Great but slow

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Great but slow
started by: Hernan

Posted by Hernan on Sep. 19 2005,22:51

I try DSL and looks great and easy to install. It is one of the few linux and Xdesktop that works fine in my P233 32MB RAM, and run very fast (except Firefox) compared with other linux desktop enviroments, but still ten times slower than a Windows98 with the lastest Internet Explorer.
That is because I have to tweak and recompile the kernel or is just because Xwindows is ten times slower than MSwindows?

Thanks, for the answer.

Posted by mikshaw on Sep. 20 2005,00:01

well....have you tried installing Windows2000 or XP on that machine? You may not even be able to open a text file in those systems, so I think it's unfair to say Windows is faster than X. Compared to Win98, DSL is cutting-edge, and of course is going to be slower than a decade-old operating system.

There are things you can do to improve its performance, though....eliminate the dockapps and icons that load when X is started, use the "simple" style instead of the big blue thing that DSL uses as default, choose a smaller window manager from the myDSL repository such as twm or evilwm, or even try running without the overhead of a graphical desktop.

Posted by adssse on Sep. 20 2005,00:24

I am also using dsl on a 233mhz and I am really happy with the way it runs. I had windows 2000 on it before (refused to use win98 anymore, too insecure) and that was slower than molasses. DSL is much faster than that of course and I also use alot of the tweaks that mikshaw just mentioned since I am not all that into eye candy. Based on a balance of speed, function, stability etc. I think dsl is great.

Posted by Hernan on Sep. 20 2005,02:45

Thanks for the tips mikshaw, now it's running nice and fast.

Posted by AwPhuch on Sep. 20 2005,17:42

Also create you a 64-128Meg swap file...32Meg RAM is right on the line of being too low of RAM to operate without getting very sluggish...especially if you run frugal and the system has to decompress the DSL image on the fly with no swapspace!

Welcome to the Revolution!!!

Brian
AwPhuch