R10 up & running

[smhardesty]

I have WattOS R10 up and running on this spare laptop. I did all the updating I could, then had to do some manual updating to get the latest version of Firefox installed and running. So far, so good. I also installed LibreOffice and then removed Lollypop and replaced it with Rhythmbox simply because that's what I'm used to. Other apps I added include Mirage in place of gThumb and GIMP. R10 runs much faster than Mint 20.2 XFCE.

I'm most impressed with the minimal resources required for the desktop to be running. Right now, task manager is showing only 3% of the available memory is being used to load the desktop on this laptop. I have 8Gb of RAM in this laptop with approx 7GB available. Mint 20.2 XFCE is pretty consistent in using 12% to 15% to load the desktop on this laptop and also on my other three laptops. All of them have 8GB of RAM. That's a pretty healthy difference in resources used just to have the desktop up and running.

I am SO looking forward to getting my hands on R12. Hopefully I'll see very similar resource usage with R12. After playing with a LOT of different distros in the past few years I'm prepared to settle in with WattOS as my daily driver. I don't think I'll load R10 on any other laptop at this time. I think I'll wait for R12 and then install it on everything I have.

The reason I started looking around for a lightweight distro is the same as in the past. I fool around and find a distro using limited resources, get it installed and use it for a while, then notice things have slowed down. I can't understand why so many of the developers think every distro should include every bell and whistle available. Then there are the developers that believe you need fading windows, swirling cubes, elaborate sound schemes, etc, etc, in their distro. I, for one, don't need all the fancy bells and whistles. I need the OS to remain in the background while I use various apps to perform actual work.

Looking forward to R12 and if I can be of ANY assistance, please don't hesitate to call on me.

[leenie]

Hello smhardesty,
I am also waiting for wattOs r12. Until then, I have used the Ubuntu 20.04 mini iso and installed lxde desktop environment. I have 8 Gb ram with Intel Core2 Quad CPU @2.66 GHz. Old computer from 2008. I used this Ubuntu 20.04 mini iso: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal/main/installer-amd64/current/legacy-images/netboot/
Leenie

[smhardesty]

I never knew about a "mini ISO" distro from Ubuntu. It's amazing just how many different distros do exist. I have a little time right now so I'm going to burn this to a DVD and give it a whirl. I might have to hit you up for more info, depending on how I get along.

Thanks!

By the way. This laptop I'm on right now is a Lenovo Ideapad 320-15IAP. It has an Intel Pentium N4200 quad core CPU, 8GB RAM, and a 1TB HDD. All of my laptops are very similar. My stuff isn't old and outdated. It's just not the latest and greatest available. I'm not trying to keep a really old laptop alive. What I'm doing is trying to find a distro that allows me to utilize my hardware in the most efficient manner. I just can't see having 4% to 6% of my CPU and 12% to 15% of memory tied up doing nothing more than presenting the desktop to me. I prefer using my resources on the apps I use for actual work, if that makes any sense. LOL!

[smhardesty]

Ubuntu Mini ISO is a little more basic and rudimentary than I hoped. I'm just no longer interested in having to build my own distro from scratch. That's why I have the interest in WattOS. Other than a few changes in apps and a couple added, WattOS is pretty much everything I need and it's already built and ready to run. I have R10 running really well on a different laptop. I'm content to play with it until I can get my hands on a copy of R12.

Thanks for trying, though. I appreciate it.

[leenie]

Hi smhardesty,
You are welcome! It was worth it for me. From cold boot, nothing started, 255Mb ram used...
Leenie

[smhardesty]

I don't doubt that it was worth it. I've spent plenty of 24 to 48 hour marathons installing systems then tweaking them. I started out with Red Hat Linux when it was first released back in the mid 90s. I have tried pretty much every major distribution there is, including lots that are no longer around. I spent 30+ years in the computing industry in one form or another.

