I have an Acer Chromebook R11 which has reached End of Life and won’t receive updates (which is insane, I bought it new four years ago). I have checked, and my model is now fully supported by most Linux distros.

I need suggestions for a lightweight distro to use. I will use the machine for surfing, playing Pixel Dungeon, streaming some indie games over Moonlight/Steam Headless and manage my home server over ssh. So nothing major. I want something lightweight and really low maintenance.

Specs:

  • Processor: 1.6GHz quad-core Intel Celeron N3150 (quad-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.08GHz with Turbo Boost)

  • Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics

  • Memory: 4GB DDR3L

  • Storage: 32GB (with SD card reader for more storage)

I have a lot of experience with Arch-based (EndeavourOS, Manjaro), Ubuntu-based (Mint, PopOS) and Debian-based (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Raspbian) distros, but I am open for other suggestions

  • jrgn@lemmy.worldOP
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    4 months ago

    I thought so too, but then my Chrome stopped updating and all my extensions started breaking one by one. Never heard of ChromeOS Flex, will check out!

    • smeg@feddit.uk
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      4 months ago

      ChromeOS Flex is an interesting one; it’s definitely not as flexible as a proper Linux distro but if you need something simple and hard-to-break to run on an old machine (for instance for an elderly relative who’s still using Windows XP) then it could be worth a shot. That said, I’m now investigating whether Linux Mint is a better choice for my own elderly relatives!

      • jrgn@lemmy.worldOP
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        4 months ago

        It’s very interesting! I just find it weird that I’ve never heard of it. I will have it in the back of my head in case I need to do a full 360 and go back to ChromeOS

        • smeg@feddit.uk
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          4 months ago

          I think it used to be called “cloudready” until Google bought it and made it official. It seems like it’s aimed more at businesses and schools that want a fleet of Chromebooks, but it seems alright for the casual tinkerer too.