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Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 6:39 pm Post subject: Linux

Does anyone use it here? I would like to track down a good site and/or forum but before I look I thought I would ask if anyone knows any good sites?

Not only do I like the idea of a cheaper operating system (although I purchased a copy of SuSE a while back) but I would like to look into the idea of tailoring the operating system for a less advanced PC. It seems daft for us to keep buying the latest PCs just to run the latest version of Windows when we don't use many of the features.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28238
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 6:52 pm Post subject:
I keep meaning to find the time to start really using Linux. I have a remote connection open to my Mandrake Linux machine at the moment, and I will frequently be doing some "work" on that machine. The remote connection uses "vnc" so the linux screen appears in a window on my windows box. But this is a lot different to making Linux my main environment.

beth

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 52
Location: Milton, Cambridge

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:15 pm Post subject:
I run linux at home and work. As to good site/forum, I dont know, I've been using it since the kernel was on version 0.9, probably 10 years. My research these days is usually just kernel hacking - it's my job, rather than from a user perspective. Beth

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28238
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:19 pm Post subject:

beth wrote:

I run linux at home and work. As to good site/forum, I dont know, I've been using it since the kernel was on version 0.9, probably 10 years. My research these days is usually just kernel hacking - it's my job, rather than from a user perspective.

Beth

A Linux guru

Have not built a kernel for a few years now. Building a custom kernel was kind of useful when creating a lean mean system out of an older PC. But my current Linux box is a decent spec anyway.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:31 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

Building a custom kernel was kind of useful when creating a lean mean system out of an older PC.

That's exactly what I'm getting at! It seems an ideal thing for the site to be interested in as it helps people keep older PCs running. Saving money and reducing the need for a new PC every few years.

Hi Beth, can you tell more about what you do?

Anyone recommend a reasonable book/magazine then if there isn't a good forum?

beth

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 52
Location: Milton, Cambridge

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:35 pm Post subject:
Hardly a guru. I work for MIPS technologies 'doing' linux for their new processors. I used to think I knew a thing or two about linux, but my colleagues soon changed that idea. Beth

beth

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 52
Location: Milton, Cambridge

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 9:57 pm Post subject:

Quote:

[Hi Beth, can you tell more about what you do?
...
Anyone recommend a reasonable book/magazine then if there isn't a good forum?

I cant say much about work, other than 'hacking the kernel"....

Running Linux on lower spec machines is all about what you get it to do. Not really a kernel issue, as long as it runs. Eg the machine I'm running my desktop on here has a little 1Gz Via Nehemiah/C3 processor, on a mini-ITX motherboard. It runs the heavyweight KDE desktop. It aint quick but as long as I let it start applications at it's own pace it'll get there soon enough. And it's near silent. Having enough ram helps so that it doesn't swap too much. Web browsing I dont really notice any difference to my 3Gz Pentium 4 Hyperthreading monster in work. The main trouble is people expect 'eye-candy' so that's what the major distro's all try to deliver. Which comes at a penalty.

The distro I'd go for on a low spec machine would be something like Slackware, or Gentoo. But both of those would have rather a steep and frustrating learning curve for a newbie who just want to *use* the machine. IYKWIM. Suse is a good choice as it holds your hand well, but you can tweak without breaking the system. And it's very comprehensive if you buy the profesional edition.

Beth

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 10:14 pm Post subject:
I have SuSE pro 8.1 so it's a good start for me to play with. What I have noticed using this site on a P3 128Mb RAM PC and a P4 3GHz 1GB RAM 'monster' is that there is no difference!

N.V.M.

Joined: 05 Feb 2005
Posts: 207
Location: British Columbia,Canada,eh!

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 11:36 pm Post subject:
i'm using Libranet Classic. sure its not the latest, but its a freebee, and installs easier than Windows.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28238
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 11:41 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

I have SuSE pro 8.1 so it's a good start for me to play with.

What I have noticed using this site on a P3 128Mb RAM PC and a P4 3GHz 1GB RAM 'monster' is that there is no difference!

you used to be able to get a decent word processor on a 2mhz machine

It is actually staggering just how software can be slow on something running 100's of times faster...

N.V.M.

Joined: 05 Feb 2005
Posts: 207
Location: British Columbia,Canada,eh!

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 11:47 pm Post subject:
should'nt be too much difference anyways, no matter what OS. i was using a Pentium 233Mhz(WinXP) to surf around on my cable connection, and it wasn't really that bad.

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