Installing and Optimizing Xubuntu

MTK358 · 05-06-2010, 09:26 AM

Arch +1

And pstree on my machine (for the desktop, I am running Openbox (window manager), xfce4-panel (taskbar), conky (displays system info on the desktop background), and gnome-do (application launcher)):

Code:

[michael:~]$ pstree
init─┬─Terminal─┬─bash───openbox
     │          ├─gnome-pty-helpe
     │          └─{Terminal}
     ├─Terminal─┬─bash───pstree
     │          ├─gnome-pty-helpe
     │          └─{Terminal}
     ├─Thunar
     ├─5*[agetty]
     ├─atd
     ├─crond
     ├─cupsd
     ├─3*[dbus-daemon]
     ├─dbus-launch
     ├─dhcpcd
     ├─gam_server
     ├─gconfd-2
     ├─gvfs-fuse-daemo───3*[{gvfs-fuse-daem}]
     ├─2*[gvfsd]
     ├─hald─┬─hald-runner─┬─hald-addon-acpi
     │      │             ├─hald-addon-inpu
     │      │             ├─hald-addon-leds
     │      │             ├─hald-addon-rfki
     │      │             └─hald-addon-stor
     │      └─{hald}
     ├─login───bash───startx───xinit─┬─X
     │                               └─xfce4-panel─┬─conky───5*[{conky}]
     │                                             ├─gnome-do───gnome-do───10*[+
     │                                             └─xfce4-menu-plug
     ├─lxappearance
     ├─midori─┬─midori
     │        └─3*[{midori}]
     ├─2*[ntpd]
     ├─syslog-ng───syslog-ng
     ├─udevd───2*[udevd]
     ├─xfconfd
     └─xfrun4

mark_alfred · 05-06-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigevil

Here is a list of services and what they do. Should give you a good idea about what you can disable.
http://www.domain-logic.com/linux_services.php

That's great information. I went through the list, and then through my own pstree, and eliminated some processes that were unnecessary for me and my system. For instance, I had some chipcard daemon running that was for reading smart-cards (libchipcard --> now gone), along with blinkd (for a Blinks keyboard for an answering machine, or something --> now gone), and the atop daemon (I don't need top running all the time in the background), the AT daemon ("at" --> something for servers, which my system isn't), apmd (for laptops, which my system isn't), and gpm (don't need mouse support in the console -- in fact, this I found irritating).

Of course, while purging all of these daemons, I took notes, just in case something screwed up and I had to reinstall any of them in maintenance mode. However, everything is fine. Some things, like exim4-daemon-light, I left, because too many other packages relied upon it.

My system seems even better now after the pruning (IE, if I'm not in the middle of executing some strenuous program, then when I'm doing regular stuff like simply typing -- as I'm doing now -- top reports that the Cpu is 99% idle, whereas before it was 90%)*. So, I feel this is what Parallaxis needs to do: prune some of the unnecessary processes from his/her system. This, I feel, will increase the speed.

____

*This actually still fluctuates somewhat; so, I may have been a bit premature in my assessment of how important these processes are to the performance of the machine. Still, seems a good idea to do some pruning of processes, which I did by actively removing the packages that were responsible for the running daemons that I deemed unnecessary. The other thing to consider is increasing your memory a little. While my system is similar to yours (mine is 450 MHz to your 500 MHz), I do have 128 MB of extra RAM (384 to your 256). RAM is very important.

Parallaxis · 05-06-2010, 09:24 PM

Well guys I'm on vacation for a week, I've got this bookmarked and may try Arch when I get back, as well as fine tune Xubuntu.

MrCode · 05-06-2010, 11:18 PM

Just a note for when you get back...

Quote:

I've got this bookmarked and may try Arch when I get back

If you're gonna go with Arch, I'd recommend reading the "The Arch Way" link in MTK358's signature. Arch is something that takes a litle more setup than just "point, click, 'n go". In fact, you don't even have a GUI to start with; you have to install that yourself. But there's an excellent guide on the Arch Wiki about setting up Xorg (the core of the GUI). If you want Xfce, there's a page for that, too.

It really is a "K.I.S.S." (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) system. That is, it doesn't come with a whole lot of extra stuff (simplicity of the system, not necessarily the interface), and the user is expected to be able to maintain the system on their own. That's not to say it can't be used as a simple internet terminal, though, it just means that it might take more time to set it up as one than it would for a distro like Xubuntu. The main advantage to this is that you'll have a much lighter-weight system, because you've only installed what you absolutely need, without any extra cruft.

mark_alfred · 05-07-2010, 01:46 PM

Is Arch a cult? I think many of the Arch users need a bit more protein in their diets. But I digress.

If you choose to try to slim down Ubuntu, there's some detailed instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...wMemorySystems

MTK358 · 05-07-2010, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_alfred

Is Arch a cult? I think many of the Arch users need a bit more protein in their diets. But I digress.

What do you mean?

