Lite vs Core distro-s: my initial comparison

[vic]

I have them both 17.3 installed on the same HDD (triple boot ).

Resource consumption:

My laptop: Acer Aspire (2012), 2 cores CPU at 2.13Ghz; 4GB RAM, usable 3.8GB

I started each OS with these 4 apps:

• Brave browser with youtube showing "terminator 2 classic trailer", at 720p
• their default File Manager app
• their default Terminal app
• their default Task Manager App, for measuring

Results:
Zorin Core: RAM ~2.1 GB, Cpu1 ~40-50% , Cpu2 ~40-50%
Zorin Lite : RAM ~1.7 GB, CPU ~35-45%
Note: in Lite, Task Manager showed in Gib so I converted; it only showed a single CPU value, so I assume it's referring to one of the cores.

Starting up:
From login screen: Core: ~15sec, Lite ~10sec
From boot menu: Core: ~1min 40sec, Lite ~1min 15sec

Initial GUI impression

On a first look, Core seems to have a few more GUI settings than Lite:

The looks themselves: for example Settings app, Core, subjectively, looks a bit better; or maybe it's just less loading on the eyes on the first look. However, in Lite, the different colors & bigger size for icons should make them easier to remember and locate later.

---

To Lite's advantage, I noticed that in Start menu, on right-click of an app you get Edit Application..., or for a pinned app on the task bar - Edit Launcher..., which allows you to do several things, in particular to easily see which executable is responsible and, at a click, where it's located:

A difference in IO function

My laptop's touchpad in Zorin Core is very hard to use. I thought I'd have to search for a different distro, or else use a separate mouse.
The settings you see above for Core, at Mouse & Touchpad, are hardly improving it: at lower speed, you have to swipe a lot across the screen; at higher speed, you can't be precise over small areas.

From a bit of research, it might have to do with proper pointer acceleration settings and/or implementation.

In Lite OS (but also in just Xfce DE within Core OS), the touchpad works perfectly, like in Windows, and also have the respective settings for acceleration:

---

So, for me: Zorin Lite is the winner, at least so far.

What made you choose one way or the other?

[Forpli]

Zorin lite has a lower resource consumption (my notebook ran faster and cooler with Zorin lite), it is much more flexible in the customization options, above all you don't need so many extensions that often no longer work after updates or lead to conflicts.

[Ponce-De-Leon]

@vic

What made you choose one way or the other?

I don't like xfce. So, I used Core with Gnome. And I'm in the Position that my Hardware has enough Power for it.

[vic]

@Forpli

you don't need so many extensions that often no longer work after updates or lead to conflicts.

do you mean extensions that are preinstalled with Core, or that you would need to install to match the abilities in Lite?
Any examples?

[Forpli]

XFCE offers many functions by default that are blocked in Gnome and are only made possible by extensions. Some of them are already pre-installed in Zorin core, but you still need more extensions for better customization options.
E.g. custom actions in thunar - in files (nautilus) you need an extension
E.g. to install user themes you need an extension in gnome (which is preinstalled)

[vic]

Update.
A bug in Lite's power management, which I didn't encounter in Core:
closing the laptop's lid and then reopening makes the screen mostly "frozen" (doesn't show the login screen but the desktop, pointer moves but unresponsive to clicks or general keyboard, however it accepts login input to unlock...).
One workaround is basically disabling auto-locking in Lite:

@vic

Thus, until Xfce's devs fix that notorious issue, this will work for me:

1. let Power Manager, not logind, manage the Lid (set logind-handle-lid-switch to FALSE/unchecked in Xfce's Settings editor, xfce4-power-manager )
2. don't let Power Manager lock (via the "Laptop Lid" and "Security" options in "System" tab)
3. When need to, always lock explicitly via Start menu or shortcut keys.
   So, Super+L then close lid => when open the lid, unlocks fine regardless whether Lidwas set to suspend or just to turn off the screen.

(also there more details about the issue, for those interested).

But if you rarely need to lock your laptop, then you may find keeping auto-lock disabled an advantage.

I wonder though if that bug affects all users with a laptop with Zorin Lite 17.3?
Maybe Zorin developers need to do something about it?

[Forpli]

I didn't had this problem with freezes when I used Zorin lite. Perhaps it could be worth a try to add a kernel parameter? But I only read about this possibility that it can help with problems at suspend. Unfortunately, I can't say whether this is a good idea:

acpi_osi=! acpi_osi='Windows 2012'
(use the Windows version your hardware was installed with at release in OSI string, e.g. Windows 2009, Windows 2012...)
or
acpi_osi=! acpi_osi='Linux'

and when it helps add it to etc/default/grub and update grub.
When you have a nvidia card you can add further parameters.

[Aravisian]

@Forpli

I didn't had this problem with freezes when I used Zorin lite.

