Installing 21.04

[Liam Proven]

On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 at 17:11, Hans via ubuntu-users
<ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> In the system requirements I read that I need (at least) 4GB of memory.
> How strict is this number? My systems all have 2GB, and video uses a part of it, and I did experience troubles during installing 20.04.

2GB is *very* little by modern standards. For a contemporary PC, 8GB
is a small amount of RAM, 16GB is moderate, 32GB is good. My
home-office machine has 12GB and it's starting to struggle.

The limitation of not being able to access all of 4GB of RAM is why
most modern OSes moved to 64-bit, that is x86-64. x86-32 maxes out at
3-and-a-bit gigabytes.

However x86-64 is a little less efficient than x86-32. x86-64 code
uses more memory. So, something marginal with a 32-bit OS is
below-marginal for a 64-bit OS.

2GB is marginal for 32-bit OSes, and so below marginal for 64-bit. I
would say 4GB is the cutoff for 64-bit OSes. If you have less than
4GB, stick with 32-bit OSes or add more memory.

> After installing, my requirements are modest: network-manager (for handling lan/WiFi/wlan), Firefox, evince (reading PDFs), cups (for printing).

So, you want a GUI with a desktop.

That is not minimal by modern standards, I'm afraid.

It is usable for a server with no graphical interface, and even then it's low.

> Any chance? Experiences?

Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04 no longer offer 32-bit editions. They are 64-bit only.

You might be able to use one of the lighter-weight desktops such as
Lubuntu or Xubuntu, but it will be sluggish.

If you cannot upgrade your machines, then I would suggest you consider
switching to a distribution that still offers a 32-bit edition. There
are a few left:
* Debian
* Mageia
* Raspberry Pi OS

There are many more niche ones, such as Void Linux, but they require
considerable technical skill.


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