What version of Edubuntu will you run this fall, and why?

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008, Gavin McCullagh wrote:

> > > 3. Firefox 3, while still slightly unstable, is really quite a good
> > >   improvement both in terms of the user and the admin (its ram usage is
> > >   substantially lower on both the thin client and the server).
> > I am interested to hear this. Firefox is a terrible hog it's probably
> > the biggest offender out there for us.
> > Right now I am running edubuntu Hardy/ Firefox 3 on my workstation via
> > a ntavo 6030 tc, here's what top tells me:
> > 
> >  8183 john      20   0  380m 220m  33m R    4 10.9 108:54.42 firefox
> 
> One of the issues is the X server's RAM usage, but even so I would have
> expected firefox v3 (with all the same urls open) to be lower footprint.
> Perhaps not.  Different pages do seem to vary radically.
> 
> > I think this is still pretty high. And I am not trying to watch flash
> > video like the kids are. So I am not sure if I see a memory savings
> > here for FF3. I'd be interested to hear your response.
> 
> I haven't made any scientific tests.  Perhaps I should if I'm going to echo
> these claims of a leaner firefox :-)

I decided I could do a very simple test.  I'm aware that top is not the
most accurate reflection of RAM usage, but it's what I'm using here
nonetheless.  I opened firefox and then sequentially opened 5 more typical
tabs to see what the RAM usage was in firefox-2 and firefox (v3) on a hardy
machine.

I'm embarrassed to say that based on this simple test, there's little or no
measurable difference.  I'm not sure this isn't too simple a test, but I
can't as yet offer any evidence for firefox v3's supposed superior ram
usage -- though I do think it's functionally better (the predictive url bar
in particular is brilliant).  Curiously CPU usage appears lower, but that's
a fluctuating value, so I couldn't say that with any confidence.

Gavin


======= Firefox v2 ======

== Google.ie Homepage ==
 5361 root      20   0  370m  57m  12m S  0.0  2.9  28:06.32 Xorg        
14486 gavinmc   20   0  120m  38m  20m S  0.0  1.9   0:02.56 firefox-2-bin

== + Amazon.com Homepage ==
14486 gavinmc   20   0  216m  58m  24m R 19.9  2.9   0:12.80 firefox-2-bin
 5361 root      20   0  370m  57m  12m R  5.0  2.9  28:08.40 Xorg  

== + Youtube.com Homepage ==
14486 gavinmc   20   0  235m  64m  25m S 25.9  3.2   0:28.91 firefox-2-bin
 5361 root      20   0  370m  57m  12m S 10.3  2.9  28:11.04 Xorg    

== + bbc.co.uk Homepage ==
14486 gavinmc   20   0  269m  73m  26m R 22.5  3.6   0:58.40 firefox-2-bin
 5361 root      20   0  370m  57m  12m R  5.6  2.9  28:15.02 Xorg       

== + www.cnn.com Homepage ==
14859 gavinmc   20   0  272m  87m  26m R 51.9  4.4   0:50.61 firefox-2-bin
 5361 root      20   0  370m  57m  12m S  4.0  2.9  28:30.76 Xorg 

== + http://www.carteretcountyschools.org/bse/TeacherWebs/pake/Art Show/Art Show.htm ==
 5361 root      20   0  444m 132m  12m S  3.3  6.6  29:00.22 Xorg
15380 gavinmc   20   0  288m  90m  26m R 46.8  4.5   0:56.65 firefox-2-bin


======= Firefox v3 ======

== Google.ie Homepage ==
 5361 root      20   0  369m  57m  11m S  2.3  2.8  28:33.41 Xorg 
14994 gavinmc   20   0  140m  44m  19m S  0.0  2.2   0:02.80 firefox 

== + Amazon.com Homepage ==
 5361 root      20   0  369m  57m  11m R  0.8  2.8  28:34.56 Xorg 
14994 gavinmc   20   0  147m  52m  20m S  0.0  2.6   0:07.98 firefox

== + Youtube.com Homepage ==
14994 gavinmc   20   0  192m  62m  23m R  5.3  3.1   0:11.77 firefox
 5361 root      20   0  369m  57m  11m S  0.3  2.9  28:35.88 Xorg 

== + bbc.co.uk Homepage ==
14994 gavinmc   20   0  218m  69m  24m R  3.7  3.4   0:18.38 firefox
 5361 root      20   0  369m  57m  11m R  1.9  2.9  28:36.86 Xorg  

== + www.cnn.com Homepage ==
14994 gavinmc   20   0  221m  90m  24m R 29.8  4.5   0:32.68 firefox
 5361 root      20   0  369m  57m  11m S  1.7  2.9  28:38.72 Xorg 

== + http://www.carteretcountyschools.org/bse/TeacherWebs/pake/Art Show/Art Show.htm ==
 5361 root      20   0  444m 132m  11m S  1.3  6.6  28:51.63 Xorg
14994 gavinmc   20   0  227m  97m  24m R 19.8  4.8   2:31.69 firefox