 DistroWatch Weekly |
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1 • Debian - Daddy of All (by manmath sahu on 2011-08-08 08:34:52 GMT from India)
I tinker distros every now and then. But when it comes to no-non-sense computing I am always with comfort of Debian. Besides, taming squeeze to fit one's need is not much harder than ubuntu or fedora.
Thanks for citing that tuxrader article.
2 • #1 Debian (by zykoda on 2011-08-08 09:05:04 GMT from United Kingdom)
"Besides, taming squeeze to fit one's need is not much harder than ubuntu or fedora."
How perspicacious of you! And IMHO that maybe a reason that Debian and Mint HPD have swollen and Ubuntu has progressed so so latterly. When others falter, there is always Debian: sound and sure.
3 • Slome (by Skrim on 2011-08-08 09:07:40 GMT from United Kingdom)
Might there be a good reason why Gnome wasn't offered with Slackware?!
4 • RE: Et tu (by Pierre on 2011-08-08 09:10:39 GMT from Australia)
Why didn't you move "tigerlady" to a version of Mint?.
as there is a few versions of Mint, surely one of them would have suited her.
5 • Et tu, Ubuntu? (by megadriver on 2011-08-08 09:31:19 GMT from Spain)
Last time I tried them, Both Xfce 4.8 and 4.8.1 worked perfectly here on Arch.
It's not Xfce's fault. Blame Ubuntu!
6 • Debian/XFCE (by Toolz on 2011-08-08 10:12:06 GMT from Vietnam)
> "Also, it pretty much expects a constant network connection"
What's this big hang-up with the network connection on Debian? I just installed Debian Xfce on a netbook without a connection and I'm very very happy with it. Connection to the 'net was infrequent until I signed up for a cheap 3G plan a couple of days ago.
> "Why didn't you move "tigerlady" to a version of Mint?"
Beware - I really struggled with Mint Xfce last week. I attempted three installs before finally giving up and going with good old Debian. I'd recommend plain Debian Xfce - that's version 4.6 - the tried and tested version.
7 • RE: Et tu (Xfce 4.8) (by koroshiya itchy on 2011-08-08 10:41:23 GMT from Belgium)
As far as I can tell, Xfce 4.8 runs fine in PC-BSD 9.0 BETA.
Other comments:
1) The "atomic updates" concept sounds very interesting. Is it easy to manage? Does it apply to drivers, kernel modules, etc.?
2) Whereas I do not agree with the absolute concept of "the best" (there are as many "bests" as people's needs ans circumstances), I do agree that Debian is the best all-rounder (and therefore the distro I use). The prove is that most distributions are Debian derivatives, including the 1st and 2nd most popular ones according to DistroWatch. Debian itself is 4th.
8 • Old news is old? (by Rick on 2011-08-08 11:03:26 GMT from United States)
Debian winning awards, Knoppix and (on front page) Gentoo get new releases... I'ma go party like it's 1997!
Slightly more seriously, how old is that TuxRadar article? It says:
"Although Mint is based on Ubuntu, the next release (11, “Katya”) will not copy the shift to Unity"
Did they write this in April and sit on it until now?
And one more rant, Otatux? Really? wouldn't it have been easier to make a Gnome theme package instead of a whole distro?
9 • where's GNOME SlackBuild? (by Aaron Burr on 2011-08-08 11:23:31 GMT from United States)
I'm wondering why GSB isn't on the Distrowatch list.
Also, it gets very little attention, but Zenwalk has a Gnome version, so that's another way to put Slackware and Gnome together.
10 • xfce 4.8 in mint debian edition (by miks on 2011-08-08 11:30:06 GMT from United Kingdom)
FYI, the 4.8 problem exists in mint debian edition. It occurred last week on my testbed install, and I was grateful that my production install is a mintified debian squeeze, basically a frozen squeeze version of LMDE, which has been rock solid. Googling at the time got me nowhere, so I am grateful that someone other than me has had this problem. I will try the workaround later....
11 • gNewSense has disappeared ... (by Coffee on 2011-08-08 11:32:34 GMT from France)
... from the DistroWatch page hit ranking. Only yesterday I saw the distribution hanging out with the likes of Finnix, Grml Blag and Crux somewhere in the 140s-150s. Is there any explanation for this?
