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    Lightweight Linux...

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @RamblingBiped
      last edited by

      @RamblingBiped said in Lightweight Linux...:

      Try lubuntu; I have a core 2 duo with 2GB of memory that runs really well with it installed. It uses LXDE by default.

      This. LXDE is pretty much the only option. You are testing heavy distros with nice desktops. That won't work. You need one with a light desktop. Only light desktop for non-UNIX users is really LXDE.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @bbigford
        last edited by

        @BBigford said in Lightweight Linux...:

        @dafyre said in Lightweight Linux...:

        I'd definitely check out one of the Mate GUIs. That's my go-to of choice these days, even on a hefty system with good specs.

        Is Mate really that much lighter on resources than Cinnamon?

        Yes, MATE doesn't require a GPU, Cinnamon does. Cinnamon is designed to be really powerful on modern, underutilized hardware with an idle GPU. Mate is a traditional desktop. IceWM, LXDE, XFCE and others are designed to be light, not just "not heavy."

        Anything based on Gnome3 (Cinnamon, Unity) or KDE is going to be way too heavy for you.

        bbigfordB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • bbigfordB
          bbigford @scottalanmiller
          last edited by

          @scottalanmiller said in Lightweight Linux...:

          @BBigford said in Lightweight Linux...:

          @dafyre said in Lightweight Linux...:

          I'd definitely check out one of the Mate GUIs. That's my go-to of choice these days, even on a hefty system with good specs.

          Is Mate really that much lighter on resources than Cinnamon?

          Yes, MATE doesn't require a GPU, Cinnamon does. Cinnamon is designed to be really powerful on modern, underutilized hardware with an idle GPU. Mate is a traditional desktop. IceWM, LXDE, XFCE and others are designed to be light, not just "not heavy."

          Anything based on Gnome3 (Cinnamon, Unity) or KDE is going to be way too heavy for you.

          Ah, well that explains the screen tearing.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • RamblingBipedR
            RamblingBiped
            last edited by RamblingBiped

            Personally, I still don't get the favoritism between desktops. If I can accomplish a task without touching my mouse I'm happy. Most of what I do when I'm working from a Linux OS is done and accomplished in a terminal.realistically, all I really feel like I need is a terminal, a functioning web browser, and Libre Office on occasion.

            What the GUI wrapper looks like honestly doesn't concern me all that much. The less a GUI gets in the way, the happier I am with it. I think this is why I really don't have a problem with Ubuntu's default UI for their desktop distro. I hide the Unity dock/panel and it's clean and out of the way. It's also why I like LXDE. It doesn't get in the way and doesn't consume much in regards to resources.

            dafyreD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • dafyreD
              dafyre @RamblingBiped
              last edited by

              @RamblingBiped said in Lightweight Linux...:

              Personally, I still don't get the favoritism between desktops. If I can accomplish a task without touching my mouse I'm happy. Most of what I do when I'm working from a Linux OS is done and accomplished in a terminal.realistically, all I really feel like I need is a terminal, a functioning web browser, and Libre Office on occasion.

              What the GUI wrapper looks like honestly doesn't concern me all that much. The less a GUI gets in the way, the happier I am with it. I think this is why I really don't have a problem with Ubuntu's default UI for their desktop distro. I hide the Unity dock/panel and it's clean and out of the way. It's also why I like LXDE. It doesn't get in the way and doesn't consume much in regards to resources.

              Sounds like you should try the i3 Window Manager, ha ha!

              stacksofplatesS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • stacksofplatesS
                stacksofplates @dafyre
                last edited by

                @dafyre said in Lightweight Linux...:

                @RamblingBiped said in Lightweight Linux...:

                Personally, I still don't get the favoritism between desktops. If I can accomplish a task without touching my mouse I'm happy. Most of what I do when I'm working from a Linux OS is done and accomplished in a terminal.realistically, all I really feel like I need is a terminal, a functioning web browser, and Libre Office on occasion.

                What the GUI wrapper looks like honestly doesn't concern me all that much. The less a GUI gets in the way, the happier I am with it. I think this is why I really don't have a problem with Ubuntu's default UI for their desktop distro. I hide the Unity dock/panel and it's clean and out of the way. It's also why I like LXDE. It doesn't get in the way and doesn't consume much in regards to resources.

                Sounds like you should try the i3 Window Manager, ha ha!

                Ya if you don't want frills and just want keyboard, that's the best. I love it.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • s.hacklemanS
                  s.hackleman
                  last edited by

                  What about Chromium OS?

                  bbigfordB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • thwrT
                    thwr
                    last edited by thwr

                    You could build one yourself, Gentoo with optimized CFLAGS and CCFLAGS would be the fastest Linux you can get IMHO (apart from LFS). Setting up distcc to speed up the compiling wouldn't be much of an effort (CPU was x86/amd64?). If the CPU isn't x86/amd64, you would need a cross compiler which can be complicated to setup.

                    But looking at the time you need to spent to configure Gentoo, you could just earn some extra money and buy a faster machine 😉

                    bbigfordB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • bbigfordB
                      bbigford @s.hackleman
                      last edited by

                      @s.hackleman said in Lightweight Linux...:

                      What about Chromium OS?

                      I haven't saw that running on anything but a Chromebook. Should work well. Might give that a go.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • bbigfordB
                        bbigford @thwr
                        last edited by bbigford

                        @thwr said in Lightweight Linux...:

                        But looking at the time you need to spent to configure Gentoo, you could just earn some extra money and buy a faster machine 😉

                        Lol fair point. But I'm not buying anything. It's a donation to my 10 year old niece so she can do her school work, rather than her parents having to spend a couple hundred on a Chromebook that'll accomplish the same thing.

                        Going to try LXDE tonight, then maybe Chromium OS.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • bbigfordB
                          bbigford
                          last edited by bbigford

                          Since LXDE is just the desktop environment, what is the most popular distro really being downloaded since it can be used on many?... Lubuntu?

                          Was also looking into VectorLinux Light with LXDE...

                          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @bbigford
                            last edited by

                            @BBigford said in Lightweight Linux...:

                            Since LXDE is just the desktop environment, what is the most popular distro really being downloaded since it can be used on many?... Lubuntu?

                            Was also looking into VectorLinux Light with LXDE...

                            I general avoid light distros, light ones and heavy ones are REALLY close to each other until you get to really ridiculously unusably light. So Mint, Fedora, Suse or Lubuntu would be the way that I would go. We use LXDE here on Mint 18.

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