Installing Mandriva Linux - Full tutorial

I read an interesting argument in this thread about the speed of linux distro's.

First off, what kind of speed are we talking about?
Fast installation? Fast boot-up? Fast desktop response?
I have seen that ZenWalk (Slackware based) boots really really fast, probably because of a stripped down kernel and services. Which is nice when you are in a habit of turning off the laptop/desktop. Slackware also compiles for x484 and higher, Would that make such a difference in performance? If so, then source-based distro's would be interesting.
Fast installation? Nice when you re-install on a regular basis.
Fast desktop experience? I think that depends mostly on the desktop environment, KDE, Gnome, XFCE or a different one. Even applications matter: Abiword or Open Office, for example.

This is why I'm more interested in the configuration of all the distro's. Would it make sense to build your own distro and only install your minimum requirements?

 

Hello,

Sure it would. I'm currently compiling my own system using LFS.
It makes for best custom-made OS. But with a solid processor, even generic kernels will work well.

I got two machines running Athlon 64, 3700 and 3800 dual core, 2GB RAM, with 64-bit versions of Suse and Ubuntu (several versions). They all run lightning fast in all possible aspects, including virtualization of other OSs. Absolutely stunning speed in every aspect. Installations took only about 10 min.

Mrk

 

Linux From Scratch and Beyond Linux From Scratch?
The challenge is to take care of the dependencies.

I think that FreeBSD and Gentoo (both source based) solve the dependencies issue in a reliable fashion.
Debian is also offering the sources as packages, but I haven't yet seen information on how to compile your own Debian system.

Years ago I compiled my own system, I found myself updating and recompiling more often than that I just used my system.

 

I have yet to compile anything in Linux, but would soon like to at least try compiling a new kernel. Sounds a bit scary to me at the moment though, even though I do have a programming background from the old DOS days..

As for speed, when I speak of speed, for me it's how fast do apps load, how does the general responsiveness feel, quick or sluggish, not so much how long does it take to install, or how fast does it boot. I don't care much how long it takes to boot because once it does, it's usually up for a week or so..

 

Compiling Debian:
http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_debian_etch

Apt and dpkg take care of the rest.

As for the whole "speed" thing, I think a better word is capability - I can run 6 different desktops, each filled with apps - with zero slowdown, hanging or crashes, an alien concept to Windows OSes.

 

Don't worry, as long as your current kernel is available you can't go wrong.
Even if you messed up and the new compiled kernel doesn't function at all (for example, you forgot support for your root file system...) you would just reboot and select the old kernel.
Give the new compiled kernel a unique name, and make Grub or Lilo aware of it. That's all.

@Mrk,
I found Arch Linux, which is optimized for i686 CPU's. I wonder if you looked into this distro?

 

Thanks... I just found Arch Linux myself and downloaded the iso a few minutes ago. I am seriously thinking of trying it out very soon here.. looks pretty interesting... have been reading the forum and wiki for the past hour getting familiar with it...

 

@Mrk - another fine effort!

I'm always referring people to your site, and always getting positive feedback from those people who you've helped.

Keep up the great work.

 

i wouldn't bother with arch if you haven't used linux much, it's quite difficult to install and configure, it's worth trying it though if you think you can get it working, it's really, really fast in all areas (unlike pclos lol)

 

Hello,

@wilbert:
Haven't tried arch yet. There are only so many days in a week...

@cool:
Thanks for the feedback.

Mrk

 

Well, I was up to the challenge (I thought), and started the net install, but when it probed and failed to recognize/detect my usb network adaptor/card that's when I said bye bye... and returned to my favorite PCLOS. Sometimes things like Arch and FreeBSD look like fun, but in the end, I find that I'm spoiled and opt for the easy solution...

 

Since Debian is growing on me, here is some information about building Debian packages with optimized compiler settings:
http://julien.danjou.info/article-apt-build.html.
Lets' get the speed of Arch Linux with the stability of Debian...