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Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3

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On 03/09/2014 12:34 PM, RS Wood wrote:
> On 2014-02-26, RS Wood <rswood@therandymon.com> 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
>

Mwm, the window manager that comes with the OpenMotif libraries, is very 
light on memory (I've only looked at the memory usage occasionally with 
top).  The display is crystal clear and rock-steady, and very easy to 
look at.  It's very basic, but easy to add things like desk accessories 
and outboard compositing managers to.

The olwm - olvwm window managers are similar.  There was yet another WM 
version that was the default with new user accounts on Solaris, IIRC.

Out of the box, it doesn't have most of the features of the 
post-UNIX-Linux WMs, like, there's no embedded language, so you need to 
re-learn xrdb if you want any desktop accessories.  Also no workspaces 
or virtual root, and uses standard size icons.

OpenMotif isn't GPL'd so it's not normally available as a Linux package, 
but you can download the source at http://www.openmotif.org/.


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Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-03-09 19:34 +0000
  Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2014-03-10 20:53 +0000
  Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Randy Westlund <Vorzakir@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-10 21:24 +0000
    Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-03-14 19:42 +0000
      Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Randy Westlund <Vorzakir@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-15 06:45 +0000
      X window managers Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.net> - 2014-03-20 10:09 +0000
  Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 unixb4coffee <unixb4coffee@gmail.com> - 2014-03-20 11:11 -0700
    Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 "Aaron W. Hsu" <arcfide@sacrideo.us> - 2014-03-20 14:08 -0500
      Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be.invalid> - 2014-03-20 20:25 +0100
        Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 "Aaron W. Hsu" <arcfide@sacrideo.us> - 2014-03-20 21:21 -0500
        Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 unixb4coffee <unixb4coffee@gmail.com> - 2014-03-22 10:54 -0700
          Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 "Aaron W. Hsu" <arcfide@sacrideo.us> - 2014-03-22 14:13 -0500
      Re: Memory comparison of Linux light desktops, pt 3 Dario Niedermann <dnied@tiscali.it> - 2014-06-25 10:26 +0200

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