GNOME on Wimpy's World

Retro Home

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Retro Home is custom Raspberry Pi operating system purpose built for retro gaming. Built with Ubuntu and using the minimalist emulator frontend Ludo it supports most classic consoles from Atari, Nintendo, Sega and SNK along with arcade emulation support. A number of retro styled Raspberry Pi cases from Retroflag and Waveshare are supported (with more in the works) using bespoke GPIO drivers.

Organisation: Retro Home
Date: July 2020 - date
Role: Project Lead

Memory consumption of Linux desktop environments

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:30:27 +0000

Note Updated on June 3rd 2014 and now includes LXQt and Unity.

For the last 9 months or so I’ve spent my spare time working with the MATE Desktop Team. Every so often, via the various on-line MATE communities, the topic of how “light weight” MATE is when compared to other desktop environments crops up and quite often Xfce is suggested as a lighter alternative. After all MATE and Xfce both provide a traditional desktop environment based on GTK+ so this suggestion is sensible. But is Xfce actually “lighter” than MATE?

I’ve found MATE to be (subjectively) more responsive that Xfce and there have been two recent blog posts that indicate MATE has lower memory requirements than Xfce.

Given that I’m comfortably running MATE on the Raspberry Pi Model B (which has just 512MB RAM) I’ve been stating that MATE is well suited for use on resource constrained hardware and professional workstations alike. This is still true, but I’ve also said that MATE is lighter than Xfce and I might have to eat humble pie on that one.

The topic of measursing desktop environment resource use came up on the #archlinux-tu IRC channel recently and someone suggested using ps_mem.py to gather the memory usage data. ps_mem.py provides a far more robust mechanism for gathering memory usage data than I’ve seen in previous comparisons.

So the seed was planted, I created a bunch of VirtualBox guest machines and set to work comparing the memory requirements of all the Linux desktop environments I could.

Damn it, just tell me what the “lightest” desktop environment is!

OK, for those of you who just want the final answer, with none of the explanation, here it is:

Desktop Environment	Memory Used
Enlightenment 0.18.8	83.8 MiB
LXDE 0.5.5	87.0 MiB
Xfce 4.10.2	110.0 MiB
LXQt 0.7.0	113.0 MiB
MATE 1.8.1	123.0 MiB
Cinnamon 2.2.13	176.3 MiB
GNOME3 3.12.2	245.3 MiB
KDE 4.13.1	302.6 MiB
Unity 7.2.0.14	312.5 MiB

Bullshit! How did you come up with these numbers?

All the VirtualBox VMs are 32-bit with 768MB RAM and based on the same core Arch Linux installation. I achieved this using my ArchInstaller script which is designed for quickly installing reproducible Arch Linux setups.

Each VM differs only by the packages that are required for the given desktop environment. The desktop environments native display manager is also installed but if it doesn’t have one then lightdm was chosen. LXDE, Xfce, MATE, Cinnamon and GNOME all have gvfs-smb installed as this enables accessing Windows and Samba shares (a common requirement for home and office) in their respective file managers and the KDE install includes packages to provide equivalent functionality. You can see the specific desktop environment packages or package groups that were installed here:

https://github.com/flexiondotorg/ArchInstaller/tree/master/packages/desktop

Each VM was booted, logged in and any initial desktop environment configuration was completed choosing the default options if prompted. Then ps_mem was installed, the VM shut down and a snapshot made.

Each VM was then started, logged in via the display manager, the desktop environment was fully loaded and waited for disk activity to settle. Then ps -efH and ps_mem were executed via SSH and the results sent back to my workstation. When the process and memory collections were conducted there had been no desktop interaction and no applications had been launched.

Your numbers are wrong I can get xxx desktop to run in yyy less memory!

Well done, you probably can.

Each virtual machine has VirtualBox guest additions, OpenSSH, Network Manager, avahi-daemon, ntpd, rpc.statd, syslog-ng and various other bits and bobs installed and running. Some of these are not required or have lighter alternatives available.

So, while I freely accept that each desktop environment can be run in less memory, the results here are relative to a consistent base setup.

However, what is important to note is that I think the Cinnamon results are too low. Cinnamon is forked from GNOME3 and the Arch Linux package groups for Cinnamon only install the core Cinnamon packages but none of the GNOME3 applications or components that would be required to create a full desktop environment.

So comparing Cinnamon with the other desktops in this test is not a fair comparison. For example, GNOME3 and KDE default installs on Arch Linux include all the accessibility extensions and applications for sight or mobility impaired individuals where as Cinnamon does not. This is just one example of where I think the Cinnamon results are skewed.

The RAM is there to be used. Is lighter actually better?

No, and Yes.

I subscribe to the school of thought that RAM is there to be used. But;

I want to preserve as much free RAM for the applications I run, not for feature bloat in the desktop environment. I’m looking at you KDE.
I want a fully integrated desktop experience, but not one that is merely lighter because it lacks features. I’m looking at you LXDE.
I want a consistent user interface that any of my family could use, not one that favours style over substance. I’m looking at you Enlightenment.

Another take on lightness is that the more RAM used, the more code that needs executing. Therefore, higher CPU utilisation and degraded desktop performance on modest hardware. This could also translate into degraded battery performance.

This is why I choose MATE Desktop. It is a fully integrated desktop environment, that is responsive, feature full, has reasonable memory requirements and scales from single core armv6h CPU with 512MB RAM to multi core x86_64 CPU with 32GB RAM (for me at least).

Without the full stats it never happened. Prove it!

He is the full data capture from ps_mem.py for each desktop environment.

