Linux-OS: Lubuntu 20.10 — A Fast And Lightweight Desktop Linux

 

Image from www.debugpoint.com

I believe you only need to buy a new computer when the old one does not meet your computing needs. However, it is mainly the operating systems vendor (Microsoft and Intel) increasing the hardware requirements or clutter of useless/bloated installed software in your computer. While computers are getting cheaper and faster every year, it is bad for the environment as not all components are recyclable.

    I stumbled upon Lubuntu when I had to help out a colleague to set up a few old laptops (Thinkpad X61s) to deploy for security work. It works on such old laptops and is fully functional and speedy as well. Since I am a fan of the lightweight operating system, I stuck with it until now.

Lubuntu is a fast and lightweight operating system with a clean and easy-to-use user interface. It is a Linux system, that uses the minimal desktop LXDE/LXQT, and a selection of light applications. Because of this, Lubuntu has very low hardware requirements. 

— From lubuntu.net

Applications that I use (Apps in the italic font is manually installed): 

• LibreOffice - Free MSOffice documents app for opening and editing documents.
• VLC player - Media player for videos and audio files.
• Audacious - Small and simple Music player.
• PcManFM and Double Commander - File manager like Windows Explorer in Windows.
• Firefox and Vivaldi - Browsers for surfing the Net. 
• Muon Package Manager - Install and remove software and update or upgrade applications.
• Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) - Simple personal firewall for desktop use.
• Gnome Language Selector and iBus - Language support and input method that I always use.
• Vault 3  - An outliner application for note-taking and reading notes.
• Virtualbox - Desktop virtualization application to play with different operating systems or application testing.
• Gnome Disk Utility - To format USB or disk drives.
• Featherpad - Notepad for Lubuntu. 

    Lubuntu's default desktop theme looks similar to Windows 95, thus it uses fewer resources so it is very responsive theme on older hardware. Most of the default install applications are enough for you to get by. Unless you prefer specific applications, you can find them using Muon Package Manager or KDE Plasma Discover software Center. 

    I have 3 laptops that I am currently using, Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (2008 model), Acer Aspire One 756 (2012 model), and Asus X556U (2016 model). It is due to the lightweight Lubuntu OS that I am still able to use these older laptops. Furthermore, the applications that I used are also free. So my computing cost is only power and Internet cost. As a partial freegan, this is how I keep my expenses low for my computing needs for word processing, graphics editing, blogging, website updating, and simple tasks. As Lubuntu is using a graphical screen, anyone can learn to use it, like Windows. Even updates have a graphical interface for it as well.