[PLUG] PC Purchase

plug_0 at robinson-west.com plug_0 at robinson-west.com
Wed Oct 25 20:36:10 UTC 2006


Quoting alan <alan at clueserver.org>:

> On Tue, 24 Oct 2006, Jeme A Brelin wrote:
> 
> >
> > On Tue, 24 Oct 2006, tonyr wrote:
> >> This is just a starting point. Dual core/64bit architectures are taking 
> >> over, at least from the advertising standpoint, and there doesn't seem to
> 
> >> be much of a price hit, if any.
> >
> > My observation on this list and other places has lead me to believe that
> the 
> > 64-bit architectures aren't supported nearly as wonderfully (in, say,
> Debian) 
> > as the 32-bit.  Is that still the case?
> 
> Only if you run unfree/unclean software.
> 
> I have been running 64-bit Fedora since FC2 without major problems. 
> Closed source codecs and apps are the only problem. (Flash, for example.)
> 
> And you can still run 32 bit apps under the 64-bit kernel.
> 
> > Does the dual-core technology require anything of the software?  Does stuff
> 
> > compiled for SMP work on the dual-core CPUs seamlessly?
> 
> No software changes that would not be required of an SMP app.
> 
> -- 
> Gorgon minion:    "Is the Source dangerous?"
> Gorgon Commander: "Only if it is on your side."
>               - Quark Episode 2
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> 

 
What does the 64 bit refer to?  Is it: the word size on these processors, 
the memory addressing space, a clever way to shove 2 32 bit processors 
into one package?  For all the recent duo core hype, is it really 
merited?  Sounds to me like problems from IA-32 architecture are still 
causing trouble for operators of the newer Itanium architecture systems, 
if that's what it's called.  I have an Alpha system.  A miserable 
experience, everywhere I went it was hard to get the right software 
for it.  To make it run again, I need to modify a new power supply for it.
  
Linux was lagging behind on Alpha and Microsoft abandoned both their 
Windows NT and their Windows 2000 port.  What will make or break 64 
bit computing?  Alpha got killed,  what makes Intel think that their 
64 bit offerings are going to live?  What makes AMD so confident?

The computer industry has pushed for speed, speed, and more speed.  Are
the current technologies being taken as far as they can go?  Hard drives
have grown in capacity impressively fast, yet lately their reliability
seems to be dropping.  Motherboard level: APM, plug and play, and ACPI 
implementations still seem to vary a great deal causing problems even 
in Windows.  Are features still designed for Windows by chipset and
processor manufacturers without any consideration of other OS'es.  Maybe 
our computers are getting fast enough, but what good is a race car without
tires?  What good is a duo core pentium system if the $10 power supply 
dies?  People say 64 bit computing is a reality, but then I see a long
discussion about problems running flash on these systems.

Reliability needs to catch up to speed increases.  Maybe skillful use of
pelsiar devices will allow the newest processors to operate fanless and
save on power consumption.  Nothing like losing a $3000 computer because
a $20 fan failed.

     --  Michael C. Robinson

     --  Michael C. Robinson

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