12 • XFCE 4.8 and Arch (by Corbin on 2011-08-08 11:45:07 GMT from United States)
Yea, I'd definately call that no-borders bit a DE issue. I've had it happen on my Arch systems. Do hope the devs can knock that one out soon.
13 • RE: 11 gNewSense has disappeared (by ladislav on 2011-08-08 11:59:12 GMT from Taiwan)
I've flagged gNewSense as "dormant". They haven't released anything new in nearly two years and their earlier promise to deliver a new version once "Squeeze" goes stable hasn't materialised (though six months have passed since "Squeeze" was released). Their forum has also disappeared and a cursory glance at their development mailing list didn't leave room for much optimism either.
14 • Xfce Bug (by Sascha Biermanns on 2011-08-08 12:07:02 GMT from Netherlands)
The same bug happened to my wife two weeks ago on Arch Linux. I moved her folder, started Xfce - got a new folder with defaults and copied them into her normal folder. After that - I renamed back her real folder - and the bug was gone.
15 • @ Interface woes (by os2_user on 2011-08-08 12:08:46 GMT from United States)
The underlying problem is the view that constant change of graphical manager is needed. But that only appeals to uber-geeks. Gnome 3 apparently (I'm not going to /try/ it now because /warned/) changed all the API too, and there's simply no reason for it, doesn't improve function a bit.
Just make the interface simple and basic, guys. -- IF you want it to be accepted and actually used by the rabble, but frankly, I doubt that you do. Not to be rude. But Linux now needs /utility/ rather than continuing to play around with "concepts".
16 • Re: Tips and tricks (by Wine Curmudgeon on 2011-08-08 12:11:30 GMT from United States)
Xfce 4.8 is a huge disappointment. I had the desktop go missing in Xubuntu, as noted in the article, and in Mint, as noted in the comments. Worse, it happened so often I had to change distros, Check out Watt OS3.
17 • Mepis (by Frank on 2011-08-08 12:14:12 GMT from United States)
Mepis linux 11 is the bests!! i have try all the mayor distros out there and Mepis was the only one with very few issues it works perfect on my laptops and 2 desktops.
Great Job Mepis !!
18 • Games for Linux (by Jesse on 2011-08-08 12:15:49 GMT from Canada)
For people interested in gaming on Linux you can check out this list of the 100 Best Free and High Quality Linux Games:
http://www.cahilig.net/2011/07/29/100-best-free-and-high-quality-linux-games
I'm happy to be able to say I've hacked on two of the games that made the list.
19 • Linus on Xfce (by kenjite on 2011-08-08 12:36:05 GMT from United States)
I don't understand what the big deal is about what d/e Linus uses nor his opinion of them. I don't code or build kernels so why should I look to someone that does to tell me what my desktop should be? It's like asking Michael Schumacher what minivan best serve the soccer mom of the world.
20 • XFCE (by Gustavo on 2011-08-08 12:50:53 GMT from Brazil)
Please, *don´t use* Xubuntu 11.04, use 10.04 LTS instead. And, please, don´t make such a disservice to XFCE. It´s a great desktop.
21 • xfce4.8 (by barnabyh on 2011-08-08 13:05:51 GMT from United Kingdom)
No problem here on Arch. It seems buntu is attracting all the bugs and then blames upstream. Btw, both Knoppix and PureOS look good, perhaps try them?
22 • Re: 20 (by Vakkotaur on 2011-08-08 13:24:33 GMT from United States)
I am currently using Xubuntu 10.04 LTS (on desktop & laptop) and am giving serious thought to moving at least the laptop to 11.04. Why? Because I need a 32-bit program to run and the *buntu kernel updates after -28 have broken it. I get errors that indicate the compatibility libraries are missing, yet if I boot with -28 things work just fine, thus the libraries are not missing. Also, 10.04 does not support the wireless 'card' in the laptop, 11.04 does. Not having to recompile the wireless system after every kernel update would be a big win. I like the idea of LTS, but since it's been broken (32 bit issues) for so long, I see no real point to sticking with it.
So, what's the issue with 11.04, beyond not being "LTS" ?
Of course, what I really want is 64-bit PCLinuxOS, but I'll just have to make do until that arrives.
