Before we move on to speeding up Ubuntu, let's figure out why the system becomes slower over time. There may be several reasons for this. You may have a weak computer with a normal configuration. You might have installed several applications that eat up resources during system startup. In fact, the reasons are endless.
Below are various tricks that will help speed up Ubuntu a little. These are some of the best options, which can be done to make the system work more smoothly and efficiently. You can follow all of the tips presented or just some of them. When using them, Ubuntu speed increases noticeably.
I used these tricks with an older version of Ubuntu, but I think they can be used on other versions as well as other Linux distributions that are based on Ubuntu: Linux Mint, Elementary OS Luna, etc.
Reduce the loading time of the selection screen.
This screen gives you 10 seconds to select your operating system, enter recovery mode, etc. I think this is too much time. If you follow this system, you need to sit next to your computer and press the right key to log into Ubuntu as quickly as possible. It takes a while, doesn't it? The first trick is to change the timing of this selection screen. If you're more comfortable using a GUI tool, you can read about changing the boot time and order in Grub Customizer.
Everyone else can simply enter the following command to open the boot screen configuration settings:
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub&
You need to replace GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 with GRUB_TIMEOUT=2 . Then the loading time will be 2 seconds. It is better not to select 0 seconds, because then you will not be able to choose between entering the OS and recovery mode. After changing the configuration, enter the following command, which will commit the changes:
Sudo update-grub
Set up auto-start applications.
Over time, you start installing applications. Some of them run every time the OS boots. Of course, running these applications takes resources.
The result: the computer slows down for a long period of time after startup. Go to Unity Dash and find Startup Applications there:
There you will see all startup applications. Think about whether there are applications there that you do not need when starting the OS? They can be removed from this list.
What if you don’t want to turn off autoloading? For example, if you installed some kind of indicator application for Ubuntu, you will want it to automatically launch when you start your computer.
In this case, you can delay the launch of applications. Then you will free up a certain amount of resources that are used when loading the OS, and after some time the necessary applications will be launched automatically. On the screen from the previous picture, click the “Edit” button and change the start time using the sleep option.
For example, if you want to delay the launch of the Dropbox indicator for, say, 20 seconds, you just need to add this to the existing command:
Sleep 10;
Then the dropbox start -i command changes to sleep 20; dropbox start -i. This means that Dropbox will now launch with a 20-second delay. Similarly, you can change the start time of other applications.
Install preload for applications to speed up their launch.
Preloading is a background process that analyzes user behavior and loads applications frequently. Open a terminal and enter the following command to install preboot:
Sudo apt-get install preload
After installation, restart your computer and forget about this process. It will work in the background.
Choose the best mirrors for updates.
It's a good idea to make sure you're using the best mirror versions to update your apps. The software repository is “mirrored” around the world in the case of Ubuntu. Optimization is to use a server that is geographically closer to you. Thanks to this, the system will be updated faster, because the time it takes to send packets to the server is reduced.
IN Software & Updates -> Ubuntu Software tab -> Download From select Other, and then click on Select Best Server:
After this, a check will start and you will be offered the best mirror. Usually it is already installed, but it is better to double-check just in case. If the mirror that contains the repository is not updated frequently, then system updates may be delayed. This tip will be useful for people with relatively slow Internet speeds.
For faster updates, use apt-fast rather than apt-get.
Apt-fast is a shell script for apt-get. It improves the speed of updating and downloading packages, since it downloads packages simultaneously across multiple connections. If you frequently use the terminal and apt-get to install and update these packages, consider trying apt-fast. It can be installed from the official PPA using the following commands:
Sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apt-fast/stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install apt-fast
Remove ign from apt-get updates, which refers to languages.
Ever notice what sudo apt-get update says? It contains three types of strings: hit, ign, get. If you look at the ign strings, you will notice that they are mainly related to language translation. If you use applications and packages in one language, you do not need translation into the same language.
If you remove language-related updates from apt-get, apt-get's speed will increase slightly. To do this, open the following file:
Sudo gedit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00aptitude
Add the following line at the end of this file:
Acquire::Languages "none"; 
Reduce overheating.
Overheating is a common problem that occurs in most computers. An overheated computer is quite slow. Opening a program takes centuries, with the CPU fan spinning at Usain Bolt speeds. There are 2 ways to reduce the degree of heating, and therefore increase the efficiency of Ubuntu, optimization will also be better. These are TLP and CPUFREQ.