Enlightenment

Private + Shared = RAM used Program

172.0 KiB + 46.5 KiB = 218.5 KiB dbus-launch
316.0 KiB + 40.0 KiB = 356.0 KiB dhcpcd
336.0 KiB + 87.5 KiB = 423.5 KiB rpcbind
560.0 KiB + 37.0 KiB = 597.0 KiB crond
580.0 KiB + 54.0 KiB = 634.0 KiB systemd-logind
688.0 KiB + 67.5 KiB = 755.5 KiB systemd-udevd
480.0 KiB + 276.0 KiB = 756.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
700.0 KiB + 133.5 KiB = 833.5 KiB ntpd
768.0 KiB + 78.5 KiB = 846.5 KiB VBoxService
580.0 KiB + 267.0 KiB = 847.0 KiB tempget
544.0 KiB + 312.0 KiB = 856.0 KiB enlightenment_start
764.0 KiB + 94.0 KiB = 858.0 KiB rpc.statd
600.0 KiB + 280.5 KiB = 880.5 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
624.0 KiB + 298.0 KiB = 922.0 KiB at-spi2-registryd
724.0 KiB + 309.5 KiB = 1.0 MiB accounts-daemon
784.0 KiB + 386.5 KiB = 1.1 MiB enlightenment_fm
952.0 KiB + 395.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB efreetd
 1.0 MiB + 517.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
 5.3 MiB + -3781.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB udisksd
 1.2 MiB + 483.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
 1.6 MiB + 234.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB syslog-ng
 1.1 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
 1.4 MiB + 814.5 KiB = 2.2 MiB lightdm (2)
 1.3 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 2.4 MiB sshd (2)
 2.6 MiB + 575.5 KiB = 3.2 MiB VBoxClient (4)
 2.4 MiB + 781.0 KiB = 3.2 MiB NetworkManager
 10.9 MiB + -7741.5 KiB = 3.3 MiB polkitd
 6.2 MiB + 68.5 KiB = 6.3 MiB systemd-journald
 11.3 MiB + -2300.0 KiB = 9.1 MiB nm-applet
 16.3 MiB + 426.0 KiB = 16.7 MiB Xorg
 19.9 MiB + 1.5 MiB = 21.4 MiB enlightenment
---------------------------------
 89.6 MiB
=================================

LXDE

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

184.0 KiB + 45.0 KiB = 229.0 KiB dbus-launch
320.0 KiB + 36.0 KiB = 356.0 KiB dhcpcd
340.0 KiB + 83.0 KiB = 423.0 KiB rpcbind
360.0 KiB + 78.0 KiB = 438.0 KiB lxdm-binary
384.0 KiB + 93.5 KiB = 477.5 KiB lxsession
580.0 KiB + 50.0 KiB = 630.0 KiB systemd-logind
700.0 KiB + 55.0 KiB = 755.0 KiB systemd-udevd
464.0 KiB + 297.0 KiB = 761.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
 4.6 MiB + -3890.5 KiB = 821.5 KiB menu-cached
612.0 KiB + 213.0 KiB = 825.0 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
500.0 KiB + 328.0 KiB = 828.0 KiB lxdm-session
768.0 KiB + 97.5 KiB = 865.5 KiB rpc.statd
632.0 KiB + 251.5 KiB = 883.5 KiB gvfsd
644.0 KiB + 244.5 KiB = 888.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
776.0 KiB + 189.0 KiB = 965.0 KiB accounts-daemon
 4.8 MiB + -3888.5 KiB = 1.0 MiB gvfsd-fuse
884.0 KiB + 305.0 KiB = 1.2 MiB gvfsd-trash
 1.1 MiB + 322.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 381.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB upowerd
 1.1 MiB + 410.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 1.0 MiB + 485.5 KiB = 1.5 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
 1.2 MiB + 507.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
 1.6 MiB + 259.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB syslog-ng
 1.2 MiB + 991.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
 1.3 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 2.4 MiB sshd (2)
 1.5 MiB + 983.0 KiB = 2.4 MiB lxpolkit
 6.3 MiB + -3414.0 KiB = 3.0 MiB NetworkManager
 3.3 MiB + 706.5 KiB = 4.0 MiB openbox
 4.4 MiB + 59.5 KiB = 4.4 MiB systemd-journald
 6.9 MiB + -1941.0 KiB = 5.0 MiB lxpanel
 12.9 MiB + -7745.0 KiB = 5.3 MiB polkitd
 3.6 MiB + 1.8 MiB = 5.4 MiB pcmanfm
 11.5 MiB + -3637.5 KiB = 8.0 MiB ntpd
 7.1 MiB + 1.8 MiB = 9.0 MiB nm-applet
 13.9 MiB + 604.5 KiB = 14.5 MiB Xorg
---------------------------------
 87.0 MiB
=================================

Xfce

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

176.0 KiB + 32.0 KiB = 208.0 KiB dbus-launch
292.0 KiB + 26.5 KiB = 318.5 KiB gpg-agent
316.0 KiB + 32.0 KiB = 348.0 KiB dhcpcd
324.0 KiB + 81.0 KiB = 405.0 KiB rpcbind
488.0 KiB + 96.0 KiB = 584.0 KiB xfconfd
588.0 KiB + 47.0 KiB = 635.0 KiB systemd-logind
464.0 KiB + 260.0 KiB = 724.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
712.0 KiB + 49.0 KiB = 761.0 KiB systemd-udevd
608.0 KiB + 173.0 KiB = 781.0 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
644.0 KiB + 169.5 KiB = 813.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
768.0 KiB + 57.5 KiB = 825.5 KiB VBoxService
784.0 KiB + 55.5 KiB = 839.5 KiB sh
640.0 KiB + 218.5 KiB = 858.5 KiB gvfsd
764.0 KiB + 94.5 KiB = 858.5 KiB rpc.statd
760.0 KiB + 160.0 KiB = 920.0 KiB accounts-daemon
872.0 KiB + 174.0 KiB = 1.0 MiB gvfsd-fuse
 4.8 MiB + -3831.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB gvfsd-trash
 1.1 MiB + 311.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB upowerd
 1.1 MiB + 282.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB tumblerd
 1.1 MiB + 289.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 369.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 1.1 MiB + 353.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB xfce4-notifyd
 1.2 MiB + 515.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
 1.3 MiB + 483.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
 1.6 MiB + 248.5 KiB = 1.9 MiB syslog-ng
 1.5 MiB + 465.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB Thunar
 5.4 MiB + -3457.5 KiB = 2.0 MiB lightdm (2)
 1.1 MiB + 992.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
 1.4 MiB + 695.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB panel-6-systray
 1.6 MiB + 651.0 KiB = 2.3 MiB xfce4-session
 1.3 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 2.3 MiB sshd (2)
 1.9 MiB + 525.0 KiB = 2.4 MiB xfsettingsd
 1.6 MiB + 903.0 KiB = 2.5 MiB panel-2-actions
 6.3 MiB + -3505.0 KiB = 2.9 MiB NetworkManager
 2.6 MiB + 442.5 KiB = 3.0 MiB VBoxClient (4)
 2.6 MiB + 624.5 KiB = 3.2 MiB xfce4-power-manager (2)
 2.1 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 3.2 MiB xfwm4
 3.1 MiB + 1.3 MiB = 4.4 MiB xfce4-panel
 5.0 MiB + 61.5 KiB = 5.0 MiB systemd-journald
 12.9 MiB + -7827.0 KiB = 5.3 MiB polkitd
 3.8 MiB + 1.6 MiB = 5.4 MiB xfdesktop
 6.6 MiB + 1.3 MiB = 7.8 MiB nm-applet
 11.5 MiB + -3643.5 KiB = 7.9 MiB ntpd
 23.0 MiB + -3258.0 KiB = 19.8 MiB Xorg
---------------------------------
 110.0 MiB
=================================

