What are the disadvantages if I use xubuntu compared to ubuntu-mate

Support & Help Requests
#1

I have ubuntu-mate-16.04 and having a good experience except when I am surfing Internet. Every time browser crashes { mozilla, cromium …and having flash player plugin } probably because I have 1Gb RAM but no lag while not surfing. So, Iwould like to know…

**(1)**Is there any light weight browser which I can use while having Adobe flash plugin ?
:sweat:
(2) If I install Xubuntu-16.04 then what are the disadvantages I will have compared to Ubuntu-mate-16.04 in terms of …
Security and privacy, updates, software compatibility, available softwares(beside preinstalled…like in software center), etc.

because I need most of the softwares I am using in ubuntu-mate like Blender, etc…**:sweat::sweat:

#2

To answer your first question, a browser that is considered as lightweight is Midori. But it isn’t very extensible and it was crashing a lot when I tried it some months ago. I don’t know if it’s improved now. Another option is Seamonkey, which is Firefox-based. In general, modern browsers, like Firefox, Chrome/Chromium, Opera etc, tend to use about 600 MB of ram with regular usage, so maybe you should consider a ram upgrade.

As for your second question, Xubuntu is really similar to Ubuntu-Mate in general usage and resources consumption. The updates, the software compatibility, the available software etc is almost the same. If you need something even lighter I’m suggesting LXLE which is based on Lubuntu. Everything is similar to Ubuntu-Mate and Xubuntu, except the fact that it uses LXDE, which is more spartan than Mate and XFCE respectively.

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#3

Not directly answering your question, but rather food for thought:

1 - MATE recommended requirements: core 2 duo 1.6 Ghz with 2 GB memory
2- xubuntu recommended requirements: PAE support with 1 GB memory

Some questions:

Is there a possibility to increase your ram?
Do you have adequate swap?
Have you tried xubuntu is a live environment?

#4

xubuntu has awful menus, especially when it comes to editing them, in my opinion. Last time i used it, networking was not good. Though, i feel it’s a bit flaky across the board in all variants of Ubuntu at the moment. Finally, last time I used it, the power management was not good.

Admittedly, I have not properly used Xubuntu for a couple of years.

If you have problems with a weak machine, I would recommend Lubuntu. The menu is even harder to edit. But, in terms of performance on old machines, Lubuntu cant be beaten.

#5

Yes, I have also noticed that firefox, and cromiun are consuming about 600 mb RAM which is making the system to crash.

  • There is no possibility of increasing RAM in this system.
  • I installed ubuntu-mate on one partition of my hard-disk(didn’t had any external hard-disk for the backup of whole hard-disk then). so, didn’t formated fully. And unfortunately unable to create more than two partition (one for boot - 512 Mb , and rest for root). So, I didn’t have any Swap area too.
  • I have tried xubuntu live but without internet. I have also installed XFCE desktop on ubuntu-mate and which was as using almost same amount of RAM as it is (previously I thought that xfce desktop is just like a theme on ubuntu-mate and thats why similar performance)

So, can I create a Swap area without uninstalling Ubuntu-mate ?:neutral_face:

And if I install Lubuntu, is there any disadvantages compared to Ubuntu-mate ?:frowning::frowning:

#6

my opinion:
the RAM usage of- for instance firefox- is the same if you use it in lubuntu/xubuntu/mate because it’s the usage of firefox itself. (ab big part here are add-ons and the number of open tabs…
Use less addons. Use not so many tabs - it will help. btw- have you ever really testet without flash - meanwhile most pages are working.
The difference of the kinds of *buntus like Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Mate is in my opinion not as big as allways thougt. Xubuntu/mate are about the same, Lubuntu needs a little bit RAM lesser.

I have an older notebook (1 Gb RAM) which I upgraded from xubuntu to Mate without significant performance changes.

