"Lubuntu was formerly a distribution for low-end hardware, but we have refocused." , run good in "old" machine

Hello.
Thanks for reading my topic.

In Lubuntu Manual has the information :
“Lubuntu was formerly a distribution for low-end hardware, but we have refocused.”

I have used Lubuntu 18.04.5 in an old notebook Acer with only intel cpu 2 GHZ and 2 GB RAM. The OS use less of 200 MB RAM and run very good using Firefox current versions.
Also I has tested Lubuntu 20.04 in old computers … an Phenom X4 with Geforce 6100 running much faster and in another Phenom X6 from 2012 running very fast too.

In my little knownledge the only detail requiring more processing and RAM is the LXQT. However the requirements not are exactly high.
Lubuntu using LXQT use more than 350 MB RAM.

The only detail limiting Lubuntu in old computers and notebooks is the video card and BIOS designed with few options to select.

You have used in an old computer and notebook ? The performance is really good ?

Have an nice day.

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I use Lubuntu 22.04 on my Acer Aspire Cloudbook which has a dual core cpu and 2gb memory with Intel graphics and it works well.

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There maybe differences in the base Ubuntu systems that differ between 18.04 & 20.04 you are ignoring. I don’t know though as I’ve not really compared them.

But what grabs me most is LXDE used GTK2. LXQt uses Qt5.

What apps can you use that will share resources with LXDE/GTK2? There are few apps as it’s a deprecated toolkit (though hexchat comes to mind; hey I still use it), meaning the resources used by LXDE cannot also be shared with GTK3 or Qt5 apps.

Using a Qt5 desktop means you’ve got a load more useful apps that can share resources with the desktop keeping the system light; as few of us use the desktop without apps as well.

If you want/need to use GTK3 apps, LXQt may not be the lightest choice; but then neither would LXDE either (being GTK2), so Xubuntu (Xfce) maybe makes sense. Xubuntu is heavier than Lubuntu for sure, but when using GTK3 apps that difference in my opinion is negligible. (Note: If using resource-challenged devices where these comparisons really matter, the CPU and the rest of the hardware should also be considered too, as some CPUs in my experience handle some code better than others; pentium M seem just slow with some GTK3 code, but other CPUs didn’t exhibit that slowdown)

I still use devices with only 1GB of RAM, but never look at what the base desktop/WM I’m using uses, as that’s not all I actually use (I’m always using apps on that desktop/WM, and to remain light, what I’m running should be efficient & share resources well).

If I’m using a device with limited resources I consider what’s sharing my RAM at the same time (and I’m guilty of bloating my systems with many DEs installed; but I don’t worry about disk space used; just RAM).

Also FYI: I use the following device

lenovo thinkpad sl510 (c2d-t6570, 2gb ram, i915)

in QA-testing, and that device (when using it for my own purposes, which is rare admittedly) has Lubuntu on it (20.04 LTS from memory as I don’t think I’ve release-upgraded it). The device I’m typing this reply on is a 2008 dell desktop (so maybe considered old; c2q-q9400)

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Thanks for your reply.
I never had tested if appimages run correctly in 18.04.5 since that appimage has inside all dependencies.https://discourse.lubuntu.me/u/aug7744
Also is possible install LXQT in 18.04.5 ?
Packages in “LXQt desktop packages” : LXQt desktop packages : “LXQt team” team

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18.04 is off-topic here as it’s EOL & unsupported for the Lubuntu team.

A quick scan using startpage showed me links such as “Are you Ready for Lubuntu Next 18.04” and support questions on adding LXQt to 18.04, but be aware LXQt only had 9 months support on 18.04/bionic as it was not a LTS release (Lubuntu supported LXDE only as LTS with that support well gone now too).

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I think @Bartman also/sometimes uses Lubuntu on older devices, with satisfactory performance. So, there’s that as well.

What I’ve come to understand is that, even without the focus on older devices, Lubuntu is still pretty speedy on those older devices.

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“I have used Lubuntu 18.04.5 in an old notebook Acer with only intel cpu 2 GHZ and 2 GB RAM. The OS use less of 200 MB RAM and run very good…”

You experienced a time in which GTK2 support came to an end, when all of the bugs were fixed and became stable. LXQt came about because GTK3 was new and (for developers) a nightmare to maintain.
Hong Jen Yee said;

“Since GTK+ 3 breaks backward compatibility a lot and it becomes more memory hungry and slower, I don’t see much advantage of GTK+ now. GTK+ 2 is lighter, but it’s no longer true for GTK+ 3. Ironically, fixing all of the broken compatibility is even harder than porting to Qt …”

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About 18.04.5 was only for reference since that when 18.04.5 was released the Lubuntu team priority not was lighter OS for old computers.
In others words Lubuntu continue running good in old computers. The main requiriment is cpu 64 bits and the video card.