LXQt

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

176.0 KiB + 35.0 KiB = 211.0 KiB dbus-launch
320.0 KiB + 35.0 KiB = 355.0 KiB dhcpcd
324.0 KiB + 83.0 KiB = 407.0 KiB rpcbind
612.0 KiB + 51.0 KiB = 663.0 KiB systemd-logind
460.0 KiB + 267.0 KiB = 727.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
676.0 KiB + 53.0 KiB = 729.0 KiB systemd-udevd
580.0 KiB + 179.0 KiB = 759.0 KiB menu-cached (2)
768.0 KiB + 63.5 KiB = 831.5 KiB VBoxService
604.0 KiB + 247.0 KiB = 851.0 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
768.0 KiB + 96.5 KiB = 864.5 KiB rpc.statd
648.0 KiB + 231.5 KiB = 879.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
4.7 MiB + -3856.0 KiB = 976.0 KiB accounts-daemon
908.0 KiB + 396.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB lxqt-globalkeysd
1.1 MiB + 425.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB upowerd
1.1 MiB + 484.5 KiB = 1.6 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
1.2 MiB + 551.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
1.6 MiB + 248.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB syslog-ng
1.1 MiB + 998.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
1.3 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 2.3 MiB sshd (2)
1.5 MiB + 933.5 KiB = 2.4 MiB lxqt-policykit-agent
1.6 MiB + 901.0 KiB = 2.4 MiB lxqt-session
1.7 MiB + 837.0 KiB = 2.5 MiB sddm
2.6 MiB + 456.5 KiB = 3.0 MiB VBoxClient (4)
6.3 MiB + -3350.0 KiB = 3.1 MiB NetworkManager
2.4 MiB + 1.5 MiB = 3.8 MiB lxqt-powermanagement
2.6 MiB + 1.5 MiB = 4.1 MiB lxqt-runner
3.4 MiB + 881.0 KiB = 4.3 MiB openbox
2.7 MiB + 1.8 MiB = 4.5 MiB lxqt-notificationd
4.7 MiB + 59.5 KiB = 4.7 MiB systemd-journald
12.5 MiB + -7812.0 KiB = 4.9 MiB polkitd
3.8 MiB + 2.2 MiB = 6.0 MiB lxqt-panel
11.5 MiB + -3644.5 KiB = 7.9 MiB ntpd
11.2 MiB + -2581.0 KiB = 8.7 MiB nm-applet
12.2 MiB + 366.0 KiB = 12.6 MiB pcmanfm-qt
18.2 MiB + -644.0 KiB = 17.6 MiB Xorg
---------------------------------
 113.0 MiB
=================================

MATE

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

248.0 KiB + 57.0 KiB = 305.0 KiB rtkit-daemon
316.0 KiB + 31.0 KiB = 347.0 KiB dhcpcd
344.0 KiB + 81.0 KiB = 425.0 KiB rpcbind
388.0 KiB + 80.5 KiB = 468.5 KiB dbus-launch (2)
 4.4 MiB + -4003.0 KiB = 525.0 KiB dconf-service
588.0 KiB + 45.0 KiB = 633.0 KiB systemd-logind
552.0 KiB + 117.0 KiB = 669.0 KiB gconfd-2
456.0 KiB + 259.0 KiB = 715.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
548.0 KiB + 189.0 KiB = 737.0 KiB gconf-helper
692.0 KiB + 47.0 KiB = 739.0 KiB systemd-udevd
592.0 KiB + 150.5 KiB = 742.5 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
660.0 KiB + 179.5 KiB = 839.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
644.0 KiB + 199.5 KiB = 843.5 KiB gvfsd
768.0 KiB + 92.5 KiB = 860.5 KiB rpc.statd
 4.7 MiB + -3955.0 KiB = 893.0 KiB accounts-daemon
 4.8 MiB + -3943.5 KiB = 1.0 MiB gvfsd-fuse
 4.8 MiB + -3854.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB gvfsd-trash
 5.0 MiB + -3789.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB upowerd
 5.1 MiB + -3817.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 337.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 1.6 MiB + 249.5 KiB = 1.9 MiB syslog-ng
 1.6 MiB + 429.0 KiB = 2.0 MiB polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
 5.4 MiB + -3485.5 KiB = 2.0 MiB lightdm (2)
 1.7 MiB + 510.5 KiB = 2.2 MiB dbus-daemon (4)
 1.3 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 2.3 MiB sshd (2)
 1.4 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 2.4 MiB systemd (4)
 1.8 MiB + 679.5 KiB = 2.4 MiB (sd-pam) (3)
 1.9 MiB + 570.5 KiB = 2.5 MiB mate-screensaver
 2.0 MiB + 536.0 KiB = 2.5 MiB mate-session
 1.9 MiB + 679.5 KiB = 2.6 MiB notification-area-applet
 2.1 MiB + 703.0 KiB = 2.8 MiB mate-power-manager
 2.2 MiB + 596.0 KiB = 2.8 MiB NetworkManager
 2.7 MiB + 686.5 KiB = 3.4 MiB marco
 2.6 MiB + 937.5 KiB = 3.5 MiB wnck-applet
 3.6 MiB + 309.5 KiB = 3.9 MiB pulseaudio
 2.7 MiB + 1.2 MiB = 3.9 MiB mate-volume-control-applet
 3.0 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 4.0 MiB clock-applet
 7.6 MiB + -2931.0 KiB = 4.7 MiB mate-settings-daemon
 7.7 MiB + -2790.0 KiB = 4.9 MiB mate-panel
 5.0 MiB + 60.5 KiB = 5.1 MiB systemd-journald
 13.0 MiB + -7854.0 KiB = 5.3 MiB polkitd
 10.2 MiB + -2592.0 KiB = 7.7 MiB caja
 11.5 MiB + -3653.5 KiB = 7.9 MiB ntpd
 7.5 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 8.6 MiB nm-applet
 14.9 MiB + 1.2 MiB = 16.1 MiB Xorg
---------------------------------
 123.0 MiB
=================================