To install and use TLP, enter the following commands into the terminal:
Sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw sudo tlp start
Once installed, you don't need to do anything. TLP runs in the background.
To set the CPUFREQ indicator, use the following command:
Sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq
Restart your computer and turn on power saving mode:
Customize LibreOffice to make these programs run faster.
If you use office programs frequently, then you might want to set up LibreOffice to speed up your work. Memory will be configured here. Open LibreOffice, go to Tools -> Options. There, from the left column, select Memory and enable Systray Quickstarter, increase memory allocation.
If possible, use a lighter interface.
If you're using the regular Unity or GNOME interface, you might be interested in switching to simpler interfaces like Xfce or LXDE.
These interfaces use less RAM and waste CPU power. They also have small programs that can also speed up Ubuntu.
Of course, these interfaces may not look as modern as Unity or GNOME. This is the kind of compromise you have to make.
Use lighter versions of applications.
This is more of a suggestion, as this question comes down to personal preference. Many standard or popular applications consume a lot of resources and may not be suitable for a low-power computer. In such a case, alternatives to such applications should be sought. For example, you can use AppGrid instead of Ubuntu Software Center. Gdebi is suitable for installing packages. Instead of LibreOffice Writer, you can use AbiWord.
This concludes the collection of tips that will help make Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04 and other versions stronger. I am sure that by performing these tricks the system will work much better.
This article will provide a list of tips for optimizing Ubuntu 14.04 after it is installed. The purpose of which is to increase the speed of its work and the convenience of its use.
Configuring startup programs in Ubuntu 14.04
Ubuntu has long had a graphical interface for managing startup programs. This is the "Startup Applications" program ( gnome-session-properties). You can find it in the main menu of Dash. However, there is some problem - not all automatically launched programs are displayed in this program. To fix this you need to run two commands in the terminal:
sudo sed -i "s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g" /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop
sed -i "s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g" ~/.config/autostart/*.desktop
After this, all the shortcuts from the startup folders will be visible in the “Automatically launched applications” applet:
Disable programs carefully. If you don’t know the purpose of the program you want to disable, read about it first.
Note on startup programs
In general, Ubuntu has two startup systems:
- Autoload together with a graphical shell (Unity, GNOME, etc.).
- Autoload together with the system kernel, in text mode.
The Startup Applications applet controls the first type of startup. Physically, such a download is performed through a .desktop program file (analogous to Windows shortcuts), which is placed in one of two folders:
- /etc/xdg/autostart
- ~/.config/autostart
In the first case, the program will be launched for any user. In the second case, only for the person in whose home folder the program shortcut will be placed.
You can copy shortcuts to these folders necessary programs even manually. Shortcuts to all available programs are located in the folder /usr/share/applications(Dash takes them from this folder). However, copying the shortcut is not enough; it needs the property " X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled" set the value to true.
Pre-loading programs at Ubuntu startup
There are special programs that control the order in which binary modules are loaded during the operating system startup process. They organize the placement of downloaded binaries in such a way as to reduce their fragmentation within the file system. And by reducing fragmentation, speed up their loading from disk.
Many Ubuntu optimization tips mention the program preload. Its installation can be done through the terminal:
sudo apt-get install preload
sudo touch /var/lib/preload/preload.state
sudo chmod 644 /var/lib/preload/preload.state
/etc/init.d/preload restart
However, right out of the box in Ubuntu another program is installed for the same task - ureadahead. You just need to enable its autorun.
Note
Using these programs makes sense only if a mechanical (HDD) disk is installed on the computer. If the disk is electronic (SSD), then there is no point in these programs.
Reduce the size of system logs (logs) of Ubuntu
Ubuntu keeps a whole bunch of logs. Both system-wide and logs of individual programs and services.
Typically, all these logs are stored in the folder /var/log. If this folder is located on the root partition (/), then in some cases the size of this folder may increase so much that all free space on the root partition will be filled, making it impossible to start the operating system. This is not a typical situation, but it happens.
Therefore, it is better to configure the log storage system in such a way as to reduce the amount of stored information as much as possible.
