Hey everyone! I recently dug up my old Panasonic Let's Note laptop, which is over 15 years old, and it brought back some great memories. The laptop seems to be in good shape mechanically and the battery still works fine, so I'm thinking about giving it a new life. I plan to swap out the hard drive for an SSD and install Linux on it as a fun little project. The specs are pretty basic with just 1-2GB of RAM and a 400GB hard drive (which I'll upgrade to a larger SSD).
I'm considering a few practical uses for it such as:
- Using it as a typewriter or document editor (thinking of LibreOffice, or maybe just plain text and Markdown with Pandoc)
- Some light development work using Python and SciPy, or maybe even just browser-based development with Colab
- Using it as a terminal for accessing remote headless machines
- I'm open to other suggestions too!
I need recommendations for a Linux distro that is:
- Small and lightweight enough to run on old hardware, especially one from a lesser-known Japanese manufacturer
- Beginner-friendly since I have decent experience with Ubuntu and CentOS, but I'm no expert.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
4 Answers
Bodhi Linux 7.0 HWE is also a solid choice! It's lightweight and runs smoothly on older laptops. Plus, the user interface is quite appealing, which might be handy for your document editing tasks.
I also found that antiX and Porteus work fantastic on older hardware! They’re simple to set up and use, which could be perfect for your project. Good luck with your revival!
For lightweight Linux distros, I'd suggest trying BunsenLabs, FunOS, and wattOS. They’re designed to run well on older hardware. If you're looking for something even more minimal, check out Damn Small Linux or Tiny Core Linux. They can really give that old laptop a new lease on life!
Thanks for the recommendations!
If you're open to it, consider using Chrome Flex OS. It's pretty lightweight and can turn your laptop into a decent Chromebook alternative. Another option is Lubuntu LTS 24.04.02; it’s known for its user-friendliness and efficiency, even on older machines.
Great suggestions, thanks!