Linux Format - UK (2019-12)

34 LXF257 December 2019 http://www.linuxformat.com

Lightweight Linux

o you’ve got rid of all the junk files and

streamlined your boot-up process. You’ll have

already noticed a leap in performance. If your

appetite if whetted, roll up your sleeves and dive right

in to make your installation even faster. Many of the

default apps in distros ship with settings to suit most

popular use cases. Several popular ones include

tweakable parameters that you can use to make

them run more quickly.

Gnome run

Gnome is arguably the most popular desktop

environment for desktop distros, such as Ubuntu and

Fedora. The desktop is bulky and although it has lost

quite a bit of flab since v3 was released in 2011, there is

still a lot of scope to make it lighter. Start by removing

extensions you don’t need. They are Gnome’s biggest

strength and one of its biggest reasons for bloat.

The developers have made installing and enabling

extensions a walk in the park, and you’ll be surprised to

see the number of unused extensions you have enabled

in your install. If your browser is equipped to manage

extensions, you can head to https://extensions.

gnome.org to turn them on, or install the GNOME

Tweaks app with sudo apt install gnome-tweaks and

switch to the Extensions tab.

Next up, prune Gnome’s search sources. When you

type in the Activities Overview, the desktop searches

more than just software. But if you’ve never used the

feature to install software from repositories or searched

for the term on the internet or elsewhere, you can

safely disable this feature. Head to Settings > Search,

which brings up a list of enabled targets for the search

term in the Activities Overview. You can save yourself

some resources and make the desktop more

responsive by turning off any of the sources that you’ve

never used.

If you are on an underpowered machine, it’s a good

idea to disable the Files option. This shuts off the file-

indexing service that keeps track of all files on your

computer. It’s a useful option to have if you search for

files using the Activities Overview; if not, it’s one of the

major reasons for your computer’s lethargic

performance. Another aspect of Gnome that slows

computers are its various desktop animations. While

they will appear quite smooth on a newer installation,

there will be a noticeable change in their behaviour after

a while. If you don’t care for the fancy effects, fire up

the GNOME Tweaks app and toggle off the Animations

option that’s listed under the General tab.

Fast apps

In addition to the desktop environment, various desktop

apps also have tweakable parameters and settings that

can help speed up launch times. One such app that

you’ll find in virtually all mainstream desktop distros is

LibreOffice. Although the full-fledged office suite has

lost much of its appetite, there’s still scope for some

more reduction.

For instance, if you don’t use LibreOffice Base you

don’t really need the Java runtime. To disable it head to

Tools > Option and select Advanced from the sidebar

on the left. In the options it brings up, toggle off the Java

runtime environment option, this will have a noticeable

effect on LibreOffice launch times, especially on

underpowered computers.

If you use documents with lots of embedded objects,

you can earmark more memory for its Object Linking

and Embedding (OLE) setting. Head to Tools > Options

> LibreOffice > Advanced and click the Open Expert

Configuration button. Here expand the ‘org.openoffice.

Office.Common’ setting and scroll down to the Cache

TWEAKING SYSTEM

COMPONENTS

S

TUNE PROCESSOR PERFORMANCE

If you were to benchmark your laptop’s performance you’d get

different results with the same distro. This is because laptops are

designed to tweak their performance based on power usage. When

running on battery power, laptops will try to extend battery life by

turning down their performance.

You can get better control over this process with the TLP tool,

this is an advanced power management command line tool for

Linux that tries to apply various tweaks to conserve battery while

maximising performance. You can install TLP and its associated

utilities with sudo apt install tlp tlp-rdw tlpui. Once installed, start

TLP with sudo tlp start. Although it works in the background, you

can use the tlpui graphical frontend to change settings and override

the default behaviour.

Furthermore, you can take charge of the scaling powers of your

laptop’s CPU by installing the CPUFreq indicator with sudo apt install

indicator-cpufreq. Once installed, you can explicitly set the CPU to

give you better performance instead of making sure you get more

mileage from the battery. The utility shows up as an indicator in the

top menu bar.

LEVEL 2

Make sure you

understand the

options in TLPUI

before randomly

toggling them.

34 LXF257December 2019 3332Decmbr 019425 1

Lightweight Linux

oyou’vegotridofallthejunkfilesand

streamlinedyourboot-upprocess.You’llhave

alreadynoticedaleapinperformance.Ifyour

appetiteifwhetted,rollupyoursleevesanddiveright

intomakeyourinstallationevenfaster.Manyofthe

defaultappsindistrosshipwithsettingstosuitmost

popularusecases.Severalpopularonesinclude

tweakableparametersthatyoucanusetomake

themrunmorequickly.

