big guns for little shooters

[fuscia]

this is for those of us who consider ourselves psychotic-minimalists (like, i flip out whenever i go above 200mbs of memory usage, even though i have a gig. <---doofus!). even so, there are apps i'll use, that are monstrous, and i'll use them just because i need it done the way i want it done, without worrying.

gimp will always be what i use for image editing

k3b has never made me a coaster that wasn't my fault

firefox just does everything (otherwise, i've been using elinks)

thunar does what i need once i realize that i don't really know what i'm doing with cli file management.

[Josh1]

this is for those of us who consider ourselves psychotic-minimalists (like, i flip out whenever i go above 200mbs of memory usage, even though i have a gig. <---doofus!). even so, there are apps i'll use, that are monstrous, and i'll use them just because i need it done the way i want it done, without worrying.

gimp will always be what i use for image editing

k3b has never made me a coaster that wasn't my fault

firefox just does everything (otherwise, i've been using elinks)

thunar does what i need once i realize that i don't really know what i'm doing with cli file management.

I have the same feeling toward RAM usage as you. You might be happy to know that when I compared firefox3 (beta) to 2, there was a great difference in RAM usage.

I don't use GIMP, I dislike it but I don't do image editing at all so no loss for me.

K3b... I love this software as well. So damn nice to use.

thunar, no idea what that is.

[new2*buntu]

thunar, no idea what that is.

Thunar is the default XFCE file manager.

[happysmileman]

Right now I have 9MB of RAM free and I'm not going into swap so that's good enough for me, I'm actually a little surprised when I see I'm only using 500MB

[funrider]

firefox still hung on my 8GB machine. I am a little bit disappointed.

[Tundro Walker]

I got 1gb, too, and also trimmed back a lot of fluff to minimize it.

Firefox is ok, but it freezes up a little when opening some pages. I noticed it's usually pages getting traffic stats using Google-Analytics, though, so Google's servers are probably slowing things down (they're like the hub of the world now it seems). And if I'm using it for a while, it'll just freeze sometimes, forcing me to shut it down. I'm not sure what causes that. Hasn't happened as much since Gutsy.

I've been thinking of going back to Xubuntu / XFCE, because Gnome has a lot of "high mem" objects ... panels, applets, etc. I mean, the weather applet, which I like, uses ~4mb itself. I don't really use much, so not sure why I don't switch ...

So all the RAM freed up, and I've got folding running high-mem processes...and that only uses up 100mb. It's kind of a waste. I'm telling you, other than for gaming or video/graphics editing, 5 year old computers have all the power and mem modern users still need. If they could just cram all this into a wrist-watch, I'd do away with my desktop computer.

[corney91]

Yeah, I prefer minimalism. But instead of RAM usage, I judge it by the feel of it, if that makes sense.
The main one that feels 'big', that I use, is Opera because of all it's features:)
Other than that, GNOME+Compiz which I'm using until I figure out Awesome.
I do have GIMP installed but never use it, nor do I need it.

[fuscia]

I noticed it's usually pages getting traffic stats using Google-Analytics

if you use the noscript extension, you can disallow google-analytics.

[fatality_uk]

firefox still hung on my 8GB machine. I am a little bit disappointed.

Woah 8G. I thought I was bad with 4GB :)

[new2*buntu]

I have only 512 MB of RAM. Typically, when I boot up into Linux Mint XFCE it uses around 180 MB, and Kubuntu uses about 190. When I am using Firefox, it generally brings it up to 215~230 and Firefox + Exaile/Amarok means 240~250. I hate it when it goes over 250 though. I know I should use Konquerer for web browsing on KDE but I just like Firefox, and since I use one of the crystal themes it makes Firefox look like a KDE app.

[el_ricardo]

i'm not so anal about RAM in linux as i am in windows, because i know linux handles it better at the end of the day

i'm currently using 785MB of RAM, out of 3GB

in windows i like to keep it under 500MB, that way i can keep loads spare for when i load up a photoshop file with hundreds of layers lol

[fuscia]

check out my htop in wmii, even with firefox running...

[new2*buntu]

check out my htop in wmii, even with firefox running...

I think you maybe have too much swap...

[fuscia]

I think you maybe have too much swap...

i'm guessing you mean too much available (unless you're being a wiseguy). i have swappiness turned off. i'm not confident enough to mess with partitions.

