I guess there aren't enough Ubuntu variants yet...

Story: First Test Images of LXDE Lubuntu Available Total Replies: 9
Author Content
caitlyn

Sep 03, 2009
12:59 PM EDT 		Maybe we should get together and work on PekBuntu, the PekWM variant.

Seriously, what is so difficult about doing the minimal install and then adding LXDE, the dependencies, and some lightweight apps? Must everything be prechewed?
vainrveenr

Sep 03, 2009
1:24 PM EDT 		This could be in line with a previous comment from almost exactly four months ago today, one at 'My take on reviews and reviewers', http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/28964/
Quoting:Some of y'all have noticed that my distro reviews are "late", often months after release. I also try to get under the hood and look at why and how things work and what, if anything, makes a given distro unique. To do this I have to use a distro heavily for a period of time.

I think Steven's article is spot on in one respect: most early distros are fans raving about their favorite's new release. It's all fluff, no substance, and no criticism of any flaws. When I do point out the flaws in a distro I often get reamed and roundly flamed for it. This encourages more fast fanboy reviews and less real and substantial reviews, which in turn results in everything Steve complains about.

Chris Smart's two distrowatch articles (which also got roundly flamed) aren't reviews in a standard sense. They look at one claim made on the Xubuntu website: that it is the lightweight version of Ubuntu, and debunks it in part 1. In part 2 he explains how a lightweight Xubuntu can be made. It's more about identifying an issue and explaining how to work around it than doing a review.


Performing "the minimal install [of Ubuntu] and then adding LXDE, the dependencies, and some lightweight apps" could indeed make a lightweight LXDE-Ubuntu in a similar fashion as Rosenberg's strip-down of Xfce-Ubuntu .

Excellent points in both cases!
Bob_Robertson

Sep 03, 2009
1:26 PM EDT 		> what is so difficult about doing the minimal install and then adding LXDE, the dependencies, and some lightweight apps? Must everything be prechewed?

But then there wouldn't be any reason to use Ubuntu.
vainrveenr

Sep 03, 2009
2:02 PM EDT
Quoting:But then there wouldn't be any reason to use Ubuntu.
Maybe THE key question to ask vis-a-vis "prechewing" vs. not "prechewing" Ubuntu is really this:

==> Which of the (a) building-up or the (b) stripping-down is really best for optimizing *buntu ??

Is it really best to (a) start with a very bare minimal install of Ubuntu and then build it up with a lightweight DE, the necessary dependencies, and then some lightweight apps? -or- Is it really best to (b) start with any stock *buntu install and then perform a stripping-down of the stock install as much as possible "after-the-fact" ?
caitlyn

Sep 03, 2009
2:04 PM EDT 		For me building up always works best. You never know what you can safely strip out and you always miss things. It never comes out as small or light when you strip down.
Bob_Robertson

Sep 03, 2009
2:32 PM EDT 		I agree, I've always found the smallest install image possible works best.

Not just that there's no accidentally remaining cruft, but that what I want and what someone else's wants never seems to be quite the same list of apps. I always have to add something from the repositories, why not add it all?
lcafiero

Sep 03, 2009
4:34 PM EDT 		That reminds me: Whatever happened to Fluxbuntu? I still have an IBM Aptiva running it, but it's based on the *buntu 7.04 release. Clearly I don't use it other than to show clients the Fluxbox desktop, but just wondering why that hadn't soared higher on the *buntu radar.
flufferbeer

Sep 03, 2009
5:05 PM EDT 		FWIW, thought I'd put in my 2c I agree with caitlyn and Bob here; it's almost always better to start with the smallest install image and then build up for speed, efficiency, the right apps, ...etc. That is vv's option (a).

A really nice distro based on this small image + buildup is TC (Tiny Core, not TuxChick!) You download and cut the TC ISO CD, boot this up, and then modularize EXACTLY what you need on top of this with the TCE and TCZ apps of choice. Fast and simple. *buntu's got nothing as trimmed as this!

B u t............, I can also see why someone would want everything ready-to-go in an official Ubuntu release, without having to spend extra effort and time doing a buildup. If I really need a Ubuntu app, then I really DO NOT want to spend time hunting down that app and its dependencies and then make sure that everything works. In this case, it's better for me and others to get it all and then, only later, try trimming down the fat. YMMV. Really a tradeoff.
Sander_Marechal

Sep 13, 2009
5:35 PM EDT
Quoting:Which of the (a) building-up or the (b) stripping-down is really best for optimizing *buntu ??


Why don't you try both and compare them? It would make a nice article for LXer :-)
tracyanne

Sep 13, 2009
9:35 PM EDT 		I was quite impressed with this one

Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]

Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!