What's lighter?

[h8uthemost]

I've been using Ubuntu for quite sometime now, and I really like it. But I'm looking for a distro that is as easy as Ubuntu, but is maybe a bit lighter. My computer is about six years old and only has a lowly 512MB of RAM. Would Mint be a good fitting for my aging computer? And in your opinion, is it lighter than Ubuntu?

Thanks for any info.

[OldManHook]

I've been using Ubuntu for quite sometime now, and I really like it. But I'm looking for a distro that is as easy as Ubuntu, but is maybe a bit lighter. My computer is about six years old and only has a lowly 512MB of RAM. Would Mint be a good fitting for my aging computer? And in your opinion, is it lighter than Ubuntu?

Thanks for any info.

As easy, it's also better, what Ubuntu should be if your computer run Ubuntu, Mint will run be a good fit as for lighter maybe -- Mint seems to run better on the same computer.

[bigBuckets]

Mint 9 LXDE is very light. I've revived several old laptops and desktops and it works great.

http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1473

[mastablasta]

Not to my experience.

You might try MInt XFCE, Mint LXDE, Xubuntu or Lubuntu. These should all be lighter than Ubuntu. Though how much latest XFCE version are lighter it is quite questionable.

Also it seems Lubuntu is ligter than Mint LXDE 9.

[alpha1]

I run Mint 8 xfce on 512 MB RAM, P4 3 ghz.

Takes about 110MB RAM when not doing anything.

Goes upto 250 typically - Firefox + Exaile + term + thunar + etc


Mint 9 - gnome takes about 140-150MB neat.
Goes up as you start various applications.

[h8uthemost]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys. So the general consensus is: Run Mint with either LXDE or XFCE? And to do that, I just install Mint as usual, then install LXDE or XFCE through Synaptics?

Now, I'm a little iffy LXDE, because I used it for a little while on Ubuntu(version 0.5.0-3 through synaptics) and the desktop was quite buggy for me. So I just went ahead and reverted back to Gnome. I don't know if that was just an older version, or if LXDE is better on Mint, but my previous experience with it wasn't very good. Maybe I'll like XFCE better.

As for Lubuntu or Xbuntu, I've never tried those before. I'm pretty set in my "Ubuntu ways", meaning that I want all the apps that I'm currently using on Ubuntu to work in other distros. And I'm pretty sure Mint runs just about everything that Ubuntu can. But I'm guessing Lubuntu and Xbuntu should too since those are also based off of Ubuntu.

Well, I guess I have some LiveCD's to check out. Thank you for all the info guys. If anyone has anything else then please share.

EDIT: Can both Xbuntu and Lubuntu be used as LiveCD's?

[bigBuckets]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys. So the general consensus is: Run Mint with either LXDE or XFCE? And to do that, I just install Mint as usual, then install LXDE or XFCE through Synaptics?

Yes, you could do it that way, but (IMO) it's more streamlined to run the dedicated Mint versions of LXDE or XFCE.

For example, I believe Mint LXDE is designed to reduce its dependencies on Gnome thus reducing its consumption of the computer's resources.

Every Mint version has its own live CD so you can test them out.

[Erinsfan]

My preference is to remove most of GNOME and have installed Openbox/lxpanel/pcman but have LXDE installed just in case I break Openbox. I've also changed gdm for lxdm. Machine positivly flies now!

Erin

[alpha1]

To tell you the truth - after installing Mint 9 LXDE I saw not much improvement on RAM front - just 100-105MB.
Better to install the xfce version IMO.
You won't lose anything on GUI functionality front.

[h8uthemost]

Well, I did install XFCE on my Ubuntu, and I didn't really like it. I think I like LXDE more. So if anything, I think I may go with Mint LXDE.

Yes, you could do it that way, but (IMO) it's more streamlined to run the dedicated Mint versions of LXDE or XFCE.

And yeah, that's what I meant. I'm downloading the Mint LXDE version right now.

