Which Linux version

[tetrastes]

So Linux Mint restored 32bit support but Debian dropped it?
Amazing!

LMDE 6 was released in 2023 and is based on Debian 12.

[munair]

HP/Compaq systems are generally well supported by Debian derived distro's. I have Bookworm running without issues on two Compag Evo machines from around 2003. According to Debian, the full architecture list for the LTS version is still to be determined.

[Thaddy]

Debian dropped 32 bit i386 systems but not  support for 32 bit code: it supports x86_64-32 multiarch even in trixie, afaik.
Main reason is driver support being often unmaintained/abandonware.
Debian does support other 32 bit architectures, e.g. ARM.

[munair]

I was referring to Bookworm, whereby the set of supported architectures is reduced during the LTS term.

[Thaddy]

I was referring to Bookworm, whereby the set of supported architectures is reduced during the LTS term.

Yes. More or less forced: the lack of maintained drivers. That was done with great reluctance. The core team usually does not do drivers...

[JuhaManninen]

@Juha: The PCLinuxOS uses "MyLive-Install" since 2023

The HP Compaq 6730s had more problems and is scrap now. 
I got a Wifi USB stick working but right after that its keyboard stopped working. At least the 2 lower lines of keys didn't work. I opened it and cleaned the keyboard's flat connector but it didn't help. Maybe some driver IC fried or whatever. That machine is toast now.

I have now another laptop, HP 255 with an advanced dual core AMD E2-1800 CPU (published in 2012) and 4GB memory.
I gave PCLinuxOS another chance and tried to run the live image from USB. This time it froze before the desktop even showed up. There was some (maybe KDE) image but the computer did not respond to anything. Even Capslock didn't work AFAIR.
Finally I installed Manjaro + KDE without problems and it works well. Even the Gitlab site opens OK.
I know cheap HP laptops are very low quality. I believe there is some piece of HW that PCLinuxOS does not recognize or support.
Still, both Manjaro and MxLinux support such HW without problems.

PCLinuxOS developers should test their OS with more hardware! Oldish computers are the main target for Linux distros after all.

From old to new computers: My son (now 27 years) praised Apple's new Airbooks. The base model is passively cooled. No buzzing propellers. They are super-fast and the usability is superior according to him. Touchpad, hibernation feature etc.
He said even the high end Windows laptops are no match.
Sure Apple knows how to suck money from people using their ecosystem but the ecosystem is so good people don't want to leave.
OK, I believe. It would be nice to try such Airbook but what will I do with so much computing power? If I start to edit videos, it would be handy.

[dbannon]

The HP Compaq 6730s had more problems and is scrap now. 

I recently purchased a new keyboard, quite cheaply,  for my Dell I13 laptop, its seven or eight years old. But a HP/Compaq must be a very old machine. Its not an HP, its a Compaq.  HP "merged" with Compaq in 2002. It was really just a takeover, HP wanted Compaq's consumer environment. So, a laptop branded HP-Compaq must have been one sold only a few years after that. From memory,they sold DEC/Compaq stuff branded just HP quite quickly.

Incidentally, HP also got Compaq's HPC division, itself "merged" from DEC. And the first thing they did was kill of the DEC Alpha chip because of HP's heavy commitment to Intel's Itanium. Personally, I believe they continued steadily down hill from there on.

Davo

[JuhaManninen]

HP "merged" with Compaq in 2002. It was really just a takeover, HP wanted Compaq's consumer environment. So, a laptop branded HP-Compaq must have been one sold only a few years after that.

Intel 575 CPU was released in 2008, I guess the laptop is from the same year.
https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Celeron_M/575.html

[Hansvb]

Not a question but just a positive announcement. I've had Linux Ubuntu installed for almost a year now and to be honest, I didn't use it much in the beginning. However, a few weeks ago I installed Lazarus trunc with gtk 3 and I don't know if this is due to this version or if I'm slowly starting to learn but I catch myself in the past 2 weeks that I don't start Lazarus on Windows anymore. On Linux Ubuntu, Lazarus feels faster. And the tool I'm trying to make works better. And I don't have any strange Lazarus crashes anymore I'm happy with it.

[cdbc]

Hi Hans
That's -so- cool to hear \o/\ö/\o/ (I was just waiting for exactly that to happen)
Most of us Linux + FPC + Lazarus -users, experience the same as you do... 
I think "It just works" sums it up nicely 
I left 'Michaelsoft Binbows' behind in 2005 and I haven't looked back since! Nowadays 'winders' just annoys me  (although i still make some money off of the poor souls, caught in microslut's claws - hehehe) 
Anyway, glad to hear you're having fun 
Regards Benny

[mig-31]

I use different Linux distributions.
At home prefer Mageia Linux now in version 10, one of the best KDE Plasma and simple multimedia codecs installation from box.

At work I use a set of it CentOS 7, OpenSuse 15.x, RHEL 9 and last I try Debian 13 and 14. A little disappointed by Debian, because I need to install the MOXA PCI-e serial card driver, which distributed in source code with build and make scripts, and need manually add symbol links to required files from kernel headers package. When I do such installation under OpenSuse 15.6, I don't have such pain. Maybe I missed something.

I don't like that Enterprise distributions RHEL, SUSE Enterprise stopped support KDE Plasma, which is my favorite desktop.   

[Thaddy]

Maybe I missed something.

Yes, Debian policy does not allow proprietary drivers (which have a license model that is not F.O.S.S.)
But Debian allows such drivers in derived distributions, like Ubuntu and Mint.
RHEL, Suse and the likes do not have that discipline. RHEL is commercial.

[JuhaManninen]

I installed a rolling OpenMandriva Rome into the HP 255 laptop with AMD E2-1800 CPU, mentioned also earlier in this thread.
I like rolling distros. Updating "normal" distros is often a pain.
Manjaro had some issues. They switched to Wayland and window positions were screwed. I had to install X11 separately to make it work. Their X11 version is not maintained, but OpenMandriva has XLibre now which is maintained.
Then it happened I could not update Manjaro after ~half a year pause in the laptop and decided to hop to another distro.
I can recommend OpenMandriva. Its KDE is very snappy, clearly optimized well.
Package installation GUIs are totally weird but the cmd line "dnf" works well. I even wrote about it in their forum.
 https://forum.openmandriva.org/t/experiences-of-a-new-om-user/9102

OpenMandriva is not a derivative of any other "main" distro which makes it even more interesting.
They use .rpm package format. Lazarus version in their repo is old. Somebody should build a new one.

[Fred vS]

Somebody should build a new one.

Hello Juha.

You may use alien converter.

To install from deb os:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install alien -y

From Manjaro/rpm os:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. $ pamac build alien_package_converter

then

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. $ sudo alien -r package_name.deb

[cdbc]

Hi
@Juha: Yeah, dnf CLI is pretty awesome, we use that too in PCLinuxOS + we've developed our own GUI, that works pretty well too \o/ kinda like /synaptic/ back in the day...
I like Open-Mandriva too, well i should, 'cause they're sort of family to us in PCLinuxOS 
Regards Benny

edit: added a screenshot of dnf-gui