Alexr · 05-17-2010, 04:13 AM

I'd recommend Slitaz 3.0, which is 30MB in size but has lots of packages available if you wish to fatten it out. In my experience, it's faster than most other lightweight distros.

If you decide to use Arch linux like the others are recommending, I'd suggest the lightweight window manager FVWM. It's easily configured and is capable of being very attractive.

MTK358 · 05-17-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexr

If you decide to use Arch linux like the others are recommending, I'd suggest the lightweight window manager FVWM. It's easily configured and is capable of being very attractive.

A few times I really wanted to give it a good chance, but I could never figure out how to configure it and it always looked butt ugly no matter what I tried.

IMHO.

Parallaxis · 06-01-2010, 01:44 PM

Sorry for being gone so long.
But I'm back on the project now!

Here's a look at that tree of running processes..............

Code:

init─┬─NetworkManager─┬─dhclient
     │                └─{NetworkManager}
     ├─acpid
     ├─atd
     ├─avahi-daemon───avahi-daemon
     ├─console-kit-dae───63*[{console-kit-da}]
     ├─cron
     ├─2*[dbus-daemon]
     ├─2*[dbus-launch]
     ├─gam_server
     ├─gconfd-2
     ├─gdm-binary─┬─gdm-simple-slav─┬─Xorg
     │            │                 ├─gdm-session-wor─┬─sh─┬─ssh-agent
     │            │                 │                 │    ├─xfce4-session─┬─Th+
     │            │                 │                 │    │               ├─xf+
     │            │                 │                 │    │               ├─xf+
     │            │                 │                 │    │               ├─xf+
     │            │                 │                 │    │               └─{x+
     │            │                 │                 │    └─xscreensaver
     │            │                 │                 └─{gdm-session-wo}
     │            │                 └─{gdm-simple-sla}
     │            └─{gdm-binary}
     ├─6*[getty]
     ├─gnome-keyring-d───2*[{gnome-keyring-}]
     ├─gvfs-afc-volume───{gvfs-afc-volum}
     ├─gvfs-gdu-volume
     ├─gvfs-gphoto2-vo
     ├─gvfsd
     ├─hald─┬─hald-runner─┬─hald-addon-inpu
     │      │             └─hald-addon-stor
     │      └─{hald}
     ├─midori───3*[{midori}]
     ├─modem-manager
     ├─nm-applet
     ├─notify-osd
     ├─polkit-gnome-au
     ├─polkitd
     ├─pulseaudio───4*[{pulseaudio}]
     ├─python
     ├─rsyslogd───2*[{rsyslogd}]
     ├─rtkit-daemon───2*[{rtkit-daemon}]
     ├─udevd───2*[udevd]
     ├─udisks-daemon─┬─udisks-daemon
     │               └─{udisks-daemon}
     ├─upstart-udev-br
     ├─wpa_supplicant
     ├─xfce4-power-man
     ├─xfce4-settings-
     ├─xfce4-volumed───8*[{xfce4-volumed}]
     ├─xfconfd
     └─xfsettingsd

The question is what can I disable and how do I disable it?

I also read this on one of the links someone listed above....

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...wMemorySystems

Quote:

Install an entire lightweight system
Building on the ideas above, here are some complete graphical systems, installable through a single command line. Feel free to mix and match between these options.

Remember: If you are using Dapper or earlier, replace "xorg" with "x-window-system-core"

IceWM as a window manager, plus GDM, Firefox, Abiword and the Synaptic package manager:
sudo*aptitude*install*gdm*xorg*xterm*icewm*menu*mozilla-firefox*abiword*synaptic

XFCE and Firefox, with Synaptic package manager and KDM as the login manager:
sudo*aptitude*install*kdm*xorg*xfce4*firefox*synaptic

Fluxbox with Dillo, and XDM as a login manager:
sudo*aptitude*install*fluxbox*xorg*xdm*dillo

Openbox with no login manager, XFE as the file manager and xfce4-terminal as an X terminal, as well as Openbox themes and the Tango icon set:
sudo*aptitude*install*openbox*obconf*openbox-themes*xfe*xfce4-terminal*tango-icon-theme-extras*xorg

Remember to check the repositories for more ideas on software and applications!

Would this help me out more? Also what exactly does this do? Will it kill Xbuntu as soon as I boot up? Or will it just create another login option when I boot up? I thought if it just creates another login option then I might try it. But I don't want to wipe everything and start over.

Something else to consider...
I've been doing alot of work on another old computer getting it to run games (MAME, etc). And one of the things they tell you is that if the game runs slow then decrease the resolution size. If it runs slow at 800x600 then decrease to 640x320 or whatever.

So I was thinking, Xubuntu starts off running at 1152x864. If I switch to 800x600 would that give any kind of performance boost?

BTW I already tried, and if it did I couldn't tell it. But you know every bit helps. So if it is speeding anything up (if even only slightly) I'd still like to know.