# Best Linux distro for a P2?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 26, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737 "2007-04-26T14:58:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737/1 "2007-04-26T14:58:08Z")

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I have two Pentium 2 systems: 450mhz & 533mhz, both with 128mb RAM, winmodems and dialup internet. Since I need new carpet and roof repairs more than I need new computers I’m thinking of reducing (increasing?) the misery of using these antiques by installing a lighter-weight OS that is less attractive to spyware, etc, than Win98. What’s a good distribution for those less-than-powerful machines?

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**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737/2 "2007-04-26T15:11:00Z")

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Xubuntu.

I put it on an older machine and it runs pretty slick.

You might have to go with the “alternate install”. The regular install takes more RAM than you have.

[http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/DVDs/xubuntu/7.04/release/](http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/DVDs/xubuntu/7.04/release/)

7.04 is the newest release, and is supported for longer than 6.10.

I’ve just put linux on two machines at home, and I’m very pleased with the ubuntu distros.

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737/3 "2007-04-26T17:21:43Z")

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I’m looking at Puppy as something I can boot off the CD-ROM to test the water. It seems to come with winmodem drivers, which would save me money.

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**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737/4 "2007-04-26T17:42:17Z")

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What I did was download the Xubuntu from another computer and write the .iso to a CD. I booted from the CD-ROM on the old laptop and did the install.

I don’t know much about puppy, but it doesn’t seem too popular, but if you know it supports winmodem, then there ya go. The ubuntu forums are pretty active and helpful.

[google trends for distros](http://www.google.com/trends?q=ubuntu+linux%2C+red+hat+linux%2C+fedora+linux%2C+suse+linux%2C+puppy+linux&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all)

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**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-a-p2/401737/5 "2007-04-26T17:47:49Z")

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Found this, too:

[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto)