Ideas for a lighter desktop environment?

[william.hua]

I am currently running Lubuntu 16.04 LTS on an ASUS Eee PC R101D with an Intel Atom N455 CPU. The OS is still laggy despite LXDE being very light. Any ideas on a desktop environment even lighter than LXDE that is compatible with Ubuntu or possibly even another distro?

[vasa1]

Moved to Ubuntu, Linux and OS Chat. If you need support on Lubuntu itself, please post in Desktop Environments as that sub-forum is for official flavors.

[kansasnoob]

Has it already been upgraded to 2GB of RAM? The stock 1GB just really isn't enough to do much of anything with any web browser.

I recently did a bunch of playing with some Dell Latitude 2100 series netbooks which have similar specs and once I had 2GB of RAM in them I could run either Lubuntu, Xubuntu, or Ubuntu w/Flashback(Metacity) if I installed the uBlock Origin add-on in Firefox. Still not good for streaming videos but good enough for light browsing.

The Legacy edition of Bodhi Linux did seem a bit faster:

http://www.bodhilinux.com/

[mörgæs]

If you click the old hardware link in my signature and search the text for lubuntu-core you will find an option for making Lubuntu even lighter.

[sudodus]

I agree with the previous replies.

You can try the ultra-light Puppy Linux or Tiny Core, if you need something lighter than what is possible with Lubuntu and other distros or re-spins based on Ubuntu.

[william.hua]

Yes, I did upgrade to 2GB of RAM.

Do they have support for the Ubuntu Software Center or something similar?

[sudodus]

Lubuntu and the other Ubuntu community flavours have support for the Ubuntu Software Center and something similar. I would suggest that you learn using the Synaptic Package manager and the text mode tool apt.

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt install synaptic

Puppy Linux and Tiny Core have their own tools to update, upgrade and install program packages.

[TheFu]

I am currently running Lubuntu 16.04 LTS on an ASUS Eee PC R101D with an Intel Atom N455 CPU. The OS is still laggy despite LXDE being very light. Any ideas on a desktop environment even lighter than LXDE that is compatible with Ubuntu or possibly even another distro?

You don't need a "DE" for a usable system. You can run a WM-only (Window Manager only) environment. I have the last 3+ yrs with either openbox or fvwm. fvwm has been around since the mid-1990s and is VERY light, but the configuration of it is more manual. Openbox does setup some menus - just click anywhere on the desktop to see one. Openbox is the WM that LXDE normally uses, so you are already using it.

The main things that will make any OS laggy (after removing all the cheese) is the choice of programs. Firefox, Chrome, or any huge programs like those will quickly suck all the RAM and CPU from a low-end computer. Find less taxing versions - perhaps lynx or dillo will work well enough for your browsing needs?
You can also try to optimize the swap used - perhaps zswap would be helpful?
Also be certain that the GPU has the correct drivers. On Intel, that is handled automatically, so there isn't much you can do. The CPU on that machine is really, really, really, slow, as you know. A used $75 computer would be 10x faster. I wouldn't try to run any GUI on that system. I'd repurpose it for lite server-only use. It would run something like Pi-Hole nicely.

Lacking all of that, TinyCore is VERY fast on any system with 256MB of RAM or more. It does have a different package management technique, so don't expect APT (or any of the UIs into APT), but for a purpose built, 1-2 program system, tinycore might be perfect for your needs.

[vasa1]

OP needs to describe what the intended usage is. Without that information ...

[speedwell68]

Bodhi Linux.