Old laptops are great for learning and experimenting with Linux.
With a window manager, you can get as low as about idle 100-150mb RAM use. You can do the base Endeavor install, and then experiment with window managers on top. They can be confusing in the beginning, and some are “hard” to set up. Personally, I found Fluxbox to be a great start and a compromise between a spartan tiling Wm, and a full mouse-driven DE. It is not too difficult to set up, and you can get it to look pretty sleek, re MX Linux Fluxbox. A bare Fluxbox sits about 130mb idle RAM use on my computer.
Very nice , I don’t know why my current base RAM usage is so high. It is like 1GB of RAM on start up. I heard that xfce should be light. Maybe it is because I use dual monitors I don’t know but I like to reduce the load as much as I can 100 RAM usage would be a huge improvement on my main machine
Window managers are great, but it can be a bit of a steep learning curve. If RAM and CPU usage are of concern to you, I’d recommend installing the LXQt desktop environment and trying that out. It’s based on Qt like the Plasma desktop, but it uses less ram. I have it installed on an early 2009 iMac and it’s using about 525 mb at idle. Plasma uses more generally due to the nice visual effects.
Also, LXQt is an easy transition from Windows, though out of the box it feels a bit more like Windows 98 or Windows ME. It can still be themed to look much more modern and appealing.
this might be a silly question, but…
well, basically, I’m another user who has just recently arrived from Windows and…
do these words apply to EndeavourOS as well?
if yes, what exactly does it mean, “to configure and set up everything yourself”?
I would like to know in particular because I honestly thought that if I install, for example, EOS KDE, it already has the essential/needed things preinstalled. If I’m wrong to think that… what exactly is my system missing and what do I need to take care of? Or was that sentence rather just talking about things like needing to manually select programs to install for each person’s needs, like Kdenlive, LibreOffice, etc.?
You’re not wrong in your thinking. Most distros present a complete experience to the user, you just have to add the programs that you want. Some distros include more than others, which some users refer to as “bloat” - a lot of stuff they don’t want or need. I think EndeavourOS is great in this regard.
But the “mother distro” which EndeavourOS is based on, Arch, is kind of Lego for grown-ups. You put together each component, both the desktop and the parts “under the hood” that are between what is called “the base” and what you see on the screen.
To some, myself included, the Lego approach is a wet dream coming from Windows. Arch has a reputation for being difficult to install, it is basically a meme. But this is not the case. I dare say that a standard install is actually dead simple. It is also a meme that if you install Arch, you’re some sort of “advanced” user. This is not the case either. Anyone can do it, the perceived difficulty is a psychological thing. Installing is simple, you still need time to learn what is actually going on in an installation.
So, what comes after the install is more “difficult” than the actual install. An Arch install just present you with a blank screen and a command promt. You can then install a DE like KDE and be almost done, or you can build and configure the parts yourself that makes it a complete customized experience. This is also the actual fun part of Arch, you customize it to your exact specifications.
This statement applies to a lot of things. Also, different environments give you different leeway and flexibility to do things, but in general, those “things” pertain to:
your “workflow” (the way you use and interact with your system)
You might be interested in having specific keybindings to launch specific applications
You might want to launch a shell command with a keybindings.
You might be interested in using touchpad/mouse gestures if you are using Wayland.
You might be interested in a tiling window manager, which allows you to use a keyboard to do pretty much everything.
You might be interested in automating certain tasks.
the look and feel of your system (theming, ricing, etc.)
Different icons.
Different colors.
Transparent windows for certain applications?
System information in status bar.
Whatever you can think of, there’s likely a way to do it in linux. All you need is a lot of patience, curiosity, and enough motivation to do it.
True. The thing about using Linux is that you have the freedom to do pretty much anything to your system. If you want to use the preinstalled stuff, go ahead. If you want to take the entire system apart and make it your own, that’s possible as well. Want a different bootloader? Sure. Want a different sound server? Sure.
It’s so much more than that. Like I said, in Linux, whatever you can think of, there’s probably a way to do it. Use your system for a month or two with that notion in mind, and you’ll soon figure out your preferences and start making your system your own.
so that last sentence means that EOS doesn’t need any of that, right? It’s already complete out of the box (in terms of all the necessary and “under the hood” stuff)?
