[Ham-Computers] Hardware suggestions for Linux system in the ham shack

[Ken Sprouse]

Dale Miller wrote:

> Fistly welcome to the Linux Operating System.
> I would recommend AMD as there a better processor IMO
> I would also go with a AGP Video Card, I have had good luck with 
> Nvidia Video Cards.
>
> Sluggish on your laptop is not really the memory as long as you have 
> at least 128mb of RAM and you partitioned a swap.
> If your laptop is slower than a 400mHz then that could be your problem 
> with sluggish.
> If is under 400mHz I would go with something other than SuSe, that 
> offers a ligher desktop.
> KDE and Gnome are really slow on anything under 400mHz.
> There are some really nice light Window Managers such as WindowMaker, 
> and IceWM or Xfce there are alot lighter than KDE or Gnome.
>
> One last comment if you like SuSe try a Debian base Distro like Simply 
> Mepis or Ubuntu.
> Unbuntu can be had Completely free, shipped to you free pressed CD's 
> from here http://www.shipit.ubuntulinux.org/
> Of course it defaults to a Gnome Window Manager but there in the 
> process of making KDE an option too.
>
> Enjoy
> Dale Miller, KC2CBD
>
Greetings from Pittsburgh.   The laptop I am currently using is a Dell 
Latitude CPi which I think is a 400 mHz P3 with 192 megs of RAM.  I 
picked SuSe because they offered the GUI equivalent of Access that works 
in conjunction with Open Office.  This is something that I had not see 
with any other distribution.  I have tried Simply MEPIS on a Dell 
Optiplex GX1 desktop system and other than not finding the on board 
sound card the install went well and the performance did seem good.

I have a case and power supply ready to put together with the P3 450 mHz 
mother board that I took out of my wife's system when I upgraded her to 
a 1.8 gHz Pentium and Windows XP about six months ago.  I think I will 
take that board and make a server for MP3 and digital pictures and leave 
it as a simple command line interface.  Others have recommended the 
Nvidia video card to me and I think I will try a new faster mother board 
with on board video and it I need more performance I will go with an AGP 
card.

So far I have been very impressed with Linux both Red Hat and SuSe.  My 
objective at this point is to eliminate Windows and Microsoft products 
from the ham shack so as not to have to worry about connecting to the 
Internet.  Past that I would like to use Linux as a learning tool for 
the network environment.  I hope I can find open source or Linux based 
software for working with digital modes in ham radio and doing routines 
tasks like station logs.  Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Best of 73's
Ken/WA3FKG


-- 
Ken Sprouse / WA3FKG   John 3:16
Blog: http://www.hamblog.com/blog_wa3fkg.php
Member of the American Radio Relay League
Pittsburgh Area Scanner net on Sunday evenings 9:00PM on 147.090 mHz.
Glock - The ultimate point and click user interface. (c)