[ILUG] Suggestions for best 64 bit Linux distro?

[John Madden]

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On (22/06/05 18:34), Paul Biggar didst pronounce:
> Debian x86_64 wasn't an official release, so I didn't think I could
> expect the full support that I thought I'd get with gentoo, and which
> I'm happy to say, I have gotten with gentoo. Some high points and
> low-points:
> 
Just to follow up on the Debian bits of this post. I've been using
debian-amd64 for almost a year now I'd say (can't remember exactly when
I bought the 64-bit stuff). It has followed testing the whole way
through, and any updates to testing were in the amd64 port at the same
time or very shortly after. The only main issue I have with it is OOo
hasn't been ported yet.

> - They treat amd64 as a first class architecture, unlike debian.
> 
Ya, it's not "official" yet, but it's very well supported. 

> You can get around some of these problems by running a debian chroot.
> But that's twice the install, and you need to use debootstrap, which
> is also not trivial.
> 
The chroot is _very_ simple to install. Google will show up multiple
howto's on setting it up. I use a chroot for Firefox and flash, and it
works perfectly. I don't really keep it updated, since I only want it
for flash really. I will install OOo at some stage, but I've been
working fine without it so far, so haven't really come across an urgent
need for it.

> All in all, when debian etch comes out, and has full amd64 support, I
> will probably switch.
> 
I'd say try it now. It's very stable. The only problems I've come across
with the packages have been in both the supported testing and amd64
testing branches (and, even at that, they were miniscule and fixed
within a day). At one stage, the primary amd64 apt repository (alioth)
was unavailable for whatever reason, but I just switched to using a
mirror and all was fine again.

If you want any setup advice etc., I'll help out where I can (or, where
I can remember what I did!).

- -- 
Chat ya later,

John.
- --
BOFH excuse #1: clock speed
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