The state of 64-bit Desktop Linux

Marc Lanctot lanctot-yfeSBMgouQgsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org
Wed Feb 11 16:04:59 UTC 2009


Marc Lanctot wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> My main machine at home has really been slow and I realized I made a bad 
> purchase 2 years ago. I'm quite sure it was low quality hardware that 
> was to blame, a HP Pavilion that came with a Pentium D chip which I'd 
> never heard of. I never figured out if Ubuntu was the cause of any of 
> the slow down but I do know that when I used Fluxbox over Gnome, or KDE 
> applications vs. Gnome applications the slowdown was more tolerable. If 
> I left my machine on all the time.. after 2-3 days it became unusable 
> unless I rebooted it. It became quite loud too, regardless of how many 
> fans I'd used to try to fix the heat problem.
> 
> I recently ordered a Dell Precision T3400. It's coming with a 64-bit 
> Intel Core 2 Duo (3 GHz) processor. It's a desktop intended to be a home 
> machine, user-friendly enough for my girlfriend to use as well.
> 
> In the past I've fought with 64-bit distributions. It's not Linux itself 
> that was the problem, it was the lack of compatibility for certain key 
> applications I'd gotten used to, mainly: Flash and Java browser plugins.
> 
> Now I've done the whole having a separate Firefox, or having a 32-bit 
> plugin wrapper, or using open flash alternatives. I'm not interested in 
> these "hacks". I would like to run Adobe Flash native and Sun's (not 
> Blackdown or anything else) Java plugin for Firefox. I ran into so many 
> problems that I decided I wasn't ready to run 64-bit Linux on a desktop 
> and have been dealing with a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit capable processor.
> 
> I've seen recently that Adobe *finally* released support for 64-bit 
> Flash in version 10 (beta?).
> 
> It seems like after 2 years there's hope for me running 64-bit Linux on 
> my desktop.
> 
> My questions are, /from your experience/
> 
> - I'll need to shrink the partition with Vista on it to make space for 
> my Linux partition. I usually use GNU parted. Do you foresee any issues 
> with this?
> 
> - Is the 64-bit NVIDIA drivers stable and working well (compared to the 
> 32-bit ones). I'm getting a "256MB PCIe x16 nVidia NVS 290, Dual Monitor 
> DVI Capable". The most intense thing I do with my video card is watch 
> movies (no games, no video production, etc.) With my current machine, 
> even watching a single movie will cause noticeable slow down afterwards.
> 
> - Is 64-bit Flash 10 stable and working well?
> 
> - Can I use an up-to-date Sun 64-bit Java plugin for Firefox (let's say 
> "up-to-date means" 5.0 or later)
> 
> - Is there any reason I would install, say, Debian vs. Ubuntu. Of all 
> the distros I've tried these two remain my favorite. However, Ubuntu has 
> continued to let me down since it came out. I keep using it because it's 
> more user friendly for my girlfriend (nice apps for Digital Cameras 
> etc.) though I have gone back and forth several times. The main issue I 
> have is that it makes a lot of assumptions that slow your machine down.. 
> like file system options and running several unnecessary background 
> processes that bloat up the system. I've had problem with compiz slowing 
> down video as well. Maybe this won't be much of an issue on the new 
> machine... or maybe I can just look into a HOWTO for slimming down the 
> default Ubuntu.
> 
> - Are there any other obvious problems running 64-bit Linux on a Desktop 
> I should know about?
> 
> Your answers will determine whether or not I stick with 32-bit OS for 
> the time-being. Thanks in advance for your help.

Sorry .. I forgot a few things

- The applications I use the most: firefox (with acroread, flash, and 
java plugins), thunderbird (with lightning and google calendar plugin), 
gvim and vim, gcc/g++, make, java, subversion, latex (tetex), pidgin, 
and audacious.

- If CUPS supports a printer in 32-bit Linux, would there be any issues 
with that same printer through CUPS in 64-bit?

I'm looking forward to finall harnessing the power of a 64-bit processor :)

Marc

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