Linux Desktop Memory Resource Comparison

I wasn’t really planning on writing this article, but I found this cool phython script at xfce.org for testing minimum memory requirements. I couldn’t resist running it on all the Linux distros that I just installed. Some of the results are predictable, but their are a few surprises.

All the tests were run on my HP mini netbook. All installs were from a Live/Install USB stick. The following table lists the desktops tested and the associated Linux distros:

I tested openSUSE with both the Plasma Desktop Workspace and the Plasma Netbook Workspace. Since default applications play an important role in memory requirements, I ran a comparison with and without Nepomuk Desktop Search. I do not use it, so don’t miss it.

No memory requirement measurement, but the following table shows the minimum memory, from largest to smallest, required by each distro:

The table clearly shows that we pay for eye candy, and applications installed by default. It also shows that:

• LightDM does make a difference as shown in the different memory requirements for Fedora (GDM) and Linux Mint (LightDM). What would be the memory requirements be for the Unity desktop if it used GDM?
• The plasmoids running on Page One of the KDE Plasma Netbook Workspace add to the memory requirements.
• LXDE still holds the lightweight title.

This article would be extremely, if I showed the full test results. However, the following test results from the KDE Plasma Netbook Workspace sans Nepomuk illustrate what the script included in its calculations:

Private + Shared = RAM used Program

64.0 KiB + 7.5 KiB = 71.5 KiB start_kdeinit
72.0 KiB + 12.0 KiB = 84.0 KiB kwrapper4
108.0 KiB + 10.0 KiB = 118.0 KiB nscd
108.0 KiB + 18.0 KiB = 126.0 KiB agetty
124.0 KiB + 34.5 KiB = 158.5 KiB acpid
188.0 KiB + 18.0 KiB = 206.0 KiB pcscd
192.0 KiB + 32.0 KiB = 224.0 KiB systemd-stdout-syslog-bridge
208.0 KiB + 33.0 KiB = 241.0 KiB rtkit-daemon
220.0 KiB + 23.5 KiB = 243.5 KiB dbus-launch
252.0 KiB + 15.0 KiB = 267.0 KiB ssh-agent
320.0 KiB + 34.0 KiB = 354.0 KiB gpg-agent
392.0 KiB + 42.0 KiB = 434.0 KiB systemd-logind
444.0 KiB + 22.0 KiB = 466.0 KiB ksysguardd
232.0 KiB + 321.0 KiB = 553.0 KiB startkde
500.0 KiB + 59.0 KiB = 559.0 KiB sshd
584.0 KiB + 35.0 KiB = 619.0 KiB cron
568.0 KiB + 60.0 KiB = 628.0 KiB avahi-daemon
804.0 KiB + 176.5 KiB = 980.5 KiB wpa_supplicant
824.0 KiB + 184.0 KiB = 1.0 MiB akonadi_control
1.0 MiB + 48.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB rsyslogd
912.0 KiB + 177.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB modem-manager
716.0 KiB + 433.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB kdm (2)
904.0 KiB + 247.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB sudo
724.0 KiB + 449.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB kio_file
740.0 KiB + 479.0 KiB = 1.2 MiB klauncher
912.0 KiB + 417.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB kio_http_cache_
1.1 MiB + 166.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB cupsd
1.0 MiB + 323.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB bash
1.0 MiB + 310.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB console-kit-daemon
2.9 MiB + -1539.5 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisks-daemon (2)
852.0 KiB + 579.5 KiB = 1.4 MiB udevd (3)
1.1 MiB + 299.5 KiB = 1.4 MiB upowerd
940.0 KiB + 542.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB kio_trash
1.3 MiB + 271.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB nepomukserver
1.5 MiB + 416.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB dbus-daemon (2)
3.5 MiB + -1602.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB polkitd
2.2 MiB + 77.0 KiB = 2.2 MiB systemd
2.4 MiB + 23.5 KiB = 2.4 MiB dhclient
1.9 MiB + 721.5 KiB = 2.6 MiB kaccess
2.1 MiB + 564.0 KiB = 2.7 MiB NetworkManager
524.0 KiB + 2.2 MiB = 2.7 MiB kdeinit4
2.0 MiB + 817.0 KiB = 2.8 MiB ksmserver
2.1 MiB + 884.0 KiB = 3.0 MiB klipper
2.5 MiB + 580.0 KiB = 3.0 MiB kuiserver
2.6 MiB + 602.0 KiB = 3.1 MiB kactivitymanagerd
2.7 MiB + 730.5 KiB = 3.4 MiB kglobalaccel
2.7 MiB + 751.5 KiB = 3.4 MiB polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1
2.6 MiB + 912.5 KiB = 3.5 MiB akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder
2.7 MiB + 942.0 KiB = 3.6 MiB akonadi_nepomuk_calendar_feeder
31.3 MiB + -28362.5 KiB = 3.6 MiB akonadiserver
2.9 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 4.0 MiB akonadi_maildispatcher_agent
3.5 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 4.6 MiB pulseaudio
4.3 MiB + 1.8 MiB = 6.1 MiB kmix
5.1 MiB + 1.5 MiB = 6.6 MiB konsole
5.4 MiB + 1.9 MiB = 7.4 MiB akonadi_nepomuk_email_feeder
5.8 MiB + 1.9 MiB = 7.7 MiB kded4
6.1 MiB + 3.0 MiB = 9.0 MiB kio_http (4)
11.1 MiB + 706.0 KiB = 11.8 MiB Xorg
15.2 MiB + -1894.0 KiB = 13.3 MiB knotify4
19.0 MiB + -2825.0 KiB = 16.3 MiB kwin
12.9 MiB + 4.9 MiB = 17.7 MiB akonadi_agent_launcher (6)
25.2 MiB + -6014.0 KiB = 19.3 MiB mysqld
36.1 MiB + 1.4 MiB = 37.5 MiB plasma-netbook
———————————
233.5 MiB
=================================

Private + Shared = RAM used Program

While I have removed most of Nepomuk from the openSUSE, I still have more work to do. I should be able to get it below 200 MiB. I may have to get rid of the plasmoids that I have running on Page One, to achieve that goal.

I would run tests on more distros, but I have run out of external disks. Besides, it is hard enough keeping up to seven distros. If anyone runs the script on another distro, please post  the results as a comment.