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Legendary_Bibo
July 16th, 2010, 12:13 AM
I hear this thrown around a lot and how Ubuntu comes with it, but where does it come from. As in are you guys saying that having several programs on your computer is bloat, or applications running that use system resources, or UI designs or something? What is bloat to you?

Dustin2128
July 16th, 2010, 12:16 AM
It varies. I like operating systems like arch if I can get net connected easily- arch installs nothing but the kernel and a few core packages. Anything more is bloat. If it's a non-net connected computer, I'd use something like slackware or mint which both install what I'd otherwise call massive bloat. Ubuntu used to be rather bloated, but lucid was actually fairly light. Basically any application that comes preinstalled that you won't use is bloat.

KiwiNZ
July 16th, 2010, 12:21 AM
From a Bloat Shop :p

alexfish
July 16th, 2010, 12:24 AM
A swelling of the rumen or intestinal tract of cattle and domestic animals that is caused by excessive gas formation following fermentation of ingested watery legumes or green forag.


As for Ubuntu someone has got this wrong


PS don't stand at the A*** End of one of those beasts, it could be fatal in more ways than one

Tibuda
July 16th, 2010, 12:34 AM
It is a matter of preference. Bloat is something you don't use. If there's somethning that is useful for some, those that don't find it useful will call it bloat.

linux18
July 16th, 2010, 12:42 AM
Bloat comes from microsoft!


on a more serious note GNOME ( or parts of it ) and its dependancies has infected every [k][x]ubuntu distro.

GNOME is the ubuntu equivalent of the AOL toolbar.

LXDE FTW!!!

bug67
July 16th, 2010, 12:46 AM
I wanted an alarm clock application, right? So, I googled for one for Ubuntu and Kclock came up as a recomendation. Great! Hit Synaptic and there it was...along with 32 other packages required for install! That's what I call bloat. I installed Alarm-Clock instead. It was all one self contained package and does what I want.

amauk
July 16th, 2010, 12:47 AM
bloat = feature creep

When software gets bogged down with features and additions that do not serve to benefit it's primary purpose. Such additions may come at the expense of other, more beneficial features, or existing functionality may be left to stagnate

amauk
July 16th, 2010, 12:49 AM
I wanted an alarm clock application, right? So, I googled for one for Ubuntu and Kclock came up as a recomendation. Great! Hit Synaptic and there it was...along with 32 other packages required for install! That's what I call bloat. I installed Alarm-Clock instead. It was all one self contained package and does what I want.
don't confuse bloat with library dependencies

Installing an app designed for a different desktop environment, for example, pulls in a lot of dependencies, but the app is not bloated

RiceMonster
July 16th, 2010, 12:52 AM
Bloat is a word thrown around by people who think their computer will blow up if it uses more than 100 MB ram, they don't have 98% of their hard drive free, or if there may be a program they might not use.

Bloated also tends to translate to "I don't like it".

TheNessus
July 16th, 2010, 12:54 AM
Bloat comes from microsoft!


on a more serious note GNOME ( or parts of it ) and its dependancies has infected every [k][x]ubuntu distro.

GNOME is the ubuntu equivalent of the AOL toolbar.

LXDE FTW!!!
so you argue LXDE or Lubuntu has no gnome deps? err...

earthpigg
July 16th, 2010, 12:57 AM
Short Answer:
Bloat comes from anything that "Just Works" (tm) when you plug it in.

Think of all the things that aren't plugged in, that Ubuntu remains ready to accept should you decide to plug them in.

One man's bloat is another's feature.

jARLAXL
July 16th, 2010, 01:03 AM
bloat is a number. this number is now 602,104 for Ubuntu.
launchpad.net explains the percentages and where it comes from.

Simian Man
July 16th, 2010, 01:07 AM
bloat is a word thrown around by people who think their computer will blow up if it uses more than 100 mb ram, they don't have 98% of their hard drive free, or if there may be a program they might not use.

Bloated also tends to translate to "i don't like it".

+1

chriswyatt
July 16th, 2010, 01:12 AM
In the case of Windows a lot of the bloat comes from more and more stuff being added to it, and the old legacy stuff being left in. So it's not just features that can cause bloat but badly maintained or written code and stuff left in for backwards-compatibility, which I guess could come under features.

MCVenom
July 16th, 2010, 01:32 AM
I never really cared much about the definition of bloat with respect to storage.

Bloat to me is when something is taking up nearly all my system resources and/or starts or runs very slowly. I have encountered nothing particularly of the type on Linux save for Gwibber (Slow to startup, if it decides to startup this session :|), while Vista was literally made of bloat for me on my laptop.

Bloat is purely subjective.

mystmaiden
July 16th, 2010, 01:39 AM
Windows always irked me with their 'bundled' software (almost as much as my cable provider does with their silly **** bundles). If I want this stuff, I'll go download it, otherwise, its just there annoying me. ;) And Windows fixes it so you're stuck with it - forever.

Ubuntu I've never found to be so guilty of this, if there's something I don't want I head over to the Software Center and just unload it!

aysiu
July 16th, 2010, 01:39 AM
I don't know what official definitions for bloat there are, if any.

Here are some of mine, and a lot of these don't really bother me: Accomplishing the same tasks or having the same kinds of programs installed but using an enormous amount of disk space. Accomplishing the same task but running unnecessary auxiliary processes or services that the user did not call for. Installing a bunch of "just in case" drivers that are wholly unnecessary (for example if you have a netbook with an Intel graphics card and Ubuntu decides to install video drivers for all cards instead of just the Intel one... very doubtful the video card in your netbook will ever change). Right now I'm in the process of setting up a dual-boot between Mac OS X and Ubuntu, and it's amazing to me that Mac OS X's default installation takes up well over 15 GB but Ubuntu's default installation is about 3 GB. You can make the case in some ways that Mac OS X's default applications are "better" but why should they take up five times the space?

Lucradia
July 16th, 2010, 01:40 AM
The linux kernel. (space wise, deps on distro)

Browsers, xorg, compiz and flash (RAM/cpu wise)

ubunterooster
July 16th, 2010, 01:42 AM
Bloat is a medical condition in which the stomach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomach) becomes overstretched by excessive gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas) content. It is also commonly referred to as torsion, gastric torsion, and gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) when the stomach is also twisted.