[adam.tropics]

Completely non-relevant....but fuscia @ fuscianator.....lol

Turned swappiness off here also. I think perhaps the general swap file size advice these days needs to be adjusted. I mean I honestly don't believe that people with 4GB memory require a 6GB swap.

[new2*buntu]

i'm guessing you mean too much available

That was what I meant. Sorry if it was offensive.

[fuscia]

That was what I meant. Sorry if it was offensive.

no offense taken. i just didn't know whether you were making a wisecrack about the 0, or a serious recommendation about the two thousand whatever it is.

[fuscia]

holy crap, batman! my one issue with opera has been resolved in 9.25. (i love that wand thing).

[zero-9376]

i think you will find that linux is actually using alot more ram than you think, have a look at the output of

free -m

unlike windows linux likes to use ram, keeping a large cache to allow faster file operations, right now htop has me using 313/470MB (512 - graphics) and free has 22MB free.

[init1]

if you use the noscript extension, you can disallow google-analytics.
Same with Adblock.

[fuscia]

i think you will find that linux is actually using alot more ram than you think, have a look at the output of

free -m

unlike windows linux likes to use ram, keeping a large cache to allow faster file operations, right now htop has me using 313/470MB (512 - graphics) and free has 22MB free.

i don't have windows to compare it to. i can only look at how things have gone in different linux environments.

[init1]

I've got my entire system in RAM (sliTaz Linux (http://www.slitaz.org/index.en.html)) and it has only used about 120MB. Swap is activated, but I doubt I'll need it.

[Lostincyberspace]

i think you will find that linux is actually using alot more ram than you think, have a look at the output of

free -m

unlike windows linux likes to use ram, keeping a large cache to allow faster file operations, right now htop has me using 313/470MB (512 - graphics) and free has 22MB free.

Does anyone know a way to make it so it will only load about 500mb extra. I have 2 gigs and 85% is in cash the other 15% is in use and it is bothering me.

[init1]

Does anyone know a way to make it so it will only load about 500mb extra. I have 2 gigs and 85% is in cash the other 15% is in use and it is bothering me.
I think you are thinking of swappiness. It controls how tendant the kernel is to swap. Do a


cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Set it to a lower number with


echo 0>/proc/sys/vm/swappiness

and then reboot. More of your memory should stay in RAM, rather than become swapped.

[zero-9376]

the caching mechanism is different to swap, think about when you start openoffice or firefox the second time, because you have already read everything it needs from the disk it is stored in the cache, when you close firefox the memory used by the actual instance of firefox is freed but linux keeps the disk contents in memory which is why when you start firefox again it is much faster. using the cache like this is a good thing because it reduces unecessary disk acess which is obviously much slower.

when i first started using linux it was with suse and kde and the system monitor app would show how the memory is allocated and the vast majority was for cache, generally keeping only a few MB free, i guess gnome/ubuntu (based on the fact that the system monitor in ubuntu doesn't show cache) like users to feel that they are using less memory but what is the point of having it if your not putting it to use.

[Lostincyberspace]

I think you are thinking of swappiness. It controls how tendant the kernel is to swap. Do a


cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
Set it to a lower number with


echo 0>/proc/sys/vm/swappiness
and then reboot. More of your memory should stay in RAM, rather than become swapped.
No it is the ram cache that i want reduced. It is almost full as cache from start.

[herbster]

this is for those of us who consider ourselves psychotic-minimalists (like, i flip out whenever i go above 200mbs of memory usage, even though i have a gig. <---doofus!). even so, there are apps i'll use, that are monstrous, and i'll use them just because i need it done the way i want it done, without worrying.

gimp will always be what i use for image editing

k3b has never made me a coaster that wasn't my fault

firefox just does everything (otherwise, i've been using elinks)

thunar does what i need once i realize that i don't really know what i'm doing with cli file management.

My goodness, we were separated at birth or something. I'm almost exactly the same, except thunar-- I'm a nautilus junkie, despite its annoyances time to time...

[fuscia]

My goodness, we were separated at birth or something. I'm almost exactly the same, except thunar-- I'm a nautilus junkie, despite its annoyances time to time...

you use nautilus instead of thunar?!? no wonder mom liked me best.

[-grubby]

you use nautilus instead of thunar?!? no wonder mom liked me best.

