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Ubuntu 18.04


raymac46

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It's out there. I upgraded my VirtualBox installation from 17.10.

Everything went OK except the upgrade stuffed my Numix theme PPA so I had to add it back. I got the updated theme and icons after that. As in 17.10, GNOME is the default desktop.

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saturnian

Very cool. I installed Kubuntu 18.04, fresh installation. I really liked that the Ubiquity installer has an option for a "Minimal" installation. Calling it "Minimal" is a bit of a stretch, but it's a nice way to go, cuts out a bunch of stuff that the user might not want/need. I guess it works the same in Ubuntu as in Kubuntu.

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I'm running Ubuntu MATE 18.04 on both of my good laptops now. I had it on my secondary machine since Beta 2 was released, and did a fresh install on my main machine over the weekend.

 

It's a good solid release and I'll be sticking with it for the two years at least.

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I just have Ubuntu in VirtualBox to keep track of the changes they make to the desktop. As far as an update on the rails goes, I'll wait until Linux Mint adopts the 18.04 ecosystem and go from there. I prefer Linux Mint's Cinnamon for the casual users who run Linux on my second desktop in the basement.

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[quote name='saturnian' timestamp='1525177793' post='455738']
I'm liking Kubuntu 18.04, but Dedoimedo wasn't very happy with it: [url="https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-beaver.html"]https://www.dedoimed...ntu-beaver.html[/url]

I'm not planning to install Ubuntu 1804 -- I'll just stick with Kubuntu and maybe Lubuntu later.
[/quote]
I just read that review. There are a number of issues he mentioned that just don't exist in siduction which uses the same version of Plasma 5 currently. ( There are also issues mentioned which are just Dedoimedo being weird as usual. :D )
That's one of the reasons I don't use any *buntus - the release model. If it says version 1804 it just has to be released in April 2018 and D*** any existing bugs. I'll stick with Debian's (and siduction's) release model which is "it's released when it's ready".

You can read a reply to Dedoimedo's February article about KDE issues from a developer. Most have bug reports or have already been fixed - https://pointieststick.wordpress.com/2018/02/16/plasma-5-perfection-call-for-development/
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I've installed it on an extra hard drive for testing. So far some of the top menu bars won't enlarge properly when the dpi is increased. This makes it harder to see and place the mouse for clicking. I was able to increase the size of scrollbars but in some programs they jump around and flash when the mouse hovers over them. Not good. I'm used to things like the Firefox symbols for resize and close positioned on the top left side. Moving to the right side is an irritating change. It's like swapping the position of the accelerator and brake pedals in a car. Also they are smaller.

 

Harder to see, harder to use, and moving things around means I won't be updating to this degrade in usability unless I find fixes. Later I'll try some of the other flavors like Mate and hopefully find something that is more visually friendly. I've read that there is a new Unity type version so may try that too. No rush since 16.04 is mostly okay and should run for another two years.

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I tried installing Unity with:

$ sudo apt update

$ sudo apt install ubuntu-unity-desktop

 

and now the desktop seem similar to 16.04 again. The scrollbar is still not right but it must be because gtk-3.20 settings are different from gtk-3.0.

 

There are few other problems from before that continue like freezing issues with the screen and mouse. Don't know if it is a universal problem or just me.

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Hedon James

I've installed it on an extra hard drive for testing. So far some of the top menu bars won't enlarge properly when the dpi is increased. This makes it harder to see and place the mouse for clicking. I was able to increase the size of scrollbars but in some programs they jump around and flash when the mouse hovers over them. Not good. I'm used to things like the Firefox symbols for resize and close positioned on the top left side. Moving to the right side is an irritating change. It's like swapping the position of the accelerator and brake pedals in a car. Also they are smaller.

 

Harder to see, harder to use, and moving things around means I won't be updating to this degrade in usability unless I find fixes. Later I'll try some of the other flavors like Mate and hopefully find something that is more visually friendly. I've read that there is a new Unity type version so may try that too. No rush since 16.04 is mostly okay and should run for another two years.

 

Yes, Mate has an alternative layout called "Mutiny" that apes the look of the Unity desktop. I actually prefer Ubuntu Mate over Ubuntu, but that's JMO.

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Ubuntu 18.04 runs very nicely in VirtualBox. I've always liked Ubuntu as a guest O/S because the Guest Additions are all set up and you get a full screen right from the start.

Since I'm using Gnome in Debian Stretch on the Thinkpad, I like to see how Ubuntu is now customizing it in their distro as a Unity substitute.

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Just tried a Live DVD session of Ubuntu Mate. I am in shock. It looked so good and worked so well it might be the best Linux distro I've ever used. I liked the Mutiny Unity desktop very much too. Scrollbars were visible and large enough to use without having to do anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Hedon James

What is the RAM usage in Ubuntu for you? There is a tragic report about it at https://www.reddit.c...ubuntu_lubuntu/

 

In VBox Ubuntu is using about 1GB with System Monitor running.

That's an absurd amount. siduction with Plasma 5 boots in 377MB last I looked and MX uses less than 300MB.

 

Agreed with Sunrat! 1GB for Ubuntu is suspiciously high for what Ray has open. On the rails, Ubuntu with Unity typically hovers between 400-500GB, with Ubuntu Gnome typically hovering around 400GB, and Kubuntu also in the 400GB-500GB range. These are all readings on MY machines and hardware. In all fairness, I haven't benched Ubuntu 18.04 with its new Gnome desktop, but I can't imagine any scenario where it isn't similar to what I posted.

