The truth is that I haven’t been able to try Linux Lite.When I was informed that the Linux Lite 5.0 version was released on June 1, based on Ubuntu 20.4, i found it very interesting. Mainly because I believe and support the possibility of giving life to old machines that we may have decommissioned, while they can still offer a lot to our home network.
Reading the minimum Hardware specifications for Linux Lite 5.0, as shown in Help Manual, i thought I found an ally.
Minimum Computer Requirements:
- 1 Ghz processor
- 768mb ram
- 8gb HDD/SD
- VGA screen capable of 1024×768 resolution
- DVD drive or USB port for the ISO image
Preferred Computer Requirements:
- 1.5 Ghz processor+
- 1Gb ram+
- 20Gb HDD/SSD+
- VGA, DVI or HDMI screen capable of 1366×768 resolution+
- DVD drive or USB port for the ISO image
Download
The first step is to download the iso file from linuxliteos
Press Free Download
and Download 5.0 ISO
Installation
Before each Linux installation, it is advisable to try it with Create Bootable Live Persistent Linux USB.This will allow us to use it for a period of time, install additional programs and maintain the changes and files that we create, without disappearing every time we restart.
With such a lightweight distribution as Linux Lite 5.0, this practice can become permanent and we can operate our old computer properly via a good USB. In fact, it is an ideal solution if we have, for example, a machine with a damaged hard drive.
So follow our guide Create Bootable Live Persistent Linux USB
For the purpose of this Article wanted to use VitrualBox. Those who want to follow can read the relevant guide VirtualBox – Install any Linux Distribution you Want Within Windows
So I will not present the whole process as you will find it in detail. I will only focus on a few points during installation.
Create Linux Lite VM
We run VirtualBox and click New to create a new Virtual Machine. We give a recognizable name, in our case Linux Lite, and we choose Type and Version. Click Next
As I want to use this distribution for several experiments I chose to give 4GB RAM. –> Next
Then we will create the Virtual Hard Disk –> Create
–> Next
In this option, although Dynamically allocated option, has the advantage that the disk adapts if more space is needed, with the Fixed Size option I will gain speed. –> Next
from the moment I have a specific space for the hard drive, I give 20GB –>Create
It will take a while for the virtual disk to be created …
When the process is complete, VirtualBox returns to its original screen. Select Settings to set some more parameters
On the Display / Screen tab I gave 128MB Video Memory, and chose Enable 3D Acceleration
In the System / Processor tab I give 2 CPU –> OK
It returns us to the home screen. We choose Start
Here we need to locate and select the ISO file we downloaded.
Select Add
You will find it in the Downloads folder. One general practice I follow is to create folders and sort Downloads by type and utility. So I already have a folder that archives the various Linux distributions. From there I select the latest version of Linux Lite. —>Click Open
We are ready. We choose Start
Install Linux Lite 5.0
From now on, the process is about the same, whether we install Linux Lite, using Live USB, on a partition of our computer or in a Virtual Machine. In case we just want to try we run a Bootable Live USB with Persistent Filethen we leave it to the first option. I chose the installation, as I am already in VM.
From now on, follow the installation procedure.
Here we will give the information we want for User and our password. I choose Log in automatically, as I am in a relatively protected environment inside a Virtual Machine. If you are installing on your computer, you must use a password when logging in.
Testing Linux Lite 5.0
After the reboot we see the “Welcome” screen with many useful options. Select Install Updates
It will ask you for the password –> Authenticate
You probably need one more Reboot
It is a good idea to do a Drivers check by selecting Step 2. It is also interesting Step 3: Setting a Restore Point.There you will see the Timeshift service, which holds a security snapshot of our system, so that if something goes wrong, we can restore it. In essence, this is a service similar to Windows Restore System and Time Machine in MacOS. (We will analyze these services, and related tools in future articles)
Then go to the main screen of Linux Lite. As the screen resolution on the VM is not what I would like, I will look at my Control Panel options
I select Display to see the capabilities I have in customizing my screen.
Very easily, I find the list of available resolutions on the right, and I select 1360×768, which is what I get used to when I operate Virtual Machines (Often more than one)
The screen adapts to the new resolution.
The process to change the beautiful but extremely boring Background is simple.
At the bottom left we will find it Menu –> Settings –> Desktop
I will choose one of the available Wallpapers (what came to me to put the snowy mountains in the middle of the summer please do not ask)
At a glance the Menu looks simple and includes everything we would like to have available with two clicks. There are already several programs installed such as LibreOffice, Gimp, Firefox etc.
Installing Programs
As in almost all Linux distributions, here we have a collection of programs and applications, which although not installed, are available to the Software Manager of the distribution. Menu –> Lite Software
I consider it necessary to always update the sources (repositories or ppa as has been established), of the packages for the available programs. The answer to the question is YES
Here we will find a fairly useful list of available programs, several of which you already know such as Spotify, Skype, Kodi. I select KODI and the installation is done automatically.
Just run it with one click on the icon installed on the Desktop. Here we notice that it is not the latest version of Kodi 18.7, but v18.6 that is available from Ubuntu’s ppa, which has this version and not from Kodi’s official ppa. We will talk about this issue and everything related to the installation of programs and the addition of sources in the next article.
At the moment we have a complete system with everything we need every day, and without using the Terminal. Mainly because the terminal somehow scares many users who are used to windows, and probably have never used such a tool and have never typed commands, but they know that everything is done mainly by clicking on icons and executable files.
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts
- Ctrl+Alt+T – opens a terminal.
- Ctrl+Alt+Del – opens the logout dialogue.
- Ctrl+Shift+Esc – opens the Task Manager.
- Windows key – opens the Menu.
- Windows key+H – opens your home folder.
- Windows key+L – locks the screen.
- Alt+F2 – opens the Application Finder dialogue box.
- Printscreen key – opens the screenshot program.
Conclusions
It is definitely a very simple and extremely light distribution, without missing any of the basic needs of the average user. During the test there were some installation difficulties on some computers, mainly from a decade or more. We didn’t have any particular problems with drivers and almost everything was easily recognized. Almost everything, as the Touch Screen of the famous Toshiba, which you may know from previous articles, did not work properly.
I found the Help Manual, very helpful, which you will find available as a link in the distribution.
To complete the test we will take a look at the resources that our system consumes. Initially without any program other than the operating System.
And with a page open in Firefox.
Based on this image, the distribution of Linux Lite 5.0 will definitely give life to a computer with low specifications, but not with less than 2GB of RAM, if we want to run some applications, open some pages in the Browser, read our Mail and to use LibreOffice.
There will be several Linux Distribution articles, always trying to bring free software closer to users who haven’t tried anything other than Windows. Let’s not forget that we all use Linux every day, we just don’t know it.
Relevant Articles:
Create Bootable Live Persistent Linux USB
VirtualBox – Install any Linux Distribution you Want Within Windows
