Does anybody know if Granola does what it says or even if it's safe for Ubuntu?

Question

I found a program called Granola, does it do what it says it does or is it even safe or even needed in Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit (It claims to save power by cycling down your system when the extra power isn't needed)? I found it at a website called How to Ubuntu. I'm a little concerned because it's not in the repository, and I couldn't find much 'hard' information about it.

Answer 1

• It probably does what it says, but there's no need to use it when you can configure Ubuntu to do the same with the built-in tools.

• It's mostly basics like putting your monitor to sleep if the system is idle for so long, putting the system to sleep if idle for so long, spinning down hard drives, reducing CPU frequency, etc.

• Here's a screenshot to give you an idea:

• If you are using a laptop, just closing the lid when you are not using it will save the most power (by default).
• Ubuntu has pretty aggressive power-save settings even for desktops, but you can still tweak it if you'd like to be even more aggressive.