[ale] How much can one Linux machine do?

[Joe Knapka]

"H. Adrin Story" <adrin at haswes.homelinux.org> writes:

> currently runing a apache server, email, desktop workstation and ftp
> on one machine.  Probably a few other things  also. Hey, it is just a
> learning tool/toy.   I just wonder at what point will I start to
> notice something.  By the way it is just a 850MHz machine .

*Just* an 850MHz machine, he says. Why, back in the day we ran Linux
on 25MHz 486sx's powered by hamsters! And we loved it! You can't even
*boot* Windows on a hamster-powered box these days...

Seriously, you're a *long* way from noticing any performance issues,
if by "desktop workstation" you mean word-processing and spreadsheet
kind of stuff. RAM will make a *much* bigger difference to perceived
performance than CPU will. Most of the apps you mention above are
interactive - they only need CPU cycles when the user is actually
doing something. As long as you have enough RAM, you'll probably never
notice the difference between a 200Hz machine and a 800MHz machine
during desktop use. When you start using stuff that actually needs CPU
cycles, like the Gimp's image transforms, kernel builds, or some
games, *then* you'll start to notice the difference.

As another data point, the machine I'm writing this on is a 233MHz
PentiumII laptop with 196MB of RAM. I am absolutely delighted with
this machine's performance under Linux. I keep Emacs and Mozilla (with
about ten browser tabs) open *always*. I often also have a couple of
Xpdf viewers, a Gimp or a SodiPodi, and perhaps a Maelstrom or
FrozenBubble window.  The machine rarely even hesitates when switching
apps. It's running RedHat 8, though I may upgrade it to Fedora
sometime.

Cheers,

-- Joe

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