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Just sharing the knowledge of a recent distro find that I've been quite impressed with, called LXLE (Lubuntu eXtra Life Extension).
Revive that old PC! < The LXLE Desktop
I think everyone here is aware I'm a huge Ubuntu fan. And even though I didn't care for the Unity desktop, I've grown to like it. Although it appears I'm in a minority, or perhaps a silent majority?!
While I continue to run Ubuntu 12.04.3, I'll readily acknowledge that Ubuntu with Unity is a bit of a resource hog. It isn't a problem on my desktop, or laptop, but on older hardware it's a real drain. It also lags on my dual core Atom netbook, and a newer but low-end dual-core Toshiba Satellite laptop running at 1.4Ghz. So I've been checking out alternative Enlightenment & LXDE desktops and distros for these 2 machines, including Bodhi, Lubuntu, Mint LXDE, etc...
While most provide acceptable performance gains, each has a feature that is just not acceptable, whether a "strange" interface, lack of LTS, software packages, etc... And with 9+ computers in this house, I like my machines to be as uniform as possible for maintenance reasons. LXLE is interesting because it takes the Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS core, adds an LXDE and Openbox desktop (Lubunu 12.04 is NOT an LTS version!), and adds "Paradigms" that mimic Unity, Gnome2, WinXP, and Mac OSX desktops. Choose your "paradigm" at login and a low-resource LXDE desktop is rendered on an LTS Ubuntu core!
After playing with LXLE in a VM, I took the plunge and installed on my underpowered Toshiba Satellite. All of a sudden, this machine is usable again! I'm quite pleased with its performance, tweak-ability, and included apps (the ISO is a little heavy @1.2GB, due to all the packages included). While I'm not ready to replace all my systems, this is the PERFECT solution for my lower powered machines: light resource usage of an LXDE desktop, with LTS support, and strongly resembling another desktop of familiarity. I WILL keep LXLE on this machine, with installation to the dual core Atom netbook shortly!
Anyhow, FYI... I just wanted to give it a plug for anyone else who is unaware, but may be interested. Post your thoughts if you give it a try...
Revive that old PC! < The LXLE Desktop
I think everyone here is aware I'm a huge Ubuntu fan. And even though I didn't care for the Unity desktop, I've grown to like it. Although it appears I'm in a minority, or perhaps a silent majority?!
While I continue to run Ubuntu 12.04.3, I'll readily acknowledge that Ubuntu with Unity is a bit of a resource hog. It isn't a problem on my desktop, or laptop, but on older hardware it's a real drain. It also lags on my dual core Atom netbook, and a newer but low-end dual-core Toshiba Satellite laptop running at 1.4Ghz. So I've been checking out alternative Enlightenment & LXDE desktops and distros for these 2 machines, including Bodhi, Lubuntu, Mint LXDE, etc...
While most provide acceptable performance gains, each has a feature that is just not acceptable, whether a "strange" interface, lack of LTS, software packages, etc... And with 9+ computers in this house, I like my machines to be as uniform as possible for maintenance reasons. LXLE is interesting because it takes the Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS core, adds an LXDE and Openbox desktop (Lubunu 12.04 is NOT an LTS version!), and adds "Paradigms" that mimic Unity, Gnome2, WinXP, and Mac OSX desktops. Choose your "paradigm" at login and a low-resource LXDE desktop is rendered on an LTS Ubuntu core!
After playing with LXLE in a VM, I took the plunge and installed on my underpowered Toshiba Satellite. All of a sudden, this machine is usable again! I'm quite pleased with its performance, tweak-ability, and included apps (the ISO is a little heavy @1.2GB, due to all the packages included). While I'm not ready to replace all my systems, this is the PERFECT solution for my lower powered machines: light resource usage of an LXDE desktop, with LTS support, and strongly resembling another desktop of familiarity. I WILL keep LXLE on this machine, with installation to the dual core Atom netbook shortly!
Anyhow, FYI... I just wanted to give it a plug for anyone else who is unaware, but may be interested. Post your thoughts if you give it a try...