[Melbourne-pm] [OT] Seeking the 64-bit linux that's right for me

[Toby Corkindale]

On 07/11/12 01:26, Shlomi Fish wrote:
> Hi Rob,
>
> On Wed, 7 Nov 2012 00:18:39 +1100
> "Sisyphus" <sisyphus1 at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I use mainly MS Windows - not that I understand that OS all that well, but I
>> probably understand it better than I understand the linux systems.
>>
>> I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ 2.40 GHz processor,
>> with 1.00 GB of RAM, and a (new) 465 GB hard drive.
>> It's currently running (more like "walking") Windows Vista64, but now that
>> I've got hold of a new Windows 7 (x64) box, I'd like to stick a 64-bit linux
>> distro on this older box.
>>
>
> I would recommend something like Mageia - https://www.mageia.org/en/ . Its
> advantage is that while it has an x86-64 version, you can still install some
> 32-bit i586 packages from the package manager, which are sometimes needed by
> games, proprietary packages such as Skype, etc.


At least on Ubuntu (and I gather recent Debians) I've never had any 
trouble with 32 and 64 bit stuff co-existing -- they have this multiarch 
thing going on.

That said, I have hardly ever had to use it in recent years -- it seems 
like everything comes in 64-bit versions now. (including Skype, the 
package you mentioned as an example of requiring 32bit support. not true!)