I am new to linux. Was using windows for around 6/7 years on my hp notebook 15 . I am a student so i only use my laptop for Little Coding using VS code and sometime watching movies(not interested in gaimg). Because of the coronavirus Pendamic I am stuck in my village where internet connection is not so good. And also buying internet is very costly in my country when i am not using wifi… I have used Ubuntu and Zorin OS15.2 on my laptop don’t know why but i am not comfortable with them(also they don’t recognize my wifi driver which is 802.11b/g/n (1x1)) now i want to switch to Manjaro because everybody is recommending it.
So my question is Can i use this distro without updating it regularly? Because i will not be able to update it untill the Pendamic ends in my country. Or i should try something like elementary Os which gets update after a long time. Dabian or Arch don’t matter to me that much because i like trying exceptional things. Please somebody help me decide also i am adding my device info so you guys can suggest which DE will run most fuildly in my device.
Product Name:15-r121ne
Microprocessor :Intel Core i5-4210U with Intel HD Graphics: 4400 (1.7 GHz, 3 MB cache, 2 cores)
Memory:
4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 4 GB)
Video Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce 820M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
Hard Drive:
500 GB 5400 rpm SATA
Multimedia Drive:
SuperMulti DVD burner
Display:
39.6 cm (15.6'') diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)
Network Card:
Integrated 10/1100BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity:
802.11b/g/n (1x1) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
Sound:
Dual speakers
Keyboard:
Full-size island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Pointing Device:
Touchpad with multi-touch gesture support
External Ports:
1 multi-format SD media card reader
1 HDMI
1 headphone/microphone combo
2 USB 2.0
1 USB 3.0
1 RJ-45
Dimensions:
37.8 x 25.9 x 2.53 cm
Weight
2.23 kg
Power:
65 W AC power adapter
4-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion polymer
Camera:
HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated
Hi!
Manjaro is rolling release, that means ~ every 2 week you’ll have an update. Sure you can, let say, update once a month, but the update will be very big, also it’s recommended have a full back up of your system
Not recommended for a rolling release distro. You can, but you could face an issue at some point in time, leading you to frustration and blaming Manjaro.
Speculation is not our thing. Chose the DE you feel more confortable with and give it a try. IMHO all look great and do the job regardless the workflow someone has, meaning all reduces to personal preference in the end.
imho, the purpose of a rolling release is to get regular updates of all software, including security updates. High level security updates may also come as needed. A fixed release distribution would be better because you’ll still get security updates. I suppose you could treat a rolling release like a fixed release. I would be concerned about doing an update after a long period of time. I came from Linux Mint, a fixed release. The desktops are limited to xfce, mate and cinnamon (all gtk-based vs qt).
I’m wondering if the manjaro team has any suggestions. Could someone in the village download an update, burn it to DVD, and share it.
You can do a query at Distrowatch. For the field Release model, select Fixed. https://distrowatch.com/search.php
I just took a look at your system specs. A KDE or lighter desktop environment is without doubt needed, especially with 4GB of DDR3 RAM… But that’s just my opinion, of course.
Going for a rolling-release, then, without a stable web connection is rather problematic. There’s a question of important security updates.
But, that being said, Manjaro has had periods where major updates have been rather more protracted; especially with the recent lock-down affecting matters no doubt. Being on KDE Plasma myself, and on Stable Branch, I’d no stability problems whatsoever during the said period!
I’ve tried out MX Linux in both XFCE and KDE recently(their first release of Plasma) and on both DE’s are reactive and rock solid - their version of KDE is older than Manjaro’s, it’s to be noted, but it’s probably more “stable” due to that(not that Manjaro’s isn’t already)…and as your hardware is older you mightn’t be needing all of the latest stuff so to speak. Food for thought.
It’s all a question of swings and merry go rounds at the end of the day. You takes your picks!
You should switch to Manjaro if it satisfies your use case and you find it great in use. Try to be in control. If people are recomending it, it is worth checking out, but you are the one who has to make the decision. Choosing the right distro is not something you can let others decide.
Anyway, for your use case I wouldn’t go for a rolling release, for reasons already suplied by others.
With you use case, choose Debian + Xfce, it’ll be light enough for your hardware and will have very few updates. DFLinux provides an easy way to install it (with nonfree drivers) the repo is french, but the install is international
If you need to test recent software versions, use Flatpak, AppImages or even snap (really last resort for snap).
With Manjaro, you would have sometimes weekly updates of sometimes several hundred packages, up to 1Go total size…
rolling release and a bad and high expensive internet-connection is something that does not match. check out for a release that is not updated so frequently to keep the costs for the internet-traffic as low as possible.
If there are a lot of you using it where you are, it might be an idea to collaboratively set up a local mirror. Initially a lot to download but long-term it could save a packet.
SolydXK runs on Debian Stable and offers both XFCE and KDE desktops. It doesn’t update often but the community there are very friendly. It is a fixed release however. It is up to you to decide whether to go for a rolling release or not. If you just want a stable working Linux install then I would go for a fixed release, but just remember to regularly backup the contents of your home folder in case you have to reinstall for the next version.
Outside of using Manjaro, I would definitely check out SolydXK, I used it for over 2 years and never had a issue with it. It was fast and solid. The devs are great people. However I believe Manjaro will be a great distro to use. You just have to work around your internet.
Interesting, it was based of LMDE which was a rolling release. But now they switched to Debian stable. Perfect for my Thinkpad X220 laptop. It is now using Manjaro kde, but I only use it ocasionally and then I get triggered to do lots of updates. I also have a really old slow (for my standard) laptop with no ssd upgrade possible, where I am thinking to use Porteus with CopytoRam boot option.
Porteus looks very good, or Puppy if you can handle the quirkiness of it
For a stable Manjaro I would go for XFCE because it hardly ever gets updated. KDE Plasma seems very stable nowadays though, I still think it needs a reasonably fast computer and 8GB of RAM to run comfortably. I’m writing this on an old Dell Optiplex which has 8GB of RAM but the CPU is only an old Core 2 Duo. I tried running KDE on it but it was very, very laggy. with XFCE it runs beautifully although obviously it’s not that fast compared to a machine with a more modern CPU.
