Linux Lite v1

[MattC]

I've being playing with Linux Lite v1 on VB.  Realistically, what security and application problems might I encounter if I were to use this as a main OS on a proper machine?  The main use would be accessing the internet for business downloads, and spreadsheet display.

[Keith]

What's VB, Matt?

[MattC]

Apologies.  VB is VirtualBox.  I.e. I have installed it as a virtual machine (VM).

[Rich J]

I've being playing with Linux Lite v1 on VB.  Realistically, what security and application problems might I encounter if I were to use this as a main OS on a proper machine?  The main use would be accessing the internet for business downloads, and spreadsheet display.

Hi Matt - Linux Lite is now up to v5.2 so you might consider getting that if you want the latest software etc?  You'll need to know what your system specs are on whatever machine you're thinking of using to determine if it will run 32-bit or 64-bit.  Many latest distros are now 64-bit only as the 32-bit technology is considered 'old-hat' but that's not to say that they are not available, just that the support for them is reducing and will disappear over time.

As for Lite as an OS - I have 2 old 32-bit laptops that I run Lite on, mainly as back ups if my main desktop rig plays up. Lite is still a proper OS, built with the same security standards as the full versions, it just has fewer software options available.  This doesn't mean you can't add stuff if you wish - you can - it just is 'small' to keep the ISO small.  For more information, look here  -

https://www.linuxliteos.com/

Hope this helps,

Rich

[MattC]

Thanks Rich,

The main reason for considering Linux Lite 1 was in order to use on very old, weak, slow systems.  I was after a very simple, low-requirement OS, but still with the ability to access the internet and use simple office software.

When you see YouTube videos discussing these lightweight OSs for old computers, they always seem to use computers that are "very old" by around five years or so.  My definition of a very old computer would be thirty years!  Now, I appreciate, as far as I know, that there probably isn't a 'modern' OS that utilises a 8088 processor with 640kB memory and a 80MB HDD  .  However, I occasionally get a laptop, for instance, that is ten or twenty years old.

Matt

[DavidMcCann]

My laptop, only used to take out and as a backup, is an original IBM Thinkpad from 2002 or so, with the original Pentium M. It currently runs Xubuntu, although that will have to change now they've dropped 32-bit support. It's quite happy running Firefox and Apache OpenOffice, although the boot-up is slow.

Since Lite is Ubuntu based, I'm not sure what will happen to it. For elderly computers the best bet is probably MX Linux, or Antix if they are really challenged.