[SOLVED] Suggest me a Performance Distro.

[MetalheadGautham]

The warning was aimed at people who intended to use Sid to run a server. For these people, it is best to use Stable + backports, but for a desktop user, Sid is pefectly stable. Software is only put into Sid if it is considered stable for home desktops. Debian Stable is aimed at the server market, and Testing (Lenny) is just a way of gradually creating the next release. Also, if you pin sid to lenny with minimum priority, you won't get any Sid packages. I myself have been using Sid for more than 6 months and I have had very few problems, except where i broke it my running `rm -rf /*` and deleting my entire /bin and /boot directory. Even then, i managed to fix it and it is working great now.

by pinning sid to lenny, what I intend to do is to ensure that I have a source of those packages which I am in earnest need, but they are not concidered fit for testing by debian.

Anyway, I downloaded Lenny, and I don't remember seeing Sid anywhere. So I shall keep Lenny, and dist-upgrade if the need arises.

Lenny is going stable in a few weeks, so I will soon need to upgrade to its successor.

PS: I hope the next one can become a classic like Potato and Woody

[beojan]

I'd have thought they'd have run out of anmes for new versions by now. Anyway, keep using Lenny if thats what pleases you (The only way to get sid is to get stable, then dist-upgrade), though I'd have suggested getting Etch and dist-upgrading to lenny, becasue the lenny installer is a bit iffy. Anyway, ensure you type installgui at the boot prompt to get a nice graphical installer.

[MetalheadGautham]

I'd have thought they'd have run out of anmes for new versions by now. Anyway, keep using Lenny if thats what pleases you (The only way to get sid is to get stable, then dist-upgrade), though I'd have suggested getting Etch and dist-upgrading to lenny, becasue the lenny installer is a bit iffy. Anyway, ensure you type installgui at the boot prompt to get a nice graphical installer.

There IS no boot prompt. Only a menu, where I have install and graphical install as options. Over there, I realised that I had forgotton my internet configuration data, and I had forgotton to enable DHCP(or is it DCHP ?). And I had to leave for some work anyway. So I came back, and booted into ubuntu. I am still here, feeling too lazy to install.

By the way, in your OS, Beejex, did you use a default kernel or a custom kernel ? Is it Debian from scratch ? I heard such performance from Debian is nearly impossible otherwise ?

[beojan]

Where did I say anything about the performance level?
But yes, I used a custom compiled kernel based on the debian sources, and a few patches (all in the debian repos). It can tar and bzip2 the entire distro in about half an hour on my PIII 550MHz.

EDIT: I see what you mean, about my boot times etc. That uses the official debian 2.6.25-2 kernel from sid.

Rest of your Q's:
It isn't debian from scratch since I didn't compile anything(except kernel). I just install Debian Sid on my computer and set it up how it is meant to be. I then clone the same setup inside a chroot by debootstrapping it, and seting up the packages, and copying over the config files, then tar and bzip this directory and put it on a CD (DVD) with my installer.

Choose Graphical installer. It's just that the Etch disc has a prompt, not a menu.

[MetalheadGautham]

Where did I say anything about the performance level?
But yes, I used a custom compiled kernel based on the debian sources, and a few patches (all in the debian repos). It can tar and bzip2 the entire distro in about half an hour on my PIII 550MHz.

EDIT: I see what you mean, about my boot times etc. That uses the official debian 2.6.25-2 kernel from sid.

Rest of your Q's:
It isn't debian from scratch since I didn't compile anything(except kernel). I just install Debian Sid on my computer and set it up how it is meant to be. I then clone the same setup inside a chroot by debootstrapping it, and seting up the packages, and copying over the config files, then tar and bzip this directory and put it on a CD (DVD) with my installer.

Choose Graphical installer. It's just that the Etch disc has a prompt, not a menu.

OK. I am installing Debian Lenny then. Any advice before doing so about my data ?

I currently have a seperate /home partition. Can I keep it and not remove anything from it and use it as it is in Debian ?(I don't know the procedure to do so. Do I just have to change mount point to /home ?)

PS: recompiling kernel makes that much difference ? Should I try it myself ? How long does it take to make a fresh kernel that's free from unwanted things like(to me) nVidia/ATi drivers, etc ?

I have a friend running Sid who has almost exact configuration(including GPU; just 200MHz slower processor, 256mb more ram) as me. He has made a custom kernel and tweaked it to the extreme to gain maximum performance. Can I borrow a copy from him and use it ? Will it ensure similar performance ? And will it work the same on Lenny ?

[beojan]

It takes a long, long time (1 1/2 days or so), so I suggest using your friends copy. Just make sure it is compiled as fully pre-emptible. Also, I think increasing the number of CPUs makes the kernel faster even on single CPU machines, don't know why. The difference between Sid and Lenny is little, just that packages make it into lenny about 10 - 15 days after they get into Sid, unless they have introduced more release critical bugs instead of fixing them.

[MetalheadGautham]

It takes a long, long time (1 1/2 days or so), so I suggest using your friends copy. Just make sure it is compiled as fully pre-emptible. Also, I think increasing the number of CPUs makes the kernel faster even on single CPU machines, don't know why. The difference between Sid and Lenny is little, just that packages make it into lenny about 10 - 15 days after they get into Sid, unless they have introduced more release critical bugs instead of fixing them.

OK then. Mr Lazy wins again I'll use the borrowed kernel.

Perhaps increasing number of CPUs increasing speed has something to do with those running HyperThreading Enabled P4 Prescotts or Cedar Mills ?

10-15 days ? I thought Sid and Lenny had atleast a month between them. 10-15 days is something I can DEFINITELY live with.

Have you been noticing that an alarming number of kernel upgrades have been apprearing recently ? I did a kernel upgrade once every week in the past many days. Whats with Linus ? Some serious issues coming up ? Or are features being quickly developed ?

Finally, any last minute advice before I boot into the Debian Lenny CD ? Anything at all to help migrate successfully to Debian from Ubuntu Hardy ? Will the install be less than 15mins as in Hardy Graphical ?

[MetalheadGautham]

I have installed debian and I am loving it.
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