Re: Putting together a computer from old components

On 29 Nov 2021 15:16:44 GMT
Jaimie Vandenbergh <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 29 Nov 2021 at 14:30:41 GMT, "Anssi Saari" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > 
> > So, it really depends what you intend to do with your computer. Light
> > use, a little web browsing on simple web pages, email, simple stuff
> > probably not a problem. Heavy web browsing on heavy pages, editing
> > complex documents or video, encoding video... Might need a lot of
> > patience.
> 
> Definitely put as much RAM in the machine as it can take, in order to
> keep it even vaguely viable. Use SSDs as well - give the old thing every
> possible advantage.

As I say in  <[email protected]> , 2 gigabytes RAM work fine at
present and I don't expect that my computing needs will go up. But if it's
easy to add more , I will add more. I also don't see why SSD vs hard disk
would matter to me because my current hard disk doesn't get much work.

> What I'd actually suggest is a Pi4 or CM4/8gig though. It'll almost
> certainly be quicker than an Athlon for most things and has a lot more
> Linux support (don't use PiOS for your desktop though, it still has the
> horrific laggy mouse). You can even pull out a PCIe x1 slot, easier on a
> CM4 carrier board.

Several questions here :

- Do ARM processors have anything analogous to the Intel management engine ?
If not then yes , that's a plus in my book. Plus I want to learn some ARM
assembly so having an ARM processor would be a bonus.

- Can a Raspberry Pi offer a usual desktop experience ? For example can I
expect the applications on Linux repositories to work ? I would want to use
a graphical browser every now and again even if it's very slow on some websites.
I definitely want  mplayer  to work decently. I also want compilers like  gcc
and SBCL but I don't imagine these would be a problem.

- Why would Linux be better supported on a Raspberry Pi than an AMD processor ?
As far as I know , Linux works equally well on all mainstream processors.

- For desktop , I don't use a desktop as such. I use Xorg , the  ratpoison
window manager , several terminal emulators , graphical  vim , I have PDF
files open and several  mplayer  windows playing videos from my disks or
occasionally a DVD (I watch in installments hence the several windows).
Otherwise I do stuff from the command line including starting applications.

-- 
I suspect the typical software engineer doesn't work overtime to make the
schedule, but in order not to feel so bad about not making it.
  "Why does software cost so much?" by Tom DeMarco