These are general rules of thumb. KDE will start on a Pentium 100 with 64 MB RAM, but it will run horribly slow.
For a hot new box with lots of RAM and a fast CPU I recommend KDE 3.x or Gnome 2.x. Gnome is bloated and KDE is even more bloated. This is great, but all those fancy features demand more cpu and ram.
XFCE4 is a very nice complete fast and lightweight Desktop Environment and is probably the best choice for old, but not anicent hardware. The ROX desktop is another good light choice.
For really old hardware you should use something simple to draw icons on your desktop (like idesk) and a fast window manger like fluxbox (based on blackbox), waimea or icewm
..... enough pasted. If you for some bizarre unimaginable reason want to read more of my bullprop you can always click click click etc.
I consider KDE and Gnome to be window managers the same way fluxbox, evilwm etc is. The difference is simply that they offer alot more.
A Linux distribution is like lego, and that's what I love about it. It's just building blocks. You can choose if you want XFree or X.org at the bottom. You can choose if you want kwin or metacity or fluxbox as a window manager, make your own mix. Fluxbox is just a good alternative for Gnome as metacity.
idesk is a nice small tool that can place icons on your desktop. And I don't know how many times I've run nautilus instead of nautilus --no-desktop --browser like common sence encurages (starts it like any other seperate file manager) and gotten the whole Gnome thing sitting on my desktop -- in fluxbox.
What I mean to say is that fluxbox+idesk+whatever (flux can dock gnome, kde and wm applets in it's slit, the freedesktop standard is great) can give you a complete desktop just like "packages" KDE and Gnome (Remember, they are just packages with lots of different components, look at the startup scripts, you can customize according to your preferences.. and only start what you need/want). Just because it's not packaged together does not mean it's can't (be part of) a complete desktop environment.
Like I wrote in my 1337 howto (I use that at signature atm) a server should only be connected to a power cord and as many ethernet cables as possible. Spend the money on better keyboard, mice and monitor for your desktop(s), that's the ones you will be using. Servers should only sit silently in a corner and do their job year after year without being noticed.
Personally I run a minimal Linux desktop. I use Fluxbox as a Window manager, I do not have gtkrellm or any other fancy monitor utils running, I've got no desktop icons or other "bloat".
Linux will be slow if you are running KDE with a truckload of panel applets. But this also applies to Windows: The more processes that are running, eating memory and using CPU cycles from time to time, the slower tasks you need/want to do will seem. This is obvious. It's also a matter of configuration and choice of Linux distribution.
I use Gentoo but that's just my prefernece. It's much faster than other distributions for two reasons: A) I compiled it from source optimized for my hardware and more importantly B) the big placebo effect and pride that follows A).
XFCE is another very good light choice for a desktop. Rox is a great file manager and much more snappy than Konqueror, Nautilus and other giants. I assume this too applies to Windows software, not that I got much knowledge of that OS -- I've heard it's gotten pretty spiff since 3.1 (last I've used, anyway).
Another important Linux performance issue is RAM, many people fail to realize the amount of RAM you've got is just as important as how fast your CPU is. This, obviously, depends on what tasks you are doing, but if you count overall performance memory _is_ important. Like with all OS: Once you start swapping your tapping your fingers and getting annoyed.
That's enough for now, since I want 3rd post (I asumme there's been like 20 new during the time I used to write this, but still...)
Patenting doubleclicking is allowed, why not file for a patent on
- "Exploiting security holes found in software"
- "Posting web links that causes browsers to misbehave"
- "Making web code that uses non-standard javascript"
- "Mentioning possible exploits publicly"
Once these patents are in order they can just sue the hell out of anyone & everything and stop this problem once and for all.
If the current trend in the "Figure 1: Number of people in the Credits file." graph keeps going then it's simply a matter of time before every inhabitent on this spinning ball called Earth is credited for conributing to the Linux kernel..
The Norwegian ISP Telenor tried to limit the bandwidth on their ADSL costumers. They initially had a limit of a whole 1 GB pr. month. Imagine, they allowed people to download half a Linux distribution a month! You could still read your mail at ISDN speed if you exceeded your limit, though. They later increased this limit to an incredible 30 GB/mo.
Telenor soon realized even 30 GB/mo wasn't generous enough, they were loosing their marked share to the large number of ISPs with a lower price pr. month and no download limit. They still block port 25 and 80 and have a clause in their terms of use that clearly states that you are not allowed to run any form of server service on your line (people have actually got warnings for running "ssh servers", but atleast they've droppet that redicilous bw limit. So unless ALL the ISPs suddenly start doing this all at once the providers that to try to scam people this way will simply find themselves without any income. (Telenor is what previously was the state phone monopoly "televerket", they own just about all the local fiber and can, because of their position, get away with pretty much everything. Kind of like Microsoft.. ).
