Foo - Now I remember why I moved away from Linux

I thought I'd try it again. TO take advantage of my new Athlon 64 bit setup, I thought I'd be bold and try Linux out again. Ubuntu seems pretty popular, so I installed the 64 bit edition.
Now I can't even get flash player 9 to run because it's not compatible with 64 :( :(

That ain't Ubuntu's problem. That's Adobe being a pile of festering suck.

There's a way to get it to work, but I don't remember what it is.

G00gl3ing in -.798743 seconds found me this (http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/linux/2007/09/22/installing-flash-9-on-64-bit-ubuntu/). Or lib32 stuff...

Okay I feel like I am going on a wild goose chase for some stupid libraries, and none of the repositories work. command terminal keeps telling me packages have been deleted.
I'm about to give up and delete this partition :(. If I want to take advantage of 64 bit, I'll get a copy of windows XP 64 bit edition. It flies on my friends computer

That ain't Ubuntu's problem. That's Adobe being a pile of festering suck.

There's a way to get it to work, but I don't remember what it is.

Well it is sort of is Ubuntu's problem. I understand you can get nspluginwrapper to get it working. Right now my Ubuntu is a fresh install, and synaptic wants me to get nspluginwrapper when I try and download flash player.
Why is it so hard to just have easily available packages? Instead of making users chase after all these different files? Is it so hard to make something where you just click and download and ALL the files needed with it?
People bash Microsoft, but at least you don't have to wage war against your machine to get it to do what you want. I'm a geek even

Well it is sort of is Ubuntu's problem. I understand you can get nspluginwrapper to get it working. Right now my Ubuntu is a fresh install, and synaptic wants me to get nspluginwrapper when I try and download flash player.
Why is it so hard to just have easily available packages? Instead of making users chase after all these different files? Is it so hard to make something where you just click and download and ALL the files needed with it?
People bash Microsoft, but at least you don't have to wage war against your machine to get it to do what you want. I'm a geek even

http://www.getautomatix.com/
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty

So translation: I'm too lazy to read some docs and do a little googling, so ubuntu sucks.

So I try to follow the directions exactly as these "how to" guides lay it out, and the outcome is never the same. I tried Linux about a year ago and came to the same conclusion: Because linux is so heavily dependent on these repositories, it seems to backfire. Even when I was installing it today, it got caught up on "scanning mirrors", 82% total progress. I had to disconnect my cat5 cable so that it would just time out and move on, to complete the installation. Why? Repository is down.

The outcome is never the same as these guides. I've tried Fedora 4, 5, and 6, and now Ubuntu.

Honestly, I don't know the problem with windows.

I've been running XP on my machine for like, 4 years, I never restart. Uptimes are usually about a month at a time with 2-3 sessions of word, 2-3 sessions of excel, eudora, 6-8 sessions of IE, autocad, autodesk inventor, adobe acrobat, 3dstudio, some kinda FEA package, the google desktop with like 8 widgets loaded, 3-4 custom programs for my company, and I just leave the damn computer on like that all the time.

It's split between two 21" wide screens, I don't remember when the last time I've ever had a problem with windows was. Usually it's inventor or the FEA package that brings the system down.

FEA package that brings the system down.

Of course you know that FEA is not actually based on scientific principles. It's black magic!

By freely admitting to using this, you acknowledge yourself to be a witch.


BURN HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slvoid, do you have any experience with WinXP 64 bit edition? I've been doing a good amount of work in Solidworks, and I think it would benefit from 64.

Honestly, I don't know the problem with windows.

I've been running XP on my machine for like, 4 years, I never restart. Uptimes are usually about a month at a time with 2-3 sessions of word, 2-3 sessions of excel, eudora, 6-8 sessions of IE, autocad, autodesk inventor, adobe acrobat, 3dstudio, some kinda FEA package, the google desktop with like 8 widgets loaded, 3-4 custom programs for my company, and I just leave the damn computer on like that all the time.

