Less resourse taking Linux?

By DaSwissDude
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DaSwissDude

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I installed Mandrake Linux 10.0 on a Dell Latitude CPi machine with:

233MHz

64MB RAM

NeoMagic Magicgraph 128 (2MB)

And it seems to run pretty slow. Is there any Linux Distro which dosent use much resources, im a newbie with linux so something easy. As: SuSE (not sure if its free), Fedora Core 2...

But exept with some screen isues ive got to resolve im happy wid Linux :D

Thanks

P.S. is there xmms player for mandrake Linux? Or is there a better player? (links?)

Edited by The Napster
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eevoo

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Have you tried running it with something other than KDE, like blackbox/fluxbox, or xfce?

Honestly any new dist is gonna run slow on that hardware if you use X. SuSE recomends at least 128 of RAM (says on the box).

Fedora is much the same I would guess.

First try useing something lighter than KDE/Gnome. Then try turning off some of the running processes that are on by default.

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markwolfe Veteran

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Some of the reasons for the slowness may be what options you have installed and running (sendmail, apache, etc.). Check your running services, and see what is running that you don't need. Mandrake probably has a control panel option for this with a nice GUI.

Also, 64MB of RAM isn't going to be a lot for KDE or Gnome to run off totally in RAM. I suspect that the RAM issue is your biggest holdback. Try using IceWM for your login session (I think it should be allowed as an option when you log in after a reboot, or after you log out and back in).

If your running services are kept down to only what you need, and a change in Window Managers makes your system more responsive (which I believe it will), then you may want to look into getting rid of KDE for the long term (or buy more RAM).

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DaSwissDude

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What exactly is KDE? Im not so sure anymore :blush:

And where can u see how much total HD space u got, cuz i only have a total of 3Gigs :blush:

Sorry but im new to the amazing ;) world of linux.

Edited by The Napster
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markwolfe Veteran

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KDE is the GUI you are likely running (it is Mandrake's default). KDE (and Gnome) provide a feature-rich (or bloated, depending on your point of view) environment.

You can run a more basic Window Manager, that doesn't include all the extra bells and whistles. There are some with "start menu" operation, like IceWM is. There are some even more basic, like a Fluxbox. These will use less RAM than KDE or Gnome will use, allowing your system to run out of your fast memory, rather than off your slow hard drive swap partition. ;)

To find out how much of your disk space is free, use df (for disk free) at a command line shell.

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DaSwissDude

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  karma_police said:
Use gaim, for me is better than kopete.

xmms is included just run xmms from the command line or find it in the start menu.

well xmms isnt in the start menu :no:

Maybe cuz i didnt install all CDs? :unsure:

Edited by The Napster
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DaSwissDude

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  markjensen said:
You can use Mandrake's package manager (look for something like "add/remove packages" in the menus) to add in things from the CD that you forgot to include when you first installed.

but then i got to burn some CDs right? cant i just download & install it or something?

im lazy :D , and dont wanna waste Cds if theres another way ;)

Me writes from my linux machine :cool:

Quick question. is there any way of importing Windows favorites to conqueror?

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Lokheed

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Dont use Mandrake. Its just as bloated as Suse and "Windows Linux". Try your hand at Debian or Gentoo...if you really need to use a mainstream distro, try Fedora Core 2. It was the fastest of the ones I tested that where geared to simple PC users, though its certainly not going to be as fast as it can be.

I am using Gentoo because I love compiling my programs for my PC. To only compile in support for what I have and not what everyone else has...Gentoo is by far superior in speeds to Mandrake and Suse.

I know the whole concept of X, KDE, Gnome, etc. gets confusing. Basically it all starts with X. Xfree or Xorg are both version of X. That is your graphical engine. That is what your GUI sits on. It gives you all the appeal of Windows but on Linux, without it, it would all be command line. When you install X you can use it without KDE or Gnome or Fluxbox or XFCE4 or whatever. Its pretty useless but it does have a very basic graphical environment, that is why people made KDE and Gnome...to bring a rich GUI to Linux.

KDE and Gnome cant be compared to anything else. While Fluxbox and XFCE4 (A really nice desktop) are just small entities, KDE and Gnome offer immense functionality over those two. But with a price as you have noticed. I would choose XFCE4 over Fluxbox/Blackbox (same thing really, just nother branch off) as it offers a little more functionality and looks a hell of a lot prettier and is much easier to use out of the box. Fluxbox will be a little daunting as its pretty limited in graphical appearance.

The big rivalry between KDE and Gnome is strong. Pros and cons on both sides. From my experiences they both pretty much run at the same speed and while Gnome may feel a little tighter at times, it fails at others, same with KDE.

One important factor in KDE is support. You are extremely limited in one field on Gnome. Burning. There is no decent burning software and none that even hold a candle to K3b (k3b.org). It is THE bruning software and only runs on KDE (You can run it through Gnome but you need to install a few big KDE dependencies). This, among others, was a major factor for me in choosing KDE.

Linux has a steep learning curve and may be a daunting OS to grasp but there is nothing like it. Its a power users dream and once you being to understand its structure and its abilities, you will see why everyone in the Linux community hates Windows and just how superior an operating system can be.

Its not for the faint of heart but its certainly for the persistent. I would advise to get the general understanding of it and move to a btter distrobution, like Gentoo, Debian or Slackware. Use Mandrake as a guinea pig and install it all and just keep trying everything. You wont know what suits you best if you dont sit down and get your hands dirty.

Also I would use Kopete if you are going to stick with KDE. Its KDE based so it should seamless. I prefer it over the bloated GAIM but like I said, try them both. One powerful feature about Linux is it doesnt fragment or slow down. I have put so much on it, removed so much and speeds dont change like in Windows. Its a superior OS in everyway, we just need better hardware support from manufacturers ;)

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markwolfe Veteran

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  The Napster said:
but then i got to burn some CDs right? cant i just download & install it or something?

im lazy :D , and dont wanna waste Cds if theres another way ;)

Me writes from my linux machine :cool:

Quick question. is there any way of importing Windows favorites to conqueror?

Errrr... :unsure: How did you install your Mandrake, if you don't have the CDs? If you did a neetwork install, it should allow you to add packages from there, too.

Or you could probably do a urpmi to install any packages you want, as well, if you don't want to use your install media.

As for importing favorites, I am not sure what Konquorer can do. I know Firefox did a good import on my wife's Windows machine (put them in an "Imported IE Favorites" folder, I believe).

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DaSwissDude

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IceWM is great, dosent slow down my PC so much... Now al i gotta do is get this theme to work :angry:

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Errrr...? How did you install your Mandrake, if you don't have the CDs? If you did a neetwork install, it should allow you to add packages from there, too.

No i Burned 1 CD, but theres suposed to be 3 to burn (.iso) :DD

Edited by The Napster
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