Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

[luciusad2004]

from what ive heard the newer versions of xfce arent much lighter than gnome or kde so you might want to look into an older one

Thanks for the heads up. I was actually wondering that as i browsed through some of the screen shots on the xfce website. Alot of the screen shots made it look like it might use more resources than i thought.

[Airbozo]

If the kernal or drivers are tuned to my specific hardware will that make hardware upgrades more dificult? I can't see it happening but, it is theoretically possible that i may want to add more ram and if the prices ever drop and old school airport card. Would that pose a problem?

Memory shouldn't be an issue at all since the driver controls the memory controller not the memory. The "airport card" may cause you a headache, trying to figure out what works best, the loadable module or built in driver, if there even is an option.

[.Maleficus.]

I would have something to say, but it would just reiterate AB's post.

As far as WMs go, Openbox/Fluxbox/Blackbox would be good, but look into FVWM as well. For DEs, the LQWiki says Enlightenment (which I think is BS), ROX, Xfce, and XPde are lightweight. Look into those. IMHO, XPde is disgusting. I wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole. It's an XP clone. Yuck. ROX wasn't too bad when I had it on my Gentoo install... Xfce is a pretty decent DE overall, but may be more bloated than you'd like. Enlightenment (E17 is what I used) focuses on eye-candy, and was a PITA for me.

I'd suggest ROX, and you can use that WM, or one of the ones I listed. That would be a good setup.


Edit: The FVWM site really doesn't show its potential. Check out this super sexy screen. Damn is that a nice desktop!

[luciusad2004]

Memory shouldn't be an issue at all since the driver controls the memory controller not the memory. The "airport card" may cause you a headache, trying to figure out what works best, the loadable module or built in driver, if there even is an option.

I didn't look in to it but while reading some through some sites i found on Google I'm pretty sure i saw mention that the original airport is well supported but the newer airport extreme isn't. Problem is, last time i checked Airport cards cost $100 or more, quite a bit higher than the current more advanced technology. Anyway, The odds of me getting one are slim to none, when i get the money I'm buying a new laptop.

I would have something to say, but it would just reiterate AB's post.

As far as WMs go, Openbox/Fluxbox/Blackbox would be good, but look into FVWM as well. For DEs, the LQWiki says Enlightenment (which I think is BS), ROX, Xfce, and XPde are lightweight. Look into those. IMHO, XPde is disgusting. I wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole. It's an XP clone. Yuck. ROX wasn't too bad when I had it on my Gentoo install... Xfce is a pretty decent DE overall, but may be more bloated than you'd like. Enlightenment (E17 is what I used) focuses on eye-candy, and was a PITA for me.

I'd suggest ROX, and you can use that WM, or one of the ones I listed. That would be a good setup.


Edit: The FVWM site really doesn't show its potential. Check out this super sexy screen. Damn is that a nice desktop!

I'll look in to all of those, Skimming through briefly i liked the look of Blackbox, but i didn't look in to any of the specifics of any of them just yet because i have some reading to do for school tonight.