23 (by Eduardo Z on 2011-08-08 13:25:34 GMT from United States)
@18 Games for Linux -- I'll be checking out that link, and the linuX-gamers Live DVD. I recently experienced a mild rejuvenation of interest in games. This occurred upon my discovery of the http://www.humblebundle.com/">Humble Indy Bundle, 5 games (now bonus'd to 12) for which you can set your own price. The deal runs for another 34 hours. I've been following the deal, since I've been impressed with the distribution method. The games run on Linux, Windows, Mac, have no DRM, and you can download for several platforms, as desired. HIB is probably old news to some. Hopefully a nice revelation for others.
24 • xubuntu vs lubuntu (by morri on 2011-08-08 13:26:00 GMT from Germany)
I myself have lubuntu on my pc which runs very well on my 10 year old PC . I had considered xubuntu too but it doesn't run half as well on my oc as lubuntu does and if one sees the reports that point out that xubuntu runs quite a lot more baggage than lubuntu it is understandable. I think lubuntu is the best ubuntu distro for older computers and people that just want to use a pc for simple purposes.
25 • Lubuntu Alpha 3 and Zorin OS Lite (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-08-08 13:31:17 GMT from United States)
From downloading the DVD and installing I learned again that 'Lubuntu' can see the 'Lubuntu' in Zorin OS 5 Lite. But interestingly enough even though it is still Alpha it gave me the option to upgrade Zorin. Nope. It didn't work right because it is still Alpha but I know it will still 'see' the Lubuntu in Zorin in the future. The Alpha was willing to try to resolve the conflict. Running Zorin Lite and Lubuntu brings up a kind of what do you want Lubuntu to do. :)
26 • Xfce 4.8 WM (by Eddie on 2011-08-08 13:37:53 GMT from United States)
I had that same "disappearing window borders" problem in Xfce 4.8. (This was in Foresight Linux.) I got an answer on the mailing list to add xfwm4 to the Application Autostart, and it has been fine ever since. I never learned why this was happening; it seems to be fairly random. Other than that, Xfce 4.8 has been smooth and enjoyable.
27 • Best distro Debian, second Ubuntu... (by kolaloka on 2011-08-08 13:39:27 GMT from Czech Republic)
I think, while Ubuntu had a position (about version 9.04) when it was the absolute top of linux distros, it has been doing everything possible to make people try other distros and probably engage in other distro's communities. What I find much worse especially, is Gui changes every year, loss of original stability, focusing on Macish look instead on usability.
No wonder it is not No. 1 any more.
28 • Xfce (by TrevorNT on 2011-08-08 13:59:44 GMT from United States)
My machine, running Arch with the latest Xfce packages, had the above-mentioned issue. It did both before and after I reinstalled Arch on my machine. The whole time I had been using the Canonical-suggested method of typing the command at Alt+F2 (though I found it on my own :-P), but then I realized that in Session and Startup, under Session, xfwm4 was not listed. The more permanent solution I found was using Alt+F2 "xfwm4 &", then going under the Session tab in Session and Startup and clicking "Save Session". After that, the window manager always started up and continues to do so.
No idea why Xfce is having this problem but I hope they resolve it fast.
29 • xubuntu 11.04 (by walter_j on 2011-08-08 14:25:34 GMT from Canada)
I have xubuntu 11.04 on my pc and occasionally boot into it, but have lockups often in it, so i won't use it for anything serious until i sort that issue out. I suspect the video driver but haven't taken the time to figure out how to change it. There isn't a hardware menu like in ubuntu, so i can't find it.
I installed xubuntu 9.10 on my mom's pc: she ran that for a few years, without too much trouble. I recently upgraded to 10.04, and it's running great. She's 85 now.
ubuntu 10.10 is my main install. It just keeps running. The best ubuntu ever imho. 11.04 may go down as the worst ever of any distros
30 • @22 (by Gustavo on 2011-08-08 14:25:37 GMT from Brazil)
These are great reasons to run 11.04.
31 • the best distro (by ix on 2011-08-08 14:42:28 GMT from Romania)
PCLinuxOS 2007 was the best Linux distro ever (IMHO). It was fast, stable, good looking and user friendly. It was no.1 for a long time in the default page hit ranking.
Those were the good old days, with KDE 3.5, Amarok 1.4 and other nice stuff.
I have been using Debian for some time now and it's a good distro, but I don't think it's the best distro for most people.
