4 ms·

So it's not just my imagination. My 2014 MBP feels reasonable, but my 2017 XPS 15 (top spec) Linux machine feels way, way slower. I've wondered if I somehow m

by blunte 9y ago

So it's not just my imagination. My 2014 MBP feels reasonable, but my 2017 XPS 15 (top spec) Linux machine feels way, way slower. I've wondered if I somehow made poor choices in my Ubuntu config (maybe so), but now I realize it could just be in the hardware. This reminds me of the current state of the web. There's been such a push to add more and more to pages, largely without regard for performance, that many sites take 10+ seconds to load the first time on 4G or wifi on a new, top spec Android phone. This is one area where Apple still has one of Steve Jobs's best contributions - an attention to user feel and perception. As much as I prefer an Android, iPhone just _feels_ faster.

oskenso 9y ago
Try the tty (ctrl+alt+f1) and see how quickly your inputs respond, its amazing how X11 and wayland (especially) add so much latency
- blunte 9y ago
  Apparently this is it. tty is very fast, although since I have a 4k screen the drawing/scrolling rate is very slow. I recently switched from whatever Ubuntu 17.10 is using (Gnome on Wayland?) to i3 on X.org, and there was no real performance increase that I could see. Do you have any suggestions on how I can get a tty level experience (with the occasional ability to use a web browser), but with low latency? I obviously can't use tty when the screen is native resolution (and the text is miniscule in size).
  - pferde 9y ago
    > although since I have a 4k screen the drawing/scrolling rate is very slow. Add "vga=normal nomodeset" to your kernel parameters, and revel in the speed (and blockiness of the font). :)
  - quantum_magpie 9y ago
    Personally, over the years I find the LXDE to be the most pleasant environment. It puts all those Gnome3, Wayland, KDE atrocities to dust. Haven't tried any other recent DEs, since once I got my hands on LXDE I had no need. Just now I checked the input response in tty and terminator, and I just don't feel any difference at all.
- snaky 9y ago
  That's mostly not X11, but fancy DEs with fancy DE-oriented apps. Try some lightweight window manager with xterm.
  - Izkata 9y ago
    This, definitely. Even on Gnome, using xterm is far more responsive than the default gnome-terminal. I switched years ago because of how much a difference it made for me.
  - ahartmetz 9y ago
    Also try KDE Plasma with default settings, see my other comment.
raverbashing 9y ago
I'd say Ubuntu out of the box is very bad at defaults (bells and whistles turned up, Unity or Gnome don't help in the least) For minimal latency I would go for Xfce/Gnome 2 without compositing
- blunte 9y ago
  Thanks. I'll give it a try!

by blunte 9y ago

oskenso 9y ago

Try the tty (ctrl+alt+f1) and see how quickly your inputs respond, its amazing how X11 and wayland (especially) add so much latency

blunte 9y ago
Apparently this is it. tty is very fast, although since I have a 4k screen the drawing/scrolling rate is very slow. I recently switched from whatever Ubuntu 17.10 is using (Gnome on Wayland?) to i3 on X.org, and there was no real performance increase that I could see. Do you have any suggestions on how I can get a tty level experience (with the occasional ability to use a web browser), but with low latency? I obviously can't use tty when the screen is native resolution (and the text is miniscule in size).
- pferde 9y ago
  > although since I have a 4k screen the drawing/scrolling rate is very slow. Add "vga=normal nomodeset" to your kernel parameters, and revel in the speed (and blockiness of the font). :)
- quantum_magpie 9y ago
  Personally, over the years I find the LXDE to be the most pleasant environment. It puts all those Gnome3, Wayland, KDE atrocities to dust. Haven't tried any other recent DEs, since once I got my hands on LXDE I had no need. Just now I checked the input response in tty and terminator, and I just don't feel any difference at all.
snaky 9y ago
That's mostly not X11, but fancy DEs with fancy DE-oriented apps. Try some lightweight window manager with xterm.
- Izkata 9y ago
  This, definitely. Even on Gnome, using xterm is far more responsive than the default gnome-terminal. I switched years ago because of how much a difference it made for me.
- ahartmetz 9y ago
  Also try KDE Plasma with default settings, see my other comment.

raverbashing 9y ago

I'd say Ubuntu out of the box is very bad at defaults (bells and whistles turned up, Unity or Gnome don't help in the least) For minimal latency I would go for Xfce/Gnome 2 without compositing

blunte 9y ago
Thanks. I'll give it a try!