Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Latest addition to the kennels.....32-bit Xenialpup 7.5. Coupla years since I ran one of the beta test versions of this (7.0.8.1); I'd forgotten what a lovely Pup it still is; fast; smooth.....and very stable. Like it.

Clean:-

Click to enlarge:-

.....and 'dirty':-

k4.1.30 x86 PAE kernel; newest 390.138 32-bit Nvidia driver.....and tons of 'tweaks', as always. Sees all 32 GB of DDR4, and all 58 GB of swap (split over about 5 different locations!)

Mike.

BologneChe wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:36 am

Voilà!

Bionicpup64 is a masterpiece!!!

mikewalsh wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:40 am

all 32 GB of DDR4, and all 58 GB of swap

On a 2 core 4GB laptop I concurrently run Fatdog (mostly as a hypervisor/data/keys secure area) and openbsd (in kvm/qemu for more secure browsing). On a 2GB 4 core server (old desktop PC) 3 or more can concurrently vnc in and run separate desktops/browsers (throwaway VPS (clean boot) sessions - so my actual devices fingerprints/IP are obscured). 32GB especially when running Puppy(s) !! Perhaps you're getting more into video editing/3D rendering?

@rufwoof :-

It's more a case of doing so because I can. For long enough, I was limited by the restrictions of DDR1 and an ancient motherboard. This board supports 32GB, RAM's a lot cheaper than it used to be, GB for GB, and I've hardly spent anything this last year. I've had a steady, small build-up in the bank that wouldn't normally be there due to all these restrictions & lockdowns, so I thought "Why not"?

I suspend quite frequently during the day, and for this you have to have swap space equivalent to installed RAM size. I had a lot of swap-space before, it's true, but that humungous amount is due to my adding a contiguous 32GB chunk in one location. It seems that suspend doesn't like splitting up memory pointers, addresses, etc, between multiple locations.

I don't care WHAT the theory might say. I've already learnt, by experience, what this HP Pavilion does (and doesn't!) like doing. Even if RAM only contains a couple of gigs of data, the HP suspend process basically 'mirrors' the entire amount in a simultaneous operation. You can't argue with electronics, and persuade it to do something else, can you??

I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with all these additional resources, yet. I just knew that I wanted to max it out while I still could...

(*shrug*)

Mike.

With older puppys the use of a swapfile when you had enough RAM to operate would slow things down even if you had enough RAM because some swap space would inevitably be accessed by the system even if it wasn't necessary. Has this position changed? As a matter of interest, Mike - how big is your savefile nowadays?

@Mike
Just to clarify, I am in awe, not criticising. Impressive!

@amethyst

I run with massive swap, partition based, and in Fatdog at least that is rarely used. Sometimes low digit MB's are used and the system slows very briefly, but otherwise is transparent. IIRC you need HDD based swap for hibernation, whilst for suspend ram suffices. With TB's of HDD space, even a 'large' swap of say 32GB is pretty much insignificant nowadays. But can at times be useful, such as if downloading a large file into /root were otherwise that would eat all of ram and cause a system lockup.

I also set swap to be encrypted with a random and very long key, that is even unknown to me, so my swap is slower than normal 'clear text' swap.

I dual boot (concurrently) Fatdog along with OpenBSD (within kvm/qemu) and heavy usage of one for a while and then switching to the other can induce swap, so a little bit jittery for perhaps 30 seconds or so before settling back into 'full speed'. Often however that is all accommodated within the 4GB of ram available such that speed is OK. Primarily I use that OpenBSD for browsing, I also have another box that I use as a form of DIY VPS with throwaway sessions (boot, no saves) also for browsing, but where I'd rather remote sites don't get to see my hardware/device (see the servers fingerprints instead). The server is connected to the main TV so many can vnc into that using separate sessions, or all connect into the same session (so for instance my laptop and phone can both be connected into the same desktop that is also visible on the TV, and when viewing a video a 2 finger swipe on the phone raises/lowers the volume, or the laptop can be used to type things in ...etc.). I've even coded some telnet commands to control the TV box (Virgin Media) using the laptop - so a form of remote control for the normal channel changing ...etc.

amethyst wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:31 pm

With older puppys the use of a swapfile when you had enough RAM to operate would slow things down even if you had enough RAM because some swap space would inevitably be accessed by the system even if it wasn't necessary. Has this position changed? As a matter of interest, Mike - how big is your savefile nowadays?

@amethyst :-

I used save-files for many years, in large part because with older, slower machines I found that save-files were faster for 'backing-up'. You're copying a single, compressed chunk of data after all, as opposed to lots & lots of small, individual files with a save-folder.

The largest save-file I ever ran with was a 14 GB one in ETP's Chromebook Pup v1 - Precise-based, using vicmz's Openbox treatment.

