Efficiency of linux vs windows?

[dern]

I have an old laptop which I want to press in to service for writing a website I'm working on. I only want to run apache as the site is all php and mysql. I prefer to write code in eclipse so will continue to use that.

The question is that although the laptop currently runs w2k it's only a 700Mhz processor so would I get better perceived performance running windows or linux for the given pc.

Thanks,

Mark

[anonymous-user]

I'd say yes, but, would the better performance outweigh the time it will take you to get Linux up and running and get the environment how you want it? Not sure.

I'd say if you've got the time and feel the need to have a tinker with Linux then go for it. If not then stick with what you know as the comp running slightly slower won't be too detrimental as long as you are running at full speed.

[fredf]

yes, as it's easier on Linux to trim out everything you don't need.
you'd be better off starting with a smaller and more configurable distribution than the later and more bulky distributions give you. something like debian (and debian based distros) might be a good choice. choosing a light weight window manager is a must, i quite like blackbox but there are many others.

[zaktoo]

Ubuntu (Debian based distro) and Xfce should see you right... I believe it's a pretty good distro for laptop stuff, although not aimed specifically at the laptop crowd...

HTH

Ciao

Zak

[darthPaddington]

fredf said:

yes, as it's easier on Linux to trim out everything you don't need. you'd be better off starting with a smaller and more configurable distribution than the later and more bulky distributions give you. something like debian (and debian based distros) might be a good choice. choosing a light weight window manager is a must, i quite like blackbox but there are many others.

This only applies if you already know Linux.

I spent an interesting two weeks once trying to get the keyboard to work properly under xwindows. nice enough but if you are actually trying to get other things done at the same time then you are stuffed.

Linux is fantastic if you want to put it on and just do things.

It's great if you're an expert who wants to strip out the bits and pieces and fine tune it.

It's not so good if you sit between the two stools. I've played with quite a few linux distributions and I'm not even close to being really competent at the low level stuff. what this means is that whenever I get to anything slightly tricky it takes me ages to find out how to solve a problem that would be a 5 min job under windows.


If you are an expert or you want to play around and become one then go for linux but if you've little of no experience and you want to get on with some other job then give it a miss for now.

(I must be mad as I keep going back to it in one form or other but I seldom manage to get a workable system the way I want.)

Peter

[theexcession]

Yes? Yes? My arse

Bollox to it - you are not running a commercial server here - 700 MHz is plenty to develop a web site.

Go download FoxServe - Apache, PHP and MySQL for windows - runs straight from a directory so no installation really necessary.

Eclipse works fine in windows...

and away you go.

How ever should you be interested in getting Linux up and running on a laptop then go for that, I'd prefer to spend my time writing code, the tools above work straight out of the box.

best
Ex