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  • #31
    Originally posted by alcalde View Post
    I have a gifted laptop from circa 2005 with an AMD Sempron processor (32-bit, 1 core), 512MB RAM and a 4200rpm 75GB IDE hard drive. Needless to say, Windows 8 isn't much of an option here. However, I just installed the new OpenSUSE 12.3 on it and the machine is quite usable (so long as you don't want to run lots of programs or browser tabs at once). In fact, I can run XBMC on it and its ATI (yes, ATI, not AMD) 200M (X300) graphics. It can play back 720p video files too - granted with no video acceleration and just about 100% CPU usage, but it works! Web browsing, Marble, Google Earth, Eric5 IDE and python coding... I can even use WINE to run games up to circa '98/'99 like Dungeon Keeper II and Half Life.

    I have to go on overnight trips every few months and having this old laptop in a functional state is a lot better than not having a laptop at all. Please don't start asking people to kill off support for 32bit just yet. Why, it was just last year Linux killed off 80386 support! :-) Besides, there's a bazillion embedded controllers, including x86 controllers, kiosks, ATMs, etc. that are 32 bit that Linux needs to run on.
    I like stories like this, it shows the other side of Linux; the side that can help to revive old computers and still be running current software and really benefit someone, instead of it being thrown on the garbage heap.

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    • #32
      Originally posted by duby229 View Post
      Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not calling Ubuntu users retarded. Instead I'm saying that a certain percentage of any userbase is going to be retarded, and lets face it, most of that group will be using Ubuntu.
      New users shun gnu/linux ecosystem because of people like you.

      I'm using Linux since 2009 and tried many of the major distributions including Slackware, Debian, Mint and OpenSuse. Shortly after introduction of Unity I switched to Ubuntu. It has apt and it's beautifull. I'm not a programmer or admin, and I use Linux on my home desktop. Ubuntu will be primary choice for people, who want to switch from Windows, and you should respect them for trying and respect Canonical for helping them.

      By the way, my PC has 2 GB of ram, my Ubuntu is 32-bit and I use Nouveau driver to play indie games on steam.

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      • #33
        Originally posted by honeybadger View Post
        New users shun gnu/linux ecosystem because of people like you.

        I'm using Linux since 2009 and tried many of the major distributions including Slackware, Debian, Mint and OpenSuse. Shortly after introduction of Unity I switched to Ubuntu. It has apt and it's beautifull. I'm not a programmer or admin, and I use Linux on my home desktop. Ubuntu will be primary choice for people, who want to switch from Windows, and you should respect them for trying and respect Canonical for helping them.

        By the way, my PC has 2 GB of ram, my Ubuntu is 32-bit and I use Nouveau driver to play indie games on steam.
        Of course I respect it. The best thing about Linux is that they are free to choose what they want. If people want to choose Ubuntu then they can feel free to do so, and the more the merrier. I' would love to see market share rise significantly. If people like you choose to shun linux because of its diversity then don't blame me... That is your opinion not mine.... The more people that choose to use Ubuntu or any distro the better it is for everyone.

        I welcome diversity. I'd love to see more of it. Diversity comes in all forms... Retards and Geniuses. Biased and Unbiased. There is nothing you or I can do about it that is just the way it is.

        It doesnt mean that the majority of Ubuntu users are retarded... Quite the contrary as a matter of fact... But it does mean the the majority of retarded users are Ubuntu users. If for no other reason than it is the easiest distro and most commonly available one. I say so be it, retarded or not they are perfectly welcome.
        Last edited by duby229; 18 March 2013, 03:40 AM.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by duby229 View Post
          Even if you did only have 2GB RAM, a 64bit OS allows to use the full register table. Double the general registers and also double the SSE registers as well. If the applications you need arent compute heavy then it probably wont matter, but it is still an advantage of 64bit over 32bit that applies even at smaller memory amounts.
          None of this matters for people running Atom-based systems, which is probably the primary market for 32-bit distros if we ignore people who just select the "recommended" version of Ubuntu. They have little RAM, can't run anything compute-heavy and can't physically run a 64-bit OS anyway.

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          • #35
            Yeah, that is true. Atom sucks pretty hard. So for those folks putting linux on it they will need to deal with its limitations. Then there is the whole PowerVR fiasco to boot. But I can't think of many games that will run on Atom anyway so I don't think it'll be very useful for Steam.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by duby229 View Post
              Yeah, that is true. Atom sucks pretty hard. So for those folks putting linux on it they will need to deal with its limitations. Then there is the whole PowerVR fiasco to boot. But I can't think of many games that will run on Atom anyway so I don't think it'll be very useful for Steam.
              I ran Portal on an Atom netbook from about 2008. I managed around 15FPS on average at 1024x600 on low graphics. Gaming monster!!

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              • #37
                Sum of things.

                Let's sum up the thread:

                Why Ubuntu? Because of ease of use, Big community and a Company that is pushing Linux to the masses, which no one else has bothered to do in all these years. Apparently, ease of use and a large user base is scary to the old hats it seems.

                Why 32bit? I don't know about others but I chose 32bit because Xubuntu recommended that I use 32bit. And the last time I tried 64bit I had severe compatibility problems.

                That's about it, in a nut shell.

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by Mike Frett View Post
                  And the last time I tried 64bit I had severe compatibility problems.
                  Compatibility problems with what, if i may ask?

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by elanthis View Post
                    It's somewhat annoying to me that the major distros even keep making 32-bit x86 releases. I was likewise annoyed that Windows didn't go 64-bit only by Win8, or even as far ago as Vista. OSX is the only major OS that only ships a 64-bit only OS these days; a facet of their control of the hardware. Still, I can't imagine a sizable portion of users are upgrading to the latest Fedora/Ubuntu or Windows on ancient hardware; I'm sure it happens (someone here will claim they do it, surely), but happens enough to be worth caring about? Especially on Linux where specialist "you suck and need new hardware" distros exist and more will arise if necessary. There's no strong reason to develop, test, and distribute x86-32 builds of Fedora or Ubuntu anymore. Likewise on Windows; users on old hardware and upgrading to the latest OS are statistical anomalies. The markets where ancient hardware is common are just pirating XP anyways; fuck 'em. Hopefully there's some market research somewhere to prove me wrong and make the situation less ridiculous.
                    how about: fuck you.

                    you do realize that the entire point of shit like lubuntu, lxde fedora, bodhi, puppy etc is to keep old hardware alive right


                    cut 32bit support and half the linux distros will be gone

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                    • #40
                      Chill out man.

                      I don't think anyone really wants to "kill" 32-bit support. Rather, it's high time that distributions stop recommending it as default. Leave the 32-bit ISOs there for those who do need/want them, just like the PPC builds.

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