These days, because this new hardware is just SO much faster & more powerful, I've returned to save-folders, instead. Not only that, but as you've heard, huge amounts of RAM and storage also figure in the 'mix'. It's not really a 'Puppy' box anymore, TBH, but you'd never catch me running anything else.....

In short, I can try out all sorts of things I've wanted to for long enough.....and for which I never had the resources & sheer 'grunt' before. I've had more fun with Puppy the last 6 or 7 years than I ever had through I don't know how many versions of Windoze for the previous quarter of a century..!!

Mike.

@rufwoof :-

rufwoof wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:21 pm

@Mike
Just to clarify, I am in awe, not criticising. Impressive!

Never thought you were, Ruffers..! Like I said above, I'm simply enjoying trying all sorts of stuff I never could before...

There's a big difference between 'nit-picking' (for the sake of it) & constructive criticism. Yours is more often than not the latter, and I DO appreciate a fair bit of it, even if I never say as much.... And you were fairly near the mark with your observation above. (What are you, a mind-reader? ) I AM doing more & more in the way of video-editing/rendering than I ever did before; it's a developing interest, and this box is a good one for the job now.

I've already discovered that a fairly basic Nvidia card (with the "parallel-compute" capabilities possessed by ALL GPUs) is way more suited to rendering than even a "top-end" CPU ever will be...!

I must try to fit in a few more Puppy tutorials if & when I can find the time.....

Mike.

Hello all,

here is my minimal dwm desktop under Fossapup64 9.5 , with 2 screens

Hello!

Desktop under Tahrpup 64.

This is my 32bit slacko 5.7 desktop which in my view beats the h..l out of its windows10 counterpart since it easily switches between 4 desktops. I am presently running a 32bit firefox 78.7.1esr & using Apache OpenOffice 4 for docs & tax-related spreadsheets.

Two months ago I showed an i3 desktop on fossapup and gave some comment about it in this thread.
For a few weeks now I have moved to and am living in twm on fossapup.
There is only 1 desktop. The windows are floating.
Like i3, the defaults are nice, so you do not have to configure anything to start.

You can iconify a window and the icon can be anywhere on the desktop.
In the right top corner you see the icon manager.
You may need it to find something if you have made a pile of windows and icons

Twm is mouse oriented.
You can have a lot of bindings and menus clicking in certain areas (context) of the desktop and of the windows.
But it is not good at launching things from the keyboard only.
For this, and because I want to be able to move my shotcuts easily when I move to another wm, I added sxhkd.

The ROX pinboard with background and icons is there and it is better available than it was in i3.
I already had a puppy style menu with xmenu in i3 through a shortcut.
In twm it is available rightclicking the desktop as well.

On the left side below you see a systray. This is stalonetray.
On the right side below xclock provides date and time.

Twm is very old but still maintained. It is rock solid of course.
It is simple and so easy, meaning not difficult and also meaning lazy.
If you open lots of windows at the same time, this may be nothing for you.
But for everybody else, this is
I intend to move to another window manager on my wm discovery, but I will have a hard time leaving this one.

Minimal.

xenial wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 2:43 pm

Minimal.

Elegant simplicity yet imagination stimulating. Please accept your taste award.

[media][/media]

@geo_c :-

Easiest way to put images in your posts is to use an external image host. That way, your image size is only subject to whatever restrictions your image host places on stuff; the forum itself has nowt to worry about, since it's only dealing with a URL.

Most image hosts will let you display in various ways; direct links display directly in the post, thumbnails will link a small image to displaying full-size on the host's site. Plenty of other options, but those two are the most useful ones.

I use this one:-

PostImage

Mike.

I just resize to 800x(keep aspect ratio which will normally be less than 600) with mtPaint. Has not failed, yet.......

My current BionicPup64 desktop. Quite proud of it tbh.

easyos 2.6.1

"Desktop?" Nah.

Opera provides a better solution.

I am a keyboard guy so desktop is clean..

Nothing to write home about...

dasouth wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:58 pm

Nothing to write home about...

Yours is the kind of desktop that would increase Puppy prevalence. Too lo-fi, technical, or cluttery and most people are lost.

There's probably too much info in your Conky but it looks neat.

I like the "clean" look.

EasyOS Dunfell 2.7.1

@dasouth I really like the background.

@amethyst Funny thing! I just started using the same background again on one of my main machines

@ dasouth

Some of the many clock-skins you could use to 'spruce-up' pwidgets or conky on you nautical themed desktop:

Links and instructions here, viewtopic.php?p=9280#p9280

I am a fan of beauty and probably a bit Bi. Uma Thurman in " Dangerous Liasons"

Interesting face. I also like it on Bette Davis.