Before Mate i used xubuntu allways on older machines. But: i hate thunar (and loved nemo)
I don’ like the menue of xubuntu ( and Lubuntu)
… So i allways had about a dozen things to change after installing, an in sumn they were less consistent.
Mate is a round thing > I liked it from the beginning. A clear structure and menue, caja is way better than thunar, and so on…

partitioning:
Every harddisk in an older PC is able to host a minimum of 4 partitions. Either 4 primary Partitions (dos, windows, linux and other systems are bootable from primary partitions)
OR 3 primary Partitions plus an EXTENDED Partition whitch can host numerous logical partitions inside itself. Linux is able to start from here (inner Partitions)
Use either 1 partition (plus swap!) for komplete Linux, or things like: a root Partition (10…40 GB) for the system + a swap (i would use about 2 GB with your PC) + the rest for /home (overall 3 Partitions)

the swap area is the key for systems with little RAM

You are not able to do so? Use a live-CD(or USBstick, install gparted (sudo apt-get install gparted) unmount in case of used partitions (for instance if you searched datas with a filemanager and it mouted some things automaticaly)
Delete/create partitions as you want.
If you boot your installed system, you may not be able to unmount/delete Partitions in use)

backup: its not really a good idea to make backups to another partition of the same disk: if the disk dies, the backup is also dead.
If your /home is an extra partition you will be able to do an new install without loosing your data anyway. (partitioning step: say “something else”(?) make a new /root and swap and than: use /home with mountpoint /home without formating…)

hope it helps…

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#7

Loss of customizability would be one. Lubuntu doesn’t offer much in the way of making things look pretty. But in terms of functionality, whatever you can do with one you can do with the other (with maybe a few exceptions like Software Boutique).

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#8

Hello and welcome, Lubuntu is a light weight desktop environment and runs quite well it’s not a full blown as Make or Ubuntu 16.04, and there are reasons for this because. Lubuntu requires less to run and work well on most older machines, It can be customized if needed depending on what’s needed. The Ram you have should do OK with it

I notice you stated you only have 1-GB of Ram you will need to upgrade that Ram or choose a lighter desktop for better performance this is just my recommendation

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#9

You’d be surprised what can be done with Lubuntu in terms of customisation. Here is an example of customising it to look and feel similar to Mate. Though, it has to be addmitted, such customisation is less intuitively easy to achieve than with other distros. But, it is possible and, if a lightweight desktop is what is paramount, it is worth the effort I would argue

4 Likes
#10

Here’s a link to a great guide for partitioning written by one of our members ->GParted partition guide for Linux and Windows users

@h2f had it absolutely correct

the swap area is the key for systems with little RAM

The reason your system crashes is more than likely due to running out of memory when browsing. Creating a swap area provides extra memory for your system when needed. The down side it will be slower that physical ram, the major upside your system probably will be more stable.

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#12

:raised_hands:I do not understand what you said? I am new in this community. So, please explain…@soft88dvd0000

#13

If I install LXDE desktop environment using …sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop…will it increase performance ?:joy_cat:

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#14

@Hemanta. It doesn’t mean anything. I deleted my post because my advice was not good :slight_smile:

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#15

Yes, in my experience. I have an Acer One notepad on which I installed Ubuntu Mate. It was running sluggish so I installed Lubuntu desktop on top and I now have it logging into the Lubuntu desktop instead of the Um desktop. It does indeed run faster.

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#16

Probably it will, but as others stated, the key factor is the swap. So I think that partitioning and reinstalling is inevitable.
Furthermore, in my opinion it is better not to install a desktop environment on top of another, because your pc will become bloated, with applications and services running of two desktop environments.

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#17

Make sure that you use 32bit version and your graphics driver works. I like Lubuntu, if it isn’t lighweight enough, try Linux Lite or even Puppy linux (it’s a bit funky but it works great on very old machines). Get SSD, disable javascript and only enable it on pages where you really need it. Also disable background processes that you don’t need at the time.

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#18

@linuxhandbok I have tested Linux Lite and it uses pretty much the same amount of ram as Xubuntu or Ubuntu-Mate.

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