D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

[LUG] 64bit Debian

 

I will (hopefully... if I get a good opportunity to do so) soon be
wiping my laptop clean and installing a fresh Debian on there.  Last
time I looked at 64bit vs 32bit with any seriousness it seemed that
although 64bit could (in theory) provide an edge over 32bit systems if
your hardware spec was sufficient (ie it really wasn't worth it if you
had 4GB of RAM or less), and certainly if you ran a "desktop" system
you were in for a fair bit of hassle getting everything "just right".

That was, however, quite a while ago.

Now, my laptop had an AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-57
(from /proc/cpuinfo).  Grantedly I only have 2GB of RAM in it (I don't
really need even that), but I've been happily chugging away with 32bit
Ubuntu on it for a few years now.  I would like to keep up-to-date a
bit more (still on Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS) but I am going off Ubuntu a
little bit more each month.  I used to be a Debian person (on my
long-lost desktop machine) and routinely had either Testing or Sid on
the go.  Again, these were usually 32bit systems though.

So, my question to you all is this: For a laptop that will not be
running as a server of any kind but as a "desktop", with 2GB of RAM, is
it (yet) worth going for a 64bit Debian Testing install, or would I
(still) be better going for a 32bit?

Grant.

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq