How to optimize our GNU / Linux Operating Systems?

Applications to Optimize GNU / Linux

Applications to Optimize GNU / Linux

Optimizing, or specifically optimizing our Operating System is to improve the performance of the same, from the realization of certain logical (software) or physical (hardware) changes. In the case of hardware changes, the Operating System can be benefited by an update or increase in Hard Disk Space, RAM Memory, CPU Type, among other things.

In the case that concerns us for this publication, the tips or recommendations will be at a logical level, such as the use of applications or the execution of technical actions that allow us to maintain a high level of performance and operability of our Operating System at zero cost.

Optimize using Terminal

For those who love Terminal and programmed Script, there are options like these: «How to do a GNU / Linux Maintenance using a Script? y How to make a Data Backup in Equipment using Shell Scripting? which we talked about recently. These 2 examples cover fundamental aspects to keep our Operating Systems up to date, which are to keep our Operating System updated and free of digital garbage and keep the data hosted on it secure.

However, the realization of These activities in a manual or automated way can always be complemented by installing some packages or adjusting some elements to increase the level of efficiency, stability and / or security of the OS A good example of optimizing using terminal applications can be the installation and configuration of the packages »Preload» and »Prelink« plus packages »Deborphan» and »Localepurge«.

Commands to optimize the OS: prelink and preload

Preload and Prelink

Preload is a terminal application that analyzes which applications are the most used, and pre-loads them in the RAM memory of the device thus reducing your startup time when running them. While pre-link it is also a terminal app but that it is responsible for speeding up the dynamic loading of OS libraries and important applications.

With these 2 applications together, optimizing our GNU / Linux System is very easy.

Commands to optimize the OS: deborphan and localepurge

Deborphan and Localepurge

Deborphan is a utility that finds "orphaned" packages in our Operating System. Let us remember that a package is in an »orphan» situation when when uninstalling a parent package (a package that installs others via dependencies automatically), said »child» package remains installed on the disk without any use, occupying useless space.

Deborphan determines which packages do not have others depending on your installation, and shows you a list of these packages. Its main utility is searching for libraries, but it can be used with packages of all sections.

An advanced use of Deborphan can be implemented using the following command line:

sudo apt remove --purge `deborphan --guess-all`; sudo apt remove --purge `deborphan --libdev`; sudo dpkg --purge $(deborphan --find-config)

While Localpurge is a utility that deletes all manuals and help that are in a language other than those configured through it within our Operating System.

This is very useful since a good number of applications tend to install manuals and help, in our frequent languages ​​(Spanish and English), and also in other languages ​​that we will surely never use. This in the long run, tends to take up a lot of space on our hard drive, with data that we will never use.

This other couple of applications make it easier for us to optimize our GNU / Linux Operating System.

Terminal Settings

And among the adjustments that can be included may be:

  • Use, apart from the super-user root, an administrator useri.e. a user with root permissions configured to use the sudo command, and a normal user for each of the users to log into the computer to use it.
  • Use a terminal event log script, which records every command typed within the console or terminal to keep a reliable and auditable record of every command typed in it. We will explain this further in a future post.
  • Keep the correct values date and time of BIOS and Operating System.
  • Ensure the correct configuration of the files »interfaces«, »resolv.conf«, »NetworkManager.conf» and »sources.list«

At the level of graphic applications

At this level there are many good applications that can be recommended but in order not to make the list so large we can recommend some such as:

BleachBit: Application to optimize GNU / Linux

bleachbit

Bleachbit is a multiplatform utility whose main functionality is to free up space on our hard disk, very much in the style of the famous and practical "ccleaner" in Windows. And like »ccleaner«, it allows us to delete files, minimizing the chances of their recovery.

This more efficiently preserves our privacy and security, allowing us to more efficiently increase our theoretically free space on our disk, guaranteeing that a third party can never recover the data or at least easily.

Other very good applications of this style are: Sweeper, Stacer y gcleaner.

Baobab: Application to optimize GNU / Linux

Baobab

It is a graphical utility that facilitates the visual presentation of information about the consumption of space on hard drives, such as percentages of use, free space, size of the directories and files of our OS Baobab is capable of detecting changes in Hard Drives in real time and analyzing them regardless of whether they are remote or local units, among other facilities. It can be installed via console from the most common Distros repositories.

Applications similar to Baobab that can be implemented: Filelight, JDiskReport, QDirStat y k4dirstat.

Application to optimize GNU / Linux: FSlint

FSLint

It is a set of tools that allow the maintenance (cleaning) of unnecessary or excess files within the Operating System. It includes a GTK + Graphical Interface, plus a command line interface. All in order to efficiently recover disk space. It can be installed via console from the most common Distros repositories. It also has the ability to uninstall packages and locate things such as:

  • Duplicate files
  • Problematic file names
  • Temporary files
  • Damaged or outdated symbolic links.
  • Empty directories
  • Orphan binaries.

Applications similar to FSLint that can be implemented: Duplicate Files Finder y GDuplicateFinder.

If you know others that can help us, comment them! Otherwise I hope that this article as usual helps us all to make our GNU / Linux Systems one equal or better than any other proprietary one! Until the next post.


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  1.   Hector elizalde said

    Greetings, I have been using BleachBit on my Linux Mint 19.2 system and the truth has worked very well for me, it is easy to install and use pro you have to be careful when using it in Root mode, since what is erased is lost forever. from there on out is very good

  2.   Paul letelier said

    Nice post, but I wouldn't recommend using Dephorban with the prompts outlined, at least not for someone inexperienced (like me). That misconfigured the keyboard and mouse when entering the desktop, so I had to do a whole reinstallation of xserver-xorg ... Nothing serious, but I spent a good few hours researching how to fix it. Cheers

    1.    Linux PostInstall said

      Greetings, Pablo. Certainly Deborphan is a careful command, since, if you are inexperienced and you accept the deletion of what Deborpahn may request to delete, problems such as the ones you report may occur, I spent a lot at the beginning with that command.