(I just wanna make sure that I got everything right :"d)
alright, thanks a lot for that information!
some people did say that KDE starts lagging the more adjustments I apply to it, so that made me a bit wary of customizing my system a lot, since I plan to use KDE… but we’ll see
may I ask, what kind of trouble? Do the systems interact and conflict with each other?
I have Windows 10 and EOS on the same hard drive (different partitions obviously) and I thought there would be no trouble…
I don’t know what kind of trouble because I never bothered with it, haha! I just read about the problems people had, and figured I don’t need it anyway. I boot windows rarely, so the few times I need it I just go into the EFI/bios. I’m sure others will chime in.
Well, EndeavourOS comes pretty complete. But you also need to learn some terrminal stuff in order to get the most out of it. The way I see it, Endeavour are useful for those who want a nice start to progress a little further than from the likes of Ubuntu, Mint and Majaro. And also useful for those who have done alt that, grown up, and just want to use the computer with a nice basic Arch install. And also for those in between, who like a nice safe home to do experiments from.
You’ll have to be prepared to learn some of it. But don’t worry, EOS is an excellent start for exactly that. Take it slow, one thing at the time, and ask for help! You’ll get the hang of it probably sooner than you think, if you have the interest.
This is correct. If you install EndeavourOS KDE or any other desktop it has the essentials needed. You would select printing support on the install as well as the desktop if you intend to install a printer. There are other things you could select also such as the lts kernel but this can also be done at a later time after the install. You can also use the userpkglist on the live ISO to install other packages at the same time. These are packages that you can also install later with ease using pacman so it doesn’t matter to install them with the install. The usepkglist is not meant for AUR packages anyway. For that you have to use an AUR helper which is built in called yay. There are other AUR helpers but EndeavourOS has yay installed.
Installing packages is extremely easy. You can use pacman package manager for most and those that are AUR packages you have to use yay. Yay also works for standard packages. Installing packages takes very little time. It is not like Windows. So i normally install about 15 which can be some of the following.
I run KDE and i have zero issues. But i stick with known themes and backgrounds and icons and packages that i know work. I don’t customize every little thing going. If you do without forethought you are just asking for problems. I don’t have any. Been running KDE for a long time. It just works.
There are many other packages available but these are some of the ones i use. There are a lot of KDE based packages also such as ktorrent, kdenlive etc etc. There are many and i also take stock when using KDE packages. I tend to use what works well and has no issues. I rely on other KDE users for feedback. We have some here who are using wayland but most of us KDE users are not because we prefer xorg.
The only issues you will have are gaining knowlege of pacman and building packages with yay to install from the AUR. It’s not hard but takes some time to understand. If you need any help from the KDE kids.
We are here to help!
We don’t do Gnome.
Edit: On KDE I always set in settings, workspace behaviour, desktop effects to use wobbly windows with a slight setting and magic lamp. These are what make KDE feel fast, fluid and magical.
thanks a lot! This is way more info than I expected, and it does cover some very base stuff that I didn’t know I needed to understand
Installing packages takes very little time. It is not like Windows.
yeah, except for Librewolf hahA…
I mean, the official website did provide a second, faster “bin” install option (whatever that means)… maybe I should try that instead of waiting for it to compile out of Firefox for hours and then suddenly stopping after I return from being afk and not having been installed for some reason, hah
I just thought maybe that “bin” option is more lacking or something, since the first option is described as “with our patches and modifications”
So i normally install about 15 which can be some of the following.
interesting, most of these I never use, although I did want to install GIMP, but I was concerned after stumbling upon some headlines of it being hacked or something, but haven’t looked into it yet
The Gnome thing…well that is just a joke. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Gnome. It’s a great desktop but you have to like it. I have just not been convinced enough to have it grow on me that i could use it as my daily driver.
As far as browsers go I’m telling you Firefox is the way to go. I install ublock origin and two other video audio extensions that i particularly use. I also caution you on using all kinds of extensions in a browsers but these that i use i have been using for years without issue. I don’t install a whole bunch of things. Firefox is by far the best and least problematic browser out there. I also use chromium on occasion so i also have it installed.
Most people will install different packages for what ever reason. I use stuff that works and are not an issue for me. It’s not like i use this stuff all the time but i have it installed if i want to use it. I’m not concerned about the number of packages i have installed to a certain extent. I have a powerful system that is newer hardware and lots of ram. Ram isn’t as big a factor anymore with newer hardware. Sure you need enough but i have 32GB and it’s way more than i need.
