Just installed Kubuntu and load time on programs/applications is slow

[DevilSocks]

Hi everyone,

I have recently switched to Linux from Windows and very quickly fell in love with the simplicity and all the possibilities. I tried Linux Mint first but quickly turned my eye on Kubuntu as I like the layout out of the box and the KDE environment. I am really new to all of it so still trying to learn the bash and everything else this distro has to offer(but also just have to realize I am a total newbie at this). I noticed one thing when testing through Mint and then Kubuntu and that is the load times on various programs/applications. In Mint they were quick and ready in a flash. In Kubuntu they are slower. E.g. Thunderbird and Firefox take a good 3-5 seconds to load. And I tried to read around to figure out if this was really the way it was supposed to be. Can anyone tell me if this is normal for Kubuntu or if I need to do some tweaking (tried to look at swappiness a bit without getting wiser for instance)?

Any help or explanation is appreciated

[oshunluvr]

Tbird and Ffox are snaps which take longer to load. Many people remove snap and all snap apps from their systems and install Ffox and Tbird from the developers rather than from Ubuntu. A member wrote these scripts to do the job: https://gitlab.com/scripts94

[spiderman]

Even with SNAP, I think that the delay you are experiencing in not a major concern for me VS Microsoft O/S. So that does not bother me. I do think that the Apple architecture runs a little faster than PC's, so I look for people upgrading their MAC's (on craigslist or ebay) for system's to load Kubuntu on. I've tried quite a few flavors of Linux and always come back to Kununtu...have fun.

[mr_raider]

It's one the main criticisms of snap, and the reason I use Mint on some of my other family members PCs. It requires less fiddling out of the box.

I do use Kubuntu on my main PC. What I suggest is install 24.04 and use the "minimal" install option. That way no snaps are installed. Then you can manually remove the plasma-discover-backends-snap package to prevent accidentally installing a snap.

Beware the minimal kubuntu install doesn't even give you a web browser, but I like it that way because I can build my gaming system from the ground up.

From there, you may choose to use flatpaks or PPAs to install firefox. I just use chrome.


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...-distributions

[DevilSocks]

HI everyone,

Thanks for the explanation, that clarifies it for me. I have tried to read up on the topic (snap vs. flatpak etc.) and still not much wiser but a bit. And thanks for sharing the articles and options on the installation - I didn't even think about that and will go investigate these options and see what fits me. So far I have only tried these two distros but have to say I am hooked on this. I simply realized that I didn't learn anything or had control of anything on my PC anymore with Windows. Now I actually feel like I learn to use it again and have control of what I do (well sort of - I learn something new everyday).

Again, thank you for all your help, I appreciate it!

[claydoh]

One thing to note is that this slowness to load is usually only the first time after login. I have tested FF on an old 4th gen i3 from 2013, and this was the main

Also, as is usual, you only hear the negatives for things, so if you do end up preferring Snap packages, you are perfectly OK to do so.
(These things are mostly political/ideological/change-adverse, and not quite as technical as might be claimed)
My suggestion for a fresh user is to take things slow, and not change All The Things immediately, just because the internet sez so
Take the info and make your own choices, as this is what this thing is all about.

Have fun with it!

[DevilSocks]

I think you make a valid point there claydoh, and I will try to remember that. It is easy to get lost in "I want to change everything" and forget to take it easy and just learn as you go to see what fits best. I will say this though, it doesn't matter that I have opened the program once. If I close it down, it is still slow to start up again if I need to re-open. It will only be fast to load if I already have a window of it open. But now I have tried working with the PC for a few days and I still like the look and feel of Kubuntu, so I am in no rush to change things around

[claydoh]

That is a bit odd, really. Are you using a spinny HDD on an older system maybe? My old i3 laptop did have an HDD originally, and it would take ~8-9 seconds first time loading, but was significantly faster after that, for sure. The snap has to more or less get 'mounted' like a drive, and that decompression and loading part stays put, decreasing later opening times, even if the app is closed.
But, of course this annoyance is probably one thing to change earlier on, because it would be ...annoying Plus, it won't break your whole system in the extremely low chance the process was broken somehow.

I recommend using the official apt repo from mozilla, as mr_raider linked to. it is the simplest and better choice (imnsho) as it integrates into your package management, and FF's files will be in very well known and standard locations, just as if it were OEM.

[DevilSocks]

Ok, I did some testing. I admit, I also installed Linux Mint and did a dual boot, to be able to compare load times. Overkill? Yes Anywho, for what it's worth I learned that 1) I was incorrect. The second load time is faster than the first in Kubuntu and 2) my memory apparently is selective. The load time afterwards is the same as in Mint. So I just needed to correct myself here But still - like mentioned I learn as I go. I think I will leave it at this and continue to play with what was suggested and learn some more Thank you once again everyone!

[darren7659]

There is a program called 'preload' that can help with loading times as long as you have enough memory - 16gb is fine.

sudo apt install preload

There's no configuration necessary. Good luck.

[vanadiumboy]

3 to 5 s startup time is no big deal. I am guessing you have a SSD.
I only use HDD and I am on a pretty recent system. It is a Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz CPU, 24 GB DDR4 3200 MHz.

For me, I think Firefox takes 10 to 15 s. Brave takes 10 to 15 s. Chromium takes 10 to 15 s. LibreOffice 10 to 15 s.
Steam takes 50 s. Even with an older CPU, it takes 50 s. I remember that on Win 7, Steam took 10 s to 15 s, on the same PC.

All of these are non snap applications. I have not tested their snap version.

If you close and reopen, they launch faster since Linux uses a RAM cache.
Maybe the reason for the difference is that Windows does some precaching while Linux does not.

For example, logging into a session on Win 10 is instantaneous (Another PC with a SSD).
On Kubuntu, it can take a minute (On this PC with a HDD).

[DevilSocks]

Hi all, sorry for my slow reply, I have been out of town for a couple of days. Thanks for the advises, I will look at that program. Reg. Windows, that is odd, I have the opposite experience. Linux is faster than Windows, startup etc - at least that is how I feel it. Well, I just also felt Windows had so many things it needed to do before it was actually ready. Maybe it was my own setup of it. I have now gotten used to the load time and compared to Mint and like I said, my memory did not help me as the load is almost the same. So I guess it is just the complaints of an old man I overall think Linux runs faster and more stable than Windows - even with my limited experience.