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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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32-bit distro suggestions for 2007 MacBook (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by hellfire103@sopuli.xyz to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I have a MacBook (specifically a MacBook2,1 A1181) from 2007. I am currently dual-booting Mac OS X 10.6 and crunchbang++ 12 on it, but I feel that there could be something better. Here are the specs:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2) @ 2.167 GHz
Architecture: x86_64-v1 (but with 32-bit BIOS, so 64-bit Linux won't work)
Microarchitecture: Merom
GPU: Intel GMA 950
RAM: 3 GB
Disk: 140 GB HDD

This is not supposed to be a daily driver by any stretch. I have newer and more powerful machines than this, but I would still like to have something on it that means I can use it if need be.

As well as crunchbang++, I have also run Debian, Devuan, SparkyLinux, GNU Guix, Puppy Linux, Slackware, and Haiku in the past. I have tried to install several flavours of BSD, but it was too difficult to get dual-booting to work properly.

Despite the CPU being 64-bit, the distro MUST be 32-bit. This is because of the MacBook's BIOS, which prevents 64-bit bootloaders from working.

Not that it matters, as I can do this after installation, but I would be looking to run something like Enlightenment, Trinity, or spectrwm. I tried going CLI-only with Guix, but it wasn't the best experience.

Feel free to also recommend software that will run on a potato like this.

Thanks!

EDIT: Two users have told me how to get 64-bit Linux running on this machine. Debian apparently ships with 32-bit GRUB on the ISO, and there's a CLI tool to patch ISOs to make them work.

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[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 10 months ago

I had a similar conundrum: what to use on a Thinkpad X60s, which is a Core Duo machine. I tried Arch 32, but after trying Debian, I stuck with the latter.

I usually only use it as a dumb terminal via SSH, but Debian was just sort of... easier.