Do all linux developments run this slow?

[powderhound1976]

I just recently accuired a Dell laptop from a co-worker, and thought that I would give an old version of Mandrake a try (9.1). My system was setup as a dual boot, with xp and m9.1; 9.1, however, ran SO SLOW. My system runs XP with no real problems, but mandrake was incredibly slow. We're talking, so slow that when I would try to drag a window on KDE 3.1 It would jump accross the screen.

Is there something that I am doing wrong that may be causing it to run like this, or am I just SOL?

Also, I am running a Pentium II 400mhz, 128 mb ram.

[mrBen]

No.

There are a number of things you could do with your existing setup to improve the speed:

1. Check the video driver - if it is running in default VESA mode then you will hopefully be able to change to something that better matches your card.

2. Change your Window Manager. KDE is very resource intensive, and running on a PII 400 with 128MB RAM is not ideal. You might like to consider one of the more lightweight options. IceWM is kind of a light windows-esque WM. Fluxbox is very popular. XFce is quite featureful, but still quick.

3. Disable any unnecessary services. You probably don't need your own mail server, web server, etc. Some distributions will have these running by default, and disabling them will free up memory.

[powderhound1976]

Thanks for the tips. Would Mandrake 10 help at all , do you think?

[mrBen]

It's possible, I suppose. It may well have upgraded drivers and hardware detection, which never hurts.

However, your biggest hitter is still likely to be KDE - it's a bit of a beast when it comes to memory consumption, although it provides a lot of functionality.

The other thing you could try, if you are set on running KDE, is making sure that all of the fancy eye-cancy effects are turned off - no transparency, no animation, framed windows, rather than full-picture when moving - things like that.

[powderhound1976]

Thanks, I appreciate the help. I'm just trying to get accuainted with Linux in general, but am finding that it's going to be a hard lesson to learn. Any advice for someone just begining?

[mrBen]

Originally posted by powderhound1976
Any advice for someone just begining?

Heh - where to start?

The most important thing is probably learning where to get help, and how to ask questions in a way that provides enough relevant information.

Other than that, a lot of it is just fiddling, and finding out what works and what doesn't.

Mandrake is a good starter distribution, and should be reasonably helpful in getting you started.

[powderhound1976]

Thanks. Have a good one.