Yeah, it's just like that for some people. I never got that kind of stability from XP. Win2k was the as good as it got for me, and I still install it on the clients I admin at work. Our needs are minimal - telnet sessions, Office, browser, that's about it... We gave Vista a spin and concluded pretty quickly it was a steaming pile of horse dung! Not even sure why we bothered! :)

Because linux is so heavily dependent on these repositories, it seems to backfire. Even when I was installing it today, it got caught up on "scanning mirrors", 82% total progress. I had to disconnect my cat5 cable so that it would just time out and move on, to complete the installation. Why? Repository is down.You don't have to use a repository, and linux isn't dependent on 'em. Package distribution for most distros is to an extent, but that's not always the case. Some distros are nearly completely source based, while others use it for programs that aren't as popular. Have you tried the 32bit way (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1174435) yet?

So I try to follow the directions exactly as these "how to" guides lay it out, and the outcome is never the same. I tried Linux about a year ago and came to the same conclusion: Because linux is so heavily dependent on these repositories, it seems to backfire. Even when I was installing it today, it got caught up on "scanning mirrors", 82% total progress. I had to disconnect my cat5 cable so that it would just time out and move on, to complete the installation. Why? Repository is down.

The outcome is never the same as these guides. I've tried Fedora 4, 5, and 6, and now Ubuntu.

Dude, you're aware that today is the release of Ubuntu 7.10 right? The servers are going to be clogged for the next 4-5 days until everyone is updated. The rest of the year you wouldn't have this problem.

It's just like trying to get your windows service pack the day that it comes out.

Okay I feel like I am going on a wild goose chase for some stupid libraries, and none of the repositories work. command terminal keeps telling me packages have been deleted.
I'm about to give up and delete this partition :(. If I want to take advantage of 64 bit, I'll get a copy of windows XP 64 bit edition. It flies on my friends computer

I got a copy of x64 I am not using and don't plan to use if you want it. Just PM me with your name and address and I will send it to you.

slvoid, do you have any experience with WinXP 64 bit edition? I've been doing a good amount of work in Solidworks, and I think it would benefit from 64.

I have no experience with 64 bit whatsoever. 32 bit's good enough for me, I never address more than 2-3 gigs of ram at one time anyway and 9-10 digits of precision's good enough for me.

Solidworks is a good program though, sleeker than inventor. If inventor's the texas instruments of calculators, then solidworks is like the HP's.

Supposedly for programs that need it, XP64 is pretty decent. Version-wise, its based on the Windows 2003 kernel so it has incremental improvements over the regular 32 bit version of XP.

Yeah, it's just like that for some people. I never got that kind of stability from XP. Win2k was the as good as it got for me, and I still install it on the clients I admin at work. Our needs are minimal - telnet sessions, Office, browser, that's about it... We gave Vista a spin and concluded pretty quickly it was a steaming pile of horse dung! Not even sure why we bothered! :)

I think thats the general assessment. ;)

You should keep in mind that with the possible exception of Mac OS X and Windows Vista x64 Edition, most OS setups that are 64-bit exclusive have a lot of compatibility problems due to many companies continuing to impose a largely 32-bit standard...

As a suggestion, try installing a 32-bit version of Ubuntu, since I believe that the performance differences are minor. You should have little problems getting Flash to work on that (much easier by using Synaptic).

I know why I moved away from the Linux platform. While it is making significant inroads with Ubuntu taking the popularity lead, I really do not see much of a point to optimizing my system using many arcane, outdated, and completely ineffective methods, just to get to a point equivalent to where I would be had I used Windows. In all honestly, I see that if the Linux movement survives, the status quo will manifest itself again, just with new players of the corporate game.

It's not like all of the large corporates wanted to grow up to be financially-oriented businessmen anyway...

We have a few XP machines that we just never turn off. I've had a file server running for months at the house without a restart and a laptop that only ever goes to sleep.