I have used software having both GTK2 and QT versions. The software run much more faster in GTK2 version mainly if need directory and file access.

KGIIILubuntu Member

Sep 28

I think @Bartman also/sometimes uses Lubuntu on older devices, with satisfactory performance. So, there’s that as well.

What I’ve come to understand is that, even without the focus on older devices, Lubuntu is still pretty speedy on those older devices.

Yep I do and here’s one runs good and no complaints. :grinning:

lubuntu@dell-optiplex-380:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    Desktop: LXQt 0.17.1 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 380 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0HN7XN v: A01 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell
    v: A02 date: 08/27/2010
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 bits: 64 type: MCP
    arch: Core Yorkfield rev: A cache: L1: 128 KiB L2: 3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1596 min/max: 1600/2933 cores: 1: 1596 2: 1596
    bogomips: 11704
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 resolution: 1024x768
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel G41 (ELK) v: 2.1 Mesa 22.0.5
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-53-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes                                               
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes                                                  
Network:                                                                                           
  Device-1: Broadcom NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe vendor: Dell                           
    driver: tg3 v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 02:00.0                                                
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>                                 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 15.48 GiB (10.4%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHW2160BH PL size: 149.05 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 145.65 GiB used: 15.48 GiB (10.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 163 Uptime: 8h 33m Memory: 3.73 GiB used: 1.18 GiB (31.5%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.3.0 Packages: 1685 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13
lubuntu@dell-optiplex-380:~$ 
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Although I recently added RAM and storage, I have Lubuntu running great on a Dell Chromebox which is a 1.4Ghz dual core Celeron, 2 GB RAM, and 16GB storage.
Low power is another bonus.

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Lubuntu 22.04 series / versions runs on most of my old computers.

The browser’s gonna use the most system resources depending on what the browser is running at any particular time.

With a half dozen browser tabs open for test purposes system resource use appears to be low.

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Firefox has settings for lowering the RAM usage.
Seamonkey use much less cpu and RAM than Firefox. However some sites are using scripts to see what browse type and version is being used and not having data about Seamonkey sites not allow login or even browsing , but not is an Seamonkey error because changing the user agent to “firefox” the site will work.

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Yeah I already have had issues being able to login to some websites because of using SeaMonkey or Pale Moon browser’s.

Some websites won’t let you login if you’re using a non Windows OS.

Has something to do with the website not having a certificate or signature bull crap.

Yeah I like Pale Moon and SeaMonkey and use them with Puppy Linux.

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Using Lubuntu 22.04 on an ancient expired Acer Chromebook… C720 I think? 2nd gen Intel Celeron CPU, 4 GB RAM, 16 GB storage. The thing runs like a dream and the storage has yet to run out. Sure, we may have “refocused” so to speak, but Lubuntu is still my #1 choice for any older 64-bit system that I intend to actually use. (For those I use for testing, there’s almost no telling what I’ll end up having on there, but for those that get real use, Lubuntu pretty much always is the one I use.)

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@Bartman
About browsers issues is possible fix changing the user agent.
Try any plugin with that feature.

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@aug7744
Will look into that.
I’m assuming a plugin with that feature would be found in the browser add-ons and extensions section.

Thanks

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I’m using Lubuntu with Enlightenment desktop installed which sits at a nice 250mb usage, and Firefox with cache disabled and a few tweaks which runs perfectly on a 2gb laptop.

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@Bartman

Seamonkey plugin name is
User Agent Switcher

@tenplus1
“Enlightenment desktop” ?
Lubuntu using LXQT is 370 MB RAM.
How enable or install “Enlightenment desktop” ?

Another detail changing from “other OS” to Linux Lubuntu is much more efficient GPU usage.
Video card run with better speed and with more features and not having any “other os internal hidden frame rate optimizations” dropping rendered frames.
Linux render all frames with better performance allowing run softwares not being possible in “other os”.

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sudo apt install enlightenment

will install the desktop which is fully featured, log out and select from session menu then log back in, do a quick setup and tinker/tweak until you’re happy. I’ve boosted glmark2 score from 7392 on my LxQt desktop to 9842 in Enlightenment.

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Thanks for sharing that information.
I will try.

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