Linux software that is slower than it should be

[Mazza558]

Given that many parts of the Linux architecture are designed with speed in mind, what Linux programs/components really don't have an excuse to be so slow compared to software available elsewhere?

My list goes as follows:

- OpenOffice - Compared to MSOffice, it's pretty slow and cumbersome in places (then again, it is competing against the best software MS have ever made in my opinion).

- ATI drivers - You know a proprietary driver absolutely fails when even Vesa is much faster at rendering in 2D. Vesa is absolutely blazing fast compared to other options. The Open Source version isn't much better - these drivers make an entire distro feel slow and laggy.

I'd mention more, but I suspect their lagginess is only due to the abysmal ATI drivers.

[cardinals_fan]

I've thought about making this myself for quite a while. Here are some of my complaints:

* OpenOffice, aka the rainbow of languages. Some of the slowness and bloat in OOo strikes me as quite deliberate. Now that Abiword can handle equations (and I type my other docs in html), it's goodbye, OOo.

* F-Spot, the image organizer that uses your RAM because it can. gThumb is so much faster, and does most of the same things.

* Firefox, Vulpes bloatus. I use it for Vimperator, but this fox could use a diet.

* Nautilus, because file managers really shouldn't manage the desktop. Just use emelfm2.

* gnome-terminal, for those times when you want a GUI for your CLI. The amount they've packed in here is simply ridiculous.

[Grant A.]

I've thought about making this myself for quite a while. Here are some of my complaints:

* OpenOffice, aka the rainbow of languages. Some of the slowness and bloat in OOo strikes me as quite deliberate. Now that Abiword can handle equations (and I type my other docs in html), it's goodbye, OOo.

* F-Spot, the image organizer that uses your RAM because it can. gThumb is so much faster, and does most of the same things.

* Firefox, Vulpes bloatus. I use it for Vimperator, but this fox could use a diet.

* Nautilus, because file managers really shouldn't manage the desktop. Just use emelfm2.

* gnome-terminal, for those times when you want a GUI for your CLI. The amount they've packed in here is simply ridiculous.

Terminal (just terminal, folks) > gnome-terminal
Firefox isn't that bad, and you can cut out the bloat via certain extensions.
Mirage > F-Spot
ROX-Filer > Nautilus
Vi > OO.O (IMO)

The best thing is all of these programs don't bundle with a ton of stuff you will never end up using.

[cardinals_fan]

Terminal (just terminal, folks) > gnome-terminal
Firefox isn't that bad, and you can cut out the bloat via certain extensions.
Mirage > F-Spot
ROX-Filer > Nautilus
Vi > OO.O (IMO)

The best thing is all of these programs don't bundle with a ton of stuff you will never end up using.
Absolutely. I have a software section on my blog listing my favorites, and I want the following:
* Stability. I don’t have any interest in using broken-down and unstable software. If it doesn’t work, come back when it does.

* Have a job, and do it. I want an app that aims at one clear goal. If it can accomplish others, that’s great; but I use software to fulfill a specific purpose. Once that goal has been selected, I expect the app to accomplish it. Work well, or don’t bother.

* Minimal is good. I like an app that is lightweight and only uses what resources are needed to accomplish its task. A minimal app with few dependencies is good. Pulling in half of KDE to insert a character isn’t.

* Don’t treat me like an idiot. I don’t like apps with condescending interfaces, or help messages straight from a Telletubbies episode.

* A minimal look is also good. Apps with interfaces that are simple, clean, and easy on my eye are good.
By the way, what do you mean by "Terminal"? Xterm?

[RiceMonster]

Yep, OpenOffice.org takes forever to start up. I don't like it, but I use it because It's most compatible with MS Office and it's got a powerpoint program.


Vi > OO.O (IMO)

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Vi and OpenOffice have two completely different aims.

[cardinals_fan]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Vi and OpenOffice have two completely different aims.
Vim + HTML > OOo Writer

How's that?

[Cracauer]

NVidia's binary drivers are actually even slower on some newer (high-end) cards and some 2D. Over at nvnews people beat up the developers constantly. They do a good job for 3D, though.

OpenOffice? You guys must be kidding, right? The whole concept of the monolithic do-all GUI applications prevents them from being fast.

Now, Mozilla, with it's layer over layer and let do some in Javascript (WTF?), that's an unwarranted slowdown. I always wondered what would have happened if they gave us the Navigator 3.0 code in addition to the bloatware. The world would look different now.

[cardinals_fan]

OpenOffice? You guys must be kidding, right? The whole concept of the monolithic do-all GUI applications prevents them from being fast.

