at Pop! and any future recommendations and see if they can mount the main hurdle of a busted display.

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twovests wrote

Looking at those specs, I think I ought to recant my Pop recommendation and look for a more light-weight Linux, specifically the Xfce Linux Mint: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

As a bonus, Linux Mint XFCE is very "Windows" shaped, still based on Debian, and even more lightweight than Pop! OS.

(I would also recommend using USB and not MicroSD. I don't know why, but I've had problems with using SD cards instead of USB drives on laptops.)

Doing some searching, it seems like people installing Linux on a laptop with a broken screen are usually able to do so by disconnecting the monitor. I can't find the repair manual for this, so this might be difficult... (I would try connecting a monitor at least, to see if you can access BIOS without )

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Dogmantra OP wrote

oh good news is that I have had this machine open before and I know exactly where the ribbon cable is - it's the fact it's not properly connecting that makes it broken in the first place, so best case scenario it's already disconnected (and worst case is that I just need to take out the very easily accessible cable!)

thank you once more :)

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twovests wrote

That IS good news :D Please feel free to ping us / me here, I love getting people into the Linux Cult

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Dogmantra OP wrote

install took a little while but was very painless. mint now installed and yeah this little machine can actually cope with web browsing and playing a youtube or iplayer video now which is really all I wanted it to do so thank you!

I shall probably be joining the linux cult at some point because I've had nothing but unpleasant experiences trying to get windows 10 to do what I want it to, and mint's very first thing being a popup saying "hey come and mess about with the settings til you have them how you like them" was sort of the nail in the coffin. I doubt I'll be migrating until I have to but when windows 10 stops working I am sure as heck not going to move to another windows unless microsoft bucks their ideas up bigtime!

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twovests wrote

This makes me happy to hear :D Please consider me / us / a resource for any questions you have. I'd be happy to hear any updates too c:

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