<top posting because you did> I can't make any recommendation without knowing what he's trying to do of what his level of expertise is.
If he's a newbie, by response is, less is more. Linux gets the most out of old HW. I've made really responsive Linux servers at work out of old secretaries' desktops. And whatever you do, if you develop it on junk, it will transfer to better HW later. Using less for a development machine actually encourages tight development. That said, if I'm doing C/S, even though I know it can be developed on 127.0.0.1, I like to have a second machine (on a crossover if I don't have a hub) just to make sure I keep it clean. And if he's doing actual cluster programming, he should have a cluster, even if it's 2 discarded 286s. Oh, and on flavors of Linux, same deal. The business world (USA) thinks (erroneously) that Linux == RHEL, so CentOS is a good choice. Europe, I understand, feels almost the same way about SuSE. China supposedly touts Red Dragon, etc etc etc. My advice is, go with the distro your customer base is going to honor. Why lose the deal because they scream "Commie" when they see Debian (or "sell out!" when they see RH)? Most beginners spec their Linux needs WAY too high. With HD space being a possible exception, you can really get away with a lot less, especially in the development environment. Maybe if your pal posted directly we could explore his underlying needs and make intelligent recommendations. On Sat, January 10, 2009 11:57 am, Christoph Maier wrote: > Since I'm just using Linux (ubuntu 8.04 on a Dell D820 laptop), > the following is out of _my_ depth ... but Here Be Gurus, I heard. > > Christoph > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- >> From: Alan Nash <[email protected]> >> To: Programming <[email protected]> >> Subject: [programming] Looking for a powerful linux PC >> Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:01:56 -0500 >> >> I need to get a reasonably state of the art linux PC with dual screen >> setup, big HD (at least 2 or 3), and lots of CPU power. Any >> recommendations on where to look? Also, in the past I have used Red >> Hat. Any recommendations on flavors of Linux? >> >> I may also be looking into building a small linux cluster (5-10) nodes >> and would also like any reommendations on that. >> >> --Alan > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-newbie > -- Lan Barnes SCM Analyst Linux Guy Tcl/Tk Enthusiast Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-newbie