Bandwidth doesn't need to be a problem. In my country the major TV channels make deals with local IPs to mirror their shows, when you download the latest episode of some show you get it directly from your ISPs mirror. This would require alot more deals to be made in big countries like the US, but it's quite possible. I still don't use this service, though, because these services are for WMP only and I'm not switching to windows to be able to pay for content I can get form other sources anyway. My ISP also have a "rental service" for movies that uses a java applet player that doesn't work very well in Linux (and doesn't let you save the file to your harddrive)
Here in Norway the phone companies store all text messages and phone logs for 3 months. The most scary thing is that they also store your position, the police can ask for your (cellphones) movements 2 months ago and the phone companies will willingly deliver this information.
I have been dreaming about the phone that could run java or C code fast enough to do real time encryption using gpg or some other secure system. I want both audio and text messages encrypted. IM (=jabber, anyway) systems for computers can already use GPG, but I am having a hard time convincing people I know to use it. They simply don't see the point. Most of them don't even use GPG for mail even though there are plug-ins available for almost any mail browser (using GPG for IM is somewhat harder).
I'm not sure the majority of people would bother to invest in a phone that could do encryption if it cost slightly more.
This reminds me of another "hot" issue: The Everywhere Outdoors Video surveillance System. This is coming to your local neighborhood soon. When I debate with people about this issue most people just say "So What?" and "I don't really care, I've got nothing to hide". Personally I would prefer big brother not being able to read my mail, listen in on my calls and view my movements live on cameras at all times - even if I don't have anything to hide....
Back to the secure phone: I am convinced phones like this never will be sold. The authorities won't allow not being able to listen in. So this would would require a phone that could run c or java or other code fast (for games or something) enough so the GNU community could make a open source solution for encryption that would work even though the phone was not intended for making secure calls.
Having changes mailed to you may work on a small scale, but personally I would prefer not to having my in-box overfilled with messages telling me someone corrected some spelling error. Less (mail) is more. 1 mail x 20s reading time daily works, 1000+ mail about like I imagine wikipedia would receive becomes a problem.
Thank you for making me aware of hymn, I had no idea such a thing existed (didn't help me much, though). My one and only experience with iTunes happened a long time ago and I remember I eventually gave up playing the songs all together.
I now googled real quick and I'm still puzzled: What Linux media player can play iTunes songs? How, oh how, do I use them?
Personally I'd rather have my audio in.ogg or.mp3 format instead of iTunes,.wmv or any other closed not-all-round supported format.
I want to be able to use my audio anywhere, on any device.
I do not want to be restriced to using any special not-open-source software or device..ogg audio ownez iTunes any day of the week.
Slashdot Mirror
Hardware requirements
Desktop Required RAM Required CPUfluxbox/idesk 32 100 MHz
XFCE4 64 200 MHz
Gnome 1.x 64 400 MHz
Gnome 2.x 256 600 MHz
KDE 3.x 384 1 GHz
These are general rules of thumb. KDE will start on a Pentium 100 with 64 MB RAM, but it will run horribly slow.
For a hot new box with lots of RAM and a fast CPU I recommend KDE 3.x or Gnome 2.x. Gnome is bloated and KDE is even more bloated. This is great, but all those fancy features demand more cpu and ram.
XFCE4 is a very nice complete fast and lightweight Desktop Environment and is probably the best choice for old, but not anicent hardware. The ROX desktop is another good light choice.
For really old hardware you should use something simple to draw icons on your desktop (like idesk) and a fast window manger like fluxbox (based on blackbox), waimea or icewm
I consider KDE and Gnome to be window managers the same way fluxbox, evilwm etc is. The difference is simply that they offer alot more.
A Linux distribution is like lego, and that's what I love about it. It's just building blocks. You can choose if you want XFree or X.org at the bottom. You can choose if you want kwin or metacity or fluxbox as a window manager, make your own mix. Fluxbox is just a good alternative for Gnome as metacity.
idesk is a nice small tool that can place icons on your desktop. And I don't know how many times I've run nautilus instead of nautilus --no-desktop --browser like common sence encurages (starts it like any other seperate file manager) and gotten the whole Gnome thing sitting on my desktop -- in fluxbox.
What I mean to say is that fluxbox+idesk+whatever (flux can dock gnome, kde and wm applets in it's slit, the freedesktop standard is great) can give you a complete desktop just like "packages" KDE and Gnome (Remember, they are just packages with lots of different components, look at the startup scripts, you can customize according to your preferences.. and only start what you need/want). Just because it's not packaged together does not mean it's can't (be part of) a complete desktop environment.
Now why would you install X on a *server*?
Like I wrote in my 1337 howto (I use that at signature atm) a server should only be connected to a power cord and as many ethernet cables as possible. Spend the money on better keyboard, mice and monitor for your desktop(s), that's the ones you will be using. Servers should only sit silently in a corner and do their job year after year without being noticed.
Personally I run a minimal Linux desktop. I use Fluxbox as a Window manager, I do not have gtkrellm or any other fancy monitor utils running, I've got no desktop icons or other "bloat".
Linux will be slow if you are running KDE with a truckload of panel applets. But this also applies to Windows: The more processes that are running, eating memory and using CPU cycles from time to time, the slower tasks you need/want to do will seem. This is obvious. It's also a matter of configuration and choice of Linux distribution.
