Try a lightweight, beautiful Linux distro that works on very old hardware. Bodhi Linux can run on processors with only 300 mhz so imagine how well it will work on your machine. With the Enlightenment desktop environment, Bodhi looks great and runs light. With the Ubuntu repositories, Bodhi has access to a plethora of quality free software. With a little work, it can become your perfect desktop.

You’ll need to install your favorite software of course, and you might want to spend some time tweaking things. In many ways Bodhi reminds me of time spent tweaking early versions of Ubuntu to make everything work just right. We’ve shown you visually pleasing Linux distributions that use Enlightenment, and those are worth checking out. Bodhi Linux is different because it’s up to date, completely free to use and compatible with the Ubuntu repositories.

Choose Your Look

Bodhi, it seems, is committed to choice above all. The distribution boots quickly, and the first thing it presents you with is a decision. With various desktop modes to choose from and a few themes to check out as well, you’ll be wanting to explore a little:

Pick a profile based on your needs and you’ll quickly see the main desktop for Bodhi. Here’s how it looked based on my decisions:

This familiar (read: Windows-like) layout is unique in the world of Enlightenment-based distros, but don’t worry, you can customize the desktop quite a bit if this isn’t your style.

Use Your Desktop

So how does one use this thing? You’ll be wanting to pull up the menu to launch applications. You can do this by clicking anywhere on the desktop or by clicking the button.

Yep, it’s a start button. The menu, to begin with, is sparse, but you can explore the distribution by customizing the look and feel. Much of the fun of older Linux distributions was experimenting with the look and feel in order to get everything set up exactly the way you wanted it. Bodhi recaptured this spirit for me; you should explore it yourself.

Installing Software

Like I said earlier: there’s not a lot of software installed by default. That’s intentional, and is related to the previously mentioned commitment to choice. To quote Bodhi’s about page:

At Bodhi Linux, we believe in User Choice, so we don’t give you three pre-installed mail clients to choose from. It does not mean that there is every browser possible at the click of a button. What it does mean is that we have our own repositories and these are accessible via the apt-get command line, GUI package manager or better still our online software store ( see “Add Software” in menu above!). Out of the box we give you the tools to access the resources you need to be able to build your system.

So choice means the freedom to install whatever software you like, and there is quite a bit of freedom there to be sure. A handy website gives you quick access to many familiar programs:

The site makes use of aptURL to provide single-click installs, but offline installation packs are also available if you prefer.

Want more control than a website with download links can give you? Don’t worry, all the standard Ubuntu package management tools are here for you to use. Synaptic, for example:

You’ll find apt-get works from the command line as well, so there’s another choice for you.

Conclusion

What really impressive about this distribution is how fast it runs. This is Ubuntu stripped down without any sacrifice in terms of look and feel. Here are the minimal hardware specs:

• 300mhz i386 Processor.
• 128MB of RAM.
• 1.5GB HD space

If a computer is still running today it almost certainly meets those criteria, so there’s no harm in giving Bodhi a chance. Download it now.

What do you think of Bodhi? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, along with any Enlightenment tweaks you can offer.