Back on Linux !!

[geniuz]

Hey guys,

My name is Ivan, I'm 19 years old and I'm glad to announce I went back to Linux after using Windows for little less than two years. I've been active in the linux community a couple years ago, until I started my studies for Aerospace Engineering. Some of you might remember me...or not :P. The reason I stopped using Linux was purely time-based, I figured it was easier to use Windows since I needed CAD applications like CATIA and some other stuff that works best on Windows. However, a short while back it started to itch again and I decided to find out about the developments in the Linux world over the recent years. To my great joy, I found out I was able to run most of the applications I needed on Linux using applications like Wine and Virtualbox. I was also hardware limited in the past, but this is no longer a problem, since I've bought myself a brand new system equipping a AMD Phenom II Quad Core Processor, 4GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTS250 VGA with 1GB of memory. I've decided to install the distro I loved so much in the past, namely Arch Linux! I'm currently running the 32 bit version, since it feels more stable and stuff like Wine and Virtualbox run with less trouble. Using fluxbox and xterm I'm hoping to quickly recap my knowledge about Bash. Yes, I'm the kinda guy that is satisfied with a low level WM and a decent terminal emulator. No file managers, shiny windows and compiz-like graphics...just a simple xterm! I also own a MacBook which I bought in August last year which I also like very much.

That's basically all I had to say, I guess you'll see me around the forums from time to time again!!

[Jonathan183]

Welcome back geniuz ... given your hardware spec I would go with 64 bit.
The only problem I have had is with kdemod-legacy, but problems applied to 32 and 64 bit. I've been using fluxbox but the rest of the family got used to kdemod3 so I'm using IceWM as the replacement. Virtualbox works for me on 32 and 64 bit ...

[coopstah13]

There is no 64 bit wine provided in arch, you have to use AUR. AUR can be hit or miss, I tried installing wine from that to no avail.

[geniuz]

Honesly, I installed the 64 bit version first and spent the rest of the day messing about with Wine...I got it to work finally using indeed the package provided in AUR. But I found it a bit unstable and gave me some random errors from time to time. I've been reading some guides on how to get VirtualBox working, but I didn't feel the necessity to go through all the hassle. In the 32bit vesion pacman has both wine and virtualbox included. It's just a lot easier, and from what I've read, 64bit doesn't YET give me much advantage over 32bit. Asside from the ~800MB of RAM I won't be able to use (and won't really need :P).

Don't get me wrong though, I'm willing to play around with stuff. In fact, I love it...but I'd rather spend time tweaking my system how I want it instead of actually getting things like Wine and VirtualBox to actually work.