Unlike the OpenOffice devs, I don't feel that more languages make better code.

[klange]

OOo needs a good kick in the ***. It's a leading open-source app that doesn't act like one. I guarantee a real GTK or QT interface would yield a major performance boost.

Pidgin tends to be pretty slow as well.

e: If I'm going to be censored anyway, I'll use the other word...

[billgoldberg]

Firefox is slow as hell on my Asus Eeepc.

Opera and Epiphany perform as they should.

Also on the Eeepc, whenever downloading a torrent using transmission, everything slows down.

I'm going to use Deluge tomorrow instead and see if that helps.

The same apps on my desktop don't have those problems.

--

Note: I've given up on Open Office. Yes it was slow to start up, but now they are putting in ads it's all over.

Abiword is all I actually need, and it's ultra fast.

[zmjjmz]

Open Office is nonetheless faster than MS Office (2007 that is).

I find that even though Kazehakase should be light, it's still too slow on some of my older computers.

[binbash]

openoffice is faster than ms office if you do some tweaks.

Firefox 3.0.4 was slow for me (yah i can feel it) but after switching to 3.1 it is fast now.

[cardinals_fan]

Open Office is nonetheless faster than MS Office (2007 that is).

I find that even though Kazehakase should be light, it's still too slow on some of my older computers.
Kazehakase runs great on my old box *shrugs*

[KiwiNZ]

Here is an idea

Instead of griping here , get involved with the projects and work on them getting faster.

Remember these are projects generally done by volunteers in their spare time , the effort they put in should be respected and recognised:mad:

[cardinals_fan]

Remember these are projects generally done by volunteers in their spare time , the effort they put in should be respected and recognised:mad:
OpenOffice.org receives sponsorship (both cash and time) from Sun Microsystems and Novell. Firefox is sponsored by the nonprofit Mozilla Corporation, which receives significant income from Google deals.

[zmjjmz]

Kazehakase runs great on my old box *shrugs*

Is your box a 400MHz Celeron with 32MB RAM?

[hanzomon4]

Here is an idea

Instead of griping here , get involved with the projects and work on them getting faster.

Remember these are projects generally done by volunteers in their spare time , the effort they put in should be respected and recognised:mad:

Note: Preface all complaints with heaps and heaps of praise....

[cardinals_fan]

Is your box a 400MHz Celeron with 32MB RAM?
No, but I'd be running CLI-only with links on that thing :)

[init1]

Vim + HTML > OOo Writer

How's that?
Vi doesn't have spell checking and can't open .doc files.

[zmjjmz]

No, but I'd be running CLI-only with links on that thing :)

Heh, I run Damn Small Linux with JWM on it and use Dillo for browsing. But Dillo doesn't have J/S or CSS support D:

[CholericKoala]

Open Office is nonetheless faster than MS Office (2007 that is).


office 2007 is stinking fast for me. Opens in less than 1 second and saves files very efficiently and compressed.

[cardinals_fan]

Vi doesn't have spell checking and can't open .doc files.
Vim does have spell checking: http://tips.webdesign10.com/vim/how-use-vims-spellchecker

For those rare cases when I need to open a .doc, I use Abiword.

Heh, I run Damn Small Linux with JWM on it and use Dillo for browsing. But Dillo doesn't have J/S or CSS support D:
I figure that by the time you use Dillo, you should just go text-only :)

[chucky chuckaluck]

Vim does have spell checking: http://tips.webdesign10.com/vim/how-use-vims-spellchecker

For those rare cases when I need to open a .doc, I use Abiword.

I figure that by the time you use Dillo, you should just go text-only :)

dillo supports porn. text browsers do not.

[Exershio]

dillo supports porn. text browsers do not.

You seem to be forgetting ASCII porn. :)

[binbash]

You seem to be forgetting ASCII porn. :)

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

[Grant A.]

By the way, what do you mean by "Terminal"? Xterm?

According to the Arch package repository, it is the XFCE terminal.

[doorknob60]

According to the Arch package repository, it is the XFCE terminal.

Dang you beat me to it, I was gonna say that :-P I use Terminal too, I liked lxterminal but it wouldn't let me scroll up enough to even see my pacman search results sometimes :O Terminal opens in an instant, it's light, it has only a few dependencies, and supports tabs and pretty much everything the heavier terminals like gnome-terminal and konsole :-)

[cardinals_fan]

According to the Arch package repository, it is the XFCE terminal.
Ah, yes. Xfterm4 is pretty good. I like Sakura for playing greed and urxvt for everything else, but xfterm4 is reliable.