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Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

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fozhebert
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Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#1 Post by fozhebert »

Hi everyone!

Getting ready to install Debian after some distro hopping. Would I gain any performance edge by install XFCE after doing a minimal install instead of installing XFCE during the install process? Are there apps not installed when I install from minimal?

Thanks.

Fozhebert

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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#2 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

AdrianTM wrote:There's no hacker in my grandma...

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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#3 Post by bw123 »

I don't think it will affect "performance" whatever that is.

When you use the installer, it probably runs tasksel and installs task-xfce-desktop and all recommends. What you do after a minimal is up to you, so there's really no way to compare the two methods.
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fozhebert
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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#4 Post by fozhebert »

Thanks for the replies.

I was trying to see what I would gain form either method. I'll have a peek to see what the differences are in the packages. I'm installing on an older machine I want to get more years out of. So, as minimal as I can for a functional daily machine at home.

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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#5 Post by Thorny »

As bw123 suggests, "performance" isn't a definitive description. And, to some extent depends on what you are trying to do and what resources are available on your unspecified hardware.

In addition, a "functional daily machine" depends what you are going to use it for.

If you described those topics, maybe someone could offer more specific recommendations.

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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#6 Post by fozhebert »

The machine will be used for web browsing, youtube, genealogy, word processing, flac encoding and light audio editing. It's a 4 year old basic pc, Dual Pentium 2 and 8Gb ram. Not very powerful. Windows 10 updates nearly killed it...

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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#7 Post by bw123 »

fozhebert wrote:The machine will be used for web browsing, youtube, genealogy, word processing, flac encoding and light audio editing. It's a 4 year old basic pc, Dual Pentium 2 and 8Gb ram. Not very powerful. Windows 10 updates nearly killed it...
I like 'old' machines I can't believe 4 yrs is considered old these days. I have a P4 class AMD-k8 it's pretty snappy on the tasks you mentioned. Both of the big browsers are extremely sluggish though. They are bloated and slow as molasses and I haven't found a solution other than don't use FF or Chromium.

These browser packages are larger than the kernel they run on. Firefox-esr uses more memory than the entire os uses. Both browsers are constantly updated for bugs, and that requires downloading the entire pkg. Evidently they don't know how to just distribute the fixed components. Every fix requires an entirely new version, ala windows internet explorer. I expect them to add 'tada.wav' to the browser startup soon.
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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#8 Post by sunrat »

bw123 wrote: I expect them to add 'tada.wav' to the browser startup soon.
:lol:

4 years old is still a puppy. My everyday machine is 9 years old - Core2Duo E8500 w/4GB RAM. I also have a 2YO i5 6500 w/16GB machine mainly used for music production and gaming. The performance difference for everyday tasks like web browsing is almost imperceptible, but for heavy duty stuff like media encoding the new one is streets ahead.
@ fozhebert if you want something to unleash maximum potential, try Antix. It's based on Debian stable but it would take some work to configure stable to be as functional. It runs nicely live so you can try before committing. https://antixlinux.com/
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incas
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Re: Minimal install+XFCE after or XFCE during install?

#9 Post by incas »

fozhebert wrote:Hi everyone!

Getting ready to install Debian after some distro hopping. Would I gain any performance edge by install XFCE after doing a minimal install instead of installing XFCE during the install process? Are there apps not installed when I install from minimal?

Thanks.

Fozhebert
If you install XFCE with the installer I recommend removing the stuff you don't need. It installed inappropriate and unneeded packages like this on my machine: https://packages.debian.org/stretch/gir1.2-sugarext-1.0

Edit: I don't think the example package gets pulled installing XFCE after the Debian install. Not sure though.

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