Thanks to everyone for the responses! I have worked with a couple Linux version (professionally, I am a Solaris person, but I don't let that stand in the way of progress!) and currently use (K)Ubuntu just because it quickly and easily picked up my wireless card from my laptop (I am the guy with the oddball German keyboard on the slightly old IBM Laptop). The others I installed (Mandriva, SUSE, a few others I frankly don't recall now) did not, after a reasonable amount of tweaking, so that really is the only reason I am running Ubuntu now. I like it, it does seem easy to maintain and I am gradually migrating from that other horrid OS that is everywhere..... Since the new system is my son's (sigh... maybe someday, I will get to upgrade my personal systems), I will probably park Ubuntu on it for now, dual it up with Fedora later so *I* can play and see how things go. I believe my older son (the one with the micro-miniature repair abilities) is running Fedora (I have lost count, but I think he is officially beyond 7 versions of Linux now) and likes it a lot.
Really appreciate all the input. I hope to get more active with the group as time goes on. Might even make a lunch once in a great while (though tonight is Science Cafe in Newburgh, the wife would get upset if I bought two meals in one day!) JackC On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 6:57 PM, Jim Hartley <[email protected]> wrote: > He has a good point. I tend to recommend Ubuntu to Linux newbies, because > it is (allegedly) easy to set up and run. But I don't want to use it myself. > My **PERSONAL** choice is Fedora, if you're going to try several (why not, > they're all free!!) put Fedora on the list. Or CentOS, it is quite similar, > but a little more stable and less bleeding edge. > > Jim Hartley > > Chris Knadle wrote: > >> On Monday 16 March 2009, Jack Chastain wrote: >> ... >> >>> The CPU is listed as: "Intel Core2 Duo processor E7400". I searched >>> this a bit and it appears (thought I am not at all certain) to be a >>> 64-bit CPU. >>> >>> I downloaded Ubuntu 8.10 last night, but this morning noted the >>> file name is "Ubuntu-8.10-desktop-amd64.iso" >>> >>> That "amd" part concerns me. >>> >> >> Don't let that worry you -- the amd64 version is the correct version. >> ia-64 essentially means "Itanium 64-bit" and won't work with standard >> 64-bit Intel or 64-bit AMD CPUs. It's unfortunate that the nomenclature >> lends to this confusion. >> >> Two questions for anyone: Is this CPU in need of the 64-bit or >>> 32-bit Ubuntu package, and if 64-bit, is the above listed file >>> appropriate? >>> >> >> The Core2 Duo can run either 32-bit or the amd64 64-bit version, but not >> ia-64, at least as far as I know. >> >>> (It is really weird - Dell's first page for Open Source systems >>> shows a desktop system with Ubuntu all over it, but they presently >>> only sell Ubuntu-loaded laptops. Sigh.) >>> >>> I will also take any alternate advice on the "proper" Linux for >>> this system. >>> >> >> The "proper" Linux is the one that you like, are most familar with, >> understand, and can keep up-to-date. Ubuntu is relatively easy to keep >> up-to-date and so is probably a good place to start, however the best thing >> I can suggest is that you try several different distributions over time to >> get familiar with a few of them. If you click on a few of the distributions >> at http://distrowatch.com on the right-hand side bar named "Page Hit >> Ranking", you can get a discription of each distribution and links to >> reviews that can give you an idea of what unique features each of the >> distributions offers. >> >> -- Chris >> >> > -- > Teen Angel - a ghost story - http://teenangel.netfirms.com > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Mar 7 - Web Hack-a-thon - SUNY Newpaltz > Apr 1 - EC2 and Cloud Computer > May 6 - TBD > -- Eschew obfuscation and pompous prolixity. Light a man a fire, he is warm for the night. Light a man afire, he is warm for the rest of his life. _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 7 - Web Hack-a-thon - SUNY Newpaltz Apr 1 - EC2 and Cloud Computer May 6 - TBD
