this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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Dev with old laptop (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by wildflowertea@slrpnk.net to c/linux@programming.dev
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A dev friend wants to start taking steps away from Windows, starting with their old laptop.

The laptop has 4 GB ram, and an 8th gen i3 CPU, and they mostly will use it to program.

Some have recommended them Lubuntu. Would that be a good choice?

Thanks!

Edit: yeaaah. Definitely away from Windows, not Linux. Time for lunch.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Upgrade the ram and you will have a pretty good experience.

Also make sure it has a decent SSD

[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Also make sure it has a decent SSD

That means any SATA SSD that can pull 500MB/s. No need to try to stick an m.2 7000GB/s SSD into such a weak laptop. Not trying to poop on his hardware - just staying realistic for when you look for an SSD (presuming he does not already have one).

After 10 years, I still remember switching to an SSD from a classic HDD. Probably the biggest hardware upgrade I've ever done.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

Not all SSDs are created equal. Some of the very cheap ones are worse than HDDs. Most reasonablely priced ones will be fine.

Also I have never seen a Sata SSD consistently pull 500m/s. You would need some serious flash for that.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 14 points 2 days ago

Lubuntu would be fine, though personally I'd suggest the lightweight Linux Mint versions, such as Linux Mint XFCE.

[–] BlackEco@lemmy.blackeco.com 12 points 2 days ago

Which language are they going to use? Because for some languages (thinking of Java or Node) they definitely would want more than 4GB of RAM. And I'm not even speaking of IDEs that tend to store data in RAM for their suggestion features.

On that note, if the RAM isn't soldered to the motherboard, I would strongly advice to upgrade the capacity.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They want to step AWAY from Linux? This might not be the right sub then.

[–] wildflowertea@slrpnk.net 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Haha thanks for pointing it out. Time to get some carbs for my brain…

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

No problem.

To your question: the RAM limitation is going to make developing on this machine very difficult with modern tooling or frameworks, even with the most efficient of languages. The build and package management systems of practically everything requires a fair amount of resources, so that's going to be what causes problems. If they're building off devices then probably NBD.

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

LxQT maybe? Ubuntu MATE could work too.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Lubuntu now ships with LXQt.

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

Oh cool!

[–] 0x0@programming.dev 4 points 2 days ago

RAM adequacy will depends on the language(s) and their toolchain, but coming from windows i don't foresee a CLI-inclined dev.
And/Or get a second-hand ThinkPad that doesn't have soldered RAM.

[–] quantenzitrone 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

TBH Ubuntu Gnome would probably also run alright, but ram increase would definitely be advised for coding. Some language servers and compilers can really eat ram almost like Google Chrome (supposedly i never used it).

[–] wildflowertea@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thanks for the suggestion!

The RAM is unfortunately welded.

[–] quantenzitrone 5 points 2 days ago

oof

[–] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Tiny Linux for speeed.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

It doesn't need to be tiny