[NCLUG] PC for Linux (Ubuntu)

DJ Eshelman djsbignews at gmail.com
Wed Sep 17 13:20:43 MDT 2008


Bob Proulx wrote:
> DJ Eshelman wrote:
>   
>> As a general rule- only worry about 64 bit if you need to use more
>> than 4GB of RAM.
>>     
>
> I would say that if you have to ask if which you should be running
> then I think the person asking should stick with 32-bit.  It is
> simpler and if someone is asking then they probably need the simpler
> course of action.  I personally run 64-bit because I want to exercise
> that path and to fix any programs which do not work properly on
> 64-bits.  I think developers should run 64-bits to continue to improve
> the system.
Oh, absolutely- those of you smart enough to actually write code (which 
I am NOT), I'm glad that you're running 64 bit.

I think we're going to see some interesting things coming down the road 
in the next year or so, as people are already up against the 3.4 GB 
ceiling in Vista and still having performance issues (I run Vista at the 
office with 3 GB of RAM- it's just not enough).  Fortunately this isn't 
as large an issue with Linux desktops, however- Linux has been leading 
the charge towards 64 bit.
Xen and VMWare would not be possible if not for this effort, and 
Microsoft is still trying to catch up.
It's odd that it's come full circle like this, but if it weren't for Xen 
and VMWare my life would suck these days.

But more to the point- for the basic user experience, especially on 
older hardware - Linux 32-bit seems to be the more 'foolproof' way to 
go, IMHO

-DJ



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