32 • XFCE titlebar issue (by Josh on 2011-08-08 15:16:44 GMT from United States)
I've seen this issue in Gnome 2.32 on ubuntu 10.04. The titlebar would usually disappear due to a crash of compiz, compiz not starting at boot, or on boot with compiz running (maybe due to metacity). I'd usually just kill the x server and it would fix the issue. It is quite a pain but not too big of one. It doesn't really happen often, maybe 5 times since the release, so I never felt a need to sift through what the cause was. Though, the "delete all .*** folders" is a bit extreme of a measure just to restore the xfce configuration. Though I don't use xfce, so I wouldn't know.
33 • How about KDE (by Leo on 2011-08-08 15:45:03 GMT from United States)
Another alternative is KDE. I use Kubuntu in all my machines (desktops/laptops/netbooks), and it works well. It looks amazing really, and it is mostly ok. The main issue I see is the constant introduction of new technologies. Nepomuk and Akonadi have both given me more headaches than they are worth. Frankly, I gave up on the PIM (contacts, calendar, email) for the most thing, since they have always had little or not so little issues. Not to mention the now forked KOffice/Calligra. I mostly use the Plasma Shell, the widgets (or “apps”), and that’s about it. The rest is either native Linux applications such as VLC or Digikam, and a lot inside the browser (Chrome).
So, I basically use KDE in a light way to give me a ChromeOS on steroids. I read that Kubuntu 11.10 will have a low-fat configuration. That’s very welcome. KDE-5 will focus on mobile, another step on the right direction. It’s all good.
34 • Ubuntu (by hobbitland on 2011-08-08 17:20:42 GMT from United Kingdom)
Hi, I am still using Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS and CentOS 6.0 at work. I customize my
Ubuntu and even respin the CD ISO as a ISO/USB. What is default in Ubuntu does
not bother me so long as I can change it.
I only use LTS Linux distros and will be using Gnome 3 in classic mode for
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Surely, Linus should know how to enable classic mode in
Gnome 3?
35 • Remove all dotfiles? (by mjjzf on 2011-08-08 17:33:39 GMT from Denmark)
Surely you wouldn't have to remove all dotfiles? How about just moving them? Also, it is not that hard to see what is related to Xfce.
36 • Missing window decorations? Think "restart the window manager" (by eco2geek on 2011-08-08 17:53:20 GMT from United States)
Anyone who's played around with compiz-fusion and/or its predecessors (like Xgl) has probably, at one time or another, had to restart the native window manager due to a problem with compiz-fusion.
So if your title bar and the frames around your windows suddenly disappear, it's probably due to a problem with the window manager.
For example, for GNOME 2.x, the window manager is "metacity". Or, for KDE, "kwin". And for Xfce4, "xfwm4".
So, when Jesse's problem happened to me with Xfce4 (I think it was after installing Xfce4 for the first time on a pre-existing openSUSE installation), fortunately my first thought was, "Does Xfce4 have a window manager, and what's it called?" rather than "Let's delete all my dot-files." It was the one essential component of Xfce that hadn't been installed.
37 • On Linux migration (by Basilio Guzman on 2011-08-08 18:03:38 GMT from Puerto Rico)
I am a Mac User since 1987, but I am now confined to using Windows. The software I use for my work is only available for Win and Mac. Linux can run the software, but not natively, because the manufacturer (Adobe Systems, Inc.) seems they never will make their software for Linux.
At least I saw AdobeReader running natively on Linux (Or was I dreaming?) mostly because of market share for the PDF format.
I hope in the near future I can do EVERYTHING on Linux, and forget about proprietary software, and operating systems.
38 • Xfwm4 Crash (by Moose on 2011-08-08 18:03:47 GMT from United States)
While I have never encountered a crash in Xfwm, I have encountered a bug a Xfce Panel 4.6 that had the same result - leaving me without a panel. Being a newbie to Linux at the time I had no idea what was wrong and actually reinstalled my system in order to fix it. Of course, I also didn't know what a .tar.gz file was or why there were no exe's to run, but you got away with less damage than I did. Thanks for the tip, it may help some save their data.
39 • XFCE (by Blue Knight on 2011-08-08 19:15:33 GMT from France)
Ah, the joys of Ubuntu... I have XFCE in Fedora and never had a problem with it!
40 • XFCE (by Mike on 2011-08-08 19:23:20 GMT from Denmark)
Mint Debian XFCE => no problem. Yet.
Lost wireless after kernel upgrade a few days ago, though. (2.6.39-2-686-pae.)
