Featherweight Linux handout

by Akkana Peck.
This handout and presentation: http://shallowsky.com/featherweight/

Lightweight distros:

Netbook distros:

Lightweight window managers:

Dock apps, applets, desktop switchers etc.

Word processors:

Mail programs

PDF:

Presentation software:

(see my Linux for Presentations HOWTO for a detailed list)

Browsers

Speeding up boot:

Possibly unnecessary services:

Consider removing the packages, or at least disabling the init files:

Watch during boot -- see what's slow.

Read files in /etc/init.d to find out what the services are doing.

Don't take my list and automatically disable everything -- Figure out what you do and don't need.

Optional services:

Services that you may want sometimes, but not necessarily every time you boot:

How to disable init scripts (Redhat)

How to disable init scripts (Debian/Ubuntu)

fsck

Solid-State disks (SSD)

bootlogd on Ubuntu

Has to do with Upstart instead of sysvinit.

bug 94120 on removing the no-op files or installing the patch.

(also bug 306998)

bug 98955 and bug 328881 on doing the same thing with logd.

Instead, watch during boot, see what's slow.

Turn on boot messages by editing /boot/grub/menu.lst:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=[...] ro quiet splash

Or use bootchart.

Performance tools

HAL, "Hardware Abstraction Layer"

Memory

Memory tools

Quetzy (Poop Snake)

Don't forget to go see the statue of Quetzalcoatl! (The link goes to San Jose Underbelly, a don't-miss guide to the real San Jose.)