To follow up on the recent discussion of buying hardware components, you can find my views, as well as instructions on how to build your own desktop, at
"Building Your Own Linux Ubuntu Computer" http://daveshields.wordpress.com/2007/09/10/building-your-own-linux-ubuntu-computer-using-the-ecs-geforce-6100sm-m-motherboard/ This post is by far my post popular. I've written almost 1,000 posts, yet this one alone has accounted for well over 10% of my total views. In brief, I recommend buying the second cheapest. Not the cheapest, but one step above that. A related post is "Build Your Own Linux Ubuntu Supercomputer for Uner $350" http://daveshields.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/build-your-own-linux-ubuntu-supercomputer-for-under-350/ in which I remark that, for well under $500, you can build a computer that far exceeds the capacity of the CDC 6600, the world's largest computer from 1965-1970. Put another way, to equal the performance of today's $350 desktop would take over $300 BILLION dollars using 1966 technology at 1966 prices. Moore's Law is magical. Hardware is unbelievably cheap, yet so many people try to stay at the leading edge when they would be hard pressed to use one ten thousandth of the machine's capacity. For example, many of us have dual core processors, yet I doubt the second processor is in meaningful use over one per cent of the time. Re video cards, I used to favor using onboard video, but now recommend using a video card. One you have one that works with Linux you can move it to new hardware with little concern about whether it will work on a new box. thanks, dave _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Jul 1 - Linux High Performance Computing Aug 5 - TBD Sept 2 - Linux and HDTV
