list of ultra light software for X

Submitted by tbuitenh on Thu, 2007-07-12 13:28.

Posts: 1059
Joined: 2005-12-21

If you think xfce is extremely bloated, this list is for you.

I'm trying to make my computer faster by installing the most lightweight software that doesn't compromise on functionality too much and isn't too weird either. Software I currently use is bold, alternatives aren't. Software with problems is between ()s.

window manager: karmen, oroborus
terminal: aterm, xterm
filemanager: currently none in use Smiling
text editor: nedit, gvim

graphics: ?
spreadsheet: (siag has a font problem, but who cares about fonts in a spreadsheet)
word processor or similar: lyx, (pathetic word has a font problem)
"paper" viewer: xpdf, gv, xdvi, gvu
reading files from more "standardized" people and windows users: catdoc, antiword, odt2txt

browser: ? (kazehakase depends on XULrunner, links -g and dillo are not functional enough)
feed reader: ?(liferea depends on XULrunner and gconf)
detect and connect to WLANs: ? (gnome network manager depends on gnome)

Please contribute to this list, but note that software that depends on gnome, kde or XULrunner cannot be considered lightweight. There are a few programs in the list that do have such dependencies, I'd like to replace these. Depending on gtk or qt is ok.
I'm not interested in commandline utilities unless these make other software in the list more useful.

CAN I HAS FIXD CAPSLOK KEE PLZ?

Thu, 2007-07-12 13:43 It appears the font issues

tbuitenh

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Joined: 2005-12-21

It appears the font issues of siag and pathetic writer can be fixed, see here.

CAN I HAS FIXD CAPSLOK KEE PLZ?

Thu, 2007-07-12 15:07 Window managers +=

free-zombie

Posts: 799
Joined: 2006-03-08

Window managers += openbox
file manager += xfe, mc
WLANS: network-manager as such depends only on dbus, and has both interfaces for gnome and kde. For all I know, there might be some other interface, and writing one shouldn't be too difficult...

music player += xmms2 w/ xmms2tray & abraca, audacious, BMPx

Thomas Jollans
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Fri, 2007-07-13 18:54 I'd add a few from the top

libervisco

Posts: 3783
Joined: 2006-05-04

I'd add a few from the top of my head.

~~text editor: nano (can't be missed) or pico (almost the same)~~ EDIT: Sorry, that's not for X.
music player: xmms (I use that mostly these days)
~~IRC client: weechat-curses~~ EDIT: Sorry, that's not for X.
run command tool: gmrun (awesome in combination with light WMs Smiling )

I'll add more when I think of it.

Cheers

Libervis Network - Because Life's Not Read-Only

Sat, 2007-07-14 09:47 Guys, read the title again.

tbuitenh

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Joined: 2005-12-21

Guys, read the title again. mc, nano, pico and anything with "curses" in the name aren't for X. Going lightweight by avoiding graphics completely is too easy Eye-wink .

CAN I HAS FIXD CAPSLOK KEE PLZ?

Sat, 2007-07-14 14:06 Oops, sorry I was too quick

libervisco

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Joined: 2006-05-04

Oops, sorry I was too quick and missed the "X".

That does make it a bit harder.. I guess PCMan File Manager, xmms and gmrun can stay in the list then, and I'd also add leafpad text editor.

Libervis Network - Because Life's Not Read-Only

Sun, 2007-12-16 16:29 pcmanfm uses quite a bit of

tbuitenh

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pcmanfm uses quite a bit of the cpu, for no apparent reason. Not recommended.

CAN I HAS FIXD CAPSLOK KEE PLZ?

Sun, 2007-07-15 17:18 Mc does have some Xterm

free-zombie

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Joined: 2006-03-08

Mc does have some Xterm integration AFAIK, and was gnome's first file manager Wink alt

XMMS: I would like to add a clear don't — it's unmaintained, and has been so for ages and ages. It's so unmaintained that, despite the popularity, gentoo have hard-maked it, and debian are discussing (last I read) removal from the archive (other distributions have surely removed it already). Audacious and BMPx are, apparently, good alternatives.

Thomas Jollans
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Mon, 2007-07-16 11:25 emcee file manager

tbuitenh

Posts: 1059
Joined: 2005-12-21

free-zombie wrote:

Mc does have some Xterm integration AFAIK, and was gnome's first file manager Wink alt

That's not xterm integration, just the usual ncurses mouse support. It works just as well without X if you installed gpm.

I remember there once was a graphical/gnome version of mc called gmc.

CAN I HAS FIXD CAPSLOK KEE PLZ?

Mon, 2007-07-16 22:35 tbuitenh wrote: I remember

free-zombie

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Joined: 2006-03-08

tbuitenh wrote:

I remember there once was a graphical/gnome version of mc called gmc.

that sounds like what gnome would have used, yes...

Thomas Jollans
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Sat, 2007-07-28 18:03 There is some lightweight

libervisco

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Joined: 2006-05-04

There is some lightweight GUI stuff in the cool and exotic applications thread too, such as:

One not mentioned yet is medit which considering what you can do with it is quite light. I think it can replace things like kate, gedit and maybe even geany.

Edit: Since it's not available in Ubuntu repos here's a 64bit medit deb package I just built, not that it's hard to build it. I just felt like doing it. Laughing out loud