Best Linux for Dell OptiPlex GX110

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I’ve tried in the past to find a user-friendly distribution of Linux that will install on a Dell OptiPlex GX110. (User friendly because I’m a Windows guy.) My experience has been primarily with Ubuntu and it’s versions designed for low powered PCs like the GX110. The problem I’ve experienced in the past with Ubuntu has centered around it’s difficulty loading a working video driver that works well on the GX110.

These old Dells generally accept 256-512 of ram and have Pentium 3 processors with around 800 GHz of clock speed so they are limited. My hope is to find an OS that I can use to run kid’s apps like gCompris, TuxPaint, Tux Typing, etc.

The perfect distro for me could easily be installed onto the hard drive by default, obviously recognize and install the drivers required by the GX110, and make it easy for me to install the children’s apps mentioned above.

If anyone has actual experience running linux on a GX110, I love to know what you use. TIA for your recommendations.

Ron

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Ron,

The knowledge base on this forum is vast, however, I think you might do better posting this question on one of the Linux forums as that community is focused on that OS and you’re much more likely to find someone with your particular hardware or someone who has asked the same question before. Of course, I’m sure someone here will probably prove me wrong.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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I had, until very recently, a Dell GX110 PIII 866 with 512MB Ram on which I ran Ubuntu (all versions from 8.04 through 10.04), Linux Mint 8 and 9, PC Linux 2010 and Puppy Linux 4.3-5.0, all without issues. As you can see I used the machine for trying out various flavors of Linux.

I had no significant video issues, even though the 810E chipset is not known to be very good. However, I didn’t use any of the applications you name. You may need to research the hardware requirements of the applications you want to use to see if your machine can support them.

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Check out this Ubuntu site for alternative desktop managers that are better suited for lower power PCs. One of these alternatives to Gnome may just fit the bill.

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I want to thank everyone who offered suggestions regarding my quest to find a suitable distro of linux for an old Dell GX110.

As an update, I’ve successfully installed Linux Mint and had no video problems. All the apps I wished to add were also successfully installed. I suspect the problems I encountered earlier may be tied to the amount of RAM I was attempting to use. Currently, it seems 512MB will do the trick.

Thx, again. Hope I can offer help to you sometime – but it’s likely not to be for a linux box.

Regards,
Ron

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I have one of these old boxes and found that Kanotix (debian) ran and looked as good as anything else I tried. Many distros will run on that spec, but most will be a bit sluggish. Finding a lightweight GUI that fits your needs is the key. My old PC is now a headless home server running ubuntu 10.04 server. You would never know it was just a Pentium 3!

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You should try Xubuntu, which is a lighter version of the popular Linux OS, Ubuntu. It comes with a lot of light software, and a very light desktop, so it should run pretty well on your computer. you want a better desktop enviroment? no problem! just open up a terminal, and type sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop, and you will have a desktop that looks like the Ubuntu one, and the lighter Xubuntu desktop!

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No doubt that the best option is ubuntu linux.

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