The Speed Factor -- Kubuntu vs. Gentoo

[Derek Broughton]

Robert Tilley wrote:

> What are the major obstacles to running a lightning-fast Linux workstation
> with easy package management?
> 
> Kubuntu is a dream for ease of installation and application management. 
> This
> comes at a price.  Kubuntu must run on a generic PC with as many drivers
> as possible. 

And the "price" is what?

> A friend from the local computer store calls 
> Kubuntu/Ubuntu "Windows for the Linux World".  It's big and slow but
> works. 

Actually, that describes KDE reasonably well, but has nothing to do with the
Ubuntu part of the equation.

> His in-store machine runs Gentoo with KDE and is faster than any 
> Linux box
> I've seen.  He has almost all of the eye candy for Compiz installed.  
...
> 
> What are things I can do to optimize Kubuntu?  

I would be astonished to learn that there is _anything_ you can do to the
software that will make your machine run as fast as his, including
installing Gentoo.  It's his hardware...

> I'm hesitant about taking my
> box offline for three days to compile a base Gentoo system.  There should
> be simple things (kernel recompile is a first one) to increase the speed
> of Kubuntu.

What makes you think that?  By all benchmarks, I don't believe you will get
a noticeable improvement in speed by recompiling the kernel.

-- 
derek