Using KDE on older machine

[skallal]

I've been using MX Linux since late July when version 23 came out.

A long time friend recommended MX Linux 23 XFCE because it's leaner for older hardware. So I took his suggestion since he has 30 years experience with Linux. Now he's bought a refurbished machine w/ a Xeon processor and put KDE on it. That leaves me somewhat bewildered because his advice changed in just a few months. He says KDE has now gotten more efficient.

My machine is about 12 years old now and recently upgraded the RAM to the max of 16 GB. Not sure if it's wise to run KDE on it?

Also I'd probably have to reinstall the KDE version of MX 23. I'm not a deeply skilled Linux user. A fresh install of the KDE version is probably the safest, but my system is pretty much configured for XFCE and my apps are dialed in. I don't see modifying a current installation of XFCE to KDE as trivial.

Any guidance?

Here's my current QSI:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-13-amd64 [6.1.55-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-13-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.18.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0 Distro: MX-23.1_x64 Libretto July 24  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Gateway model: DX4850 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: American Megatrends
    v: P01-A3 date: 02/11/2011
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-2300 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Sandy Bridge gen: core 2 level: v2
    built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6 model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB
    L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2934 high: 2961 min/max: 1600/3100 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2905 2: 2914 3: 2961 4: 2956 bogomips: 22347
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: disabled, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge
    process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports: active: VGA-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:0102 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: VGA-1 model: Asus VE278 serial: <filter> built: 2012 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 82
    gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080
    min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 2000 (SNB GT1)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 6
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-13-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.77 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: f080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1503 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 694.85 GiB used: 205.09 GiB (29.5%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT480BX500SSD1 size: 447.13 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 054 scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 840 Series size: 232.89 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 6B0Q scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdh maj-min: 8:112 type: USB vendor: Generic model: SD Card size: 14.84 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 447.13 GiB size: 439.04 GiB (98.19%) used: 200.39 GiB (45.6%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 45 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 1.11 GiB (27.7%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 3335 pm: dpkg pkgs: 3315 libs: 1861 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 20
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ bullseye main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://la.mirrors.clouvider.net/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://la.mirrors.clouvider.net/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free
    3: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib
    4: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-edge.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/edge/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf] https://packages.microsoft.com/debian/11/prod bullseye main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-official-vs.list
    1: deb https://download.mono-project.com/repo/debian vs-buster main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ookla_speedtest-cli.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/ookla_speedtest-cli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packagecloud.io/ookla/speedtest-cli/debian/ bookworm main
    2: deb-src [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/ookla_speedtest-cli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packagecloud.io/ookla/speedtest-cli/debian/ bookworm main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/scootersoftware.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/scootersoftware-keyring.gpg] https://www.scootersoftware.com/ bcompare4 non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf] http://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq-bookworm.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64 i386] https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian bookworm main
Info:
  Processes: 395 Uptime: 25d 15h 33m wakeups: 121 Memory: 15.53 GiB used: 7.37 GiB (47.5%)
  Init: systemd v: 252 target: graphical (5) default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers:
  gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[CharlesV]

A xeon is a different type of processor and in my experience has far more horsepower then it sounds.

As for moving too, your 2011 cpu is a little behind, but my experience has been good with KDE, just graphics needs to be smooth to be nice.

You could, shrink your xfce partition, get some free space on your drive and install KDE into it and try it ... you would know pretty quickly I think. And if you dont like it, or find it heavy, you could remove it and then expand your partition back.

Or, setup a new drive and install to that and test it.

I am very xfce driven, and while I really like the current KDE plasma graphics and quite a lot of it... I prefer the way xfce works.

[arjaybe]

Your friend is right. KDE is more efficient than it used to be. I always use KDE and it's running nicely on my machine which is as old as yours. Here's my QSI:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 6.2.14-1-liquorix-amd64 [6.2-23~mx21+1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: audit=0 intel_pstate=disable hpet=disable rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 
           BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.2.14-1-liquorix-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM 
           Distro: MX-21.3_KDE_x64 Wildflower October 20  2021 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop Mobo: ZOTAC model: ZBOX-ID18 v: XX serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: American Megatrends v: B211P010 date: 01/24/2014 
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Celeron 1007U bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           family: 6 model-id: 3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 21 cache: L2: 2 MiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 5985 
           Speed: 965 MHz min/max: 800/1500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 898 2: 1496 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: disabled, 
           RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: ZOTAC driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0156 class-ID: 0300 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: loaded: modesetting 
           unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: HDMI-2 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 92 size: 531x298mm (20.9x11.7") 
           diag: 609mm (24") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 2500 (IVB GT1) v: 4.2 Mesa 22.0.5 
           compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: ZOTAC 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20 class-ID: 0403 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.2.14-1-liquorix-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ZOTAC 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.52 GiB used: 527.23 GiB (56.6%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST500LM021-1KJ152 size: 465.76 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 
           serial: <filter> rev: SDM1 scheme: MBR 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Samsung model: PSSD T7 Touch 
           size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> 
           scheme: MBR 
           SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 40 GiB size: 39.07 GiB (97.68%) used: 15.89 GiB (40.7%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 5.76 GiB used: 6.3 MiB (0.1%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/sda8 maj-min: 8:8 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0 C mobo: 27.8 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: 2560 note: see --pkg apt: 2554 lib: 1387 flatpak: 6 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
Info:      Processes: 216 Uptime: 10h 23m wakeups: 1 Memory: 3.73 GiB used: 2.53 GiB (68.0%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[skallal]

This itch is only an hour or two old. So I’m probably not going to try KDE, at least not on this machine. It has built in video using some of the RAM. I’d have to add a dedicated video card. The machine only has USB 2. So there’s lots of reasons to leave it alone.

Back in July I repurposed the machine as a way to test drive Linux on real hardware. I previously used Linux in VMs on a Windows host. So it’s really an experiment to see how I like Linux in a dedicated environment. It was a success in that the machine now has a practical use as a Linux desktop. It was too unpowered for serious Windows use. Also managed to put MX Linux XFCE on even lower end hardware, a very low end ASUS notebook with reasonable success.

My friend’s refurbished Xeon machine was in the $300 plus region. I’d be better off adopting his hardware or something similar before trying something new with MX Linux.