Neither have I. On many notebook computers.
But some sources indicate this may be a later kernel issue. And it affects Gnome and Lite equally.
By the time we got to the kernels above 5.15, I had lapped the Laptop and gotten a big clunky beautiful Desktop.

[vic]

Thanks for the answers.
From reading the comments in that issue, one of the reasons is some timing/race conditions (of various components that play together during laptop lid opening and unlocking) and this can explain why not all laptops are affected.
@Aravisian , maybe you have in mind a more general family of issues with "freezing" that are similar to this one, but as you can see at the link to the issue in this post, this bug is specifically in Xfce.
It has persisted for (much) longer than 6 years, across many versions Linux kernels. In that thread and a few related ones I read, no one blames a specific version of kernel or specific hardware/driver issues.

Perhaps of interest to Zorin group, please see, you'd judge better: next 2 links talk about a possible fix, involving recompilation of xfce-settings file that has worked for some Linux distributions:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1383379/xubuntu-desktop-visible-after-suspend-before-lock-screen/1424719#1424719

Black screen on laptop lid opening/closing with suspend (#222) · Issues · Xfce...

[Aravisian]

@vic

but as you can see at the link to the issue in this post, this bug is specifically in Xfce.

Oh sorry, I had viewed this link from the other thread, last:

Bug #1866686 “20.04 Xubuntu does not resume from suspend” : Bugs :...

[StarTreker]

I had to disable action from the lid switch on Zorin OS Pro, because everytime I closed the lid to keep dust down to a minimum, the system suspended and froze. Fortunately, I was able to disable it to prevent freezing.

The freezing issue also happened in Zorin OS Lite XFCE, but I wasn't able to disable the lid switch in Lite, found no way to do it, & it became a permanent issue, that sent me running right back to Gnome.

I understand what the lid switch is really for, its for people on the go, who want their system to shutdown to standby mode, when they close the lid, so that the laptop doesn't overheat when placed inside their bag.

But if you are using a performance laptop as a desktop, the lid switch is the bane of my existence. Besides, regardless how you use your machine, a laptop shouldn't freeze up after suspend. When it comes to hibernation features, Linux and my computer don't get along.

To be honest, I wouldn't want to use this kind of laptop for on the go anyways, it weighs 9 pounds, 11 pounds with power adapter! If I really needed a on the go laptop, I'd probable go with a low spec thin & light laptop anyways. Since I keep my machine plugged in, I don't require power saving features.

Only time this battery is used, is during power outages, in which case, I don't require suspend, I just need time to save my work, & shutdown computer. Unfortunately, I do live in an area that gets hit by storms, so power isn't always guaranteed.

---

[vic]

@vic

Perhaps of interest to Zorin group, please see, you'd judge better: next 2 links talk about a possible fix, involving recompilation of xfce-settings file that has worked for some Linux distributions:

Until such a possible fix is distributed for Lite users (if ever):
I found that this suggestion at the end of the bug report in second link above
also removes the bug of "freezing" I mentioned above. I detailed the solution at Zorin OS 17.2 Lite Freezes after kept idle (laptop lid closed) - #32 by vic

@StarTreker , that can be used for just disabling the lid switch (in Lite/ Xfce); have you tried it?

@Forpli

Perhaps it could be worth a try to add a kernel parameter?

thanks, I'll try it if the new solution fails.

[zenzen]

@StarTreker

I wasn't able to disable the lid switch in Lite

I'm not sure about Zorin OS Lite specifically, but I'm currently on XFCE and there's a setting to set the action when lid is closed to "Switch off display". This leaves the computer running normally, sans the screen in the laptop.

Personally what I do is simply change the display settings to only use an external monitor. That way the laptop screen is always off to save some battery, but this setting works fine too.

[100WCharge]

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one who used to suffer from the suspend issue, mostly in Core version. Plus, my laptop used to run from a HDD, so you can understand my sheet pain

[vic]

Update2 (Lite vs Core)

Auto-login: in Core, have simple, working GUI setting in Core; but not in Lite and it's not so easy to find the correct command for the latter
(though I found one that works for me : edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf)

Disable the prompt to unlock the keyring when opening a browswer: in Core, open "Passwords and Keys" app and empty the password for "Login" folder; in Lite - there is no such app or alternative (you need to figure to install that same app).

Deleting a newly created user from GUI (Settings > Users and Groups): in Core, no problem.
In Lite, fails (even restart does not help). The new user still persists in the settings, and also in the list at the login screen - although cannot actually log in the new user. Had to search a command for it (sudo deluser --remove-home username)

Thus I find that the Lite version is less maintained than the Core one - which was to be expected, given that the Lite one is planned to be sunset and almost hidden from the download page.
Also on this forum it's harder to find answers specifically for the Lite version; I guess there's less Lite users as well.

I'll try to find a better light distro.