Gnomerun

Gnomeisarguablythemostpopulardesktop

environmentfordesktopdistros,suchasUbuntuand

Fedora.Thedesktopisbulkyandalthoughithaslost

quiteabitofflabsincev3wasreleasedin2011,thereis

stillalotofscopetomakeitlighter.Startbyremoving

extensionsyoudon’tneed.TheyareGnome’sbiggest

strengthandoneofitsbiggestreasonsforbloat.

Thedevelopershavemadeinstallingandenabling

extensionsawalkinthepark,andyou’llbesurprisedto

seethenumberofunusedextensionsyouhaveenabled

inyourinstall.Ifyourbrowserisequippedtomanage

extensions,youcanheadtohttps://extensions.

gnome.orgtoturnthemon,orinstalltheGNOME

Tweaksappwithsudoaptinstallgnome-tweaksand

switchtotheExtensionstab.

Nextup,pruneGnome’ssearchsources.Whenyou

typeintheActivitiesOverview,thedesktopsearches

morethanjustsoftware.Butifyou’veneverusedthe

featuretoinstallsoftwarefromrepositoriesorsearched

forthetermontheinternetorelsewhere,youcan

safelydisablethisfeature.HeadtoSettings>Search,

whichbringsupalistofenabledtargetsforthesearch

termintheActivitiesOverview.Youcansaveyourself

someresourcesandmakethedesktopmore

responsivebyturningoffanyofthesourcesthatyou’ve

neverused.

Ifyouareonanunderpoweredmachine,it’sagood

ideatodisabletheFilesoption.Thisshutsoffthefile-

indexingservicethatkeepstrackofallfilesonyour

computer.It’sausefuloptiontohaveifyousearchfor

filesusingtheActivitiesOverview;ifnot,it’soneofthe

majorreasonsforyourcomputer’slethargic

performance.AnotheraspectofGnomethatslows

computersareitsvariousdesktopanimations.While

theywillappearquitesmoothonanewerinstallation,

therewillbeanoticeablechangeintheirbehaviourafter

awhile.Ifyoudon’tcareforthefancyeffects,fireup

theGNOMETweaksappandtoggleofftheAnimations

optionthat’slistedundertheGeneraltab.

Fast apps

In addition to the desktop environment, various desktop

apps also have tweakable parameters and settings that

can help speed up launch times. One such app that

you’ll find in virtually all mainstream desktop distros is

LibreOffice. Although the full-fledged office suite has

lost much of its appetite, there’s still scope for some

more reduction.

For instance, if you don’t use LibreOffice Base you

don’t really need the Java runtime. To disable it head to

Tools > Option and select Advanced from the sidebar

on the left. In the options it brings up, toggle off the Java

runtime environment option, this will have a noticeable

effect on LibreOffice launch times, especially on

underpowered computers.

If you use documents with lots of embedded objects,

you can earmark more memory for its Object Linking

and Embedding (OLE) setting. Head to Tools > Options

> LibreOffice > Advanced and click the Open Expert

Configuration button. Here expand the ‘org.openoffice.

Office.Common’ setting and scroll down to the Cache

TWEAKING SYSTEM

COMPONENTS

S

TUNEPROCESSORPERFORMANCE

Ifyouweretobenchmarkyourlaptop’sperformanceyou’dget

differentresultswiththesamedistro.Thisisbecauselaptopsare

designedtotweaktheirperformancebasedonpowerusage.When

runningonbatterypower,laptopswilltrytoextendbatterylifeby

turningdowntheirperformance.

YoucangetbettercontroloverthisprocesswiththeTLPtool,

thisisanadvancedpowermanagementcommandlinetoolfor

Linuxthattriestoapplyvarioustweakstoconservebatterywhile

maximisingperformance.YoucaninstallTLPanditsassociated

utilitieswith sudoaptinstalltlptlp-rdwtlpui.Onceinstalled,start

TLPwith sudotlpstart.Althoughitworksinthebackground,you

canusethetlpuigraphicalfrontendtochangesettingsandoverride

thedefaultbehaviour.

Furthermore,youcantakechargeofthescalingpowersofyour

laptop’sCPUbyinstallingtheCPUFreqindicatorwith sudoaptinstall

indicator-cpufreq.Onceinstalled,youcanexplicitlysettheCPUto

giveyoubetterperformanceinsteadofmakingsureyougetmore

mileagefromthebattery.Theutilityshowsupasanindicatorinthe

topmenubar.

LEVEL 2

Make sure you

understand the

options in TLPUI

before randomly

toggling them.