Many people complain that Lubuntu does not have any animations or effects because this Linux distro aims to improve the performance, eliminating the higher customization scope. You can use Lubuntu in your low-end system because it only requires 256 RAM to work correctly. If you want a brief Lubuntu review, this article will work best because we will cover complete details about Lubuntu.
Lubuntu Review
The older version of Lubuntu depends upon LXDE for providing a lightweight experience, but now it is replaced with LXQt. As per the description, LXDE is based on the GTK with the libraries used by GNOME. However, developers decided to switch from DE to Qt as LXQt works as a Qt port of LXDE.
We are in 2021, so the definition of a low-end system has changed, but nowadays, old machines also support at least 2GB of RAM with dual-core processors. That’s why the Lubuntu team does not focus on the minimum system requirements, albeit LSQt is lightweight but polished and has features for higher-end systems.
Usually, users can upgrade their operating system from an older version to the new one, but the Lubuntu team does not upgrade Lubuntu 18.04 to 20.04. The reason is that Lubuntu has changed many things in recent updates, so it is essential to do a fresh installation. In case anyone upgrades their system from 18.04 to 20.04 without any new installation, they may face bugs due to the changes in the desktop environments.
Currently, LXQt needs a little more memory than the Gtk+ v2-based LXDE, but the Gtk+ v3 toolkit also needs more memory. The current version of Lubuntu runs reboots under shallow memory of 340MB, but it is 100MB higher than LXDE. Many users recommend having an older hardware system, or you want a simple experience on your mid or high-end system.
Considering the latest version of Lubuntu, you can easily customize the LXQt version through most of the LXQt settings. For example, Lubuntu 20.04 LTS has a dark theme because you can easily change it according to your preference. You can use the Lubuntu 20.04 daily because it is completely issued free and offers a good Ubuntu flavor.
In the earlier versions, users could not customize their system according to their needs because Lubuntu was more focused on the lightweight Linux distro instead of performance and animations.
Softwares in Lubuntu 20.04
Lubuntu has many default applications in the latest version, but some are not lightweight, but most are Qt-based. So here is the list of software offered by the latest version of Lubuntu:
| Software Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ARK | archive manager |
| Discover Software Center | package management system |
| Bluedevil | Bluetooth connector |
| FeatherPad | text editor |
| Firefox | web browser |
| K3b | CD/DVD burner |
| Kcalc | calculator |
| LibreOffice | Office suite of Qt interface version |
| KDE partition manager | partition manager |
| Noblenote | note taker |
| LXimage-Qt | image viewer and screenshot tool |
| Muon | package manager |
| PCManFM-Qt | File manager |
| Qlipper | clipboard manager |
| qPDFview | PDF viewer |
| ScreenGrab | Screenshot creator |
| Quassel | IRC client |
| Qtransmission | a bittorrent client is Qt interface version |
| PulseAudio | audio controller |
| Startup Disk Creator | USB boot disk maTesting Lubuntu 20.04 LTS |
| Skanlite | scanning |
Conclusion
So it was a brief review of the Lubuntu, and the article is based on the review of the latest version of Lubuntu, which is 20.04 LTS. As we have mentioned earlier, Lubuntu’s developer team focuses on performance instead of lightweight Linux distros because the definition of low-end devices has changed due to the rapid changes in technology. We have gathered this information according to the user reviews, patch notes and using it on multiple machines to give you the most precise information on the internet.