41 • "Best" 2011 distro (by Blue Knight on 2011-08-08 19:28:31 GMT from France)
I forgot. For me, the 2011 distro is Mageia. Mageia *is* the big news for 2011.
42 • Linvo (by Zbreaker on 2011-08-08 20:47:10 GMT from United States)
Nice review of Linvo Jesse. I'm a Slacker with a day off, a spare drive and burning the cd as I write...it doesn't get any better.
43 • Comparaison (by Linux User on 2011-08-08 21:54:18 GMT from Canada)
I don't think we can take this comparison seriously of
LinuxFormat. Debian, Fedora, Suse and Ubuntu ... First, the small number of
Linux distro just put out games this comparison. On the other hand, 98% of
standard PC user will never be able to install Arch or Debian. For this Newbie user
OpenSuse during the partitioning step is not easy. While on the lot is Fedora and Ubuntu so the installation in a couple minutes by just anyone ready! But perhaps they
speak rather derived from Debian. Mepis is a great Debian derivate with a lot of administration tool, good simple system install step for anyone. which I think would come out great comparatif winning this if we just take it as such. In short we have forgotten Slackware, Vector Linux, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, Sabayon and many other, which are, in my opinion many Distro is more pleasant to use than Debian.
I'll put that on summer vacation and the guys had LinuxFormat
nothing to do.
In conclusion, to compare the linux distro is not so much
relevant.
44 • A better Xubuntu (by Fartee Toomuch on 2011-08-08 22:19:15 GMT from United States)
I installed Peppermint Two on my pc and it is mind-blowing. Then I installed the Xubuntu desktop on top of it. Now, the Xubuntu session works better than a real Xubuntu installation.
But, regardless of which distro I happen to be using at any given time, Openbox is the single most-dependable desktop that exists. Yes, I am aware that it is just a window mgr.
45 • Atomic updates (by Jesse on 2011-08-08 23:32:29 GMT from Canada)
>> "1) The "atomic updates" concept sounds very interesting. Is it easy to manage? Does it apply to drivers, kernel modules, etc.?"
In theory, atomic updates should be as easy to manage as regular updates. Typically atomic updates will take up more disk space because there will be an extra copy of the software, but space is rarely a concern on modern systems.
I haven't been able to test the atomic update features of the distros reviewed, but I think NixOS supports atomic updates of the kernel and its modules/drivers.
46 • For a testbench 11.04 is not ideal (by Marcello on 2011-08-08 23:51:06 GMT from Canada)
20 • XFCE (by Gustavo on 2011-08-08 12:50:53 GMT from Brazil)
Please, *don´t use* Xubuntu 11.04, use 10.04 LTS instead. And, please, don´t make such a disservice to XFCE. It´s a great desktop.
I agree. Not that I use XFCE on Ubuntu but, just by itself, from all I heard, 11.04 is rather tricky.
47 • PCLINUXOS KDE (by linuxforever00 on 2011-08-09 00:57:24 GMT from Canada)
I love it! 2011.07 KDE MINIME and then installed the packages I wanted. I honestly think the full version of KDE PCLINUXOS is much more user friendly compared to them all. I don't care if they have 64-bit or not. I only have 2 gb ram.
48 • Et tu, Xfce? (by Anonymous (no, not that one) on 2011-08-09 01:10:28 GMT from United States)
I've encountered the same borderless windows in Mint 11 Gnome. My bad, since the release notes said not to enable Compiz, and I forgot. It was solved by deleting the gnome configuration in my home directory.
Makes me wonder if the two are related somehow -- maybe back to the graphics driver issue.
49 • Re @22 (by charsan2 on 2011-08-09 01:18:28 GMT from United States)
You can run the pae kernel and it suppose to do the same thing
50 • Underappreciated X-Window manager IceWM (by Thomas Mueller on 2011-08-09 02:01:27 GMT from United States)
With all the problems some Xfce users are having, there is another window manager I have taken to: IceWM (http://www.icewm.org/), now at version 1.3.7, good on my old computer with 256 MB RAM, and it may be the first window manager I build on the new computer I'm setting up, might not bother with Xfce at all. IceWM does not include a terminal, but I find xterm more dependable than Xfce Terminal.