Cinnamon

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

248.0 KiB + 56.0 KiB = 304.0 KiB rtkit-daemon
316.0 KiB + 31.0 KiB = 347.0 KiB dhcpcd
340.0 KiB + 82.0 KiB = 422.0 KiB rpcbind
 4.4 MiB + -3995.0 KiB = 469.0 KiB dconf-service
384.0 KiB + 88.5 KiB = 472.5 KiB dbus-launch (2)
576.0 KiB + 44.0 KiB = 620.0 KiB systemd-logind
556.0 KiB + 115.0 KiB = 671.0 KiB gconfd-2
452.0 KiB + 258.0 KiB = 710.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
544.0 KiB + 185.0 KiB = 729.0 KiB gconf-helper
596.0 KiB + 174.5 KiB = 770.5 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
656.0 KiB + 170.5 KiB = 826.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
800.0 KiB + 47.0 KiB = 847.0 KiB systemd-udevd
640.0 KiB + 208.5 KiB = 848.5 KiB gvfsd
768.0 KiB + 88.5 KiB = 856.5 KiB rpc.statd
 4.7 MiB + -3946.0 KiB = 910.0 KiB accounts-daemon
 4.8 MiB + -3938.5 KiB = 1.0 MiB gvfsd-fuse
 4.8 MiB + -3847.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB gvfsd-trash
 5.0 MiB + -3818.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB upowerd
 5.1 MiB + -3819.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 340.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 1.1 MiB + 303.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB cupsd
 1.3 MiB + 394.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB csd-printer
 1.6 MiB + 198.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB syslog-ng
 1.4 MiB + 599.5 KiB = 2.0 MiB lightdm (2)
 1.6 MiB + 513.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB dbus-daemon (4)
 1.3 MiB + 979.0 KiB = 2.2 MiB sshd (2)
 1.4 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 2.4 MiB systemd (4)
 1.9 MiB + 784.5 KiB = 2.6 MiB (sd-pam) (3)
 6.2 MiB + -3555.0 KiB = 2.7 MiB NetworkManager
 6.6 MiB + -3794.5 KiB = 2.9 MiB colord
 2.7 MiB + 713.5 KiB = 3.4 MiB polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1
 2.8 MiB + 805.0 KiB = 3.6 MiB cinnamon-screensaver
 3.6 MiB + 341.5 KiB = 3.9 MiB pulseaudio
 3.2 MiB + 826.5 KiB = 4.0 MiB cinnamon-session
 4.9 MiB + 56.5 KiB = 5.0 MiB systemd-journald
 13.2 MiB + -7890.0 KiB = 5.4 MiB polkitd
 3.9 MiB + 2.1 MiB = 6.0 MiB nm-applet
 5.5 MiB + 2.0 MiB = 7.5 MiB cinnamon-settings-daemon
 11.4 MiB + -3668.5 KiB = 7.9 MiB ntpd
 8.2 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 9.3 MiB cinnamon-launch
 7.7 MiB + 2.0 MiB = 9.8 MiB nemo
 21.2 MiB + -527.5 KiB = 20.7 MiB Xorg
 85.9 MiB + -34668.5 KiB = 52.1 MiB cinnamon
---------------------------------
 176.3 MiB
=================================