So, since I gave XFCE a shot on Ubuntu and didn't really like it I'm not going to bother to try Xbuntu. So my options are down to Lubuntu and Mint LXDE. What do you guys think would be the better way to go? I've already put Lubuntu on a disc and gave it a spin. And eventhough I'm not a huge fan of LXDE(I think I'm just too used to Gnome, and LXDE didn't seem as buggy on the Lubuntu version, and there was actually a trash bin!), I did like Lubuntu. I guess it's going to come down to how I like Mint LXDE.

But any suggestions on whether to go for Mint LXDE or Lubuntu would be much appreciated. I'm sure you guys know more about it than me.

Thanks for all the info. I really do appreciate this.

EDIT: Sorry, I missed this one:

My preference is to remove most of GNOME and have installed Openbox/lxpanel/pcman but have LXDE installed just in case I break Openbox. I've also changed gdm for lxdm. Machine positivly flies now!

Erin

Are you talking about installing the regular version(Gnome) of Mint, and getting rid of Gnome and installing Openbox? I've never tried Openbox. It's a pretty quick desktop?

By the way, something I've been wondering, is the only real difference with Xbuntu/Lubuntu the desktops they're using? Or has something else been done to the distros that's supposed to make them faster? Or are these distros basically just like having Ubuntu installed on your computer, but using LXDE/XFCE instead of Gnome?

EDIT AGAIN:

Sorry for the long posts guys, but I have one more question. Mint is based off of Ubuntu, right? So all the apps and scripts that I'm currently using on Ubuntu should work on Mint too? Basically working with Mint is like working with Ubuntu?

Thanks. Just thought I would ask before I went ahead and installed then found out some of my most used apps/scripts didn't work.

[Erinsfan]

I found that going from vanilla Mint to a-n-other meant that lots of GNOME processes and daemons were running in the background. After removing some of them, the world certainly is more lively. I found it difficult to switch certain things off so chose to remove them. I guess that installing XFDE from scratch would mean that less intensive apps/software was installed by default.

Erin

[h8uthemost]

Well, I did just give Mint LXDE a spin on a disc. And it's a really great looking distro. But from a disc, the distro was noticeable slower than Lubuntu on a disc. Maybe this is just a disc problem, but the whole distro would pretty much hang up(come to a halt) when doing the most basic tasks. For example, I had a browser open, then I would open another app like Terminal, and everything would slow down. The browsing of pages came to a crawl, and the distro as a whole slowed way down.

And when I tried to install anything from Terminal, that was a real pain. The windows pretty much just locked up until the app got done installing. None of this happened on Lubuntu. Lubuntu is lightning fast, and I was expecting the same from Mint LXDE.

Think this is just a problem with running it from a disc? I would hate to wipe out my Ubuntu partition, install Mint LXDE, and it perform like it does from a disc.

I'll give Mint XFCE a download and see how that performs.

[mastablasta]

And when I tried to install anything from Terminal, that was a real pain. The windows pretty much just locked up until the app got done installing. None of this happened on Lubuntu. Lubuntu is lightning fast, and I was expecting the same from Mint LXDE.

That's what i said before. i also asked here at the forums why this happens but i received no answer so far. everyone keeps saying how extreemly fast Mint LXDE is yet i doubt anyone tried it propperly on lower RAM system. i also do not know if it is just live CD thing or is it really so much slower than Lubuntu. so i also can't decide, but i think i will have to go with Lubuntu on this computer.

Or maybe i will give latest Puppy linux a try (you don't need to since you have a lot more RAM than i do).

Xubuntu is Ubuntu optimized for XFCE. Ubuntu programes will work fine there, but like i said i am not sure it is any lighter. Didnt' test the latest version, but previous was crashing on me, so i can't really say how good it really is.

[MALsPa]

I wonder if antiX would be better for you. I don't know if it is "as easy as Ubuntu" or not because I haven't installed antiX, but I know it's supposed to be great for older machines. Mepis remaster; uses Fluxbox.

[mastablasta]

heh if i wanted some other type of Linux i could also go with DSL or similar. but i need a fully equipped system. Lubuntu so far convinced me... Like i wrote i dont' know why MInt LXDE is so much slower than Lubuntu...

[alpha1]

W@hat is the RAM usage in Lubuntu?

