I am planning to use this as a lightweight travel machine, smaller than my ThinkPad P15v and better than the Chrome-Tab I frankensteined into a linux tablet. I got the Macbook (in great physical condition), a new battery, and a USB-C to magsafe2 adapter for about USD 85. I’m currently calibrating the new battery, which I’m doing in EoL MacOS Monterey, but right now the plan is to replace it with MX Linux, which on the Live USB already had the Broadcom Wifi drivers. I also like Snapless distros using apt and KDE Plasma. Then, finally, I used to daily Mepis Linux years and years ago, so part of me was pleased it sort of lives on. I run Tuxedo OS on a couple of other machines, so if there’s some very good reason to, I would be willing to take my chances that getting the Wifi up and running would go smoothly. Any very strong thoughts about distros on this hardware?
Beyond that, from what I’ve been reading, Gnome and KDE aren’t really the hogs they used to be, and at 8GB this laptop should be okayish for browsing, text editing, Youtube at 720p or maybe 1080p (1440x900 screen), and the most casual of games. You know, basic stuff when you aren’t doing “serious” work. Still, what would y’all recommend for making KDE itself slip into the background and use as less CPU, RAM, and GPU (particularly concerned here, given the weak onboard and shared VRAM). I don’t think I need to drop down to XFCE, Fluxbox, etc., but I would like to turn off eye candy and other non-essentials.
Beyond distro, optimization, and managing expectations, is there anything I’m missing? I have a cricut and basic Inkscape skills, so I’m also open to decals. After all, what is the point of buying a decade-old laptop if I can’t make it look slightly stupid?
I’ve used MX with KDE Plasma on a Celeron with 4GB RAM and no real GPU.
Generally speaking, as long as you have reasonable expectations, it’ll work fine. And the things you describe sound pretty simple.
Try it with the default settings, see how you like it. If it feels sluggish you can always turn the settings down later.
The laser engraver in my garage runs via a battery-ectomied laptop with a Celeron and 4gb. I have Tuxedo on it, and it does struggle to do anything more than “copy gcode, hit send,” but by that same token its only other job is to avoid making me sad and not catch fire if it dies, so I haven’t put much effort into optimizing it. This one I have modest but non-zero expectations for, but good to know I’m above the floor.
I regularly take former Chromebooks with 2GB RAM and non-upgradable 16GB eMMCs, and turn them into functional Linux laptops. Usually with MX.
You are WAY above the floor :)