GNOME3

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

180.0 KiB + 34.0 KiB = 214.0 KiB dbus-launch
276.0 KiB + 14.0 KiB = 290.0 KiB ssh-agent
248.0 KiB + 51.0 KiB = 299.0 KiB rtkit-daemon
312.0 KiB + 28.0 KiB = 340.0 KiB dhcpcd
324.0 KiB + 21.5 KiB = 345.5 KiB systemd-hostnamed
328.0 KiB + 20.0 KiB = 348.0 KiB systemd-localed
324.0 KiB + 80.0 KiB = 404.0 KiB rpcbind
580.0 KiB + 52.5 KiB = 632.5 KiB bluetoothd
604.0 KiB + 40.0 KiB = 644.0 KiB systemd-logind
556.0 KiB + 109.0 KiB = 665.0 KiB gconfd-2
452.0 KiB + 252.0 KiB = 704.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
680.0 KiB + 44.0 KiB = 724.0 KiB systemd-udevd
548.0 KiB + 182.0 KiB = 730.0 KiB gconf-helper
 4.6 MiB + -3950.5 KiB = 765.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
596.0 KiB + 185.0 KiB = 781.0 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
768.0 KiB + 50.5 KiB = 818.5 KiB VBoxService
696.0 KiB + 146.5 KiB = 842.5 KiB gvfsd
768.0 KiB + 86.5 KiB = 854.5 KiB rpc.statd
 4.8 MiB + -3960.0 KiB = 960.0 KiB accounts-daemon
852.0 KiB + 137.5 KiB = 989.5 KiB gvfsd-fuse
792.0 KiB + 267.0 KiB = 1.0 MiB zeitgeist-daemon
 5.1 MiB + -3910.5 KiB = 1.3 MiB gdm
 5.0 MiB + -3853.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB upowerd
 1.0 MiB + 291.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 5.1 MiB + -3877.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 286.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB cupsd
 1.4 MiB + 133.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB gnome-keyring-daemon
 1.1 MiB + 448.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB gdm-session-worker
 1.3 MiB + 359.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB gsd-printer
 1.2 MiB + 509.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
 1.6 MiB + 192.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB syslog-ng
 1.3 MiB + 648.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB mission-control-5
 5.6 MiB + -3676.5 KiB = 2.0 MiB gnome-session
 1.1 MiB + 984.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
 1.5 MiB + 573.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB zeitgeist-datahub
 1.3 MiB + 953.0 KiB = 2.2 MiB sshd (2)
 6.1 MiB + -3700.5 KiB = 2.5 MiB colord
 6.1 MiB + -3656.0 KiB = 2.5 MiB NetworkManager
 2.2 MiB + 466.0 KiB = 2.6 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
 2.0 MiB + 728.5 KiB = 2.7 MiB gnome-shell-calendar-server
 2.6 MiB + 491.5 KiB = 3.1 MiB VBoxClient (4)
 2.5 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 3.5 MiB evolution-source-registry
 6.5 MiB + -2914.5 KiB = 3.6 MiB tracker-extract
 3.5 MiB + 338.5 KiB = 3.9 MiB pulseaudio
 6.7 MiB + -2828.5 KiB = 3.9 MiB tracker-miner-fs
 3.4 MiB + 2.1 MiB = 5.5 MiB goa-daemon
 13.3 MiB + -7973.0 KiB = 5.5 MiB polkitd
 4.9 MiB + 728.0 KiB = 5.7 MiB tracker-store
 6.1 MiB + 51.5 KiB = 6.2 MiB systemd-journald
 4.2 MiB + 2.1 MiB = 6.3 MiB nm-applet
 11.4 MiB + -3668.5 KiB = 7.9 MiB ntpd
 10.1 MiB + -1729.0 KiB = 8.4 MiB gnome-settings-daemon
 8.1 MiB + 1.7 MiB = 9.8 MiB Xorg
 10.7 MiB + -816.5 KiB = 9.9 MiB evolution-alarm-notify
 24.6 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 25.7 MiB evolution-calendar-factory
143.2 MiB + -56658.5 KiB = 87.9 MiB gnome-shell
---------------------------------
 245.3 MiB
=================================

KDE

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

 72.0 KiB + 8.0 KiB = 80.0 KiB start_kdeinit
 80.0 KiB + 13.5 KiB = 93.5 KiB kwrapper4
128.0 KiB + 23.0 KiB = 151.0 KiB agetty
176.0 KiB + 28.0 KiB = 204.0 KiB dbus-launch
292.0 KiB + 28.5 KiB = 320.5 KiB gpg-agent
320.0 KiB + 28.0 KiB = 348.0 KiB dhcpcd
272.0 KiB + 84.0 KiB = 356.0 KiB cat (4)
340.0 KiB + 79.0 KiB = 419.0 KiB rpcbind
604.0 KiB + 39.0 KiB = 643.0 KiB systemd-logind
464.0 KiB + 247.0 KiB = 711.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
768.0 KiB + 87.5 KiB = 855.5 KiB rpc.statd
852.0 KiB + 51.5 KiB = 903.5 KiB startkde
352.0 KiB + 669.0 KiB = 1.0 MiB systemd-udevd (2)
656.0 KiB + 524.5 KiB = 1.2 MiB kdm (2)
 1.1 MiB + 420.0 KiB = 1.5 MiB upowerd
852.0 KiB + 780.0 KiB = 1.6 MiB klauncher
 1.3 MiB + 346.0 KiB = 1.7 MiB udisksd
 1.5 MiB + 256.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB akonadi_control
 1.3 MiB + 529.0 KiB = 1.8 MiB (sd-pam) (2)
 1.6 MiB + 201.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB syslog-ng
 1.5 MiB + 409.5 KiB = 1.9 MiB dbus-daemon (2)
 1.2 MiB + 971.5 KiB = 2.1 MiB systemd (3)
656.0 KiB + 1.5 MiB = 2.2 MiB kdeinit4
 1.3 MiB + 997.0 KiB = 2.3 MiB sshd (2)
 1.3 MiB + 1.6 MiB = 2.9 MiB kio_trash (2)
 2.1 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 3.2 MiB klipper
 6.9 MiB + -3587.0 KiB = 3.4 MiB NetworkManager
 2.4 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 3.5 MiB ksmserver
 3.2 MiB + 594.5 KiB = 3.8 MiB kuiserver
 3.2 MiB + 952.5 KiB = 4.1 MiB kglobalaccel
 3.4 MiB + 829.5 KiB = 4.2 MiB akonadi_migration_agent
 3.4 MiB + 837.5 KiB = 4.3 MiB polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1
 3.8 MiB + 716.5 KiB = 4.5 MiB knotify4
 4.4 MiB + 49.5 KiB = 4.5 MiB systemd-journald
 3.8 MiB + 891.0 KiB = 4.7 MiB baloo_file
 3.8 MiB + 975.0 KiB = 4.7 MiB akonadi_maildispatcher_agent
 3.8 MiB + 983.0 KiB = 4.7 MiB akonadi_baloo_indexer
 4.1 MiB + 1.3 MiB = 5.4 MiB akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent
 4.3 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 5.4 MiB korgac
 13.2 MiB + -7804.0 KiB = 5.6 MiB polkitd
 5.5 MiB + 1.7 MiB = 7.1 MiB akonadi_notes_agent
 11.1 MiB + -3575.0 KiB = 7.6 MiB kactivitymanagerd
 5.6 MiB + 2.1 MiB = 7.7 MiB akonadi_sendlater_agent
 11.4 MiB + -3697.5 KiB = 7.8 MiB ntpd
 7.2 MiB + 777.5 KiB = 8.0 MiB akonadiserver
 6.0 MiB + 2.9 MiB = 8.9 MiB akonadi_archivemail_agent
 6.3 MiB + 2.6 MiB = 8.9 MiB kmix
 6.1 MiB + 2.9 MiB = 9.0 MiB akonadi_mailfilter_agent
 6.9 MiB + 2.4 MiB = 9.3 MiB kded4
 9.1 MiB + 2.7 MiB = 11.7 MiB akonadi_agent_launcher (3)
 13.8 MiB + -1069.5 KiB = 12.8 MiB kwin
 13.2 MiB + 3.2 MiB = 16.5 MiB krunner
 68.8 MiB + -49024.0 KiB = 21.0 MiB mysqld
 30.3 MiB + -2270.0 KiB = 28.1 MiB Xorg
 36.9 MiB + 6.8 MiB = 43.7 MiB plasma-desktop
---------------------------------
 302.6 MiB
=================================

