Bonum Certa Men Certa

Speed of GNU/Linux

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 28, 2025,
updated Apr 28, 2025

Turtle with head in shell

Freedom or Power?

Over the past few days I spoke to somebody who was exploring KDE (Plasma on a laptop) and was seriously considering its adoption (moving to it 'full time'). Despite Wayland woes, Plasma 6 is adopted by some people; Plasma 5 is already stable enough (on X11) and my two laptops approach 1,100 days of uptime on Plasma 5. Even after running nonstop for many hundreds of days KDE is fast; housekeeping is needed, but only once in a few weeks (restarting applications that went into swap; it's not about memory leaks). I'm generally pleased with the performance of KDE, even on relatively old hardware. From what I've read, Windows would choke on a lot less.

I've long considered KDE the most potent environment for work, not just for development, and my wife ended up using KDE after exploring a bunch of other things. KDE just basically got the job done, and its toolset helped accomplish things faster. There are many use cases and examples of efficiency.

Although it's regarded as having the most options and functionality - and it's widely accepted that it has the most "eye candy" - KDE is probably not the most bloated or "slowest" option. GTK and by extension GNOME managed to get quite bloated.

However, in comparison (to Apple and Microsoft, not the BSDs), GNU/Linux is still quite fast even on old PCs. It manages to cope with little resources as it lacks the financial motivation to sell you more (or newer) PCs.

When GNU was new, back in the 1980s, speed wasn't the goal but freedom was. Some prior (UNIX) implementations were possibly faster back then. Now, at Canonical at least, they try to crush freedom in the name of "speed" or "security". They might end up compromising stability and predictability, but these people don't care.

L’histoire du développeur qui a changé ta vie en ruinant la sienne.

In the shot above notice they don't mention freedom as well. That was after the media had started calling the whole thing just "Linux" and sold it as merely an "Alternative... to Windows". Not to proprietary software* or monopoly over programs**.

The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"; if some "apps" do something bad, then the media will misplace blame or misdiagnose it (or offer false alternatives).

To people who value full control over their computers speed is a side issue or at most secondary consideration.

Image source: Video published yesterday (in French)

_____

* While it is basically true, as Linux (especially with GNU) is an alternative to proprietary operating systems, there's a lot more to it, and not just in the development paradigm (people developing things across the Net) as "Open Source" boosters love to frame it.

** The monopoly aspect is also not the core argument. While being a monopoly is bad for choice, it is not necessarily the same as being an abusive monopolist. Many governments are a de facto monopoly (same for water suppliers), and that does not automatically make them malignant. As Linus Torvalds put it: "Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect." That's allegedly from the New York Times, but it's currently blocked by a paywall. The point Torvalds sought to make was, he was focused on making his project work rather than think in terms of destruction (of somebody else). It can easily be argued that Torvalds made two monopolies: Linus and Git. In many circles no other options exist anymore.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
 
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed
Are You Served?
For many people, advocacy of Free software and GPL enforcement are assumed to be happening
Conspiracy or grooming? Alex Jurado, Voice of Reason compared to Outreachy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/07/2025: Security Breaches and Former 'Open' 'AI' Engineer on Hype and Culture Issues
Links for the day
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025