:lolflag: I like Thunar better too :)

[herbster]

I know I know, haha. But one thing I couldn't do in thunar was have certain folders retain their view, ie., home as a list and maybe another partition as icons. Help me git 'r dun and momma's finally gonna make me breakfast too...

[Tundro Walker]

if you use the noscript extension, you can disallow google-analytics.

Nice! Just installed it...I'll give it a whirl for a while and see how much baby-sitting it needs. If it's anything like adblock, I'll just set it and forget it, and be happy.

[Tundro Walker]

the caching mechanism is different to swap, think about when you start openoffice or firefox the second time, because you have already read everything it needs from the disk it is stored in the cache, when you close firefox the memory used by the actual instance of firefox is freed but linux keeps the disk contents in memory which is why when you start firefox again it is much faster. using the cache like this is a good thing because it reduces unecessary disk acess which is obviously much slower.

when i first started using linux it was with suse and kde and the system monitor app would show how the memory is allocated and the vast majority was for cache, generally keeping only a few MB free, i guess gnome/ubuntu (based on the fact that the system monitor in ubuntu doesn't show cache) like users to feel that they are using less memory but what is the point of having it if your not putting it to use.

Exactly. Windows does the same thing, except its noticeable on the sysmon there. Occasionally, when programming, you can force it to unload lib's and such to free mem. Also, folks that use preload in Ubuntu get the same effect as prefetch in Windows, where your system pre-loads your common apps into mem when you boot up. That was the whole point of folks saying you should use preload as a performance "tweak". It makes darn good sense, too. If you load up a new program, the comp can always free up some mem to make room. So, yeah, why not just keep the common stuff in mem in case it's needed again. Makes sense. Not sure why some folks wig out about this. It's only useful if you use it. You got 1gb+ of RAM...might as well use it.

[fuscia]

Nice! Just installed it...I'll give it a whirl for a while and see how much baby-sitting it needs. If it's anything like adblock, I'll just set it and forget it, and be happy.

actually, by default it's not allowed. you have to allow any of the scripts in order for them to run. so, i think it will work as you would like.

[fuscia]

I know I know, haha. But one thing I couldn't do in thunar was have certain folders retain their view, ie., home as a list and maybe another partition as icons. Help me git 'r dun and momma's finally gonna make me breakfast too...

as long as you keep using nautilus, momma says you have to sleep in the barn.

[herbster]

Okay, I ran thunar again and am going to give it a real go. It really is just too much quicker and lighter than nautilus not to give it the due fair shake. I'm comin' home momma!

[fuscia]

Okay, I ran thunar again and am going to give it a real go. It really is just too much quicker and lighter than nautilus not to give it the due fair shake. I'm comin' home momma!

you know about the custom actions, yes?

[Tundro Walker]

I switched over to using Xfce today using the xubuntu-desktop meta package. The problem with switching desktops this way is ... a) it not only installs the stuff for the desktop / window manager, but reinstalls a bunch of other junk you may have previously bumped off, or stuff you don't want (so you have to bump it off) b) you're not quite sure what you can and can't bump off from the old-desktop without some experimentation. EG: I was bumping off Gnome stuff, and then found out I should keep Alacarte (b/c Xfce's menu editor sucks) and System Monitor (b/c Xfce doesn't have a robust one like Gnome that isn't an applet). Also found out that Xfce relies on some gnome packages to run (I guess to add the Gnome app compatibility layer), so it's not like you're totally getting rid of Gnome...you're just giving it a haircut. I'll try it for a while. I liked Xfce when I was using an 800mhz, but with a more powerful computer, I may just go back to using Gnome.

[fuscia]

tundro, what i would have done would be to install xfce-desktop, panel, terminal and thunar and then add things i needed, instead of installing xubuntu. i installed just a console setup using the alternate cd and whenever i want to mess with different DE/wm's, i just install what i need. for example, i'll install kde-core and the apps i want, rather than kde and certainly kubuntu.

[herbster]

you know about the custom actions, yes?

Yup, have a bunch set already. It looks like thunar may be a keeper now, still givin' her a go :D

[fuscia]

Yup, have a bunch set already. It looks like thunar may be a keeper now, still givin' her a go :D

cool. mom'll be so proud.

[urukrama]

this is for those of us who consider ourselves psychotic-minimalists (like, i flip out whenever i go above 200mbs of memory usage, even though i have a gig. <---doofus!). even so, there are apps i'll use, that are monstrous, and i'll use them just because i need it done the way i want it done, without worrying.

