I Built Gamma Linux to Give Old PCs Another Life 🇩🇿

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I Built Gamma Linux to Give Old PCs Another Life :algeria:

Hi everyone :waving_hand:

I’m building Gamma Linux, a free and open-source Linux distribution from Algeria :algeria:.

The idea behind Gamma is simple:

No PC deserves to die.

I started the project around one question: what if old computers could still be useful instead of being thrown away?

Gamma is designed specifically with older and low-resource hardware in mind, with different editions for different hardware targets:

  • :shield: Legacy-32 — for older 32-bit x86 systems
  • :ghost: Lite-Ghost — lightweight x86-64 systems
  • :fire: Pro-MaxMini — systems with more resources

What Gamma focuses on

:high_voltage: Lightweight system design
:brain: Edition-specific ZRAM tuning
:desktop_computer: Lightweight desktop environment
:package: Minimal base / 0-bloat philosophy
:optical_disk: Calamares graphical installer
:globe_with_meridians: BIOS + UEFI boot support
:wrench: Hardware compatibility and old-PC testing
:unlocked: Open-source build system and configuration

The current release is Gamma Linux 2.7 — Warden.

I’m trying to keep the project honest: no fake benchmark numbers, no “faster than everything” claims, and no pretending that every old PC will magically become fast.

The goal is simply to make old hardware useful again.

:globe_with_meridians: Official website

:laptop: Source code

I’d really appreciate feedback from the Linux community.

If you have an old laptop or desktop sitting around, I’d especially like to hear about your hardware and how Gamma behaves on it.

Try it, break it, criticize it, improve it.

Even negative technical feedback is useful.

Gamma Linux — Reviving Every Computer. :algeria::penguin:
All together against the E-Waste

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Welcome to the community @taki_at_gamma_linux, and our forums! :handshake:

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Thanks, John! :handshake:

Really glad to be here. Looking forward to getting involved in the community, learning from everyone, and hopefully contributing something useful with Gamma Linux. :penguin::algeria:

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Very nice project!
It’s encouraging to see folks want to keep older hardware running.
Old =/= obsolete or useless.
And your website, simple and to the point.

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Thank you so much! :folded_hands:

That’s exactly the idea behind Gamma Linux: old hardware still has value, and it deserves a second life instead of being treated as obsolete.

Really appreciate the feedback on the website too! :wilted_flower:

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The website is a marvel, it looks and navigates way better than most websites I encounter and works perfectly, even without javascript !! :star_struck:. Also the information on it is perfect. It contains everything I want to know when looking for a distro.

Also, I am very much a fan of the Moksha desktop ( I used Bodhi on my 1GB netbook) and I think that it is hugely overlooked and underrated.

Two minor things:

  1. The link to the license points to
    https://githubgamma-linux.is-local.org/#source but should be https://github.com/takismartgamer123-rgb/Gamma-linux/blob/main/LICENSE.md so I landed on a 404
  2. MIT licence might be a legal problem because almost all software in the distro is GPL. I don’t know if that will go down well, but I am not a lawyer so don’t take my word for it.

I will try it out soon on my netbook, I’m stoked :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

I’m really glad you like the website, especially the fact that it still works without JavaScript. That was something I intentionally wanted to keep simple and accessible.

And yes, Moksha deserves way more attention! It fits the whole “give old hardware another life” idea surprisingly well.

Thanks for catching the broken LICENSE link too — that one definitely slipped through. I’ll fix it.

As for the MIT/GPL point, that’s something I’m going to review carefully. Gamma’s own code and the software included in the distro are separate things, so I want to make sure the licensing is presented correctly and that each component keeps its proper license.

And please let me know how Gamma runs on your netbook when you get a chance to try it! I’d genuinely love to hear how it performs on 1GB-era hardware. :penguin:

Note : If ISOLINUX entries dosen’t boot , Press Tab and remove quiet splash and write nomodeset acpi=off .
I use Bodhi too :laughing:

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