From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Mar 21 00:14:53 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 50FAC10656D6 for ; Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:14:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D13C58FC12 for ; Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:14:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-196-37-253.dynamic.qsc.de [92.196.37.253]) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 66B4E16C001D; Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:14:50 +0100 (CET) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id n2L0EhiN001423; Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:14:44 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:14:43 +0100 From: Polytropon To: Sean Cavanaugh Message-Id: <20090321011443.fb4bbfa8.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: <8250ac3f0903191139m7c895ff9gde584ad16e3923f0@mail.gmail.com> <49C29970.3070503@gmail.com> <20090319184847.J29356@tripel.monochrome.org> <20090319234359.M64636@brightstar.bomgardner.net> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.4.7 (GTK+ 2.12.1; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl, chowse@charter.net, fbsd@bomgardner.net, "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: Re: Old slow computers can still crank away (Formerly RE: Portsnap vs CSup) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:14:54 -0000 On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:12:12 -0400, Sean Cavanaugh wrote: > > Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:48:26 +0100 > > for sure not KDE, but X and FreeBSD itself with good software running on > > it works FAST on 100Mhz machine with 48MB RAM. > > > > Yes compiling is slow, but normal usage is FAST. > > > I never used gnome or KDE on it, ran Blackbox insted. I can ensure that it is still fast. My slowest FreeBSD system, a 150 MHz P1 with 64 (now 128 MB) EDO RAM, is completely usable with WindowMaker and applications that do not try to be an "all in one solution", such as mplayer for videos, xmms for MP3 and OGG, gv, xzgv, StarOffice, LaTeX, Opera and other specialized software. In terms of server usage these old systems run quite well, don't consume much power (important when they run 24/7/365). To add this, my 300 MHz P2 with 128 MB RAM runs SLOWER (!) with FreeBSD 5 than my 2 GHz P4 with 768 MB (SDR-SD) RAM with FreeBSD 7. This is mostly due to the software running on top of it. While FreeBSD itself gave a speed boost (in booting and performance), this advantage was eaten up by the new applications completely, due to "improved" libraries. X starts slower, windows render slower, browser runs slower, nearly everything. I'm not lying, it's the truth. -- Polytropon >From Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...