 

That Siduction Plasma/KDE reading seems on the low end, but Siduction tends to be tuned very well, IMO, so completely believable. MX looks about right for an XFCE desktop. 1GB just looks like....WHOA...what is going on here?! :w00t:

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In all fairness, I haven't benched Ubuntu 18.04 with its new Gnome desktop, but I can't imagine any scenario where it isn't similar to what I posted.

 

The article I posted above shows 18.04 using 1300MB.

 

That Siduction Plasma/KDE reading seems on the low end, but Siduction tends to be tuned very well, IMO, so completely believable.

I tuned it a bit more by turning off Akonadi which uses ~200MB by itself. It's mainly a contacts and calendar database which is only needed if you use Kmail and/or similar personal services.

I did a bare metal install of Stretch with Plasma 5.12 from NeptuneOS repos. It works great and uses a similar amount of RAM to siduction. In fact it works so well I've been helping an MX dev to develop a Plasma 5.12 respin of MX-17! ;)

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Rechecked and confirming that memory usage is around 1 GB. GNOME shell and GNOME software account for about 450 MB of that. Evolution-calendar-factory and its subprocess account for another 80 MB. I think those processes are also part of the GNOME desktop.

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It's not just Ubuntu. My Thinkpad runs Debian GNOME and it uses 1 GB there as well. I wonder if some of it might just be cache.

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Hedon James

Wow! Makes me glad I went the LXDE route! Unfortunately LXDE is yet to complete its port to QT, so I'm not overly confident. But early reports of LXQT appear to clock in the upper 200s, hovering around 300MB of RAM.

 

As a benchmark, I've been very impressed with KaOS, an arch-based KDE distro that hovers around 350-380MB. Wow in a good way! It's very smooth, responsive, and slick with the plethora of customizations that KDE provides.

 

KaOS opened my mind to the viability of a QT based desktop. Siduction LXQT is a very polished distro that is absolutely ready for consumption, hovering in upper 200s of RAM. Lubuntu Next is still a work in process, with much slower progress, hovering around 300MB RAM.

 

Seems like no matter what your preferences are, desktop RAM increases over time; no different than software or disk storage.

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ray@ray-debian-T430:~$ free -m
		  total	    used	    free	  shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:		   7689	    1499	    5475		 143		 714	    5813
Swap:		  7887		   0	    7887
ray@ray-debian-T430:~$

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I downloaded and imaged Ubuntu MATE on USB and tried it on the Thinkpad and also my Linux Mint desktop as a Live distro. In both cases I got memory usage around 1 GB so I guess it's a GTK feature. MATE is a really nice desktop though - at least in the Ubuntu flavor.

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Guest LilBambi

Whoa! 1 GB RAM usage definitely sounds a bit excessive. But how much memory on the computer?

 

Maybe it thinks it can sprawl because you have a lot of RAM?

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I don't think it's related to available RAM. It takes up 1 GB in a 2 GB virtual machine and 1 GB on an 8GB laptop. The desktop where I tried MATE has 16 GB. So all over the place as far as RAM goes.

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Hedon James

ray@ray-debian-T430:~$ free -m
		 total	 used	 free	 shared buff/cache available
Mem:		 7689	 1499	 5475		 143		 714	 5813
Swap:		 7887		 0	 7887
ray@ray-debian-T430:~$

 

I don't doubt you Ray. I'm just astounded at what's going on with Ubuntu proper...that is INSANE RAM usage. Saw a thread on reddit where some users did some benchmarking of 'Buntu flavors and summarized in a table. **Spoiler Alert** it appears that KDE may now be mentioned as a "lightweight" distro!

 

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The lightest weight desktop I have on the rails right now is Xfce in Arch on my tiny Atom netbook. Even that is close to 400MB.

I think you have to go with one of the LX based distros to get lighter and still have a desktop environment. Or choose a Window Manager.

I'd like GNOME to fix any memory leaks but when I routinely have 16GB of RAM, a 1GB memory footprint doesn't appall me. After all Win 10 is taking somewhere north of 2.5 GB just to give a desktop.

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Hedon James

^True! I guess we're just spoiled by Linux. The rest of the world requires 2.5GB+ for an idle desktop and we're freaking out about what kind of RAM hog requires 1GB to render a desktop! :devil:

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I didn't know that, that Windows takes that much RAM just to get to the desktop!

 

I got ticked off about the Amazon stuff and quit running Ubuntu. But then I installed Kubuntu 18.04. Looks good. I like that Minimal Installation option in the installer! That's available now for all of the Ubuntu "flavors," right?

 

The LTS releases, in my opinion, turn out to be almost as solid as Debian Stable -- after the first point release, that is.

 

I like GNOME Shell but I think I'd prefer "vanilla" over what Ubuntu ships with.

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securitybreach

^True! I guess we're just spoiled by Linux. The rest of the world requires 2.5GB+ for an idle desktop and we're freaking out about what kind of RAM hog requires 1GB to render a desktop! :devil:

 

Without the browser running, my system only uses like 1.2gb of ram. Granted, I mostly run terminal apps but still. I do have 32gb of ram in this machine but chrome usually uses 12gb of it. I know... unused ram is useless ram but I have more ram than any of my systems could use up. Well, I have two laptops that I could max out.

 

If they ever figure out how to make the browser lightweight, running out of memory will be a thing of the past.

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