I wanted to get the x64 but have been warned about driver issues. So I stuck with the 32.

Side note - on the machines I leave running, I turn off auto update.

Regarding driver issues,
My ASUS board was made for this AMD64 processor setup, so the CDROM includes 64 bit drivers for everything.

I have no experience with 64 bit whatsoever. 32 bit's good enough for me, I never address more than 2-3 gigs of ram at one time anyway and 9-10 digits of precision's good enough for me.

Solidworks is a good program though, sleeker than inventor. If inventor's the texas instruments of calculators, then solidworks is like the HP's.

Solidworks is great, I'd call it industry standard. They used it at the machine shop I used to work at, and I use it almost every day where I am now. I like it a lot more than autodesk products.
I believe they have an FEA program that can optionally be bundled with it as well, called COSMOS.

Regarding driver issues,
My ASUS board was made for this AMD64 processor setup, so the CDROM includes 64 bit drivers for everything.

I was talking about printer drivers and the likes.

what? 64 bit XP is based off nt 5.2? not bad. not bad. the benefits of a new kernel (vista) but without the bloat (vista)

Well I know that I can get a 64 bit windows driver for my HP all in one printer. Since this is the bottom of the totem poll insurance company replacement model, I expect HP has 64 bit windows drivers for all of their products.

If I ever upgrade my graphics, it'll be with a PCI-E ATI, which is now owned by AMD. And since AMD is touting their Athlon 64 stuff, they definitely have full 64bit support, in terms of drivers.

what? 64 bit XP is based off nt 5.2? not bad. not bad. the benefits of a new kernel (vista) but without the bloat (vista)Yeah, talk about bloat!! A fresh-install of Win2k and XP uses about 125mb of memory when loaded. Vista takes a whopping 600mb!!! And it runs slower than 2k/XP as well. :(


You should keep in mind that with the possible exception of Mac OS X and Windows Vista x64 Edition, most OS setups that are 64-bit exclusive have a lot of compatibility problems due to many companies continuing to impose a largely 32-bit standard...Don't forget Solaris, which has been 64-bit clean for quite some time now. Unless your particular OS and software has an advantage in 64-bit mode somehow, it'd be better to stick with 32-bit.

There's a difference between ideal and theoretical advantages vs. actual measured results. Sure, there's a tonne of advantages to 64-bit when everything is aligned perfectly (hardware+firmware+drivers+OS+apps), but if there's any thunking needed to 32-bit for any part of it, you'll actually see worse performance with 64-bit than using 32-bit OS to begin with.

It's like saying that this 10-lane highway should be faster than that 5-lane highway over there. But there are a tonne of other variables that may dictate actual throughput, like flatness and condition of pavement, tightness of curves, location of entrance & exit ramps, etc.

My understanding is that with WIndows WOW64 utility, there is no performance loss while running 32 bit apps.

My understanding is that with WIndows WOW64 utility, there is no performance loss while running 32 bit apps.That's assuming that the underlying layers are 64-bit clean as well. If there's no native 64-bit routine for the 32-bit app to call, like a driver or system-DLL, you'd still have a serious performance hit with a context-switch for thunking. WOW64 only runs in user-mode for higher-level apps.

You could try swfdec. It is a free implementation of flash. It won't be compatible with all flash, but it claims to work with youtube. I haven't actually tried it though.

http://swfdec.freedesktop.org/wiki/

Well, I use this computer for pretty much 2 things:
1. General internet use. I also use it for internet radio and watching DVD's.
2. Solidworks

Occasionally, a FPS game. Since Vista has 64 bit, I expect more and more software will be produced for 64 bit system, in an attempt by software companies to keep up with the times.

slvoid, do you have any experience with WinXP 64 bit edition? I've been doing a good amount of work in Solidworks, and I think it would benefit from 64.

Use it everyday at work. Only problem is I can't set what program each extension should open up into for some reason (yes I've tried everything)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/facts/top10.mspx