lighter gui

[als123]

Hi All,

I have minimal experience with Linux, I do know however, that there are "lighter" versions of the desktop gui. Debian offers LXDE, excuse me if my memory does not serve me as well as it used to :redface:

Is this an option with Ubuntu 8.04, not necessarily LXDE, but a "lighter" gui? If so, using the synaptic package manager, what do i need to install to accomplish this?

Thanks for your help. I'd be lost without these forums :-|

[kerry_s]

just install the window manager you want, log out and select it from the session menu & log back in.

you can even have lxde in ubuntu, it should be there in the repo's.

[snowpine]

You can add LXDE to your existing Ubuntu 8.04 install: http://wiki.lxde.org/en/Ubuntu

[robert shearer]

There is an unofficial remix using lxde called Ulite here....

http://u-lite.org/

[Pogeymanz]

I personally prefer XFCE for my lightweight experience. It's in the repositories, but DO NOT install xubuntu-desktop. It adds a bunch of crap you don't want and Xubuntu has settings that make XFCE just seem like a Gnome knock-off, when it's really so much more.

And LXDE is also pretty nice and it features one of my favorite window managers by default.

If you want something pretty different from what you're used to, try Fluxbox.

Just install in Synaptic and log out. Then before you log in change the session to whichever you want to try.

[als123]

Thanks everyone,

I'll give these a try, my computer has a 1 gig processor w/ 384 mgs of ram, so it's almost tapped out and runs alittle slow.

I hope these lighter GUIs help speed things up abit.

[Pogeymanz]

Oh wow. You will notice a huge difference using any of the lighter alternatives!

I imagine that Ubuntu on 384MB RAM would be bogged way down. I think XFCE or LXDE will save that computer's life.

Once you are comfortable with the Linux way, I'd even suggest dropping Ubuntu for Debian since it tends to do much better on older hardware.

I put Debian+XFCE on a PIII@450Mhz w/ 192MB RAM and it runs perfectly well!

[als123]

Yes, I got LXDE on last night and what a difference!! A little tweaking and I'll be good I think.

Just have to get the DVD working, but we'll see

[RoboNuggie]

I think it is fantastic that we can choose whichever desktop environment or window manager we wish to use!

I choose to use Fluxbox, it's not for everyone that is for sure, but for those that do use it (or any of the other *box's) it is probably the fastest you can get.

It's not only for older or underpowered hardware, I prefer the simplicity and lack of bloat even though I have a dual core @3.10 and 4 gigabytes of Ram... it feels just right, but then that can apply to all the lighter DE/WM's I guess.