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A lightweight Linux distribution is a Linux distribution that uses relatively few resources, which may result in performance improvements especially on old computers with slower CPUs and less RAM.
One big factor that determines the resource usage and speed of a desktop distribution is the desktop environment it uses. For example, version 10.10 of Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop and requires a minimum of 128 MB of RAM and a Pentium II processor, though the Lubuntu project recommends 256 MB - 384 MB for a usable system, and at least 512 MB for optimal performance; it is a lightweight variant of Ubuntu that, in comparison, uses Unity as a desktop environment and requires a 2 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. The desktop environment can be changed in most Linux distributions, and the same Linux distribution may also have various versions with different desktop environments; examples are Porteus, which comes in LXDE, Xfce and Mate versions, and Zenwalk, which comes in Xfce and Openbox versions.