I've simply reached the point where I no longer have the desire or ambition to do all those things I used to do. I'd much rather install a "ready to go" distro that suits my needs and only requires me to remove a few apps and add a few, then tweak the appearance of the desktop and windows. I have always been after the distro that offers a desktop that stays in the background and doesn't eat half of my available resources. I can see that WattOS fits the bill perfectly after playing with R10 for a short while. I can hardly wait for R12. I'm almost like a kid at Christmas. LOL!

[leenie]

Hi smhardesty,
You have been around linux way longer than me. I've been playing with it since around 2010  when I heard Kim Komando talk about Xubuntu. I tried it (didn't really like XFCE), but I found Distrowatch and wattOS. I joined the forum to learn more and started helping others with what I learned. Biff made me an admin/moderator 11 years or so ago. He made me love wattOS and Linux. My husband was suffering with Windows XP back in 2014 and he said "Put that Linux stuff on my computer" .
Leenie

[smhardesty]

I sat down in front of my first computer in 1976 while I was still in the Army. I then spent the next 30+ years trying like hell to get away from computers, but ended up spending all those years involved with them in one fashion or the other. I was A+ certified, Network+ certified, a Microsoft certified professional for NT, 95, 98, XP, etc, etc, etc. All those certifications meant nothing. The only important thing was being able to do the actual work.

I quit using Windows computers about 1999 or 2000. Might have even been 2001. Not one computer has been in my house since that time unless it had Linux on it. I converted my wife to 100% Linux about 15 or 16 years ago. She is a bookkeeper and uses a Windows 10 computer at her job and absolutely hates it. She comes home and tells me all about having to reboot her PC because it froze. She has reported having to reboot her PC as many as 10 times a day. Then she sits down here at home in front of her Linux laptop and everything sails along smoothly.

All the years of being waist deep in the inner workings of a PC and operating system took its toll on me. I just don't have that desire to roll up my sleeves and get into it any more. I guess you could call it being burnt out. I do, however, still look at as many distros as is reasonable trying to find that one that uses the least resources, but still offers me a full fledged working environment. I used Watt)S quite a bit in the past, distant past. LOL!

[leenie]

I am totally addicted to Linux. The more I learn, the more I research and play. Have you tried the openbox version of SparkyLinux 32bit? Fully functional, I would like to try it on wattOS.

[smhardesty]

Yeah, I gave Sparky a couple of looks in the not too distant past. There is just something about it that doesn't sit right with me. I can't really put my finger on it, but it just doesn't do it for me. It's not a "good fit" for me.

I tried really hard to like Xubuntu, but the more I tried, the less I liked it. It's not "polished" enough, if that makes sense. I tried just about every distro out there that uses XFCE or LXDE/LXQT in the last 4 to 6 weeks. A few are close, but none clicked enough to make me want to use it as a daily driver. One if the things I noticed is that none of the XFCE distros used less resources than Mint 20.2 XFCE. At least not enough less to make me want to switch.

I've already used R10 about as much as I used any of them. I'm REALLY hoping R12 is as sweet and complete as R10. If it is, I'll reload 5 laptops and one desktop immediately. R10 is using less than half of the resources that any of the XFCE distros I've tried. That's significant. At least to me it is.

[cheiron]

if you havent already seen it.. Leenie and myself did a quick sneek peak which we released in the Beta testing section of this website and i dropped in a few quick look videos


https://planetwatt.com/newforum/index.php?topic=1287.0


Re R12 first look

[smhardesty]

OK. I got some alone time so watched the videos and looked over the screenshot. I'm not seeing any great departure from R10 as far as the overall look of the desktop or the included apps. It's GREAT to see that the resource usage is about the same as R10. That means it will beat all those other distros I have tried over the last several weeks hands down.

So, yeah. I'm even more anxious to get my hands on R12. 

[leenie]

Also our beta tests progress: https://planetwatt.com/newforum/index.php?topic=1310.0

[smhardesty]

That link isn't working for me. I tried doing a quick search for that thread, but can't seem to locate it. It's probably right in front of me. LOL!