Unity

 Private + Shared = RAM used Program

 92.0 KiB + 14.0 KiB = 106.0 KiB cat
128.0 KiB + 21.0 KiB = 149.0 KiB agetty
180.0 KiB + 28.0 KiB = 208.0 KiB dbus-launch
252.0 KiB + 47.0 KiB = 299.0 KiB rtkit-daemon
312.0 KiB + 27.0 KiB = 339.0 KiB dhcpcd
324.0 KiB + 18.0 KiB = 342.0 KiB systemd-localed
336.0 KiB + 21.0 KiB = 357.0 KiB systemd-timedated
344.0 KiB + 79.0 KiB = 423.0 KiB rpcbind
412.0 KiB + 69.0 KiB = 481.0 KiB dconf-service
592.0 KiB + 39.0 KiB = 631.0 KiB systemd-logind
588.0 KiB + 92.5 KiB = 680.5 KiB indicator-messages-service
448.0 KiB + 245.0 KiB = 693.0 KiB avahi-daemon (2)
604.0 KiB + 89.5 KiB = 693.5 KiB indicator-bluetooth-service
548.0 KiB + 168.0 KiB = 716.0 KiB gconf-helper
 4.6 MiB + -3955.0 KiB = 725.0 KiB at-spi-bus-launcher
684.0 KiB + 42.0 KiB = 726.0 KiB systemd-udevd
640.0 KiB + 100.0 KiB = 740.0 KiB gconfd-2
636.0 KiB + 115.5 KiB = 751.5 KiB at-spi2-registryd
652.0 KiB + 144.5 KiB = 796.5 KiB indicator-power-service
648.0 KiB + 158.5 KiB = 806.5 KiB gvfsd
772.0 KiB + 45.5 KiB = 817.5 KiB VBoxService
768.0 KiB + 85.5 KiB = 853.5 KiB rpc.statd
796.0 KiB + 122.0 KiB = 918.0 KiB accounts-daemon
568.0 KiB + 391.5 KiB = 959.5 KiB (sd-pam)
 4.8 MiB + -3982.5 KiB = 969.5 KiB gvfsd-fuse
824.0 KiB + 253.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB dbus (2)
828.0 KiB + 271.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB zeitgeist-daemon
 4.9 MiB + -3904.0 KiB = 1.1 MiB gvfsd-trash
 1.0 MiB + 131.5 KiB = 1.2 MiB indicator-session-service
 5.0 MiB + -3883.0 KiB = 1.2 MiB upowerd
 1.1 MiB + 237.0 KiB = 1.3 MiB cupsd
 1.1 MiB + 279.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
 5.1 MiB + -3857.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB udisksd
 1.1 MiB + 324.5 KiB = 1.4 MiB zeitgeist-fts
 5.1 MiB + -3833.0 KiB = 1.4 MiB indicator-application-service
 1.2 MiB + 382.0 KiB = 1.6 MiB indicator-sound-service
 1.6 MiB + 174.5 KiB = 1.8 MiB syslog-ng
 5.6 MiB + -3769.0 KiB = 1.9 MiB gnome-session
932.0 KiB + 1.0 MiB = 1.9 MiB systemd (2)
 1.4 MiB + 537.0 KiB = 2.0 MiB lightdm (2)
 1.4 MiB + 753.0 KiB = 2.1 MiB mission-control-5
 1.3 MiB + 936.0 KiB = 2.2 MiB sshd (2)
 1.8 MiB + 531.0 KiB = 2.3 MiB zeitgeist-datahub
 6.2 MiB + -3779.0 KiB = 2.5 MiB colord
 2.2 MiB + 458.5 KiB = 2.6 MiB dbus-daemon (3)
 6.2 MiB + -3682.0 KiB = 2.6 MiB NetworkManager
 2.3 MiB + 515.0 KiB = 2.8 MiB gnome-fallback-mount-helper
 2.3 MiB + 485.0 KiB = 2.8 MiB polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1
 2.4 MiB + 514.0 KiB = 2.9 MiB notify-osd
 2.5 MiB + 417.5 KiB = 3.0 MiB VBoxClient (4)
 2.6 MiB + 547.5 KiB = 3.1 MiB indicator-keyboard-service
 2.7 MiB + 657.0 KiB = 3.3 MiB indicator-printers-service
 2.7 MiB + 854.0 KiB = 3.5 MiB telepathy-indicator
 2.5 MiB + 1.1 MiB = 3.6 MiB evolution-source-registry
 3.1 MiB + 577.0 KiB = 3.7 MiB bamfdaemon
 3.6 MiB + 306.5 KiB = 3.9 MiB pulseaudio
 3.0 MiB + 933.0 KiB = 3.9 MiB indicator-datetime-service
 3.9 MiB + 1.3 MiB = 5.3 MiB unity-panel-service
 13.2 MiB + -7982.0 KiB = 5.4 MiB polkitd
 4.4 MiB + 1.8 MiB = 6.1 MiB nm-applet
 6.1 MiB + 747.0 KiB = 6.9 MiB goa-daemon
 7.3 MiB + 50.5 KiB = 7.3 MiB systemd-journald
 11.4 MiB + -3690.5 KiB = 7.8 MiB ntpd
 5.3 MiB + 4.5 MiB = 9.8 MiB gnome-settings-daemon
 11.6 MiB + 1.0 MiB = 12.6 MiB nautilus
 24.7 MiB + 1.2 MiB = 25.8 MiB evolution-calendar-factory
 40.2 MiB + -351.0 KiB = 39.9 MiB Xorg
103.2 MiB + -4818.0 KiB = 98.5 MiB compiz
---------------------------------
 312.5 MiB
=================================

Final thoughts

On Arch Linux at least, Xfce has lower resource requirements than MATE. When I said different in the past I was wrong, unless you use openSUSE in which case I was probably right, maybe.

