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I just bought a netbook with this conf :

  • Intel Atom N2600 / 1.6 GHz / 1 Mo Cache
  • 1 Go DDR3
  • Intel GMA 3600

It's provided with windows 7 starter.

I'd like to have a system that can run for as long as possible and that don't lagg. I'm quite used to linux, and I don't care about eye-candy windows manager.

I will use my computer for :

  • Coding (Java/C++/SQL)
  • Web Browsing (+flash if possible)
  • Text editing

I've saw Lubuntu is quite good and hs quite low system requirement, but is also new and some stuff may not work good. What is the best option for me, intall ubuntu, use it with xfce, and find some ways to make it faster or to use directly Lubuntu, or something else ?

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1 Answer

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How about using Xubuntu? Lubuntu and Xubuntu are two different things - Lubuntu uses the LXDE environment, while Xubuntu uses XFCE, (and vanilla Ubuntu uses Gnome, Kubuntu KDE, etc).

XFCE is known for its low system requirements and ability to run well on systems such as yours. Xubuntu has been tuned and refined for running XFCE on Ubuntu (integration, theming, etc).

Alternatively, you could pick up Ubuntu Server edition (which is largely just a headless insall of Ubuntu) and install the window manager of your choice, such as Rat Poison or one of the *box family (Openbox, Fluxbox, Blackbox), all of which are also known for being extremely lightweight. That would allow you to install only what you want to use, and not have to worry about ripping out unused dependency libraries and whatnot.

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Thank you for the idea of using ubuntu Server edition ! It looks like a very good idea as I assume that the installer offer a very good way of choosing each of installed packages ! I though about Xubuntu, but Lubuntu is lighter right ? so why would I use XFCE ? – IggY Jan 16 at 16:06
@IggY - You mentioned Xfce in your question ("install Ubuntu, use it with xfce..."). That said, the general consensus is that Xfce and LXDE are roughly equivalent in terms of CPU/RAM (though Xfce has more features, and so takes more drive space). In "the race to the bottom" for the lightweight DEs, Rat Poison (and from what I hear, Fluxbox) probably blows both out of the water, anyway. – Shauna Jan 16 at 16:18
Sorry, i was meaning LXDE ! I think I gonna use Ubuntu Server edition with FluxBox. Any advice how i could makeubuntu Server as fast as possible ? – IggY Jan 16 at 16:22
@IggY - It should be pretty fast as it is, since it's tuned for servers and assumes very little available RAM (minimum requirement, IIRC, is 256MiB). Beyond that, it's largely the obvious stuff - turn off unneeded/unused services such as server software (web, cups, ssh) or file indexing for search, only install what you need, and so on. You may also want to check out the tuning tips for installs on solid state drives. Even if you're not using an SSD, there might be some useful things you can do to tweak performance. – Shauna Jan 16 at 16:28
Ok, thank's for your help ! – IggY Jan 16 at 16:45

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