Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!weretis.net!feeder1.news.weretis.net!news.solani.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: RS Wood Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.windows.x Subject: Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Followup-To: comp.windows.x Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2014 19:34:39 +0000 (UTC) Organization: solani.org Lines: 105 Message-ID: References: X-Trace: solani.org 1394393679 24987 eJwFwYERACEIA7CVBNo+jsOp3X+ET1gKnQ+iQNNp58jBcqwt2JXbb/Cqmw6fWekbhXvRzB8hxhE2 (9 Mar 2014 19:34:39 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@news.solani.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2014 19:34:39 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: slrn/pre1.0.0-18 (Linux) X-User-ID: eJwFwYEBwCAIA7CXQFoY56jY/09YwkjPW0gmKAo5CghT3DJrPKs9cK6bseTN0x/tHa/xjvgBFKYQcw== Cancel-Lock: sha1:fbQuFTTD3lXeAy9Ejrx/P6/gPrU= X-NNTP-Posting-Host: eJwFwYEBACAEBMCVKP80jsT+I3SHTWW5ETQMplu2RovFCstYlp7lBTmJm5dW8+Y2Eadc+30bUxGW Xref: csiph.com comp.misc:1396 comp.windows.x:155 On 2014-02-26, RS Wood wrote: > From the "swapity-swapity-swap" department: > Title: A Memory Comparison of Light Linux Desktops - Part 3 I had a look at this article and it was better than I'd expected. I was expecting a KDE vs Gnome vs XFCE vs LXDE article, but these guys went way lower than that, which was interesting. Here is some cut-n-paste. I also liked the list of links at the bottom - a reminder of how much diversity there is in WMs on *nix systems. TinyWM If you are into "less memory is better", you definitely need to check out TinyWM. Written by Nick Welch in about 50 lines of C code, TinyWM is a "ridiculously tiny window manager", used to serve as a basic WM programming example. You might also want to check on developer's webpage the Python version, Lisp version, and Ada version. TinyWM will move, resize, focus, and raise your windows. There are no window decorations, it looks just like regular X. On Debian/Ubuntu install TinyWM as apt-get install tinywm. Start it as tinywm. It runs in less than 0.2MB of memory. miwm From tiny we move to microscopic. miwm (Microscopic Window Manager) implements a small, versatile set of core window management functions, with the goal of keeping the window manager as clean as possible. You would need to supply your own launcher, taskbar and menus using external programs. On Debian/Ubuntu install miwm as apt-get install miwm. Start it as miwm. It runs in 0.5MB of memory. olvwm Around 1.2 MB things get shiny. OPEN LOOK Window Manager was the default window manager in SunOS and Solaris. The open-source version is olvwm (OPEN LOOK Virtual Window Manager), developed by Scott Oaks. It implements a root window with dimensions greater than those of the video display, and it works on any X11R5 or X11R6 systems. Install olvwm in Debian/Ubuntu as apt-get install olvwm. Start it as olvwm. It runs in 1.2MB memory. Sawfish As more and more features are added, the memory increases. This time we look at Sawfish, a themable window manager using a Lisp-based scripting language. Providing only window manager capabilities and nothing else, Sawfish is usually combined with other programs such as wbar or LXPanel. On Debian/Ubuntu install sawfish as apt-get install sawfish (yum install sawfish on Fedora). Start it as sawfish. It runs in 3.1MB of memory. IceWM 4.5MB of memory later we have a window manager with taskbar, menus, network and CPU meters, mail check and clock. This is IceWM, a fast and simple window manager. It comes with a number of themes that allows it to imitate Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows 7, OS/2, and Motif. On Debian/Ubuntu install IceWM as apt-get install icewm (yum install icewm on Fedora). Start it as icewm. It runs in 4.5MB of memory. PekWM PekWM (The Pek Window Manager) is a window manager based on aewm++. It supports window grouping, auto properties, xinerama, keygrabber, keychains, and much more. On Debian/Ubuntu install PekWM as apt-get install pekwm (yum install pekwm on Fedora). Start it as pekwm. It runs in 5.3MB of memory. Mutter Mutter (Metacity Clutter) is the current Gnome 3 window manager. Based on Clutter library, Mutter supports OpenGL and a large number of visual effects. Today, Mutter is in the process of becoming a Wayland compositor. Mutter is an excellent choice for building Gnome-like desktops. Give it a try if you are into Gnome 3 look and feel, but you don't like the functionality Gnome Shell has to offer. On Debian/Ubuntu install Mutter as apt-get install mutter (yum install mutter on Fedora). This will bringing in over 50MB of various Gnome-specific packages on your hard disk. Start it as dbus-launch -exit-with-session mutter. It runs in 18.6MB - I've tested it on a Nvidia card running Nouveau driver. Conclusion * In 2MB of memory you get tiling window managers suitable for power users and vi experts. * Around 10MB you have a bunch of themable window managers with taskbars and menus. For many users this is enough, although we are still in power user territory. * OpenGL-enabled window managers start around 20MB and bring in shadows, transparency and lots of cool visual effects. From 40MB up we have the classic lightweight desktop environments. These DEs are becoming more and more popular as computer hardware update cycles lengthen. * The latest and greatest cutting-edge desktop features can be found starting from 150MB. Links: TinyWM, 9wm, miwm, wm2, dwm, Ratpoison, TWM, xmonad, JWM, i3, Blackbox, Sawfish, IceWM, PekWM, Openbox, Window Maker, awesome, FVWM, Fluxbox, Mutter, E17, LXDE, KWin, MATE, Trinity, XFCE, Cinnamon, Razor-qt, Gnome 3, Unity, KDE