I agree there are only so much you can do by kernel/os tweaking. Applications design and picking the right light weight apps can get get that speed. Even application tweaking has its limits.
<history alert> There was a M$ Windows type interface that worked very well on old 286's when M$ was pushing 386 as a minimum system. It was written fully by hand in assembly, while M$ windows was C++. And it was screaming fast and reliable. But no one seemed to care. "Hardware is cheap" was the motto that killed them. But there is always a place for good, well designed software. It just may not be where we think it is. </history alert> Steven S. Critchfield wrote: > You can not get that level of speed increase by just the kernel. You > just don't spend that much time in the kernel. For instance run an > app with time in front of it on the command line. Do your normal > amount of activities. When you quit the app, check the amount of > time spent in each portion of the system. > > Most of the apps you are likely to run will spend a LARGE portion of > time in the user portion of the system. This means the kernel doesn't > have much if any effect there. The times the kernel would make a > difference for overal speed is possibly if it recovers from idle a > bit faster. Specifically if they ramp up CPU speed faster than others. > but you know, this is a configuration option and most likely a runtime > option you can set. > > Again, this is where the compiler options might make a difference > though. If the apps are more likely to give up CPU time, it is > possible that the govenor will slow the CPU down to conserve battery > before the next thread pops up and wants time. > > With the huge number of configuration options that are possible in > the linux kernel and userland, you can tweak it all over the place. > But I will restate that I doubt that the kernel form one distro is > actually any faster than that of the others on it's own. When > combined with all the userland settings too, maybe one can be better. > > Critch > > ----- "Douglass Clem" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> From everything I've heard, the custom Xandros build is tailored to >> this >> computer, and on average runs about twice as fast as anything else >> that can >> be installed. I think that in specific, they've done a lot of tweaking >> with >> the kernel. >> >> Douglass Clem >> crashsystems.net >> Public Key: http://crashsystems.net/pubkey.asc >> >> >> On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 3:38 PM, Steven S. Critchfield >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: >> >> >>> ----- "Douglass Clem" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm considering buying an eeePC >>>> >>>> >> 900<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220367>, >> >>>> which is the model with an 8.9" screen, 1.6gz cpu, 16gb SSD drive >>>> >> and >> >>>> 1gb of >>>> ram. I've heard that the default Xandros distro on it makes it >>>> >> blazing >> >>>> fast, >>>> with excellent battery life. However, I would much rather run >>>> >> Ubuntu >> >>>> on it, >>>> particulary this version <http://ubuntu-eee.com>. Why exactly is >>>> >> it >> >>>> that >>>> Xandros on this machine is so much faster? I figured that part of >>>> >> it >> >>>> might >>>> be the kernel, so I figured I could install the Xandros kernel to >>>> >> help >> >>>> speed >>>> things up. Would this work, and is there any other ways to make >>>> >> Ubuntu >> >>>> run >>>> close to the same speed on the 900? >>>> >>> On a linux box, how could one distro be faster than the other. The >>> >> kernel >> >>> options could have a bit of an effect on it, but not too great if >>> >> the >> >>> app runs mostly in userspace. >>> >>> Really all you can do is look at what added applications are running >>> >> that >> >>> shouldn't. You need to also look at what the default compile >>> >> options >> >>> might be. >>> >>> You will possibly find that some usability options in ubuntu will >>> >> hinder >> >>> raw compute speed and battery life. You have to weigh those options >>> >> against >> >>> your needs. The good news is you can make any distro perform pretty >>> >> much >> >>> the same as any other with a little bit of effort. >>> >>> I would however be hesitant on switching out the kernels from one >>> >> distro >> >>> to another. You might find that some functionality may not be there >>> >> that >> >>> the distro expects. Or worse, the battery life benefits are from a >>> userspace app helping you manage clock speed that isn't there in the >>> >> other >> >>> distro and therefore not helping you in your quest. >>> >>> So finally, don't go mix and matching, just understand the problem >>> >> space >> >>> and the apps that help you conquer the problems. >>> >>> -- >>> Steven Critchfield [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> >>> >> > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
