Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

[Rich]

Just wanted to say that I'm very impressed with 8.10 64-bit development. I installed it onto my 'other' machine and it is very good. You've made great strides and progress with this distro. I am indeed happy with it. Despite some of the negativity you may have received I find it works very well indeed. Keep up the good work. I also think KDE 4.1.2/4.1.3 is very good and progressing. I've got Suse 11.0 on my 32-bit machine and it too is working very well.

Thanks for a great distro. Keep it going!!

Rich

[lmilano]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Thanks Rich for the feedback for the community

Could you summarize what are the pros/cons of running 64 bit kubuntu? I guess the obvious cons are the lack of some binary (proprietary) apps ... but there is some progress with Flash coming along ... what else do you miss in 64 bits? What do you like about it?

(I am asking because I am considering a new PC purchase within the next few months to replace my main desktop)

Thanks!

[dibl]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

I guess the obvious cons are the lack of some binary (proprietary) apps ...

No, that's an "urban legend". On my 64-bit Kubuntu system, Synaptic shows 26,087 packages. I suspect that is exactly what you see on a 32-bit Kubuntu system, right?

There may be a proprietary package or two lurking around, that hasn't yet been compiled for 64-bit architecture, but they are few and far between in my experience, recently.

but there is some progress with Flash coming along ... what else do you miss in 64 bits?

Flash works just fine, as does Java. VMware Player, Ekiga, OOO 3, Amarok 1.9x -- they all work just fine. You would have to have a very particular, specific reason to NOT install 64-bit Kubuntu on a 64-bit platform, in my opinion, and I'm not sure what that reason might be.

[lmilano]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Thanks Dibl!

Yes, opensource packages are compiled for 64 bits, and in fact GNU/Linux was by far the first OS to massively adopt 64 bits. My concern is the binary stuff (Flash, win32 codecs, NVIdia drivers, etc). I think people used to run a wrapper to get those running? (something like a 32 bit compatibility layer). Anyway, that's about it.

Performance wise, 64 bit is a pleasure, right?

[dibl]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Browser plugins -- here's what I see in Firefox 3.0.4:



You add the Medibunto repo, and get the w64codecs package. Nvidia proprietary drivers come in 32-bit and 64-bit packages, so that's a non-issue. No wrapper needed for anything, here. GoogleEarth, Ekiga (I don't care for Skype, but I've run it before on my 64-bit rig).

This is a desktop system -- I don't need wireless on it. There may be an ndiswrapper required for some proprietary wireless drivers -- I dunno about that.

Yep, 64-bit is smooth and creamy -- the only thing not working is my webcam, and that's the same for everyone using a 2.6.27 kernel, at the moment. I'm sure it will be fixed soon when the new v4l is released.

[Detonate]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Everything is working great for me. Including the new flash plugin ver 10. I use gecko for my multi media plugin in firefox and it works great.

[lmilano]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Thanks a lot guys! I am drooling already

[sjhstorm]

Re: Kubuntu 8.10 64-bit

Just curious, has anyone noticed any improvement / advantage running 64 bit compared to 32 bit.