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I'm running ubuntu on my work notebook. While it's not a netbook, it is a relatively weak machine. So, even though I'm not a big fan of the ubuntu netbook interface, I would be willing to use it if it's lighter (on RAM and CPU) than the desktop version.

I know there are some very light linux distros available out there, but I'd like to stick with ubuntu both for it's community and for the support I have available here at my workplace.

So, is Ubuntu Netbook Remix lighter on system resources than Ubuntu Desktop?

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  • I don't know much about the netbook remix, but if you want a lighter version, try Xubuntu.
    – petersohn
    May 18, 2010 at 14:35
  • Lubuntu is still in beta but its reported to use half the memory usage as Xubuntu and Ubuntu. It also has its own netbook interface it seems (available to me on the gdm login screen when I was trying it out). Also, Xubuntu supposedly isn't that lightweight compared to Ubuntu, but I prefer its interface over Ubuntu (I hate the OSX purple).
    – wag2639
    May 18, 2010 at 14:39
  • @petersohn: Indeed, I was attracted by that promise at first, but it didn't really live up to testing. I used xubuntu for a couple of months, and the whole system was usually around 20MB lighter than ubuntu. It is lighter, just not significantly.
    – Malabarba
    May 18, 2010 at 15:06

1 Answer 1

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Ubuntu Netbook is not lighter. It comes with a panel optimized for smaller displays (saves place since the window title, etc will go there) and so on. Also includes netbook stuff (like it works perfectly with eeePC out-of-the-box).

Alternatives, for a more lightweight operating system:
- Crunchbang Linux. Uses lightweight Openbox window manager, lxpanel as panel. Simple, not that hard to use (I would say it's easy). REALLY light.
- Lubuntu. It's in beta, uses LXDE as main desktop environment. Honestly, I wouldn't install it, even the 9.10 alpha have never got finished (I'm part of the LXDE team and I follow the development really closely.)
- Xubuntu. Uses XFCE environment, kinda light and not. How can I say.. sometimes it uses more memory than Gnome which is kinda funny. XFCE is out off development for a while now, doesn't seem to be too active (don't bite me for this but seriously it seems to be dead.)


U-lite (never tried it personally). It claims to be lightweight. Seems to be using GDM+LXDE combination. Strange for sure.
Minimal disc. These discs weight about 10mb. A simple ISO. You have to boot it, install everything from the basics. You can build lightweight environments then with this method. However, it requires some experience if something goes FUBAR.... :P


Other alternatives are mostly based on Debian or other distros. (Also you could use Lucid Puppy ? Or maybe its for slower machines...). Like Zenwalk. For this, you can use Distrowatch's search tool. Pick your choice, check the distro.


In my opinion you could try using "Little Susie". It's a hungarian lightweight distro, built for old PCs, using openSUSE and SUSE Enterprise base. Comes with optimised, really-fast, stable KDE3. (Hope it comes in english too... honestly I don't know. If there is no such version, just comment and I'll message the main developer, project founder.) Or just use Kubuntu's KDE3 remix. Here it is.

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  • I read about Lubuntu on the OMG!Ubuntu blog. It sounded interesting but, like you said, it's still in development. Running xubuntu for a couple of months didn't seem to be all that lighter, so I switched back to ubuntu. Out of the other options, Kubuntu's KDE3 remix sounds great. I used to love KDE, but version 4 really pushed me away (being slugish and laggy), Kubuntu in kde3 might just be the thing. Thanks
    – Malabarba
    May 18, 2010 at 15:14
  • Lubuntu won't ever get complete if it goes like this. Don't know whats happening with the project. Last time I made an ISO , a final version which was totally complete and before I could post it, a guy said hey, the ISO is complete. Ehh. (And he is still making the ISOs). So don't ask me I had enough from the project (they crossed the border twice already). | Oh yeah just got in my mind. You can use CentOS or ScientificOS. They are like RedHat (exactly like that). There is a story in the DistroWatch newsletter (few months before) how to install it on a netbook and how it performs on it.
    – Apache
    May 18, 2010 at 15:17

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