I have an Acer Chromebook R11 which has reached End of Life and won’t receive updates (which is insane, I bought it new four years ago). I have checked, and my model is now fully supported by most Linux distros.

I need suggestions for a lightweight distro to use. I will use the machine for surfing, playing Pixel Dungeon, streaming some indie games over Moonlight/Steam Headless and manage my home server over ssh. So nothing major. I want something lightweight and really low maintenance.

Specs:

  • Processor: 1.6GHz quad-core Intel Celeron N3150 (quad-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.08GHz with Turbo Boost)

  • Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics

  • Memory: 4GB DDR3L

  • Storage: 32GB (with SD card reader for more storage)

I have a lot of experience with Arch-based (EndeavourOS, Manjaro), Ubuntu-based (Mint, PopOS) and Debian-based (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Raspbian) distros, but I am open for other suggestions

  • jrgnOP
    120·
    3 months ago

    Thanks for all the great replies! I installed OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with XFCE for now, because I had it lying around on a USB stick. Mostly to see if I even could get it running. So far so good, but I will definitely use some time to check out my options and see what will work the best. All replies are greatly appreciated!

    • rizoid
      20·
      3 months ago

      I used to work for Chromebook Retail and I have a bunch of EOL devices around. Tumbleweed has been the most stable in my experience followed by Endeavor OS.

      • jrgnOP
        10·
        3 months ago

        Good to know! Have you tried any other distros?

        • rizoid
          10·
          3 months ago

          I’m sure I’ve tried a bunch over the years those are just the two that I’ve actively used the past couple years.