Guys I truly don’t mean to spam the community but these are legit questions. Yesterday I posted about linux compatibility and computers and every single person gave me knowledge to use and you’re all awesome.
Now my question is, I will undoubtedly be purchasing an older machine, would an older but good running machine still be able to install the latest kernels or versions of distros or are you limited to older versions only, based on the era of your laptop or is it really about the hardware you have? I know ram, disk space, basic stuff like that matters with distros, but I know that will not be a problem. I guess I’m thinking beyond that like processors. are older processors or anything else hold certain machines from being compatible with the newest and greatest kernels? Thanks!
Linux broke compatibility with 386 back in 2012. The kernel maintainers also began considering dropping compatibility with 486 late last year, but as far as I can tell they haven’t actually gone through with it yet (apparently it’s likely to be coming in 6.2).
So, strictly speaking: yes, almost any computer that was ever capable of running Linux should still be capable of running the newest kernel version, with the sole exception of 386s.
Whether it can actually do anything useful beyond getting to a command prompt on a serial terminal is another issue entirely.
This. My spouse is working on an online business and needed a laptop to carry around to do inventory with. I happen to have an old Asus 32-bit Celeron netbook collecting dust, so I gave it a bit of a wipedown, installed the latest version of Debian with XFCE on it, and let them install what they needed from there.
So if you get a 64-bit machine AT ALL, it will absolutely run the latest versions of Linux.
(Why is this a thing?
Lots of computers in industry are very low-spec. They use less power and have fewer requirements. As long as there are people who use that hardware and/or are willing to port fixes and new kernel features to it, it’ll keep getting updates. You only run into the ‘dropped compatibility’ thing when really no one is using it.)
So, strictly speaking: yes, almost any computer that was ever capable of running Linux should still be capable of running the newest kernel version, with the sole exception of 386s.
So the 286 and 8086 are still compatible, then? :P
What about chips from other ancient architectures? Can I run the latest version of Linux on a 6502?
So the 286 and 8086 are still compatible, then? :P
No. My comment was carefully worded: if it could ever run Linux, then it still can (unless it’s a 386). Mainline Linux has always required an MMU, so 8086 and 286 were never capable of running it to begin with! 🤓
Usually, yes.
A great way to breath new life into old hardware is to install Linux.
so basically if the computer has the specs that meet the distros newest version’s requirements, it theoretically should be gold?
So long as the computer supports an instruction set from like the last 30 years you can run the latest kernel.
Here’s a 133 Mhz Pentium running Gentoo with a very recent kernel.
I’d probably recommend something like Debian though unless you are really pushing the limits of the hardware.
“Linux Kernel 4.14.8 (Dec 2017)” - Would this be the “very recent”?
4.14 is close to EOL, but it is still very well supported.
As far as I know. nothing done in that video would be impossible on the latest kernel. Everything would compile and run comparably.
Make sure that device doesn’t require proprietary drivers (commonly WiFi or GPU). If the hardware in question needs those and you need the component to work, I wouldn’t take it for free because you’d be stuck with shitty support on an ancient kernel.
Most commonly, thio affects broadcom WiFi and Nvidia GPUs.
I second that about Nvidia GPUs. While Linux hardware support is really good, there is plenty of common, mainstream hardware that never was and never will be supported by Linux, usually due to uncooperative manufacturers. For Nvidia, their non-free driver is terrible and the nouveau driver in Linux is hit-or-miss. (Note, many people use either of those successfully, but the likelihood of success drops rapidly with any of: multiple displays, the need to dynamically change outputs, multi-GPU Optimus hardware or even laptops in general, and fully functional hardware acceleration.)
If the computer is modern enough that you’d consider buying it to use, I can almost guarantee that you’ll be fine to run the latest distros. I just threw Arch + KDE on a 14ish year old laptop I found, and it runs so well that I may daily drive it for a while just for the hell of it.
At worst, you may need a lighter-weight desktop environment (DE) than some of the pretty ones you see in screenshots. And those are simple to install and try out.
So then there’s really nothing special you look out for? why have I had such issues with linux issues and my Dell Xps 13 9310? user error or proprietary b.s.?
Proprietary BS, Dell has become kinda notorious for that. A lot of their stuff has weird hacky workarounds to get Linux running properly. Unfortunately there isn’t a great way to know that in advance, other than poking through wikis or asking around.
For most computers, it really isn’t much different than installing Windows. Most things will just work, maybe a few drivers to install, and you’re good to go.
Business or consumer? I’ve heard much better things about business class laptops for whatever reason
Both, but consumer is generally worse. For reference, check here for issues related to yours. The instructions are geared toward Arch, but the problems affect most distros.
I have a Surface Go 1 perfectly running Fedora while running an Ubuntu VM at the same time. The hardware isn’t old, but it ain’t powerful.
I also have a 2012 MacBook Pro running Fedora as a f it was a monster. But the Ram and harddrive have been upgraded.
So I guess it’s perfectly fine.
In general you should be fine. Might have some issues if you want 32 bit.
Most likely difficulty is if you get something with “weird” peripherals that has gone from support.
A laptop with touch sensitive buttons that was only made by Dell for one model in 2008 is something where you might have difficulty finding support.
So I really only care about the RAM for speed. dont care about ssd size, dont care about fingerprint readers, I just want a solid machine that makes it easy to run linux and also easy to fix; something sturdy. there’s nothing “special” i should be noting while shopping? is it just all personal preference with the specs and such?
For the most part, yeah. If you’re looking for a laptop the older you go, the more “boring” you’ll want.
Plain form factors and the like.Sometimes, very rarely, weird laptop keyboards need special drivers that don’t always get baked into Linux, so it can be a pain. Same for older “premium” sound stuff in an older laptop.
Doesn’t mean that it will have problems, just that you’re more likely to.
Old midrange Lenovo or Dell laptops tend to be a staple for Linux. They also contribute to Linux, so their stuff tends to just work. Contrast with apple, where getting it to work with Linux is a hard-mode hobby for some people.Base hardware stuff is essentially all compatible.
That’s basically an example of a standard laptop you might try to put Linux on and expect effortless success. (It’s newer because that’s what came up, but it’s an example of the trend).
Note the lack of anything that makes you go “ah, a marketable feature to highlight or differentiate”.This one probably works fine, but I’d have some concerns about that touch screen and things not playing well with any sensors that make the folding action turn off the screen.
It might work fine, but it’s the type of thing that can take a bit of fiddling to get working, or just doesn’t because people don’t care to port the functionality over.
The biggest concern is how much ram and how fast a processor of the older computer. Most modern distros use about a gig of ram on startup and prefer a processor made in the last 20 years. If your computer has 500mb ram and a single core 1ghz pentium its gonna choke trying to run linux mint.
Instead certain Linux distributions are specifically tailored to work on extremely old and underpowered computers such as puppy Linux. These are modern distributions with updated kernels but are extremely minimalist in nature.
