02-02-2011, 12:18 AM
Specifically, PCLinuxOS.
Why?
I have a tendency to use my computer. Hard. I ended up on Linux because Windows seems to be a sentient evil being, and it has a very personal problem with me.
It hates me. And, after all the years of torture, I hate it right back. That, and it seems to hate me in part because I am so hard on my computer that it can't keep up.
So normally, I use PCLinuxOS whenever I have a choice, and I use the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Been running primarily this way for five years now, and loving it - even if I am forced, at the moment, to use Windows to run Adobe software in order to build subliminals.
But that's okay, I use a virtual machine, in which I have Windows installed, and that allows me to run it as a guest. Which, ironically, makes it not only run faster, but allows me to recover from it's suicide efforts remarkably quickly. I have kept it running for all five years this way.
Recently, I noticed that my machine was slowing down. I traced it back to KDE having some sort of problem that slows down the system significantly, if you never log out or reboot. As I am wont to do. Weeks could go by without logging out or a reboot, aside from that slowdown, which was making builds take five and six times as long. Unacceptable.
So what was the solution? Until they find and fix the bug that's causing it, I just switched to LXDE - the Lightweight X Desktop Environment. In Linux parlance, "X" is the graphics server. It's known as XFree86, or X.org, depending on which branch you have installed.
LXDE is lightweight, much smaller memory footprint and significantly faster. Not quite as full featured, but who cares, if I don't need all the other stuff to get work done?
Build times since doing this are 10 to 15% faster, and I don't know if the problem will continue, but I am amazed at how fast I am able to simply circumvent problems in Linux.
Gotta love it. Now if only I could run Audition in Linux directly, so I could ditch windows altogether.
Why?
I have a tendency to use my computer. Hard. I ended up on Linux because Windows seems to be a sentient evil being, and it has a very personal problem with me.
It hates me. And, after all the years of torture, I hate it right back. That, and it seems to hate me in part because I am so hard on my computer that it can't keep up.
So normally, I use PCLinuxOS whenever I have a choice, and I use the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Been running primarily this way for five years now, and loving it - even if I am forced, at the moment, to use Windows to run Adobe software in order to build subliminals.
But that's okay, I use a virtual machine, in which I have Windows installed, and that allows me to run it as a guest. Which, ironically, makes it not only run faster, but allows me to recover from it's suicide efforts remarkably quickly. I have kept it running for all five years this way.
Recently, I noticed that my machine was slowing down. I traced it back to KDE having some sort of problem that slows down the system significantly, if you never log out or reboot. As I am wont to do. Weeks could go by without logging out or a reboot, aside from that slowdown, which was making builds take five and six times as long. Unacceptable.
So what was the solution? Until they find and fix the bug that's causing it, I just switched to LXDE - the Lightweight X Desktop Environment. In Linux parlance, "X" is the graphics server. It's known as XFree86, or X.org, depending on which branch you have installed.
LXDE is lightweight, much smaller memory footprint and significantly faster. Not quite as full featured, but who cares, if I don't need all the other stuff to get work done?
Build times since doing this are 10 to 15% faster, and I don't know if the problem will continue, but I am amazed at how fast I am able to simply circumvent problems in Linux.
Gotta love it. Now if only I could run Audition in Linux directly, so I could ditch windows altogether.
Subliminal Audio Specialist & Administrator
The scientist has a question to find an answer for. The pseudo-scientist has an answer to find a question for. ~ "Failure is the path of least persistence." - Chinese Fortune Cookie ~ Logic left. Emotion right. But thinking, straight ahead. ~ Sperate supra omnia in valorem. (The value of trust is above all else.) ~ Meowsomeness!
The scientist has a question to find an answer for. The pseudo-scientist has an answer to find a question for. ~ "Failure is the path of least persistence." - Chinese Fortune Cookie ~ Logic left. Emotion right. But thinking, straight ahead. ~ Sperate supra omnia in valorem. (The value of trust is above all else.) ~ Meowsomeness!
