oolite-linux - linux noob - which hardware?

[lfnfan]

thanks all

@L_W - that starts to make sense And as Core i3 is x64, I have both bases covered.

@ahruman - not sure what to add to your comments, but I do feel a general sense of comfort that you are in a position to apply your seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge to the Oolite project.

@Thargoid - +1 for the HP, then. Have you had it running Linux at all, or just the Win 7 that it shipped with? Farmville - is that like Smallville?

[Thargoid]

Just Win7 for the moment. I have an Ubuntu 10 CD around somewhere, but not played with it on this hardware yet. And I may well not do so, as I don't want to destabilise anything (it ain't currently broken...) plus I'd need to get her off the machine for long enough

Farmville is one of the games associated with Farcebook. But given the time I spend on OXP-making I can't argue against her method of passing leisure time...

[lfnfan]

fair enough. I will probably take an image of the un-messed with hdd. 'cos when I start faffing with linux, Win 7 will undoubtedly break quite rapidly...

Farcebook - not my cup of tea, personally. Several hundred million people disagree, but nobody's perfect.

[Thargoid]

Exactly my own thinking, on both counts

[Getafix]

Hi Ifnfan.

Both laptops will do fine for linux experimenting.
Linux itself would perform decently even with 1GB of memory.
In fact the previous oolite nightly server had 1GB at its early days,
and still managed to have a Windows virtual machine with 768MB of RAM to build the windows nightly!
However, for the average user nowadays, I always suggest not less than 3GB memory.


Both n3 and g62 CPUs are pretty similar with the n3 being slightly stronger.


For eye candy Oolite OXPs, having hands-on experience on various Intel, ATI and nVidia chipsets,
I concluded that the best OpenGL implementation goes with nVidia drivers for both windows and linux.
Well, it's hard to find a low budget nVidia laptop, though.

I've noticed that both laptops have 1366x768 maximum resolution.
We had a case of a commander not being able to have full screen Oolite in that resolution,
however, it seems it's a specific driver issue. Read this topic for details.


The Linux Mint (Ubuntu based distro) is a nice distro for the linux newcomer,
with a really straight forward installation and an intuitive desktop environment.
Go for the 64bit Live DVD. After the installation, install all available updates (you will be notified to do so anyhow).

Ubuntu could also be one of your choices. I usually vote for LTS (i.e. long term support) releases (latest 10.04) and
I forget about intermediate releases.

If your laptop comes with windows pre-installed, I suggest you take a backup image of the whole disk
(you will pay for this windows license so why loosing it?) and then go for the linux installation.
You could also check if it is possible to get your laptop without paying for the windows license and
even get a better price for it.


Summarizing (personal non-objective opinion follows):
Memory: >=3GB

CPU: In any case I go for Intel
(heavily biased personal opinion coming from an old chump like me having a childhood trauma of an AMD incompatibility issue.
Things have progressed since then and heavy metal bar's have extincted! )

Gfx: nVidia chipset
(If within budget this is what really makes a difference for some Oolite OXPs!
Looking forward into Oolite 2 it becomes a strong recommendation.)

OS: 64 bit live DVD of Linux Mint or Ubuntu Desktop LTS
(If you find an application that you desperately want and is 32bit, you can always install "ia32-libs".)


Cheers!

[lfnfan]

thanks v much Getafix

i had a look for nVidia gfx - ouch they are not cheap! Closest I could find was £280 above my budget - that's a few pairs of shoes too many. I will still have my desktop for Oolite 2 so no worries there

i will definitely take an image of Win7 - no point wasting it. I use clonezilla for this purpose, on my current desktop. May even dual boot when I learn how.

cheers all

[DaddyHoggy]

You can get Linux to make a dual boot when you install it - I've done this a few times with Ubuntu (Fiesty->Gutsy->Karmic) with both 98SE, XP and Vista - it gives you the option when you install it to repartition and leave the original OS in place - putting GRUB at the front so you can select which OS you wish to boot into...

[lfnfan]

that would make things easier