The state of 64-bit Desktop Linux

[Tyler Aviss]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 10:52 AM, Marc Lanctot <lanctot-yfeSBMgouQgsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> 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?
>
I've used gparted for this before and never had any issues. It's
always a good idea to make sure you create the restore disk as a
just-in-case though, it seems many laptops don't ship with one by
default and require that you burn it yourself (lame)


> - 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.
>

Last time I setup an Nvidia card was around Christmas. My cousin's
laptop worked fine, though I had to use a 2.6.27 kernel since it
wouldn't compile against 2.6.28 (might be since fixed)


> - Is 64-bit Flash 10 stable and working well?

Been using it for the last few days now, and it seems that after I
mentioned it a few others picked it up as well. The driver is "beta"
but runs a lot better than using the nspluginwrapper cruft

>
> - 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)
>

I think I had to jump through some hoops for this. I'll rebuild and
see if I can remember what was involved


> - 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.
>

Ubuntu. But if you like KDE3.5 stick with Hardy for now. If you're a
Gnome user or want to brave KDE4, you could go with Intrepid (I
recommend using the extra sources to at least get KDE4.2 in the case)

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

Always seem to work just as well with my 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
They both seem to have the same drivers AFAIK

> Marc
>
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