[NBLUG/talk] I need some help installing.

[Rick Moen]

Quoting E Frank Ball III (frankb at frankb.us):

> Ubuntu 17.10 desktop is 64-bit only.  Ubuntu Server is available in 32
> bit.  You could install the server (text console only, no graphics),
> then install xorg and a window manager, but I really can't recommend
> that for a beginner.

Good catch.
http://releases.ubuntu.com/17.10.1/

Post-installation on recent releases of Ubuntu _Server_, one can do
'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop' to 
install the LXDE Desktop Environment metapackage (much, much less wasteful of
hardware resources than is the 'ubuntu-desktop' metapackage that fetches
Canonical, Inc's very odd set of GNOME packages).  But I concur that
this is a poor starting point for a novice.i

> For old 32-bit machines I recommend (and use) Debian.  They keep more
> old hardware drivers around than anyone else, and you can get a small
> install.

I love Debian and its close derivatives (such as Devuan), but, for a
desktop user, perhaps something like MEPIS Linux or Bodhi Linux might be
more desktop-friendly.  Total RAM is crucial, which is of course the
other point you zoomed in on:

> How much RAM do you have?

I applaud you for asking a question of critical importance, Frank, but
FWIW, long decades of running Linux installfests finally showed me that
users, particularly those who most need to have accurate information
about that question, when queried will turn out to not know or (worse)
will make a bad guess.

That is why I asked, instead, the 'old 32-bit computer's' specific make
and model.  You cannot determine from that data the _exact_ amount of
RAM the machine has, because configurations differ and some people add
or remove RAM after purchase, but one can make a pretty good ballpark
estimate.