Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Simple to upgrade Linux distro

[Dale]

R0b0t1 wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 1:46 AM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>> Howdy,
>>
>> This isn't a Gentoo question but most everyone here used something
>> before Gentoo.  I need a simple to upgrade distro for someone else.
>>
>> A friend of mine had windoze XP, which is dead to M$.  She needed
>> something and buying a computer or new OS is not a option, even tho she
>> needs to upgrade that 10 or 12 year old thing she has.  So, I put Mageia
>> on it a couple years ago, used to be Mandrake way back which is what I
>> started with.  She has been doing updates every week or so since it is
>> GUI based and pretty easy.  Tell it to update or just click the pop-up
>> when it tells you one is available and when it is done, reboot.  Yea,
>> windowish I know.  lol  Anyway, she did a update and now she can't login
>> to KDE.  I drove up, hour away, and tried to figure it out.  It has
>> changed so much, I'm pretty clueless.  It is NOT Gentoo by any means.  I
>> renamed the user directory in case it was a config that the new update
>> was hanging on but nothing.  It just won't let you login.  Also reset
>> the password as well.  Thing is, I installed ICEwm during the install
>> and it works.  It logs in but the screen doesn't refresh like it
>> should.  You close a app, it's closed but it doesn't refresh the screen
>> so it looks like it is still there.  The whole thing is weird.  Since I
>> couldn't figure out what the problem was, I tried upgrading to Mageia
>> 6.  Figured if it was a software bug, maybe that would fix it.  Nope.
>> So, she's using ICEwm for the moment but it is weird.
>>
>> What I'm looking for.  Something that I can install fairly quickly from
>> a DVD.  Rig is to old to boot from USB stick.  Something with a GUI
>> update process that is fairly easy.  Uses either KDE by default or is
>> easily installable, hopefully during install by default.  The big one,
>> needs to be able to run on older hardware.  Her rig is something like a
>> 2GHz single core CPU and around 2GBs of ram.  The drives are SATA but
>> that's about the most advanced hardware it has.  The video is a built in
>> Intel of some sort.  Nothing fast or even fancy for that matter.  Yes,
>> I'm keeping a eye out for a newer rig but it is what it is right now.
>>
>> I've used Gentoo for so long, I don't know what other distros offer
>> nowadays.  I figure that there are several distros that are graphical
>> nowadays but also need good support for older hardware and easy update
>> process.  Googling around isn't helping me much.  If I find something I
>> like, no KDE.  If I find KDE based and a GUI updater, something else
>> won't work.  I figure asking those who have personal experience would be
>> best.  :-)
>>
>> Thoughts?  Suggestions??
>>
> I second the suggestion to try Xubuntu, though you should also look at
> Lubuntu (which uses LXDE). Sticking to Ubuntu based distributions
> might be a good idea because there is a large userbase that has easy
> to search for answers to common problems.
>
> Plasma 5 might load her hardware too much. Is MATE unsuitable? You can
> also look for even lighter weight window managers and install them on
> top of the default desktop environment, but most of them target power
> users.
>
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/window_manager#List_of_window_managers
>
> R0b0t1.
>
>


I have a question or two on this.  The reason I went with KDE, I use it
and it is closest to being windozeish.  On occasion I read where some of
those other "lighter" desktops are 'feature rich' like KDE is.  Example,
plug in a USB device and it pops up with a menu to select from a lot
like KDE does.  Is LXDE or Mate like that? 

The thing about her, she doesn't know a lot about puters but she doesn't
mind clicking around to find a way to get things to work.  Example, she
plugged her phone in and figured out how to download pics and stuff. 
Heck, I don't know how to do that myself.  Then again, my phone is so
old, it may not can do that.  It's a old Motorola Razr flip phone which
I maxed out on contacts in my address book a while back.  I want it to
be easy for her but at the same time, she can figure things out.  She
also knows that as long as she is a user, she can't hurt much.  She
stays away from root except when doing updates. 

The biggest thing, her rig is old.  It's older than my older rig and
ancient compared to what I'm typing on now which is several years old
itself but has upgrade room.  lol 

Thinking about installing some of these on my rig and just seeing what
it looks like.  < thinking > 

Thanks.

Dale

:-)  :-)