I have tried Ubuntu 8.04 64bit, it's too slow, which other linux distro should I try?
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Ubuntu is a good distro, but it is little bit slow for me. Maybe it needs tweaking little bit
I know it is hard to answer my question Which Linux distro is fast, but I just want to know your opinion. I am new to linux, I didn't try other distro. I am sure some of you tried ubuntu and other distros and you might think one distro is faster than other.
I have done some tweaking (Google search for ubuntu tweaking) It's too early to say if it is faster, but I can't see any improvements.
1 Boot time has improved noticeable by doing this:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/rc
Look through the file and you will find CONCURRENCY=none. You want to change it to:
CONCURRENCY=shell
2 swappiness Linux uses hard disk space called swap to write information it needs for accessing various temporary programs when system RAM is busy. Writing to hard drive is slower writing to RAM because the hard drive runs 100 times slower than RAM. Therefore, if your computer has much RAM (1G or more) why don't you tell your kernel about that because this helps your kernel using swap less and RAM more to speed up your system. Now, I will let you know how to reduce the tendency for the kernel to use the swap file.
Step 1: see what is the current value for setting
sudo cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
(It should give a number 60 here)
Step 2: change to a lower number
sudo sysctl -w vm.swappiness = 5
Step 3: check again
sudo cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
(Now, it should give a number 5 here)
Step 4: append this line vm.swappiness=5 to file /etc/sysctl.conf
I had to use su (root) to be able change that
3 CFQ
In Dapper and previous releases, there has been no default scheduler set at install time, thus the system defaults to the native Linux scheduler. A number of users (including this spec’s author) have encountered temporary system lockups when entering Gnome(/KDE/other wm) due to the system load. Enabling CFQ as the default scheduler fixes these lockups. Other major distributions, like Red Hat, also enable CFQ by default.
$sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Find the line
# defoptions=ro quiet splash
and add : elevator=cfq
The result :
# defoptions=ro quiet splash elevator=cfq
To take the tweak into effect you need to reboot.
4IPV6 networks Since most of us don’t use IPV6 networks, this setting can slow down communication throughout our network. Turning this networking feature off will speed up your system.
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/aliases
Make a search this line: alias net-pf-10 ipv6
and replaced by this line: alias net-pf-10 off #ipv6
5 Faster Gnome Menus
sudo gedit /home/your_user_name/.gtkrc-2.0
(note: the file .gtkrc-2.0 doesn't exist by default so create it)
put the following at the end of your .gtkrc-2.0 file:
I started with Ubuntu and found nothing wrong with it but love being able to configure and desire highly customizable settings over ease of use so once i got the basics moved on to some of the more complex distro's.
Only questions for its speed on your system would be did you install the drivers for your video card? They are third party drivers for ubuntu and will run sluggish if they are not installed properly. Your system is similarly configured to mine and i know ubuntu gets unusually sluggish when those drivers don't install properly.
As far as fast, pretty much any distro can be tailored to your system and recompiled to run lightening fast so if you like ubuntu then ubuntu.
mogrady what were you running Mepis on and which version?
I installed Kubuntu 8.04-amd64 and have had lots of problems, not with the instal, and it seems fast enough (Athlon X2 2500). Just excessive CPU use and now after latest updates it's a total disaster, mostly problems that were known about several years ago.
I'm having trouble with the idea of slow and laggy, as well. Maybe there's just a problem with the version of Ubuntu you installed that relates to something on your system? If you have nothing to lose, and like the general concept of Ubuntu, you might want to upgrade to Debian.
Mepis 64 8.0 or the latest distro I believe, not one of the testing versions. My machine was an AMD 64 3000+ with 512 RAM, 40 gig hard drive. A household electrical short fried it last week so for now I'm running PCLinux2007 on my other machine.
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