Fast clocks on slow hardware

Posted Jul 3, 2005 4:12 UTC (Sun) by dmag (subscriber, #17775) [Link]

It's probably the CPU type your kernel is compiled for. Nowadays, most distros optimize for recent CPUs. This code will run on your Pentium, but much slower. Having a slow CPU running a non-optimized program is a double whammy. A kernel recompile (telling it exactly which CPU you have) will give your 'slow' CPU a speed boost.

I've seen some distos targeted at older computers, but I don't think they go far enough. Here's what I would do:

• Use the KDrive X Server. I think the new X.Org server is based on this, but I'm not sure if it's still as minimalist.
• Don't run KDE/GNOME. I'd use Matchbox if you're targeting grandma, or maybe EDE. If you still like lots of eye candy and compatibility with the fun KDE/GNOME desktop toys, use WindowMaker.
• Boot with BusyBox. Maybe have a 'real' environment in a chroot. Get rid of all that silly SysV init stuff and must have a simple rcS script start what you need.
• If FireFox is too slow, try Dillo.
• Maybe avoid ReiserFS, unless your disk is really slow too. ReiserFS tends to use a lot of CPU to avoid disk access, which won't always be a win. Ext3 should be fine, I think.
• There are also many other performance-enhancing techniques, such as prelinking.

I'm too lazy to make this distro just to turn my old laptop into an in-car MP3 player and GPS mapper.. Hopefully, someone else will :)