Arch Linux Angel

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:12:13 +0000

I’ve been working a shell script for Arch Linux that automatically configures my preferred GNOME 3 setup on my netbook, laptops and workstations. The main features are:

Quickly deploys Arch Linux to my specifications
Supports i686 and x64_64.
Detects ATI/AMD, Intel and Nvidia chipsets and configures the Open Source video drivers and enables early KMS.
Hardware and location aware. Installation and configuration can be different for Home vs Work or Desktop vs Netbook.
Detects and correctly configures some device specific hardware, such as touch screens and wireless drivers.
Automatically configures DAEMONS array.
Includes custom power management hooks for pm-utils.
Designed to safely run multiple times so that it can be used as a tool for keeping all systems consistent.

I’ve dubbed this script Arch Angel. I’m undecided if I’ll release it publicly since it is very much my personal preferences and to some extent my colleagues at work. I suppose the real reason for this post is that I’ve been wanting to take Shelr for a test drive, so click the Play button below to see an example run of Arch Angel.

Installing GNOME 3 on Ubuntu 11.10

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:21:03 +0000

I tried Unity in Ubuntu Natty 11.04 and Ubuntu Oneiric 11.10. We’ve agreed to hate each other. A few weeks ago I started using GNOME 3 and it only took me a couple of hours to adapt to it’s workflow. GNOME 3 is now my desktop environment at home and and work. I love it! If you’d like to give GNOME 3 a whirl then you could try installing Jan Hoffman’s Ubuntu GNOME Shell Remix from either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISOs he has prepared. This will give a “pure” GNOME 3 experience.

http://ubuntu-gs-remix.sourceforge.net/p/home/

If you already have Ubuntu 11.10 installed then you can install GNOME 3 alongside Unity. Here are the incantations you’ll need to utter in a shell.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:jan-hoffmann/gnome-shell
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:aegirxx-googlemail/gnome-shell-extensions
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:webupd8team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-bin gnome-core gnome-documents gnome-shell gnome-sushi gnome-tweak-tool gnomeshell-default-settings gtk3-engines-unico

The repositories added above will give you access to Jan’s GNOME 3 meta packages, updated GNOME 3 packages and some extra GNOME 3 extensions. GNOME 3 extensions add all manner of additional tweaks and functionality. Some extensions can even provide a user experience more akin to that of GNOME 2.

http://intgat.tigress.co.uk/rmy/extensions/index.html

In order to get acquainted with GNOME 3 I suggest you read the Discover GNOME 3 (watch the videos too) and GNOME 3 Cheat Sheet pages. Having read those you’ll soon master GNOME 3. After you’ve used GNOME 3 for a while you may conclude it is a more usable desktop environment than Unity, which isn’t a surprising conclusion to arrive at given Unity sucks the big one right now. If you want a “pure” GNOME 3 experience then the following commands will purge Unity and other bits and bobs that GNOME 3 simply doesn’t require.

Remove Unity

sudo apt-purge unity unity-2d unity-2d-launcher unity-asset-pool unity-common \
unity-greeter unity-lens-applications unity-lens-music libunity-misc4

Remove Overlay Scrollbars

These just don’t work on my netbook since they regularly obscure portions of the window I actually want to click on. The can safely be removed even if you intend to continue using Unity.

sudo apt-get purge overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0 liboverlay-scrollbar3-0.2-0

Remove Indicators

If you never going back to Unity, Indicators can be safely removed.

sudo apt-get purge xchat-gnome-indicator indicator-appmenu indicator-power \
indicator-session indicator-sound indicator-status-provider-mc5 \
libindicator-messages-status-provider1

Again, Global Menu is not used by GNOME 3. So if you not going back to Unity these can be safely removed.

sudo apt-get purge appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt firefox-globalmenu \
thunderbird-globalmenu

Finally, a word or warning: Distribution upgrades are not possible! You can’t upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu when using Jan Hoffman’s Ubuntu GNOME Shell Remix or if you modify an existing Ubuntu 11.10 using my method above. You will have to do a full install once the next Ubuntu release is available. This can’t be fixed as long as Jan’s meta packages are unofficial, because the distribution upgrade process requires having installed one of the desktop meta packages from the official Ubuntu repositories.

Shotwell 0.11 PPA available for Ubuntu Lucid and Maverick

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:05:50 +0000

Like many others I wanted Shotwell 0.11 for Lucid and Maverick so I’ve created a PPA for it.

https://launchpad.net/~flexiondotorg/+archive/shotwell

My PPA contains Shotwell 0.11 built for Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 LTS and Ubuntu Maverick 10.10. I created this PPA because I run Lucid at home and wanted the new version of Shotwell. Sadly, Yorba aren’t going to provide new Shotwell packages for Lucid due to the reasons discussed in the following ticket: -

http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/3015

As mentioned in the ticket above, there are newer versions of Shotwell available for Lucid in other PPAs. However, those PPAs contain hundreds of packages. If you’re not that brave, like me, then hopefully my PPA provides what you need. I have built Shotwell with minimal changes from the original Yorba source packages and not polluted my PPA with any unnecessary packages. Since Shotwell 0.11 you must enable the GStreamer PPA, see the ticket below for the reasons for this requirement:

http://redmine.yorba.org/issues/3716

To install Shotwell on Lucid and Maverick do the following:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/shotwell
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:gstreamer-developers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install shotwell

Enjoy!

