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I'm currently reading "The Linux Command" and there is written:

Install Linux on a (not so new) computer. It doesn't matter which distribution you choose, though most people today start out with either Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSUSE. If in doubt, try Ubuntu first. Installing a modern Linux distribution can be ridiculously easy or ridiculously difficult depending on your hardware. I suggest a desktop computer that is a couple of years old and has at least 256 megabytes of RAM and 6 gigabytes of free hard disk space. Avoid laptops and wireless networks if at all possible, as these are often more difficult to get working.

Why shouldn't I install it on a new computer?

My system's specifications:

  • AMD FX-6300 6x3.5GHz CPU
  • 8GB Memory @ 1600 MHz
  • GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5
  • 2TB HDD

Can I still install it?

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5 Answers 5

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You should install it on a newer computer, if you can! That said, it's fine to install Linux on an older computer if you want.

It is unlikely that anything will go really wrong if you do install it. However, bear this in mind:

  • Toshiba heat management isn't very well supported (I don't know how good kernel 4.0 is yet, I haven't updated my toshiba recently)

  • Ubuntu may not be as fast as the latest Windows is (Windows 10 is pretty good)

  • Not all hardware is compatible.

  • It might be worthwhile to dual boot, so you still have Windows if you ever need it.

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  • be careful with hardware compatibility lists, linux can lag if the hardware manufacture lags in linux support.
    – Panther
    Apr 18, 2015 at 19:47
  • @Zach I've edited your answer a lot - to expand on what you are saying. If you disagree with what I've changed it too, please edit the content out or roll it back.
    – Tim
    Apr 18, 2015 at 21:59
  • @Tim it's fine. Apr 18, 2015 at 22:01
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You should not install Ubuntu on a not so new computer, you should rather install it on a supported computer.

The problem is that sometimes the two things coincide.

That's because most hardware manufacturers either don't ship any driver for Linux or they ship them as proprietary.

Ubuntu distributions, per Ubuntu's philosophy, don't include any proprietary driver, plus to provide the hardware support is all on Canonical.

For those two things, it might happen that even the latest distribution could, upon installation, lack the support for some hardware.

But that again doesn't mean that you should install it on a not so new computer, rather just that, if you're buying a new computer for Ubuntu, you'll want to pay attenction on whether the hardware is supported or not.

If you're buying a new computer, here is the list of the officially supported desktops and laptops, but you can install Ubuntu on whatever desktop / laptop you want, it's just for your own ease that you'll want to choose one that is fully supported and that you might want to choose one that is fully supported out-of-the-box (even outside of that list of course).

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Why shouldn't I install it on a new computer?

You should, actually. The article suggests Ubuntu since it's much gentle for the beginners (although this is a subjective, but was true for me).

Your machine has sufficient RAM and nice CPU. Feel free to install it; Unity, which is default desktop, should run alright with your graphics card, but if you have any issues, there's plenty of other choices

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you can install Ubuntu Linux as long as

  • the computer has the minimum specification for the distribution

  • the machine's warranty is not invalidated and

  • your machine is not corporate and being administered by an IT department

    New or old - it doesn't matter - as long as you do not try to install a 64 bit version on a 32 bit (older) machine. As has already been mentioned, laptops - especially older ones, can be tricky to set up with WIFI - but with a bit of determination, they can be made to work with NDISWRAPPER. If your machine does not have enough resources to run Ubuntu, there are some lightweight Ubuntu variants such as Lubuntu which are intended for older machines with less processing/memory.

It is possible to buy a new machine online to a custom specification where you can specify no Windows. In not buying Windows with the machine, you can save money here! When I did this, the manufacturer put a 30 day free trial version of Windows on the machine. The first thing I did on boot up was to install Ubuntu on the machine using the opportunity remove the pre-installed Windows OS.

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I don't think it matters whether you install Ubuntu on new computer or old one.

My suggestion is you try to do this.

  1. Get your hands on any computer (supported or not supported, windows or without windows, laptop or desktop or supercomputer, it doesn't really matter)
  2. Try Ubuntu(or any Linux OS of your choice) in live run and see if everything works properly.
  3. If everything is fine, install Ubuntu and see if the speed with which it works is acceptable to you.
  4. If it is acceptable, go with it. If not, try another distro. If it doesn't work even after trying a few distros, then go with windows)

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