[Lubuntu-qa] RAM needed for desktop installer reduced to half by zRAM

[Nio Wiklund]

Hi everybody,

On 2013-06-20 19:56, Jonathan Marsden wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 19, 2013, at 11:49 PM, Nio Wiklund wrote:
> 
>>>> - Would it be possible to add the Ubiquity command to the Openbox
>>>>   right-click menu? ...
> 
>>> If you are techie enough to play around like that, you are probably
>>> techie enough to remember a command :)
> 
>> I was thinking, that people could be adviced to use that method: To
>> log into the ultra-light Openbox session, and the more that is
>> built into the system, the less must be described in the tutorial
>> or wiki page.
> 
>> ... because this way it is possible to edit or wipe partitions and
>> 'swapon' before ubiquity is started, which helps when there is very
>> low RAM.
> 
> I'm currently thinking and hoping the official docs can basically say
> there are exactly three recommended Lubuntu installation methods:
> 
>  (1) 384MB and up: use the desktop CD, select "Install Lubuntu"
>      from the menu
> 
> (2) 256MB to 384MB: use the alternate CD
> 
> (3) 128MB to 256MB: Use the netboot mini.iso and select Lubuntu desktop
>     at the software selection screen
> 
> The appropriate RAM size numbers for each one are what we want to find
> out.
> 
> What we *don't* want is to have 8 different methods, several of them
> long and complex and not suitable for newcomers.  That just makes
> Lubuntu look "hard" and "for techies only".  All those other "clever"
> methods can be documented somewhere on a wiki page, as things that are
> unsupported but might work, for people who know what  they are doing and
> have less than 256MB.
> 
> The same goes for workarounds for unsupported video chipsets, etc... we
> document them, but on the wiki only and not in the main documentation
> path we expect newcomers to use.  So that people who don't need those
> details don't have to read them anyway and be put off Lubuntu by them.
> 
> Jonathan
> 
@ Jonathan,

As usual, you have wise comments.

We must keep separate

1. general and simple stuff for general users (including newcomers)

2. advanced stuff for special cases and/or interested or skilled people.

I will not argue against that. I totally agree. What we disagree(d)
about is if we can include stuff for item 2 into the program code, as
the example to 'add the Ubiquity command to the Openbox right-click
menu'. But I start to understand that there might low priority for such
luxury because the programming resources are scarce, while we are many
who can write wiki pages.

@ everybody,

By the way, I edited the page about mini.iso

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD

to indicate that it can be used from USB now (which is good for netbook
users and for people with bad CD/DVD drives).

And I noticed that the network installation by the mini iso is not
portable like the one by the desktop iso.

-o-

A. If we plan to write '(3) 128MB to 256MB: Use the netboot mini.iso
...' in the official document, someone must volunteer to test the RAM
limits with the mini.iso for Lubuntu Saucy.

Or maybe that should belong to item 2, the advanced stuff. To be honest,
Knoppix or Puppy are better alternatives than Lubuntu for such low RAM.
I have hands on experience from an old Compaq with 192 MB RAM.

B. What about zRAM for the alternate iso? Please state your opinion!

Best regards
Nio