It is more correct to do this by setting up a special program logrotate. This program deletes archived copies of logs at a specified frequency. The program settings are stored in the folder /etc/logrotate.d. Each file in this folder defines log management for a specific program. For example file /etc/logrotate.d/rsyslog This is syslog management. To reduce the size of stored logs, you need to specify parameters in these files rotate 0 And daily. You can also add a log size limit, for example size 10M(10 megabytes).
sudo gedit /etc/logrotate.d/rsyslog
And then edit this file. You can do the same with other files in this folder. You can change global settings for the program logrotate, via file /etc/logrotate.conf.
After changing the log rotation settings, you can delete all old logs. Command in terminal:
sudo find /var/log -type f -name "*.gz" -delete
Tmp folder to RAM
You can move the temporary files folder to RAM. By editing the fstab file:
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
and add the line tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noexec,nosuid 0 0
However, this must be done with caution.
Secondly, some of your programs may store data in this folder that they use after a system restart.
In general, first study the contents of this folder on the disk and then make a decision about transferring it to RAM.
Using swap on disk
You can change the conditions under which the system starts using disk swap. By default, Ubuntu starts using disk swap when RAM is 40% occupied or more. You can change this behavior.
sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf
and add the line to the end of the file: vm.swappiness=10
Then reload the parameters: sudo sysctl -p
The parameter vm.swappiness=10 specifies that disk swap will be used when full random access memory by 90%.
Changing disk write caching settings
Ubuntu caches (into RAM) all disk writes. And it executes them in deferred mode. By managing the write cache settings, you can speed up the system with the risk of data loss, or, conversely, slow down the system, reducing the risk of data loss. There are several disk write caching options that can be used to achieve different effects.
Main parameters:
- vm.dirty_background_ratio- the size of RAM to accommodate cache pages prepared for writing.
- vm.dirty_ratio- the size of RAM to accommodate the shared write cache.
Auxiliary parameters:
- vm.dirty_expire_centiseconds- indicates the time interval that cache pages prepared for writing are in memory.
- vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs- specifies the time interval after which the system process that flushes the cache to disk wakes up from sleep mode and checks the need to perform cache flush operations.
All these parameters are written to a file sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf.
Example 1. Increasing the size of the write cache (speeding up the system):
- vm.dirty_background_ratio = 50
- vm.dirty_ratio = 80
Example 2: Reducing the write cache size:
- vm.dirty_background_ratio = 5
- vm.dirty_ratio = 10
You can find out the current values of these parameters with the command sysctl -a | grep dirty.
Change these settings with caution. Clearly understanding their mutual influence, their relationship with RAM size, and possible side effects.
For example, increasing the cache size or timing may result in the loss of large amounts of data during a power outage or critical system failure.
Or a large cache size combined with a large volume of write requests can periodically create a situation where write requests are blocked for a long time, since the system will need to flush a large amount of data from the full cache to disk.
Dash Menu Speedup
You can disable Internet searches (wikipedia) when you type something in the Dash menu search bar. Via the graphical interface: "Settings - security and privacy - search: display Internet search results."
Or via terminal: gsettings set "com.canonical.Unity.Lenses" remote-content-search none.
In addition, you can disable search commercial offers in online stores. Command in terminal:
gsettings set "com.canonical.Unity.Lenses" disabled-scopes "["more_suggestions-amazon.scope","more_suggestions-u1ms.scope","more_suggestions-populartracks.scope", "music-musicstore.scope","more_suggestions -ebay.scope", "more_suggestions-ubuntushop.scope","more_suggestions-skimlinks.scope"]"
Add Windows encoding to Gedit text editor
To avoid “cracking”, when opening text files in Windows, you need to add the Windows-1251 encoding in the Gedit editor. Command in terminal:
gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.encodings auto-detected "["UTF-8", "WINDOWS-1251", "CURRENT", "ISO-8859-15", "UTF-16"]"
Traditional-looking Unity scrollbars
By default, in Unity, scrollbars are hidden. But you can make them visible all the time. Command in terminal:
gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal
Simple, convenient MP3 player for Ubuntu
Rhythmbox music player is installed out of the box in Ubuntu. He's pretty monstrous. You can remove it and install a more sane player.
sudo apt-get remove rhythmbox
sudo apt-get install Audacious
Audacious small player without unnecessary bells and whistles:
sudo apt-get install qmmp
Adding keyboard shortcuts to launch programs
Regularly used programs, such as Nautilus, can be launched from the keyboard by assigning a keyboard shortcut. This is done through the graphical applet "Settings - Keyboard - Keyboard shortcuts":
In the "Additional Combinations" section you can add your own launch commands and associate them with keys.
