PureBasic Forums - English

Hi,

I've been using some random Linux distro on and off, but recently I have to attend a little party with indie developers, which I have to make my works running on Linux machines(I can brin them myself), and I'm thinking to switch to a certain distro for long term use, the main tools I'm using includes PureBasic, Godot, FreeBasic, I've tried the following distros:

DietPi x64
Linux Mint
MX Linux

And I've tried Ubuntu, it looks good, but feels a bit heavy on my old 3rd gen i3, so I want to know what distro are more suitable for a newbie, thanks.

You could try some other Ubuntu flavors:
https://ubuntu.com/desktop/flavors

Some of them like, Ubuntu MATE and Xubuntu are dedicated to run on older hardware.

Elementary OS is the first/only Linux I've ever stuck with... over a year now going strong!
https://elementary.io

Though I'm running it on a new-ish laptop, I can't vouch for it on older hardware.

I personally absolutely swear by Debian, it runs on every configuration I throw it at, from my tiny raspberry pi to my beafy little mini PC.

I like Mint Linux LMDE 6 or 7 (Debian Based) best. Is quickly installed and has everything you need.

Since all Linux distributions run as virtual machines, I noticed that the GUI of Mint Linux runs at the fastest and most stable.

You should try this Xubuntu, it is a variant of Ubuntu but for lower hardware

https://xubuntu.org/

You can leave "MX Linux", as it also uses XFCE like Xubuntu.

Use the distrowatch advanced search to find the exact flavor of linux for your requirements: https://distrowatch.com/search.php#advanced

Bitblazer wrote: Fri Nov 07, 2025 5:41 am Use the distrowatch advanced search to find the exact flavor of linux for your requirements: https://distrowatch.com/search.php#advanced

An appropriate suggestion from Bitblazer because IMHO from the huge choice available the "best" distro is simply the one that matches a persons preferences and requirements. There are many good options!

AZJIO wrote: Fri Nov 07, 2025 12:34 am You can leave "MX Linux", as it also uses XFCE like Xubuntu.

Must throw in a comment here - for me personally MX Linux with Xfce is my absolute favourite. It's been my daily driver for years and runs on a number of machines including a venerable old 32-bit laptop. Purebasic installs and runs perfectly. It has a lot in common with Mint LDME and is much like running pure Debian but with some handy built-in tools. Based on Debian "Stable" which is important for me. Also has official builds with KDE and Fluxbox, very good but I prefer Xfce.

Tiny core linux on a pentium 1 : Tiny core linux