Just post the result of "free -m" here.

the only reason why lubuntu might appear snappier is because lot of daemons might not be running - which makes it less functional IMO.

Anyway, just try mint xfce for a while - its pretty different from the xubuntus that we come across.
(I prefer mint 8 over9)

[MALsPa]

heh if i wanted some other type of Linux i could also go with DSL or similar. but i need a fully equipped system. Lubuntu so far convinced me... Like i wrote i dont' know why MInt LXDE is so much slower than Lubuntu...

Oh, sorry. I did think that antiX users feel like it gives them what they need, but maybe it isn't what YOU need. I know it can be a chore finding a distro that fits an old machine and still comes with everything that you need it to come with, sometimes it's better to just get the hardware that you need, if you can. I have one that won't work well with anything that's out there now, tried everything I could and finally had to move on. Good luck!

[h8uthemost]

. Lubuntu so far convinced me... Like i wrote i dont' know why MInt LXDE is so much slower than Lubuntu...

I'm glad someone is thinking like I am. I am posting from Lubuntu LiveCD right now, and again, it just flies. And this is from a cd, I can't wait to see how it is on a hard drive. And if you do some research on Xbuntu, you'll see that it's just as(or more) resource hungry as Ubuntu. I guess that distro was really light at the beginning, but it's not anymore. That's why people are saying that they don't want Lubuntu to be signed. They're afraid if it does then that it's going to become just like Ubuntu/Xbuntu.

I'll look into antix MALsPa. And...I'm going to download and try Mint XFCE right now from a disc before I finally decide to install Lubuntu. Like I said, I would rather go with Mint because it is a beautiful OS(plus I really like the activity and the general niceness of these forums, it would be easy to get help here). But if Mint XFCE doesn't feel as light as Lubuntu, then I'm going to have to go with Lubuntu.

Thanks for all the info guys.

[vrkalak]

I wonder if antiX would be better for you. I don't know if it is "as easy as Ubuntu" or not because I haven't installed antiX, but I know it's supposed to be great for older machines. Mepis remaster; uses Fluxbox.

On my older Gateway Laptop, with only 195 Mb of RAM ... I have AntiX 8.5 installed and it works great.

Mepis AntiX is, also, based on Debian 'testing' and uses Fluxbox >> light, fast and pretty.

AntiX has given my ol' laptop new life.

[h8uthemost]

I'm using Mint XFCE from disc right now, and it's noticeably faster than Mint LXDE. I mean, quite a bit faster. The OS isn't stalling when I have multiple apps open, nothing is grinding to a halt when I install something from Terminal or Synaptics. This is much, much, better.

One thing I can't seem to figure out with XFCE(and I have to have), is how to get single-click to open folders work. In the Behavior tab there's an option for single-click, but it doesn't work when I open a folder.

Hmmm...not sure which one I'm going to install now. Not sure if Mint XFCE is as light as Lubuntu, but it's quick and it looks good.

EDIT:

I run Mint 8 xfce on 512 MB RAM, P4 3 ghz.

Takes about 110MB RAM when not doing anything.

With Lubuntu, with nothing running, it's 86MB. Right now with Chrome open with two tabs it's 113MB. So that's barely more than Mint XFCE clean. Although Opera is my main browser, and this is the browser I'll go with when I install Lubuntu. So I'm guessing that number will be a number or two higher than 113MB with two tabs open.

I guess it's safe to say(what mastablasta already said) that Lubuntu is indeed lighter. Which sucks, because I would really rather have Mint. Lubuntu is even faster than Crunchbang, which I thought was one of THE lightest distros. But for now, I"m going to have to go with Lubuntu. I think my computer will hold max 1GB of RAM, so I only need a 512MB stick to max me out(if I'm correct about the 1GB max part). So pretty soon that's what I'm going to do. And when I do I think I'm going to go with Mint.

EDIT AGAIN: Whoah...the System Monitor in Mint XFCE is telling me that it's taking 153MB of RAM, with nothing at all running. Ubuntu doesn't even take that much running clean. I think Ubuntu is something like 120MB. Why am I getting such a higher rate than mastablasta's 110MB?