this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Reminds me of the programs that make the kernel drop FS buffers in an attempt to free up RAM. Or hog as much memory as they can in an attempt to have unused things swapped to disk. Yeah, they free up RAM all right, but at the expense of actual speed.
Most of the time, this junk is actively harmful. Forget it, modern Linux uses optimized defaults.
You can get more performance out of your hardware by switching to from heavyweight to lightweight programs - for example, instead of Skype (which uses Electron), choose some other way to chat like
irssifor IRC. Instead of Gnome, choose i3 or dwm or something like that. You need a bunch of tradeoffs and learning, though, to really get the most out of your hardware.Thanks. See these are the things I dont know. I pretty much only use the browser on my laptop. I try to keep most things within the browser, but obviously have some apps/tools/programs like bitwarden, vlc, libre word, a textpad, just your basics... The only intensive thing I do on my computed is browsing. Sometimes I'll get into researching and use the browser heavily, lots of tabs lol or I'll stream videos I.e. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, whatever.... Thats about it. No email, unless I use the browser. I typically use my phone for emailing. I do always try to look for light options as well. But I have zero knowledge of the technical workings under the surface, so I would have no idea how to properly configure certain aspects that may need fixed or configured. If I ever do configure something I either go by the manual or just use settings that I want. Idk I just wanna make sure everything is always properly balanced as possible, but as I've explained, I do have many strange issues here and there whether they're errors, hangs or freezes, slowdowns, overheating, high CPU or ram usage at random times when I'm not using heavily, idk. Linux is a complex system and I dont have the knowledge yet to understand and tweak the inner workings yet. Too confusing and dont know where to start
Sounds like you might be better off with something like ChromeOS Flex. It's optimized to do just that.
Thanks for the recommendation but honestly, I've been trying to ween off of google lol
Here's a couple of pointers to get started:
topin your terminal to see what's taking CPU.top -o RES(or what's easier, runtopand then pressMwhile it's running) to see what is taking up RAM.... though unfortunately, it's mighty probable that the only significant consumer of memory and CPU is your browser. Get uBlock Origin, it helps web pages be lighter and eat less resources. Don't open too many tabs at once - learn to use bookmarks efficiently, instead (folders, bookmarks toolbar and whatnot).