First the command is added. Then, in the list of commands, click on the desired line and press the desired key combination.
Minimize all windows (Open Desktop) in Ubuntu
In Ubuntu 14.04, by default, you can minimize all open windows from the keyboard: Ctrl+Win+D. In addition, you can add a button to the launcher that will perform the same action. This is done through the graphical applet "Settings - Appearance - Mode":
Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Win+D, in my opinion, inconvenient. On Windows it is used Win+D(this combination was also in 11 versions of Ubuntu). In order to change this combination you need to install the program compizconfig-settings-manager. Then run it and in the "Desktop" section open " Ubuntu Unity Plugin":
Parameter " Show desktop" defines the keyboard shortcut for this action.
For enthusiasts
For those who like to have virtual sex, I can recommend a couple of programs.
gsettings
Console program. Allows you to change a large number of system parameters. The settings are organized in the form of a tree - a diagram, in the diagrams there are keys to which values can be assigned.
Installs out of the box. The gsettings help command will display a list of settings. For example gsettings list-recursively gives a general list of schemes, keys and current values.
dconf
Graphics program. Also allows you to change system settings. Need to install ( sudo apt-get install dconf).
Basically, using these two programs, you can stick your hand up to your elbow in Ubuntu's anus :) But be careful, she may not like it :)
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Even a small amount can help write new articles :)
It began to slow down noticeably. This is very annoying, since I often work very quickly, automatically, and any brakes simply disrupt the rhythm. But why can Linux slow down? How to speed up linux? How to optimize Linux?
There are several points here that I want to draw attention to. Each of them affects the speed of Linux to some extent, albeit slightly. But if you optimize everything together, it can give a performance boost. And believe me, it’s not difficult, most often you don’t even need to go into the console... I will show everything on Linux Mint, but all this can be done by analogy on other Linux systems.
1. Linux startup optimization.
The first thing you need to pay attention to is what is loaded when the system starts. Go to MENU - SETTINGS - RUN APPLICATIONS.
Here you can disable everything unnecessary, in my case it’s almost everything. This way you get rid of unnecessary processes and programs that are loaded when Linux starts. This Linux optimization will also help you speed up the system boot time. Done? Go ahead.
2. Server shutdown
Did you know that by default, your Linux can have many servers installed: print server, samba server, apache server, ssh server and so on. It is possible that you do not need them for a hundred years, then all these processes are constantly hanging in your memory. You can simply disable them, but most often it is easier to delete unnecessary servers. How to find them?
Open Synaptic and enter the word in the search server:
We look, read what is installed and what we really don’t need - delete it. But you shouldn’t delete everything unless you know what it is and why it is. I have already removed a lot of unnecessary stuff, but most likely there is still a lot of junk. You can also type in the word demon and see which services are installed, but we don’t need them. Deleted? Let's move on...
3. Disable unnecessary services
Previously, in Ubuntu, in a graphical environment, it was possible to disable and enable services, but then the guys from Ubuntu decided that we, losers, did not need this - they would suddenly disable something important, and then they would say that Ubuntu is buggy!
But maybe they are right, but for us this is not a problem, since Linux is a console, a terminal, and only then a graphical shell. Install the required package:
Sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf
Open a terminal and use sudo to issue the command sysv-rc-conf:
Sudo sysv-rc-conf
Now, using the arrows on the keyboard and using the space bar, we turn off everything unnecessary. But be careful, you are in the heart of Linux and if you disable something important, your system may not boot - and don't say I didn't warn you!
There are a lot of instructions on the network that describe in detail what service is responsible for, and which can be disabled and which not. Seek and you will find!
How to speed up Ubuntu?
Why Ubuntu? Just for example. Ubuntu uses their proprietary Unity as a working environment. In my experience, the brake is still the same. Therefore, you can speed up Ubuntu simply by installing a lighter working environment - XFCE4, E17, LXDE and so on. Or you can just immediately download a version of the same Ubuntu with a light desktop, for example, Lubuntu:
Nice and easy! There will be almost all the same functionality, maybe just fewer bells and whistles. But do we really need them?
