I was going to switch to LXDE on the Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop, but clicked the update option in a state of exhaustion. The result was a clean update for openSUSE 11.2 to openSUSE 11.3, but I still have the KDE desktop. Do I restart with a fresh install to get the LXDE desktop, or just work with KDE?
Entries Tagged 'Linux Desktops' ↓
Updated to openSUSE 11.3 KDE
September 6th, 2010 — Linux Desktops, Linux Distributions
A Comparison of LXDE and Xfce on openSUSE 11.3
September 4th, 2010 — Linux Desktops, Linux Distributions, Linux Installation
Instead of writing two separate posts, I am consolidating my notes into a single post. Besides, the install is identical, as it is just a matter of desktop selection during the install process. Testing various distributions on a multi-boot machine has its problems, and there are always a few gotchas with every distribution. If every thing was perfect, I wouldn’t need to write about it.
A Good Reason to Use PCLinuxOS 2010
August 30th, 2010 — Linux Desktops, Linux Distributions
The search for the perfect kernel scheduler is like searching for the Holy Grail. Linux 2.6 started with the O(1) scheduler, which solved a lot of issues for real-time processes. However, it didn’t scale to large NUMA (non-uniform memory access) machines. The Linux kernel can scale to 4096 processors. Not all the processors have to share the same bus architecture and memory. Rather, a machine could consist of multiple 16 to 24 processor systems connected by a high-speed bus. This is the world of NUMA, as each system has its own memory that can be shared with other systems. The Completely Fair Scheduler (CFS) scaled to large NUMA machines, but created problems with systems that had less than 16 cores. CFS also scales well to the high core count of new GPUs (Graphic Processing Unit), which can also run non-graphical processes. For mobile devices with less than 16 cores, it creates problems with heating.
openSUSE 11.1
June 10th, 2009 — Linux Desktops, Linux Distributions, Linux Installation
I put off upgrading my primary laptop, until yesterday. I finally upgraded to openSUSE 11.1. It is a triple-booted machine, so the upgrade include installing Simply Mephis 8.0 and Ubuntu 8.10. I really wanted to install Debian 5.0, Mandriva 2009, and openSUSE, but had a few problems. I did discover a new trick.
Knoppix 6.0
March 24th, 2009 — Linux Desktops, Linux Distributions, Linux screen readers
Knoppix is Live CD, and they were one of the firt to produce a Live CD. I have use Knoppix in the past as a quick way to demonstrate Linux. My initial reaction to version 6.0 was “how far they have fallen.” The automatic boot into Adriane with no instructions on how to boot straight to Knoppix was a bit disconcerting. Knoppix now uses LXDE, but with a twist. Work on another project allowed me to see Knoppix 6.0 from a different perspective. My first opinion needed some adjustment.
Window Manager versus Graphical Desktop
March 14th, 2009 — Linux Desktops
Linux / UNIX systems are based around the X Window System. To avoid confustion, we need to clear distinquish between login managers, window managers, and graphical desktops. Each plays a role in creating the desktop environment. While they may be the same, I separate login managers from windows managers.
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Xfce versus LXDE
March 12th, 2009 — Linux Desktops
Who is the lightest of the lightweight desktops? Is there enough difference to be worth the switch? What are the pros and cons of having multiple choices in desktops?
Choosing a Desktop
March 6th, 2009 — Linux Desktops
Linux doesn’t give you one graphical desktop, it gives you a choice between a lot of different graphcal desktops. Of course, you can run Linux in a pure text mode, which is fine for servers, but not for a workstation. The top two graphical desktops are KDE and Gnome. For systems with only 256 megabytes of memory Xfce is my preferred choice. Each distro has a default desktop, and some distros are offering different install sets for KDE, Gnome, Xfce, or LXDE. If you are new, which one do you choose.
