Fast and Stable. X options.

[Mutiny]

I have another post in the general Linux forum about which distro to use. (Debian is downloading right now)

This is to finish out my fast and stable machine. It is an AMD600 with 512M RAM and a 27GB RAID 0 (3 10000RPM drives) so size doesn't matter. Only speed and stability as a graphic workstation.

4.0.x sounds too risky but with potential speed. 3.3.x has been around for a while. Which version of X do you recommend?

Which window manager?

I must have Gnome for one app. What version is the best?

I am looking for specifics here, versions and all if possible.

Thanks,
Mutiny

[wmHardRock]

Try console (so no X) with screen. Feels like a king-sized bed with 3 chicks with you

wmHardRock

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:wq PoWeR!!!

[Shad]

XFree86 4.0 is unstable and not advisable. Xfre86 4.0.1 is quite stable and I would advise it for all but old unsupported video cards. For Gnome, latest version of Helix Gnome (http://www.helixcode.com), every release has been more stable.

If you want fast, IceWM, Sawfish, Blackbox would be advisable. IF you like bells and whistles- why not Gnome/Sawfish?

I would suggest latest versions, I use mostly bleeding edge and don't find any problems. Of course I don't use GCC 2.96 http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

DOH- I made a wrong link.
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Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life

[This message has been edited by Shad (edited 13 October 2000).]

[nopun]

Originally posted by wmHardRock:
Try console (so no X) with screen. Feels like a king-sized bed with 3 chicks with you

wmHardRock



That's the second time I've heard someone mention "screen" in these forums. What is it exactly and where can I get it? It sounds kinda interesting. (I don't fancy doing a search on "screen"!)

[wmHardRock]

nopun: here's what screen is and a little tutorial.

Let's say you can't run X Windows on your Linux box (or maybe you DON'T want to run it) and you still want to have multiple apps in the console without having to log on different terminals. There's a solution: screen. When you start screen, it generates a new bash "window", and you can create up to 10 of these. So you're basically in console, on the same tty, and you run epic4, links, emacs, bash and mpg123. Now here's a tutorial on how to use screen:
(first start it) ^a == Ctrl+a
^a ? ==> Gives an help screen
^a c ==> creates a new screen
^a 1 (or any number) ==> Switches to this screen (supposing you created it)
^a n ==> Moves to the next screen
^a p ==> Moves to the previous screen
^a ^a ==> Switches between the two last acceded screens (like Alt-Tab in KDE)
^a a ==> Simulates Ctrl-a if a program needs it
^a N ==> Tells you which screen you're in

BTW, the first screen is 0, second is 1, etc. To close screen just Ctrl-d every screen, and at last you'll get a message [screen is terminating]

wmHardRock


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"Hi could you print my report please? My printer is broken here."
"What was your username again?"
# cd ~user
# grep 'gay' mbox > /etc/motd
# cat /dev/null > phd_final_report
# userdel user

"It's not there; probably due to electro-magnetic rains provoked by solar instability"

[minimoog]

Mutiny...with a system like that,why dont you check out an accelerated X server(yes they cost money)and a good vid card like the Elsa Gloria Geforce Quad,you'll be smoke'n http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

[nopun]

Originally posted by wmHardRock:
nopun: here's what screen is and a little tutorial.

Let's say you can't run X Windows on your Linux box (or maybe you DON'T want to run it) and you still want to have multiple apps in the console without having to log on different terminals.


Thanks for the explanation - to be honest I don't mind using different tty sessions (it's pretty easy to switch between them) - I can see how it would be very useful to someone who's not sitting at the main console.

[Pierre Lambion]

Reading the original post, I have the feeling the CLI propaganda is completely out of scope.
The computer will be used as a *graphic workstation* (sic).
I like cli and do all ftp, irc, icq, file mgmt, mp3, ... at console. However, some applications need graphics : gimp, some web browsing (depending on interest), presentations (powerpoint work), ...
So, I have the feeling that some of the previous responses intended more to satisfy/boast ourself as cli power users rahter than to help.

All I can say as an attempt to help on the question is: you don't have to relate your need for a gnome app to the window manager you will use. You will need the gnome libs but don't have to use the gnome desktop.
From this point, any wm would do: blackbox, icewm, fwm, ...

I don't know about accelerated servers but you should indeed investigate if it's for profesionnal purposes.

Pierre

[This message has been edited by Pierre Lambion (edited 16 October 2000).]

[nopun]

Originally posted by Pierre Lambion:
Reading the original post, I have the feeling the CLI propaganda is completely out of scope.

That's probably a fair point.
Sorry to drag this post "off topic" - I was just finding out what "screen" was. (From the context, I thought it might be some alternative for displaying graphics without going for the full blown X thing (like DOS based graphics w/o Windows in days of old) - I can see that was pretty niaive of me (after all, a whole lot of what X is about is negotiating all that treacherous video h/w))