And finally, one more question:
Which Linux to install on an old computer?
Here you shouldn’t rely on a light working environment, here you need LIGHT Linux! Light on the inside, not just the outside- remember this truth. What are the options? , Slackware, Slax and so on. Here you need to try, because you will have to pay something for ease - but what did you want?
Did not find an answer to your question? Use the search...
8 comments
8 comments to the article “Optimizing Linux - it’s simple!”
But my Windows doesn’t slow down! Maybe your computer is weak? After all, modern operating systems are developed and tested on modern processors with a supply of RAM.
Lubuntu is indeed faster. But I encountered some glitches there. Still, I settled on Ubuntu Gnome + Cairo-Dock
It turns out stable, without glitches. And fast enough. The main thing is not to install 64-bit on an old computer with 2 gigs of memory. 32-bit will work much faster.
I agree, all mini OS sometimes have hidden shortcomings. But yesterday there was a pleasant exception, I installed Linux on a friend’s laptop, Mint did not work AT ALL, which is strange, but BackBox installed like native and the speed is SUPER! I want to write a review about it today maybe.
I used Ubuntu for a while, then, with the release of newer versions, my computer simply stopped running it. I switched to Debian and am happy, the only thing bad there is the graphical environment and fonts - they are better in Ubuntu, but this is perhaps only one of their advantages in my opinion. Now version 8 of Debian has been released, there you can install any working environment and almost any software that you are used to.
By the way, there is a mistake in the post: not Pappy, but Puppy.
I agree that Debian is easier, but sometimes you have to sacrifice speed for convenience. Previously, I also practiced a lot with lightweight distributions, and then I realized: it’s easier to buy a normal powerful computer and rack your brains, since any minimalism carries with it a bunch of other problems.
Thanks for the mistake, I corrected it ;)
Well, if I’m an ordinary teapot, what will I rely on when deleting servers?
Dummies should not deal with servers; this is a very complex and responsible matter.
“There are a lot of instructions on the Internet that describe in detail what each service is responsible for, and which can be disabled and which cannot. Search and you will find!”
Always perplexed by such instructions! You are interesting people!
Why is your article needed on the Internet? To send those who are looking for information, as they say, to 3 Soviet ones?
I think - if a person undertakes to write instructions, or something similar - write as clearly and comprehensively as possible, or attach a link to third-party resources.
If you now compare the new versions of the Ubuntu desktop distribution, for example, with version 14.04, you should see that Linux distributions have become more “gluttonous”, and the new versions have a problem in the form of Unity, which eats RAM like an elephant and if you have less than 2GB of RAM, it won't be sweet. In today’s material we will discuss several ways to more optimally solve the problem that has arisen that would reduce the appetite for using RAM. The first, of course, is the choice of a lightweight distribution (Xubuntu or Lubuntu and others). The second method, in this case we will try to reduce memory consumption without limiting the functionality of the distribution; for experiments we chose Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
Introduction
If you just installed the system on a computer that has two gigabytes of RAM, after the first start the system will consume at least 1 GB of memory. It doesn’t seem to be critical, but it’s a lot if you take at least a smaller distribution and compare memory consumption. And if you launch a browser, for example, with 5-6 tabs, then your 2 GB will quickly be used up and you will see the first jambs in performance, browser freezes, etc.
Let's look at what we need in functionality and what we don't.
- First of all, a list of daemons that are loaded by default. The Ubuntu developers tried to do the minimum, but in our situation it is worth paying attention to the fact that, depending on the degree of use of the distribution, a lot of functionality may be completely unnecessary, which in the end may be disabled and will not eat up RAM.
- It is also worth paying attention to applications that you do not use. Various software uses plugins, which are implemented in most cases in the form of downloadable libraries. In this situation, it would not be superfluous to fine-tune and disable unnecessary things. It is worth remembering the graphics subsystem, components of which not everyone needs; by disabling them you can free up some RAM.
Please note that the author of the material is not responsible for your actions if you disable something important and your system crashes. You perform all manipulations at your own peril and risk when making this or that decision to disable services and plugins.
