Debian Astro, Distro Astro, something else?

[turboscrew]

I got an old laptop that I thought I could use for astronomy, and I thought, maybe a dedicated distro (or Pure Blend) rather than installing separate packages one by one. I found two interesting options: Debian Astro Pure Blend and Distro Astro (Ubuntu-based distro). Has anyone used either of them?

Found one more: Astronomy Linux - an Ubuntu-based distro.

[MrShorty]

This is the one I use: https://sourceforge.net/projects/astronomy-linux-19-04/ It has worked well. As a visual only observer (no astrophotography), I don't use most of the stuff that comes pre-installed. It has been a workable distro for me.

[turboscrew]

This is the one I use: https://sourceforge.net/projects/astronomy-linux-19-04/ It has worked well. As a visual only observer (no astrophotography), I don't use most of the stuff that comes pre-installed. It has been a workable distro for me.

Thanks. I just found out that Distro Astro has already died. That leaves Debian and Astronomy Linux.
I wonder how heavy Astronomy Linux is for an older laptop? Full Ubuntu would be far too heavy.

[SkyHiker]

So long as you can install KStars/Ekos you are good. I usually use Fedora but started liking Debian because it seems simple and light weight. I don't like Ubuntu. On the Pi, Raspbian is good because it is the default for indiLib.

[MrShorty]

Thanks. I just found out that Distro Astro has already died. That leaves Debian and Astronomy Linux.
I wonder how heavy Astronomy Linux is for an older laptop? Full Ubuntu would be far too heavy.

I run it on an old Dell Inspiron laptop that originally came pre-installed with Windows Vista. I could be more patient than most, but I find it tolerable. It runs planetarium type programs kind of slow (I'm not sure how much is a slow CPU or how much is a slow GPU). I know the current version of Stellarium doesn't like the old built in "accelerator" (it wants OpenGL 3.1 or later, and mine is running 2.something). But that mostly just makes these programs run "slow". Like I said, I might be more patient than some because I find it workable, but definitely noticeable.

[turboscrew]

Thanks. I just found out that Distro Astro has already died. That leaves Debian and Astronomy Linux.
I wonder how heavy Astronomy Linux is for an older laptop? Full Ubuntu would be far too heavy.

I run it on an old Dell Inspiron laptop that originally came pre-installed with Windows Vista. I could be more patient than most, but I find it tolerable. It runs planetarium type programs kind of slow (I'm not sure how much is a slow CPU or how much is a slow GPU). I know the current version of Stellarium doesn't like the old built in "accelerator" (it wants OpenGL 3.1 or later, and mine is running 2.something). But that mostly just makes these programs run "slow". Like I said, I might be more patient than some because I find it workable, but definitely noticeable.

Thank you very much. I got a good picture now. That "came pre-installed with Windows Vista" is a good classification of the performance range. The thing is that I think Debian is much lighter, but Astronomy Linux probably has more, and newer programs - not just newer versions of programs. Maybe I try the Astronomy Linux first.

[turboscrew]

Funny. Every now and then I see postings out of order. I later discover, that a posting has emerged between older postings.

Anyway, I think I'll try Astronomy Linux. I already installed Debian, but for some reason, Debian has suddenly turned pretty heavy. Debian 10 seemed at least as heavy as Astronomy Linux 18.04. (I didn't take 19.04, because the support for Ubuntu 19.04 ends Jan 23 2021 while 18.04 is LTS and the support ends 2023.)

On the old laptop neither of them are exactly flying, but...

Hmm. Actually last LTS Ubuntu is 18.04.5 and latest Astronomy Linux 18.04 seems to be based on Ubuntu 18.04.3. Let's see what happens...

[turboscrew]

The people of Astronomy Linux are working with 18.04.4. The LTS-version seems to be on its way.