Shotwell 0.8.1 PPA available for Ubuntu Lucid

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:04:42 +0000

Like many others I wanted Shotwell for Lucid so I’ve created a PPA for it.

<https://launchpad.net/~flexiondotorg/+archive/shotwell.

My PPA contains Shotwell 0.8.1 built for Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 LTS. I created the PPA because I run Lucid at home and wanted the new version of Shotwell. Sadly, Yorba aren’t going to provide a Lucid build of Shotwell 0.8.1 due to the reasons discussed in the following ticket:

http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/3015

As mentioned in the ticket above, there are versions of Shotwell 0.8.1 available for Lucid in other PPAs. However, those PPAs contain hundreds of packages. If you’re not that brave, like me, then hopefully my PPA provides what you need. I have built Shotwell 0.8.1 with minimal changes from the original Yorba source packages and not polluted my PPA with any unnecessary packages NOTE! My PPA has dependencies that are satisfied by the Yorba PPA, so you must also enable the Yorba PPA too.

https://launchpad.net/~yorba/+archive/ppa

To install Shotwell 0.8.1 on Lucid do the following:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:yorba/ppa
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/shotwell
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shotwell

Goodbye F-Spot. Hello Shotwell

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:39:17 +0000

I’ve finally found a photo organiser for Linux I can live with, Shotwell. Shotwell is a photo organiser for GNOME that I’ve been testing for a few months now but the recent 0.5 release which added tagging and printing, it means Shotwell is finally ready replace F-Spot on my workstation.

Shotwell is intuitive, well documented, extremely easy to use and reliable. It’s easy to dismiss Shotwell as an over simplified photo manager. But once you start using it, you’ll quickly appreciate its clean interface and easy-to-use tools. Don’t just take my word for it either, Shotwell is now the default photo manager in Fedora 13 alpha. Here is a quick run down of the features.

Import photos from folders or from any digital camera supported by gPhoto.
Shotwell automatically groups photos taken at the same time. You can also use tags to organize your photo collection.
You can rotate, crop, reduce red-eye, and adjust the exposure, saturation, tint, and temperature of each photo.
Publish photos to Facebook, Flickr and Picasa Web Albums.

Shotwell provides a non-destructive way to tweak your photos. Instead of modifying the original photos, Shotwell stores all edits in a database and applies them on-the-fly as necessary. This means that you can easily undo all edits. Shotwell comes equipped with all the usual photo enhancing tools and slideshow. You can download a source tarball from the Shotwell home page at http://www.yorba.org/shotwell/ or grab a binary for Ubuntu Karmic or Lucid via Yorba’s Launchpad PPA.

https://launchpad.net/~yorba/+archive/ppa

SSHMenu - SSH Connection Management

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:21:28 +0000

We have a reasonable number of Debian servers at work and as a result I ssh into servers about as many times as I visit Google. I have been using Profiles in gnome-terminal to manage my ssh connections, which is fine but requires I already have a terminal open to initiate a new server connection. Enter SSHMenu, a GNOME panel applet that keeps all your regular SSH connections within a single mouse click.

I couldn’t be arsed adding up a new repo for one application, so here are my quick and dirty install steps.

wget http://sshmenu.sourceforge.net/debian/dists/stable/contrib/binary-all/sshmenu_3.15-1_all.deb
wget http://sshmenu.sourceforge.net/debian/dists/stable/contrib/binary-all/sshmenu-gnome_3.15-1_all.deb
sudo gdebi -n sshmenu_3.15-1_all.deb
sudo gdebi -n sshmenu-gnome_3.15-1_all.deb

I have taken to using gdebi to install local deb packages as it resolves and installs dependencies. Now add SSHMenu to a GNOME panel and configure your ssh connections. If SSHMenu isn’t listed in the GNOME panel applets yet, then you can force a refresh with the rather heavy handed…

killall gnome-panel

gLabels 2.2.1

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:45:57 +0000

gLabels, as packaged in the Ubuntu repositories, has not worked properly for some time. The accuracy of printing was way out making gLabels a non-starter unless you went to the hassle of manually re-aligning every label on a page to account for the inaccuracies.

However, I have been patiently waiting for a new version of gLables to be released. The new development branch completely replaces libgnomeprint with the new GtkPrintOperation and Cairo. The upshot of that is that the printing accuracy issues are resolved.

GetDeb have released .debs for gLabels 2.2.1 that work with Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10. You can either download the .debs from the gLabels page at GetDeb and let gdebi do its thing or do the following from the shell…

wget -c ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/getdeb/gl/glabels_2.2.1-1~getdeb1_i386.deb
wget -c ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/getdeb/gl/glabels-data_2.2.1-1~getdeb1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i glabels*.deb

We print a lot of labels at work to identify media for flight recorders, that job just got a whole lot easier. More importantly, I now have a viable address label printing solution for my wife.

BloGTK, a weblog client for Linux

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:44:07 +0000

I have been meaning to setup a weblog client for a while now. I have tested a couple of blog clients and have settled on BloGTK.

It has a simple user interface but comprehensive features, although I did need to define a few Custom Tags before the editor supported all the formatting options I wanted. Setting up BloGTK is very simple for Ubuntu and Debain users requiring an aptitude install blogtk to get it installed and the following settings will connect to a Wordpress blog.

Server URL: http://blog.example.org/xmlrpc.php
Account: Your Username
Password: Your Password
Blogging System: Moveable Type

Now I can blog directly from my desktop, I am hoping it will encourage me to post more often.

Ubuntu

martin@wimpress.com (Martin Wimpress) — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Ubuntu comes with everything you need to run your organisation, school, home or enterprise. All the essential applications, like an office suite, browsers, email and media apps come pre-installed.

Community contributor since 2006, worked for Canonical from 2016 to 2021 progressing from software engineer to director of engineering. I remain active in the Ubuntu community.

Organisation: Ubuntu Project & Canonical
Date: January 2006 - date
Role: Community contributor