Disable unnecessary services / services
Ubuntu 16.04 uses systemd, to see the software that is launched during boot, we can use the following command:
Sudo systemctl list-units --type service
As a result, we will receive a list of both running (in use) and services that have already been completed. Let's take a closer look at this list and think about what we need and what we can get rid of.
List of loaded systemd services
AppArmor is designed to protect the system, but in reality, if we talk about home systems, it will be enough to update applications in a timely manner. If we talk about the risks of infection from the software, then it is minimal; you need to try very hard to get to a malicious page filled with exploits that are created for a specific version of the distribution; it is also worth remembering that by default the AppArmor profile for Firefox is inactive. Therefore, if you have a panic attack like a paranoid person, you don’t have to disable this service, but if you think soberly, you can safely disable it, for which use the following command:
Sudo systemctl disable apparmor.service
Apport is a service designed to send error reports to Canonical. Yes, it seems like a useful tool, but imagine the situation, you have a 3G mobile Internet and this error window is constantly looming before your eyes, in this situation it makes sense to disable this service, sometimes this window pops up too often when you don’t expect it, I personally I disabled it immediately after installation because sometimes it just pops up when you don’t expect it. Whether you disable it is up to you to decide for yourself. To disable, type the command:
Sudo systemctl disable apport.service
Avahi is a daemon that is designed to discover services/computers in the .local domain. It seems like a convenient thing, but in practice, if you have a couple of computers in local network, there is no point in keeping this daemon active, you can safely disable it:
Sudo systemctl disable avahi-daemon.service
CGManager is designed to manage a cgroup by allowing unprivileged users to access the cgroup and preventing privileged applications from leaving the current cgroup to its parent. If you think soberly, it can only be useful when creating nested LXC containers; if you do not use them and do not use a sandbox in which all this can be useful for running programs, feel free to disable:
Sudo systemctl disable cgmanager.service
Colord is used to manage color profiles, allowing you to display identical colors both on the computer screen and on the printer. If you don't need this and don't plan to manage colors, don't have a monochrome printer, or don't have any printer at all, don't hesitate to disable it:
Sudo systemctl disable colord.service
ModemManager is an interface that allows you to connect to the Internet using modems, communication channels (2G/3G/4G/CDMA), connection methods (RS232, USB, Bluetooth) and control methods (AT, QCDM, QMI, MBIM). If you have cable Internet and do not plan to use a modem, disable:
Sudo systemctl disable ModemManager.service
Speech Dispatcher is a unified API that is designed to change the order in which the synthesizer is called, and also allows you to prevent audio overlaps when using several applications and playing sound in them simultaneously. If you do not plan to use speech synthesizers, disable:
Sudo systemctl disable speech-dispatcher.service
Whoopsie - this service has the same roots as Apport, if you have disabled it, you should do the same with Whoopsie. First of all, open the /etc/default/whoopsie config, here we need to change the value in the report_crashes parameter, replace true with false, save and then disable the service:
Sudo systemctl disable whoopsie.service
Disabling program components and graphics subsystem
If you disable the graphics subsystem, your Ubuntu will use 40%. The first thing worth remembering and what can make working in Ubuntu much easier is disabling online search, which for the most part no one needs at all. To disable, you can go to “System Settings -> Security and Privacy -> Search” and toggle “Display Internet search results.” Or use the console method and run the following command in the terminal:
Gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Lenses remote-content-search none
It’s worth remembering the composite manager Compiz, which has an appetite like an elephant and eats up your memory more than all other processes. To curb its appetites, you will need to install CompizConfig Settings Manager (run after installation):
Sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager ccsm
The window that appears will contain a list of plugins. Let's see what can be disabled and under what conditions.
- “Commands”, if you do not specify any commands for key combinations, you can safely disable it; it is not used in Unity and will not cause any side effects if disabled.
- Enhanced Zoom Desktop is a kind of “Screen Magnifier”. If you don't need such software, disable it.
- Desktop Wall is the well-known Compiz cube in 2D. If you don't plan to use the cube, disable it.
- Viewport Switcher - this plugin is designed to switch desktops. It also creates loads and if you don’t need it, turn it off.
- In the “Effects” group you can disable the plugin: Animations and “Window appearance/disappearance”. In this section, I completely turned off everything and work without animations and without unnecessary beauties, since this is not necessary.
