[GRLUG] 64-bit Linux

[Greg Folkert]

On Fri, 2008-05-09 at 13:12 -0400, Michael Mol wrote:
> So I've got a brand-spankin-new laptop that I'd like to run Linux on.
> Thing is, this is my first box with a 64-bit processor.  I don't yet
> know if I want to run Ubuntu or Gentoo, but one problem remains: Do I
> run 32-bit or 64-bit?
> 
> I expect to do two things with my laptop: Watch video files, browse
> the Internet, and watch streaming video on the Internet.  *Maybe* some
> gaming. (It's been something like six years since I've had a computer
> deemed appropriate for video games...)
> 
> I know Flash on Linux tends to lag behind Flash on Windows, but does
> 64-bit Linux flash lag even further behind?  I also know there were
> problems with getting a 64-bit Java browser plugin, but Java applets
> on the Internet are rare, and even Java developers don't like to admit
> they exist.
> 
> So if I were to install a 64-bit Linux variant, what issues am I going
> to run into?

I was in the same position last august/sept put 64-bit Debian Sid on it.

Here is my current uname string:

2.6.24-1-686-bigmem #1 SMP Sat Apr 19 01:23:53 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

Its just not worth the extra time or effort to get Flash, Java (no 64bit
intel Java Plugin exists yet) and other things to run.

The only real downside is the greater than 4GB memory addressing in a
32-bit kernel. Larger pages... but at the rate that software is using
memory, its a non-issue now a day.
-- 
greg at gregfolkert.net
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