Which distro for Digital Alphaserver?

[gRAFical]

Ok, I'm completely new here. So here comes a strange question:

What is your preference when it comes to the distribution to use on a Digital Alphaserver DS10/L? Then if you will the pros and cons?

Thanks a million/billion/zillion (<- you pick) !!!

[gRAFical]

I'm probably going to install a card or two (which is max though). At least a sound card if that's possible. I still have an old SB128PCI lying around. Would that work? If so, which distro comes with drivers for this?

[Loki3]

Hate to rag on ya mate but this has been asked a whole bunch of times. In fact it's been asked so many times that there's a whole subsection of the forum devoted to it (http://www.justlinux.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=53). Next time try using www.google.com/linux of the forum's search function.

That being said sorry to sound a little crusty...

It's just that one of the most important traits of being a linux user is the ability for independent problem solving and that ability is learned via independent research.

However, since you're using an Alpha a lot of the posts in the Which Distro section probably won't be specfic. I think Debian has an alpha port. Apt-get is a solid package management system but don't take my word for it... www.debian.org NetBSD ( www.netbsd.org) also has an alpha port, so you might want to check that out too.

And the Grand-Daddy of DistroInfo:www.distrowatch.com

[gRAFical]

I kinda expected that answer, but since I'm not a regular forum-user, I just don't know where to look.

Anyways, thanks!

[Loki3]

Haha, yah Debian is probably your best bet. It's a pretty solid distro, apt-get is great but on the downside it's not very newbie friendly. However they have pretty good documentation and there are a lot of Debian user here that are just dieing to help you out.

[gRAFical]

Ok, well, I worked my way through RedHat and SuSe without too much documentation, and actually got it to work too, so I'll find my way through Debian as well. As long as I got KDE or Gnome I'll be OK.

Thanks for yer help so far!

[Loki3]

I don't know what the specs are of your alpha but you generally need some heft to run KDE or Gnome at a reasonable speed. I think 400Mhz, 128Mb seem to be about bare minimium in my experience but you might be able to get away with running it on something with less horsepower if you use the lightest settings. For an alternative desktop enviroment try looking into either XFCE or Black/Flux/Open/box. XFCE is still quite easy to use and configure while being significantly lighter than Gnome or KDE. Openbox (www.openbox.org), which is my personel favorite, is as smooth as butter.

[Darkbolt]

Originally posted by Loki3
I don't know what the specs are of your alpha but you generally need some heft to run KDE or Gnome at a reasonable speed. I think 400Mhz, 128Mb seem to be about bare minimium in my experience but you might be able to get away with running it on something with less horsepower if you use the lightest settings. For an alternative desktop enviroment try looking into either XFCE or Black/Flux/Open/box. XFCE is still quite easy to use and configure while being significantly lighter than Gnome or KDE. Openbox (www.openbox.org), which is my personel favorite, is as smooth as butter.

That'd be 400mhz on a x86 box. When you get into alpha/sparc/mips processors, the CISC vs RISC argument actually matters a bit more. a 400mhz alpha can haul *** :P

[Loki3]

I stand corrected.