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[SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thing")

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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SlidingHorn
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[SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thing")

#1 Post by SlidingHorn »

Forgive me if this is a stupid question: I've read the wikis for Debian & Arch, as well as some random online articles, and my understanding is that the Display Manager simply controls your login and then starts your xsession.

LightDM is always mentioned as a "lightweight" display manager, but I'm wondering how much difference there can really be in terms of resource usage between different managers when their purpose seems so minimal/specialized?

Am I missing something deeper here? In reality, does it really just boil down to which one a particular user prefers to work with in terms of customizing that minute aspect of their system?
Last edited by SlidingHorn on 2018-03-27 13:49, edited 1 time in total.

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pylkko
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Re: GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thing"?)

#2 Post by pylkko »

In linux world everything is just a choice. Some people want this, some want that. You can mix and match as you like. For the performance question the real answer is you need to measure it. Also, remember that you do not need a DM at all, even though many standard installations put it there for you. Now that for surezz is more "light weight". :D

SlidingHorn
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Re: GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thing"?)

#3 Post by SlidingHorn »

pylkko wrote:In linux world everything is just a choice. Some people want this, some want that. You can mix and match as you like. For the performance question the real answer is you need to measure it.
I figured that was probably the case - I do see that there are some "extras" (remote logins, etc) that certain DMs have, but on a relatively new system, I can't imagine that the performance difference could be great enough to make the decision for someone.

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pylkko
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Re: GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thing"?)

#4 Post by pylkko »

There are a lot of people that like making minimal systems and optimizing them "for fun/on principle". There are also many people that use linux on computers that are more than 20 years old. In such cases even one 1 Mb of RAM might be significant. But yes, in my opinion, what you say is more or less correct, that for "normal use cases" it barely makes a difference and is more down to preference.

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debiman
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Re: [SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thi

#5 Post by debiman »

some display managers fire up a complete browser window (yes, the ui is based on webkit) only for your login.
it is obvious that this will take some extra time.
i prefer to save that time (i like to boot/shutdown twice daily), and imo there's nothing wrong with the text interface as it is, so i just use that, i.e. no login/display "manager".
don't get me wrong, i like tweaking the looks, but prefer to concentrate on what's there, without any performance penalty at all, instead of pasting on another layer at high cost.

display managers aren't only for looks, no, but for me - single user, and while the machine is on nobody else has access to it - i just don't need it.

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Head_on_a_Stick
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Re: [SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thi

#6 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Display managers are bloat:

Code: Select all

pgrep -a lightdm
Also, LightDM is particularly useless in Debian stretch because it launches X with root permissions.

Both GDM and `startx` from a console login will run X as the normal user and so should be preferred over LightDM (or any other display managers in stretch).

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ ... uires-root
deadbang

SlidingHorn
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Re: [SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thi

#7 Post by SlidingHorn »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:Display managers are bloat:

Code: Select all

pgrep -a lightdm
Also, LightDM is particularly useless in Debian stretch because it launches X with root permissions.

Both GDM and `startx` from a console login will run X as the normal user and so should be preferred over LightDM (or any other display managers in stretch).

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ ... uires-root
Oh, wow...that's good to know. I've been leaning toward not using a DM and just starting X from console

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None1975
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Re: [SOLVED]GDM v LightDM - Performance (Is it really a "thi

#8 Post by None1975 »

SlidingHorn wrote:Oh, wow...that's good to know. I've been leaning toward not using a DM and just starting X from console
Just keep in mind that if you want to install gdm3 he will draw with herself half Gnome 3. Just use old and good startx. Here documentation.
OS: Debian 12.4 Bookworm / DE: Enlightenment
Debian Wiki | DontBreakDebian, My config files on github

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