> When installed these packages provide additional
> functionality in TDE:

Looking at those packages that provide additional functionality raises an interesting question: before building TDE, could those related packages be removed to build a TDE Light? That is, create a special build environment to build TDE Light?

I tinker with old hardware. TDE is --- well --- sluggish on a PI and PII machine. Without those many hooks would TDE be snappier?

Those older machines lack the hardware muscle to support modern expectations of video and graphics support. Therefore when building for older hardware, why build TDE with that support and those hooks? If TDE is built without that support is there anything to gain on older hardware? Just curious --- I don't know the answer.

Those older machines were expected to be office machines, not home theater PCs. Why can't they still fulfill that role?

I would like to see a discussion about what a TDE Light might entail or provide. Is a TDE Light feasible? Doable? What are the technical challenges?

If I had appropriate information I would create a special build environment and give TDE Light a test.

Should anybody say that building TDE for such hardware is unreasonable, I counter with a simple question. Why is NT4, a 32-bit operating system, so snappy on such hardware? To follow: Why can't a Linux based OS with TDE be just as snappy? Or, to put a *mischievous* twist to the question: what did the Microsoft devs do right that the free/libre software devs did wrong? :)

I have NT4 installed on both my PI and PII machines (dual boot). NT4 just hums. Apps open quickly. There is no lag. Granted, I don't surf the web with those machines or play videos, but everything else is a pleasure to use.

Oh, I have WFWG 3.11 with the Norton Desktop still installed on the first 512 MB partition of the PI hard drive. A 16-bit OS on 32-bit hardware. Oh. My. Gosh. Fast. :) ;)

Is there any hope to the idea of a TDE Light?

Darrell