51 • @48: Think "restart the window manager" not "delete configuration files" (by eco2geek on 2011-08-09 03:08:06 GMT from United States)
From Linux Mint's web site (http://linuxmint.com/rel_katya.php):
"If you experience problems with the window manager (with window borders, focus or mouse clicks) launch "Fusion Icon" from the menu, and use the Fusion tray icon to switch your window manager to 'Metacity'."
The fusion tray icon allows you to switch easily between compiz and metacity.
52 • How frugal?! (by Scart on 2011-08-09 06:53:02 GMT from United Kingdom)
Frugalware Linux ... (4,262MB, SHA1).
Strike a blow for the English language.
Ever tried Wary @ 127Mb or Lupu @ 128Mb?
I rest my case.
53 • RE:49 Nope not the same (by Realistic Linux User on 2011-08-09 11:49:28 GMT from United States)
You cannot get a 64 bit system using the pae kernel. That just allows you to use more memory.
54 • RE: There has to be change. (by Realistic Linux User on 2011-08-09 12:17:21 GMT from United States)
Why is it that some people think that there is a lost of stability or usability when a distro changes their de? There may be for a short time until the others can catch up but the general public doesn't want to use something that looks like Win98. Someone even said that the "rabble" would use it if it was simple. Who are the rabble this person is talking about? He sounds a little mixed up. If the truth be known the people who mostly comment on this site has the most problems with a different de. They complain even tho there tons of simple Win98 looking distros that they can use. They complain about the progression of other distros, probably because they can't learn how to use them, and in turn give the open source world a bad name. If you don't like something I'm sure you don't use it so why do you bitch about it. KDE4.x, Gnome3, Unity, and anything else that doesn't look like Win98 are not going away because you can't figure them out. If you don't use and learn these new desktop environments then you really don't know what you are talking about when you diss them. If you want to talk about something then talk about something you know something about. Everyone has a right to voice their own opinions but realize that opinions are not facts, just opinions. Everyone needs to realize that or you may chase people away from the open source world. Is that what you want?
55 • @54: "change" (by cba on 2011-08-09 18:22:52 GMT from Germany)
"They complain even tho there tons of simple Win98 looking distros that they can use. "
At the moment I am using openSUSE 11.1 "Evergreen" with KDE 3.5.10 with parts from the Open Buildservice.
This is also possible with openSUSE 11.4 and the corresponding KDE3 OBS repo.
A future openSUSE with a Gnome2 OBS repo would also be no problem.
So you are right, there is almost nothing to complain about, because its free software.
56 • Et Tu Xubuntu (by VT on 2011-08-09 21:15:43 GMT from United States)
Been a long time visitor and this finally piqued me enough to comment. I've been running XFCE 11.04 since Unity & G3 were released. I love it but I've been having precisely the same problem with Xubuntu. (Which I solved myself, he writes tooting his horn.) The benefits of Xubuntu, to me, outweigh this one bug, so I've stuck with it. Putting XFWM4 in autostart hasn't helped (unlike a former commenter). Trying TrevorNT's solution also didn't work (starting 'XFWM4 &' and then saving the session). XFCE in Xubuntu seems to pay no attention to saved sessions? Probably another bug... Sometimes trying to initiate XFWM4 can be a real chore. There are times when I can't type in the Run dialogue box but had to type XFWM4 in a Firefox dialog box(!) (the only program accepting keyboard input), then copy and paste it into the Run window. Etc.
I have to admit Jessie, Lubuntu is looking more and more attractive. I'll stick with Xubuntu until 11.10. If the bug continues, I might try Lubuntu or Peppermint. I like Ubuntu's PPAs so I'll stick with an Ubuntu derivative. As it is, I've found no other elegant solution to the Xubuntu bug.
57 • RE:#54 Real bloat (by koroshiya itchy on 2011-08-10 07:32:39 GMT from Belgium)
The problem for me is that Gnome 3, KDE 4 and Unity are bloated and heavy. This is a fact. I do not really care how they look like. I need my computational resources to be used for doing actual work not for showcasing useless bling-bling and running useless services and daemons.
