Failed to start LightDM: LightDM – Impact of disabling the Muffin greeter on startup latency

Problem Context

The journal entry Failed to start LightDM: LightDM indicates that the LightDM unit has crashed during greeter launch. LightDM is the default display manager on Linux Mint 21.2 and the greeter component is responsible for the graphical login prompt.

Goal

In a low‑traffic thin‑client scenario, the objective is to reduce idle RAM usage and CPU cycles by switching from the default Wayland‑based Muffin greeter to the lightweight simple greeter. The key question is whether this change alters session‑startup performance or disrupts GPU acceleration.

Uncertainty

While Mint documentation notes that the greeter can be reconfigured, no quantitative data exist on how disabling Muffin affects login latency or memory consumption. Additionally, the interaction between the greeter configuration and the system’s graphics driver stack has not been experimentally verified for low‑traffic workloads.

Specific Questions

• Will disabling Muffin reduce the time it takes for a user session to become interactive on Mint 21.2?
• Does the change affect GPU acceleration or cause visual glitches on systems with certain drivers?
• What is the measurable memory savings per session when using the simple greeter instead of Muffin?