I use Gentoo but that's just my prefernece. It's much faster than other distributions for two reasons: A) I compiled it from source optimized for my hardware and more importantly B) the big placebo effect and pride that follows A).
XFCE is another very good light choice for a desktop. Rox is a great file manager and much more snappy than Konqueror, Nautilus and other giants. I assume this too applies to Windows software, not that I got much knowledge of that OS -- I've heard it's gotten pretty spiff since 3.1 (last I've used, anyway).
Another important Linux performance issue is RAM, many people fail to realize the amount of RAM you've got is just as important as how fast your CPU is. This, obviously, depends on what tasks you are doing, but if you count overall performance memory _is_ important. Like with all OS: Once you start swapping your tapping your fingers and getting annoyed.
That's enough for now, since I want 3rd post (I asumme there's been like 20 new during the time I used to write this, but still...)
Patenting doubleclicking is allowed, why not file for a patent on
- "Exploiting security holes found in software"
- "Posting web links that causes browsers to misbehave"
- "Making web code that uses non-standard javascript"
- "Mentioning possible exploits publicly"
Once these patents are in order they can just sue the hell out of anyone & everything and stop this problem once and for all.
If the current trend in the "Figure 1: Number of people in the Credits file." graph keeps going then it's simply a matter of time before every inhabitent on this spinning ball called Earth is credited for conributing to the Linux kernel..
The Norwegian ISP Telenor tried to limit the bandwidth on their ADSL costumers. They initially had a limit of a whole 1 GB pr. month. Imagine, they allowed people to download half a Linux distribution a month! You could still read your mail at ISDN speed if you exceeded your limit, though. They later increased this limit to an incredible 30 GB/mo.
Telenor soon realized even 30 GB/mo wasn't generous enough, they were loosing their marked share to the large number of ISPs with a lower price pr. month and no download limit. They still block port 25 and 80 and have a clause in their terms of use that clearly states that you are not allowed to run any form of server service on your line (people have actually got warnings for running "ssh servers", but atleast they've droppet that redicilous bw limit. So unless ALL the ISPs suddenly start doing this all at once the providers that to try to scam people this way will simply find themselves without any income. (Telenor is what previously was the state phone monopoly "televerket", they own just about all the local fiber and can, because of their position, get away with pretty much everything. Kind of like Microsoft.. ).
Bandwidth doesn't need to be a problem. In my country the major TV channels make deals with local IPs to mirror their shows, when you download the latest episode of some show you get it directly from your ISPs mirror. This would require alot more deals to be made in big countries like the US, but it's quite possible. I still don't use this service, though, because these services are for WMP only and I'm not switching to windows to be able to pay for content I can get form other sources anyway. My ISP also have a "rental service" for movies that uses a java applet player that doesn't work very well in Linux (and doesn't let you save the file to your harddrive)
Who isn't already downloading movies off the internet?
Here in Norway the phone companies store all text messages and phone logs for 3 months. The most scary thing is that they also store your position, the police can ask for your (cellphones) movements 2 months ago and the phone companies will willingly deliver this information.
I have been dreaming about the phone that could run java or C code fast enough to do real time encryption using gpg or some other secure system. I want both audio and text messages encrypted. IM (=jabber, anyway) systems for computers can already use GPG, but I am having a hard time convincing people I know to use it. They simply don't see the point. Most of them don't even use GPG for mail even though there are plug-ins available for almost any mail browser (using GPG for IM is somewhat harder).
I'm not sure the majority of people would bother to invest in a phone that could do encryption if it cost slightly more.
This reminds me of another "hot" issue: The Everywhere Outdoors Video surveillance System. This is coming to your local neighborhood soon. When I debate with people about this issue most people just say "So What?" and "I don't really care, I've got nothing to hide". Personally I would prefer big brother not being able to read my mail, listen in on my calls and view my movements live on cameras at all times - even if I don't have anything to hide....
Back to the secure phone: I am convinced phones like this never will be sold. The authorities won't allow not being able to listen in. So this would would require a phone that could run c or java or other code fast (for games or something) enough so the GNU community could make a open source solution for encryption that would work even though the phone was not intended for making secure calls.
Having changes mailed to you may work on a small scale, but personally I would prefer not to having my in-box overfilled with messages telling me someone corrected some spelling error. Less (mail) is more. 1 mail x 20s reading time daily works, 1000+ mail about like I imagine wikipedia would receive becomes a problem.
Thank you for making me aware of hymn, I had no idea such a thing existed (didn't help me much, though). My one and only experience with iTunes happened a long time ago and I remember I eventually gave up playing the songs all together. I now googled real quick and I'm still puzzled: What Linux media player can play iTunes songs? How, oh how, do I use them?
Personally I'd rather have my audio in .ogg or .mp3 format instead of iTunes, .wmv or any other closed not-all-round supported format.
I want to be able to use my audio anywhere, on any device.
I do not want to be restriced to using any special not-open-source software or device. .ogg audio ownez iTunes any day of the week.