I want to make my Xubuntu system faster......

[AmberJain]

Hello,

I recently installed Xubuntu and really liked it. But on my 256 MB RAM PC :( it is pretty slow and so I feel like I am on a really slow machine.

I dont like (or crave for) graphics. I only want to use my linux box for mostly programming. I want a full speed + stable + linux system. And so please suggest me low memory (i.e. fastest) application upgrades (e.g. Window manager) so that I can get most out of my Xubuntu PC.

Also, I googled about this but I thought it would be better to consult experts at bytes.com before I make any changes to my system.

Thanks in advance.......
AmbrNewlearner

[numberwhun]

Personally, if this is not your main machine, then I would uninstall the x server and get rid of the windowing system. That will drastically improve the speed of the machine. You can then get ssh setup on it and remote into it to do whatever you need to, but that's just me.

You can also look into getting rid of running processes that you don't need or use as well. I would do a google search on top of that for "hardening linux" for security purposes.

Regards,

Jeff

[AmberJain]

Hello,

Personally, if this is not your main machine, then I would uninstall the x server and get rid of the windowing system. That will drastically improve the speed of the machine. You can then get ssh setup on it and remote into it to do whatever you need to, but that's just me.

Well, this is my main machine. Although I am planning to upgrade RAM (and other hardware components. I am even planning to purchase a new system) but for the timebeing I thought to replace windowing system (and other applications) with their light weight equivalents. And so can you please suggest some light weight windowing system?

You can also look into getting rid of running processes that you don't need or use as well.

OK, I will see to this and will post back if that helps.

I would do a google search on top of that for "hardening linux" for security purposes.

I heard about this for the first time. I will look into it and will post back if I face problems.


THANKS........
AmbrNewlearner

[micmast]

I think xfce is a pretty light window manager, but you could try others like tinywm, fluxbox, metacity or just X (but I wouldn't advice this)

As to speeding up the machine, check what applications are started by default. Loads of them are probably not necessary for you to run. To check this, look what programs are running (ps aux) and wonder how many of them you might actually need (you might have to google it :) )
Another place to start looking is in /etc/init.d/
Or install bootchart, this will create a nice image with an overview of what programs start, how long they take, ...

As for security purposes
run netstat -lnp (as root, this will give you program names) and see what services are running. Normally there shouldn't be many running (maybe cups, X and sshd if you installed it) and can see if you can shut them down (via the /etc/init.d/ scripts)

But that is only what I would do :)

[AmberJain]

Hello,

I think xfce is a pretty light window manager, but you could try others like tinywm, fluxbox, metacity or just X (but I wouldn't advice this)

Well, Dont worry. I have switched to PC LinuxOS today and it is working atleast 10 times faster than Xubuntu and so I am now sticking to PC LinuxOS.

As to speeding up the machine................................... might actually need (you might have to google it :) )
Another place to start looking is in /etc/init.d/
Or install bootchart, this will create a nice image with an overview of what programs start, how long they take, ...

Googling..... :)

As for security purposes
run netstat -lnp (as root, this will give you program names) and see what services are running. Normally there shouldn't be many running (maybe cups, X and sshd if you installed it) and can see if you can shut them down (via the /etc/init.d/ scripts)

HUH! Googling......gooogling..........googling......... ........Hmmm....I'm too busy now ;).


Thanks........
AmbrNewlearner

[Nepomuk]

Just out of interest, what are the specs of that machine and how big was your SWAP partition for Xubuntu? And what kind of programs were you trying to use? Because I had a 192MB RAM machine for quite some time and it was running like many people would have loved their Windows machines with 1GB RAM to work.

Greetings,
Nepomuk

[AmberJain]

Hello,

Just out of interest, what are the specs of that machine and how big was your SWAP partition for Xubuntu?

My machine's specs are:
256 MB RAM, 2.9 GHZ, 40 GB HDD, 1MB cache.......

I cannot think of anything else right now...If you need something else, tell me.

And yes, my swap partition was of 300MB (approx. equal to my RAM).

And what kind of programs were you trying to use?

The programs included:
Opera, Terminal, OpenOffice, GIMP,DOSbox :-) , Totem media player (to listen to MP3's)..........That's it......

Now I dont know the reason but for applications like terminal it took atleast 4-5seconds to load while Opera took atleast 8-10 seconds to load. And while any of these applications were loading, the HDD LED in my CPU glowed brightly and my PC appeared freezed.

Because I had a 192MB RAM machine for quite some time and it was running like many people would have loved their Windows machines with 1GB RAM to work.

Well, I expected that from my Xubuntu installation but sadly enough I got a lot more degraded performance........ :(

As to speeding up the machine, check what applications are started by default. Loads of them are probably not necessary for you to run. To check this, look what programs are running (ps aux) and wonder how many of them you might actually need

I never tried this (which micmast had advised) as I had already switched to PC linux OS before I read his reply......probably this may be the cause but I dont know now.

Thanks...........
AmbrNewlearner