On 02/05/2010 01:34 PM, Jo-Erlend Schinstad wrote:
On 5 February 2010 17:07, David A. Cobb wrote:
Again, recall I have "only" 256MiB real memory.
Because of another problem, I can only do software upgrades from "Recovery
Mode" -- single user console. If I try it while Gnome is running, the
network speed is cut to around 1/60 of the speed I get from the console. I
can't wait for two days to download the update packages.
You don't have to reboot in order to shutdown X. Simply open another
console by pressing alt+ctrl+F1, log in and run «sudo service gdm stop».
That will shutdown X.
I've done this, without effect. Clearly I need to dig a bit deeper on
this one.
Anyway, when I reboot after an upgrade, it takes around 5 Minutes(!) to get
the GDM login screen, and I have timed the system from the password entry to
a functioning desktop at up to 15 Minutes. Yes, I can get up and brew a pot
of coffee, and drink my first cup, before I can use the computer.
As a user experience, this just sucks! And it doesn't help to have my dear
wife looking over my shoulder and saying "Shirley doesn't have this problem
with her Windows program!" (of course, Shirley also has a 2GiB memory)
We are, supposedly, maturing to the point that Linux is a viable desktop for
average users, not just 'puter-geeks like me.
You're not complaining about Linux here, but Ubuntu and GNOME. Linux
itself uses very little RAM. I agree that the spesified minimum requirements
for Ubuntu could be set a little higher, or be more specific, but I don't think
it's fair to call this a usability issue.
And my quote about the stated minimum is from the Ubuntu 9.10 Release
Notes. I know the problem is in Gnome. That's why I'm posting to a
"Desktop" discussion, not the kernel-team. It is certainly a usability
issue for me! In fact, being geeky, I'm more ready to cut some slack
than would be an "average" user.
Hypothesis: every upgrade runs some "triggers for menu." When next
booting into Gnome, the user's menus may need to be updated, so things
that were previously cached and able to load quickly, now need to be
rebuilt. Still, 10-15 minutes is a long time to wait!
If I were you, I'd try LXDE. It's _much_ less resource demanding and will
make your desktop fly in comparison to GNOME. It's a small download and
you can choose between GNOME and LXDE in the GDM login screen.
Ah! I'll give it a shot. Thanks much.
Best wishes,
Jo-Erlend Schinstad
--
David A. Cobb -- computing t-rex
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