Fast Linux on old hardware
For today's standard, i have a very low end computer for my workstation at my office: a Pentium III 500 Mhz with 128 Mb of memory. I don't like using pirated Windows (there wasn't an agreement with microsoft back then), so i decided to install Linux, on my first work day.
I never complained about my computer speed back then, because i always do my work by doing a remote desktop connection to one of the server i manage. But few days ago the server is down, and i still don't have time to bring it back to life. I got frustated using all the default software on the Redhat 8, it all felt too slow.
I already used gnome instead of KDE (i disliked KDE anyway), but gnome is still to slow, so i have to change my desktop environment. I went to try enlightenment, but after a painful time to install it, i found that it's not good enough for me (i don't think a Window Manager is ever enough for someone like me).
Luckily i found that XFCE 4 has just been released, so it's a good time to give it try. I liked this desktop environment from the beginning. It has an rpm version of the distribution, and all of the needed rpm is already packed into a single tar.bz2 file. It also have a very cute logo.
XFCE alone won't make everything went fast. I have to change my Mozilla 1.4 RC 2 into Mozilla Firebird (browsing is my main activity here). Next, i upgraded my gaim to the latest version. Actually, i only used gaim to talk with two of my best friend, and i used yahoo messenger most of the time (using binary from yahoo). Today i tried to use amsn to do my msn chat, i like it, may be i won't use gaim anymore.
Things already went better, but playing MP3 is still not smooth (i get a lot of skips). Recently kernel-2.6 test 6 was released, and i heard that the anticiptaory I/O scheduler is very good and you will get a remarkable improvement in interactive application. So i downloaded the new kernel, compiled it, and tested it. And it was very good. Everything went much smoother.
But one important application, Open Office, is still to heavy for my computer. For spreadsheet calculation i always used gnumeric because it's much faster, but until few days ago, i haven't found a light and office compatible word processor. But now, i have found one: Abiword 2. I have tried kword, but it kept crashing when i tried to import my Microsoft Word file(s). I have tried abiword few years ago, but back then it still lack many important features (e.g: table), but i think it's already good enough for me now.
So, if you have a slow computer for your Linux, you can try what i have done: compiling new kernel, replacing the desktop environment, and replacing you everyday program with much lighter version. Look around, there are a lot of things you can find.
Oh, and i forgot one thing, i also used squid to enhance my browsing. And if you do the same, don't forget to install adzapper to get rid all the ads and popups that will slow down your browsing.