Here are my big guns:

OpenOffice: I am in the humanities and need a good text editor. OpenOffice is heavy, but is the only text processor that suits my needs. Abiword is too simplistic, and KWord regularly freezes when I try to load a big or complex document (one with several charts and/or over 15000 words long).

Opera: my favourite browser. I never liked Firefox and never explored its extensions. Epiphany is nice, and I use it occasionally, but I use Opera for most of my browsing. I've used Opera since version 6 (first on Windows) and I like it more with every new release.

Krusader: the best twin-pane file manager, and an absolute favourite, even though I don't use it that often. Thunar is my default file manager, but if I need to do a lot of copying, etc., Krusader is the thing I use.

Gimp: for all my image editing needs.

Gnome-system-monitor: It is the only system monitor I like. I never understood htop, and the other graphical system monitors I know of don't appeal to me.

Skippy: skippy gets heavy when you have a lot of windows open, but I find it especially useful when I have several OpenOffice (Writer) documents open and need to switch quickly between some. In such cases it is nice to have a graphical overview of all your open documents.

fuscia, Thunar is not a 'big gun' in my dictionary (it only uses ~14 MB), but if it is I guess I should add StarDic to the list (runs about the same as Thunar) -- I need dictionaries for my work, and StarDict fulfills most of those needs. Apart from these I also run a few programs in Wine (mainly dictionaries and some text applications) that I need for my work.

[fuscia]

fuscia, Thunar is not a 'big gun' in my dictionary

http://www.scottfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/simpson-doh.png

[rjmdomingo2003]

firefox just does everything (otherwise, i've been using elinks)

Have you tried kazehakase? For me, it's a little faster than ffox, & it suffices my needs.

[fuscia]

Have you tried kazehakase? For me, it's a little faster than ffox, & it suffices my needs.

i didn't really like it once the novelty wore off and i found it slower than firefox.

[blithen]

How do you guys trim bacl so much?!!?
Right now I'm using almost 450mbs of ram. Teach me please!!

[fuscia]

How do you guys trim bacl so much?!!?
Right now I'm using almost 450mbs of ram. Teach me please!!

i've got firefox, mpd+ncmpc, xfce-mcs-manager and htop running in wmii and i'm only using 167mbs of ram. what are you running? do you have htop installed? that might give you a clue as to what is hogging so much.

[blithen]

Of course of I have htop
htop == one of the most use programs I have.
Anywho.
I'm running gnome, which is sure to hog a lot of stuff.
so I will switch as soon as I can find the right one.
xfce is okay, but I can't seem to get used to it.
cmus is my music player so that take up near nothing considering it's command line powered.
firefox, amsn, and glipper are running.
Hmm. I need to do a lot of trimming xD
Any tip of what to uninstall? In the form of programs running in the background?

Also why do I have 8 instances of firefox all taking 5.5mbs of ram?

[fuscia]

Of course of I have htop
htop == one of the most use programs I have.
Anywho.
I'm running gnome, which is sure to hog a lot of stuff.
so I will switch as soon as I can find the right one.
xfce is okay, but I can't seem to get used to it.
cmus is my music player so that take up near nothing considering it's command line powered.
firefox, amsn, and glipper are running.
Hmm. I need to do a lot of trimming xD
Any tip of what to uninstall? In the form of programs running in the background?

Also why do I have 8 instances of firefox all taking 5.5mbs of ram?

dude, aren't you the one who suggested an all cli day? why don't you try something like wmii (the wm i'm currently obsessed with)? you can always go back. at first, when i started to venture away from gnome, i felt a little odd (kind of like strindberg saying how, when faced with the unknown, we suddenly become homesick for that which we're trying to escape...or, something like that), but once i found something that hit me like "hey! what's this cool thing?", i wouldn't look back. the first time i tried a tiling wm, i lasted about 15 seconds. several tries later, dmenu was the "ooh! that rox!" that hooked me.

[Mateo]

Epiphany is the only "big gun" I ever use. It's the only application I'll use that goes above 20mb. I generally don't even like anything over 10mb.

I've dabbled in tiling WMs as well. Wmii is my favorite. I use them when i'm in the mood but not exclusively.

[blithen]

I'm surprised anyone remember I suggested that xD
Anywho I will give it a hard try soon.