Should I just pull the plug?  Or is it best if I exit LXDE and any other running processes first?


Question: deployment taking longer time using changesets
Answer: It is my opinion that validating components set from eclipse takes less time than validating from web interface. 

If your end user team allows then you can deploy changed components by using eclipse. I recommend use of eclipse if you have some bigger validation and deployment job. For small change sets web interface is easier.

And there are no shortcuts or no control over the validation or deployment time in org. As it is systematic process and depends on complexity of classes and number of components.