- Session Management - designed to save/restore the positions and sizes of windows in a session in the intervals between user login/logout). If you don't need it, turn it off like I did.
- When disabling unnecessary junk plugins, it is best to go to the “All” tab and disable it only by scrolling up or down where everything will be at hand.
Disabling Compiz plugins via ccsm
Let's take the Network Manager application for example. The list of plugins for this application includes ofono, if you do not use mobile connections, do not use modems and you only have cable Internet, you can safely disable it if you do not plan to use modems. To disable, in the terminal, run the command sudo gedit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf in the Plugin line, delete ,ofono and save the changes.
Let's take a closer look at the Network Manager plugins
When starting the ubuntu desktop, many plugins are launched, which the user does not even know about or does not know what they are needed for, how could he find out about them if they are not displayed anywhere in the graphical interface. Yes, some of them are needed, but not all, and below we will discuss those that you can get rid of.
To disable, you need to do the following, go to the /etc/xdg/autostart directory:
Cd /etc/xdg/autostart sudo sed --in-place "s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g" onboard-autostart.desktop
In the example above, I disabled the on-screen keyboard, you can adjust it as you need by adding the plugin you need at the end. If you want to enable it again, run a command like:
Sudo sed --in-place "s/NoDisplay=false/NoDisplay=true/g" onboard-autostart.desktop
Let's see what can be disabled:
- If you do not use GPG, then you can disable gnome-keyring-gpg; system utilities will still access the keyring directly.
- Indicator-bluetooth, if you do not use and do not plan to use Bluetooth, turn it off.
- Indicator-messages is designed to display incoming messages in email clients; if you do not use email clients, you can disable it; if you do, do not disable it.
- Indicator-printers - displays the connection of printers; if you do not have a printer, disconnect it.
- Onboard-autostart - is designed to launch the on-screen keyboard; if you don’t use it, turn it off, I turned it off without hesitation since I don’t use it and don’t plan to.
- Orca-autostart is a screen magnifier, the same garbage as the keyboard, if you have good eyesight, turn it off.
- Print-applet is a plugin that displays print jobs, as I wrote above for indicator-printers, if there is no printer, disable it.
- Telepathy-indicator is a plugin that displays notifications from this client, if you do not use it, disable it.
- Update-notifier - plugin for notifications about updates. If you are not too lazy to start the update process yourself, you can disable it.
- Zeitgeist-datahub is a plugin that has the role of a collector that launches various information collectors using Zeitgeist technology. This technology registers the active user in order to restore the chronology of events. Yes, it is worth recalling that this technology is very well connected with Unity, in order to disable it you will have to perform additional manipulations.
First of all, you need to close write access to the database file for the zeitgeist-daemon process, open the terminal CTRL+ALT+T and run the following command:
Chmod -rw ~/.local/share/zeitgeist/activity.sqlite
Let's check that this process cannot write there:
Zeitgeist-daemon --replace
If you did everything correctly, after executing the command above, it should complain that there is no access to the database file, after which you can disable the plugin.
Using zRam to increase memory
By using zRam, we can sacrifice a little performance to increase the amount of memory. The way zRam works is by creating a compressed block device in your memory and subsequently placing swap on it. As a result, due to compression, we achieve double the memory savings.
To activate zRam, you need to install the following package:
Sudo apt-get install zram-config
then reboot. Afterwards, to check, look at the list of your swap partitions:
Sudo swapon -s
If everything went well, a swap will appear on your /dev/zram0 device. By default, one is created for each processor.
Conclusion
Above we reviewed material on how you can reduce RAM consumption without affecting anything important or compromising the functionality of the system. Yes, everyone must decide for themselves what they need, what they use and what they don’t, and disable plugins and unnecessary services based on their situation.
In addition, a few more tips, if you want to have an easy-to-use system, install other lighter desktop environments without using Unity, the number of available environments is enough to choose from, I hope you will think about it and choose the more optimal and easy one for yourself.
If you have two gigabytes of RAM, instead of heavy-duty applications, for example, taking the office suite LibreOffice Writer, you can replace it with a lighter AbiWord; instead of the system browser that is preinstalled by default, Firefox, choose a lighter one, for example Midori.
This is probably the end of the material, I hope everyone will find something useful for themselves. If you have any questions, ask in the comments.
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