How old is old? How much RAM do you have? Are you using heavy modules like diffuse or sharpen?
Yes, it’s poor hardware to see how Linux works. It’s a Toshiba Satelitte a350
(two cores and 4 GB RAM)
However, Rawtherapee works reasonably well. When editing DT I use contrast corrector to sharpen, because if I use D&S I can take the dog and go for a long walk, because then the export takes an eternity 
Yeah the performance you’re getting isn’t that surprising. Actually, 7 minutes seems on the fast side.
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I also run darktable from time to time on an old system (2012) with only 4 GB RAM and 4 cores CPU for testing purposes. In my experience, stable operation of the program cannot be achieved with such hardware. This is not a setup for serious work with the program.
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Hi @Terry. I’ve looked at GIMP 3, and can’t see what I’d use it for that I can’t do with DT. So I’d be very interested to know what you use GIMP for ‘to complement DT’.
@archiemac Adobe has the combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. Darktable and Gimp are FOSS alternatives to this pair. I do 99% of my edits in DT but just occassionally I need to also use GIMP for tasks such as extensive photo restoration, artistic effects (filters), or anything requiring layers and masks. Gimp and Photoshop are sometimes described as pixel editors.
If you don’t see a need for Gimp’s services then you don’t have a need for it, but if you every need to work with layers and masks then Gimp is a suitable alternative to Photoshop. The excellent masking options in DT remove the need for much of the layer and mask work I used to do in GIMP to combine multiple edits of the same image in from other RAW editors.
As a scientist I would use GIMP to prepare images for publication by creating collages of graphs, images etc into a single picture file.
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(I once noted Aurélien Pierre express that the modules are actually layers – both in relation to GUI widgets and pixelpipe operations …)
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@Terry Thanks for your speedy reply, Terry, and for the lucid clarification. I think you confirm my past experience of GIMP, that it is essentially compositing software, with its main uses in graphic design, such as creating collages for publication as you describe.
I now feel more comfortable that I’m not overlooking something about GIMP that would contribute to my own work. Thanks very much. You’ve been most helpful.
mac
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This seems a very reasonable statement. I guess the DT layers are like adjustment layers found in Photoshop. Localisation is then achieved through the use of drawn and parametric masks. It is certainly these masks in DT that has made it my program of choice for photo editing.
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Hello, I use MX Linux KDE Plasma because Linux Mint does not support 4K screens, and KDE handles it fantastically. However, I am concerned that Darktable runs much slower on MX Linux than it did previously on Windows 10.
I have Nvidia drivers installed, but DT still runs with a delay.
I also see in the settings that I don’t have the option to enable OpenCL support.
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You likely don’t have the proper opencl drivers installed. I don’t know mx linux, so I can’t help you anymore. darktable-cltest can confirm your opencl setup for dt.
I use MX Linux, not Mint 
Does this help?
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The package is nvidia-opencl-common and MX Linux is Debian based.
I installed nvidia-opencl-common, but I still don’t have the option to enable openCL support.
There is another option, the nvidia-opencl-installable client driver. I don’t know much about it… Maybe I should try it?
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It’s technically not Mint’s fault, it’s Xorg, anything beyond the most basic of scaling support is non-existent on X11, and since you’re on a Wayland session of KDE Plasma now - all should work well… Mint is supposed to move on from 1980s software… someday (for all intents and purposes Ubuntu is far better than the Ubuntu-based Mint in my opinion)
are you on nouveau or the legacy closed-source driver?
I don’t want to go back to Mint. I’m sticking with MX Linux KDE.
I’m currently using the 555 driver, as suggested by the NVIDIA driver manager.
I would just like to enable openCL support, as this option was enabled in Windows 10, and Darktabke ran much faster than it does now in MX Linux.
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And I don’t think you should, MX Linux with KDE is a fine option!
if I’m not mistaken… that driver is atleast two years old? the GT 1030 is not yet end of life and Pascal was only just recently discontinued
I did everything as described in this thread, but unfortunately I still don’t have OpenCL support. I reinstalled Darkable, but nothing changed.
It’s a shame, because DT is currently running slowly.
I’ll send you my nvidia/opencl-related package list when I get home