Gnome 2 is about the heaviest thing I can stand. So I have migrated to Xfce 4. Xfce 4.6 is light enough, very stable, functional, versatile, familiar,... All I need. I have also tried LXDE and Enlightenment and both are light and nice desktops environments, but they have stability issues. Other DE and window managers are also fine, but normally they lack functionality. Of course if you want a nice-looking desktop with plenty of functionality, KDE is your man. Gnome 3 is heavier than Gnome 2 and yet it has lost functionality. Why is it so heavy then? Besides, if you have two 24-inches 1920x1200 monitors having a heavy desktop with little functionality that looks like a mobile phone is a bit rid
iculous... If it is for embedded devices, great, but then I guess it needs to be skimmed down.
58 • re 54 (by willi-amp on 2011-08-10 08:45:26 GMT from United Kingdom)
'but the general public doesn't want to use something that looks like Win98.'
Who says so? Your comment states quite clearly that posters should only deal with facts.
59 • xfce 4.8 stable? (by disi on 2011-08-10 11:06:01 GMT from Germany)
I didn't even notice the upgrade from 4.8 to 4.8.1 on Gentoo.
Works like a charm and that since end of May on x86:
23 Apr 2011; Samuli Suominen (ssuominen) xfwm4-4.8.1.ebuild:
alpha/ia64/sparc stable wrt #358407
29 Mar 2011; Jeroen Roovers (jer) xfwm4-4.8.1.ebuild:
Stable for HPPA (bug #358407).
22 Mar 2011; Kacper Kowalik (xarthisius) xfwm4-4.8.1.ebuild:
ppc/ppc64 stable wrt #358407
22 Mar 2011; Thomas Kahle (tomka) xfwm4-4.8.1.ebuild:
x86 stable per bug 358407
60 • Firefox memory usage - light at end of tunnel? (by gnomic on 2011-08-10 23:52:18 GMT from New Zealand)
Just happened to be using austrumi 2.4.0 - this comes with browser Aurora, aka Firefox 7. A quick web search reveals one notable feature of Ff7 - it should use less memory. With any luck this should mean it will not fizz out so often on memory challenged machines. It seems my suggestion last week that versions 4 and 5 of Firefox were notably worse in this respect than the 3.x series was correct. Something to look forward to around October this year.
This article is interesting.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219069/Mozilla_shrinks_Firefox_s_memory_appetite_by_20_30_
See also:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Which-Firefox-should-you-use-5-6-7-or-8/1310052564
Version 7's headliner: providing proper remedy to the age-old memory leak problem. Instead of relying on the user to manually free up memory using the "about:memory" dialog, version 7 takes control of the process itself through increased garbage collection frequency and defragmentation of memory chunks, which will reduce Firefox's memory consumption by tens or even hundreds of megabytes over a lengthy period.
http://blog.mozilla.com/futurereleases/2011/07/07/firefoxaurora7/
Improved memory management: For many users, memory use is reduced by 30 percent or more, responsiveness is enhanced
61 • Installer Crash Error Lubuntu Alpha 3 (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-08-11 00:18:19 GMT from United States)
The installer crash was an error because it did install. I was given the option to install Lubuntu 11.04 but this Lubuntu 11.04 is the new Ubuntu accepted Lubuntu. :) I switched out my Nvidia Geforce 9400 GT with my ATI Radeon X1300 because I wanted to go Linux without all the hassle of loading a proprietary driver.
62 • Bloat? Someone said bloat? (by Gary W on 2011-08-11 06:11:45 GMT from Australia)
@57, while that is a good point, there are many in your situation and there are many solutions for you, e.g. LXDE, OpenBox, IceWM. Perhaps sadly, it is left to you to evaluate each of these, but at least you have realistic choices.
For another view of bloat, I checked one of my work computers, running a newish variant of a well-known distro. I don't want to name it as I'm sure it's not the only offender.
On this machine I found 3 Pythons, 2 Perls, and 4 gccs, without much analysis (ncdu). This is real bloat, very unfortunate for a machine with a 4Gb SSD. Possibly forcing me to another distro.
63 • Another opinion (by Michael Thomas on 2011-08-11 08:45:50 GMT from United States)
Despite the fact that the software is free and it's authors owe nothing to anyone and despite the fact that we as users have other options it is still wrong to expect us to change our work habits at the whim of someone else. Many users expect their computers to function a certain way and many expect their operating systems to be as transparent as possible. Having administered a number of computers over the years I have learned that the users want simplicity and consistency as well as reliability.
It should be said that there are many ways to introduce new desktops but expecting users to adapt or change to a different environment shows a total lack of concern for the users these developers claim they create the software for.
Number of Comments: 63
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