[mdlug] Are Linux Distros Too Bloated?

[Michael Corral]

Le 2023-04-14, Monsieur LAP a ecrit:
> I usually get a lot of negative feedback from a question of this sort

And rightly so.

> Are Linux distros far too bloated?  Have they become just like the
> unmentionable commercial OS's?

In general, no.

> A check is easily accomplished.  Just execute the following command,
> ideally in a virtual terminal, from within your GUI environment:
>
> ps ax | grep -v '\[.*\]'

That's a terrible way to measure "bloat." I'd say resource usage (e.g. 
memory, cpu) is more important than the number of processes. I'd rather 
have 100 processes using very little memory than 10 processes using 20x as 
much memory.

> This command will list the running processes after stripping out the
> kernel threads.

Why exclude kernel threads? Those somehow don't count? While you're at it, 
why not exclude some other threads or processes?

> On my highly customized Gentoo system, with X, the FVWM3 window
> manager, the network, three xterm virtual terminals, and the
> Palemoon browser all up and running my process list is this:
>
>  PID TTY      STAT   TIME COMMAND
>    1 ?        Ss     0:00 init
>  105 ?        Ss     0:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon
>  210 ?        Ss     0:00 syslogd -m 0
>  212 ?        Ss     0:00 klogd -c 3
>  227 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/gpm -m /dev/input/mice -t imps2
>  233 tty1     Ss     0:00 -bash
>  245 ?        Sl     0:00 pdnsd -d
>  336 tty1     S+     0:00 xinit -- /usr/bin/Xorg -config /root/xorg.conf -nolisten tcp :0
>  343 tty2     S<sl+   0:07 /usr/bin/Xorg :0 -config /root/xorg.conf -nolisten tcp :0
>  356 tty1     S      0:00 sh /root/.xinitrc
>  360 tty1     S      0:00 /usr/local/bin/fvwm3
>  366 tty1     S      0:00 xterm -class UXTerm -title uxterm -u8 -fa Liberation Mono ...
>  367 tty1     S      0:00 xterm -class UXTerm -title uxterm -u8 -fa Liberation Mono ...
>  368 tty1     S      0:00 xterm -class UXTerm -title uxterm -u8 -fn -misc-fixed-...
>  378 pts/2    Ss     0:00 bash
>  380 pts/0    Ss     0:00 bash
>  381 pts/1    Ss+    0:00 bash
>  445 tty1     Sl     0:20 /usr/bin/palemoon

So on your "highly customized" Gentoo system you have 18 processes
running. I noticed you don't have pipewire or pulseaudio running. Do you 
not listen to any audio on your Gentoo system? Most users would not be 
willing to give up that ability for the sake of saying they have only 18 
processes running. On my Fedora 37 system with lots of optional dockapps 
running and many systemd services enabled, your ps command shows 54 
processes running. Looking through the list, they are all necessary for 
the things I like to do. For example, rpcbind is running, because that's 
needed to run MATLAB, which I find useful to do.

> This is only a small hand full of processes that support a totally
> functional GNU/Linux desktop workstation that is equivalent to any
> other.

I'd argue that your system isn't "totally functional" for every user's 
requirements. It might instead be described as downright crippled.

> But from trying live DVD/USB's of various distros and from other
> reports the average process list number of a typical installation is
> close to a HUNDRED.

This isn't some competition to see who can get the lowest number of 
processes---it's about having a system that meets a user's needs. And if 
those needs can be met with low resource usage then that's even better. 
Linux in general can be tuned to minimize resource usage, it's just a 
matter of learning how (e.g. disabling unneeded services).

> To me this indicates serious bloat.

I think in Linux circles the word "bloat" has lost all meaning due to 
misuse.

Michael