5 Tweaks You Can Use to Speed Up Ubuntu Today

5 Tweaks You Can Use to Speed Up Ubuntu Today

You�ve installed Ubuntu on your PC. Perhaps you�re a long-term Linux user, or you�ve just swapped from Windows. Either way, you�ve noticed that things could be faster.
Don�t worry � here are five ways you can tweak Ubuntu to speed things up!

Show Hidden Startup Applications

Software that is configured to run at system startup can slow things down incredibly, whether you�re using Linux, Windows or OS X. Or even Android.
Ubuntu users can fix slow startups by opening the Startup Applications screen, but on first glance you�ll notice that things are a little sparse. To prevent mistakes, the majority of startup applications are hidden, but you can tweak this by opening the Terminal and entering:

sudo sed -i s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g� /etc/xdg/autostart/*.desktop

You should then see a refreshed list of startup apps. Take care with apps you reconfigure here, however, as changing some items can result in system stability issues.

The best thing to do is stay away from system items or anything that was preinstalled, and only adjust those that you have installed and don�t want to slow down your system startup. We previously looked at Startup Applications when Danny gave you four ways to speed up Linux � worth a read for some additional ideas.

Fix Bugs That Slow You Down

This might seem both vague and obvious, but if you stay up to date with conversations online about the latest releases, you�ll be able to spot problems that other users are having. If these chime with issues you�ve also experienced, you�ll be able to take action.
For instance, the File Browser Panel can slow things down, so it is worth toggling its status to see if disabling will improve performance.

Do this by opening gedit, then open Edit > Preferences and switch to the Plugins tab. Here, you should scroll through to find File Browser Panel and uncheck it, clicking Close to finish.

Install Adaptive Readahead (Preload) Daemon

Another great way to speed things up is to teach Ubuntu what you use often, so that the operating system loads apps in advance. You can do this using the Adaptive Readahead Daemon, which will identify the apps you use the most.

Just open the Software Manager (one of several ways of finding new apps on Linux), search for �preload� and install the app.
One obvious beneficiary of preloading will be your browser. If you�re not convinced by how much of a change preloading will make, check how long it takes to open the browser after booting your PC, then install the daemon, and load the browser again. It should open 50-75% quicker.
(Note that this tool may not work in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.)

Change Swappiness Value

Huh?!
Okay, if you installed Ubuntu with a swap partition, this is intended to help your system manage memory, which is especially useful if your PC doesn�t have much RAM installed.
The swappiness value determines how much data is written to the virtual memory on the hard disk drive, which can slow your system down. Begin by opening a Terminal and entering:

cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

The default swappiness value in Ubuntu is 60.
Next, open the /etc/sysctl.conf file in a text editor:

gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

Scroll to the bottom and add the following parameter (and the associated note as a reminder):

# Decrease swappiness value

vm.swappiness=10

With this done, save the file. Unusually for Linux, you�ll also need to restart the computer. Once booted up again, confirm the swappiness value has changed. Less data will now be written to the virtual drive, but keep in mind that this is a tweak that is really only intended for older computers.

Upgrade Your Hardware

As with Windows, adding hardware to your Linux computer will improve performance.

This might mean swapping your HDD for a newer model (or for a solid state drive) or adding RAM to your system. On a modern system, additional RAM will usually have a great impact than a new CPU, and is usually cheaper than a new HDD, so explore this option first. When it comes to a HDD, it�s worth considering an SSD as a faster replacement.
While a new CPU can also have a strong impact, also consider upgrading your graphics card, ensuring you select a replacement that will run happily under Linux.
Of course, if you�re using a laptop, all of the above (including RAM, increasingly) will remain out of reach, leaving upgrades therefore unavailable.

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tweaks-can-use-speed-ubuntu-today/

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5 Reasons Never to Sign up With Linda Ikejis Social

5 Reasons Never to Sign up With Linda Ikejis Social

This is just an expert ISP opinion by name TimiGate and thou I do not completely agree with some of the points pointed out here but will love to know what you think.
I�m pretty sure when you mention blogging in Nigeria, the first thing that will come to your mind is Lindaikeji. I a

dmire her giant leap into doing new things but at this time, when preparation meet opportunity, an invention is born� but in her case, should we called this inadequate preparation or what?
Here are the 5 Reasons Extracted From TimiGate

1. The site is annoyingly slow!
02:08.16 That is the average time it takes for the home page to be displayed on LIS. 2 minutes and 8 seconds. Within this period, I was able to log on to facebook four times, youtube five times, Nairaland eight times. The most annoying part is that most of the times the site is inaccessible.

2. Security concern
Linda revealed that she contacted a web developer to start work on the development of LIS after having a meeting with two women. Well, it is a known fact that Linda unlike Mark Zuckerberg or Seun Osewa is not an IT professional. Why then would anyone want to trust her with sensitive information? The level of agreement entered into with the web developer is unknown. In event that there is a breach in contractual terms, users will surfer.

3. Followership
Except you are a celebrity, I don�t see how you will be able to amass 50000 followers on this platform. Why would 50k people follow you when you are not a celeb? Nigerian celebs are too comfortable on there high horses either to want to delve into the followership business of LIS. If you don�t have 50k followers, you don�t get a bite of the advertisement money. This is just a way of Linda saying sorry, I can�t share my money with you.

4. 1k per post
This is Linda saying Though I cant share my bread with you, you can still get the crumbs! Except you you want to do it because you have been doing it for free, I dont see how 1k can spur someone into writing lengthy posts and endangering his/her life by taking the pictures of armed police men taking bribes on the road. These is just a marketing strategy where it is announced world over that you can make money on LIS yet you cant find someone who has done such.

5. Nothing new
While Linda said it was born out of the need to bring Lindaikejisblog and facebook together on one platform, LIS has no new features that make her a substitute for facebook. While it is possible to make calls on facebook, it isn�t on LIS.
What do you think?

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