MX Linux 19.4
MX-UAL HEALING MIN SPECS: 1GB RAM, 6GB DISK SPACE
Well the plan was to have a lighter flavour of Ubuntu on the disc this month, either Lubuntu or Xubuntu, but thanks to ISO sizes creeping up it’s not possible to fit either of these alongside the 2.8GB main event. We asked the DVD replicators if their presses had an ‘overburn’ feature (like we remember from Nero Burning Rom), but they laughed derisively. So, with a hard limit of 1.7GB we scoured the distroscape and are pleased to bring you the wonderful MX Linux. Which, by the way, once we’d packed in the Tutorial code, Bookshelf and the arcane scripture that makes DVDs boot, left us with all of about 25MB to spare.
This solution will be music to the ears of 32-bit users, since Ubuntu is no longer an option for them. MX is based on Debian Buster, so in comparison to other distros has an old 4.19 series kernel. This won’t be a concern on older hardware, but if you want to see this run on new hardware then check out the Advanced Hardware Support (AHS) edition instead.
MX is the sibling distro of antiX, which we also quite like. MX uses a combination of Xfce and Fluxbox to power its ‘midweight’ desktop, so it’s a little less lightweight than antiX, but enables you to enjoy some desktop luxuries as a tradeoff. Things like an applications menu, a settings application and session management, which most GUI users tend to really notice when you take them away. Still, if you want low resource usage there’s a Fluxbox-only edition. And if you want an even more complete desktop there’s a KDE edition, too.
MX’s package installer makes easy work of installing from Debian Backports, MX’s own testing repo or Flatpaks. One very good reason to use MX (or antiX) is the delightful selection of Conky themes available (for displaying system stats on your desktop) and the terminal-free ease with which the Conky Manager makes it possible to switch between them. There are a few handy programs included in a default install. We were pleased to see the inclusion of GIMP and the rather excellent Clementine music player. Others will welcome the inclusion of iDeviceMounter (for mounting Apple devices), but we are proud to own no iThings.
Getting multimedia codecs on Debian can be a little tricky, but MX Linux makes it terribly easy by providing its own codec installer. There’s also an avid community, a helpful manual (just press Alt-F1 at the desktop) and much more for you to explore.