是否有必要为Linux购买一台相对较高配置的电脑？

Question

我个人很想在Linux下开发，也不是为了折腾，纯粹是因为开发需要经常接触Linux环境。我的开发环境Linux也基本能够满足。

但现在问题来了，很多人都说Linux不需要很高的配置，他们都拿自己快淘汰的机器去运行Linux，是不是Linux做桌面的时候就不需要高配置呢，或者说配置较高的电脑无法在Linux上体会到高配置带来的高体验？

现在很多开发者的macbook都要求16G甚至更高的内存，SSD的硬盘。是不是Linux就不需要这些呢？有人说Linux没什么程序消耗资源，但实际情况是Linux下也有Chrome，也有Firefox，也有Intellij Idea，也有虚拟机要跑跑windows之类的。大家觉得把硬件的钱花在Linux上不值吗？

我不想做纯理论的探讨，欢迎对这个问题有实际体验的同学来回答。

Answer 1

But now the question arises. Many people say that Linux does not require high configuration. They all use their almost obsolete machines to run Linux. Does it mean that Linux does not require high configuration when used as a desktop, or configuration? Can’t higher-end computers experience the high-end experience brought by high-end configurations on Linux?

Linux does not require any high configuration, and it can even be placed in a microcontroller after proper tailoring. But the premise is that you know a little configuration. If you only know how to install ubuntu and are still looking for it in the terminal, then just pretend that I didn’t tell you.
High-end configurations will definitely provide a better experience. If you have 64G of memory, maybe you don't need swap as a desktop system.

Many developers now require 16G or more memory and SSD hard drives for their MacBooks. Does Linux not need these? Some people say that Linux has few programs that consume resources, but the actual situation is that Linux also has Chrome, Firefox, Intellij Idea, and virtual machines that need to run Windows. Do you think it’s not worth spending the hardware money on Linux?

SSD can improve disk IO performance. The larger the memory, the more things can be cached and the less swap. Of course it’s better than nothing…
The browser can easily eat up hundreds of MB of memory. The program you write yourself may open up a few G of space. The Linux kernel itself is not used much. The key depends on what software you install and what software you want to run. The software here refers to everything except the kernel. If the performance is sufficient, maybe you want to experience gnome/kde. If the performance is not enough, you want to use the desktop. Maybe you will only use WM such as openbox.

If you only make small projects occasionally... then Shumei Pie may be enough... If you want to make Android, and if you want a good experience (fast speed), you should pile up hardware.

Personally, I think that the so-called Linux does not require high configuration, because it is determined by the usage scenario. You wouldn't use a machine with 256M memory to run eclipse, but I might use a PIII machine with 128M memory to run a serial port data recording program written by myself.

Answer 2

Isn’t it said that more than 90% of the world’s top 500 supercomputers run on Linux? On the other hand, upstairs, some people use Raspberry Pi for daily development; friends around me usually choose to buy second-hand notebooks (mine is the Latitude series released in 2008, P9400) or buy a Loongson computer to run Linux .

So, what hardware you use depends entirely on your needs.

But there are three situations you need to understand:

• Linux can run on computers with lower configurations.
• Memory is recommended to be 4G or above (I say 4G is really the bottom line).
• Using an SSD will provide a much better experience than a mechanical hard drive. Since I/O devices are the bottleneck of current computers, if you replace them with an SSD, the performance will be greatly improved.

Answer 3

P4 3.0GHz HT + 2GiB DDR memory runs 32-bit Debian Wheezy. It is basically not stuck without installing a graphical interface.

Answer 4

MacBook is the best Linux. I have always used MBP for development. BSD is originally from the same family as Linux, and all npm packages are compatible.

Answer 5

My home machine has an i5, 3GiB, and no SSD, so running Arch is not stressful. But can be used and can be used happily are two different standards.

Answer 6

The graphical interface of Linux is much more hardware-intensive than Windows. If you only use the command line, it doesn't matter if it's lower.

Answer 7

What you are using is not the "ontology" of the Linux operating system, but the software running under the Linux operating system. It is better to distinguish between the two.

First of all, the Linux operating system itself is not very demanding, and ordinary machines can run it and it is not slow.

Then let’s talk about the software used for work. This varies from person to person.

If it is just used as a development server and runs a few services, an ordinary machine can handle it.

If you want to use some software that is larger or takes up more resources, there are requirements for hardware. For example, Java applications and browsers (whether FF or Chrome) generally consume memory; of course, the faster the hard disk, the better; the graphics card It's usually enough, but some also have Steam installed to play games; the monitor depends on everyone's preference.

To put it simply, the experience will naturally improve as the configuration is higher. Linux is not exclusive to low configuration. It can just run better on low-configuration machines through some tricks.

Answer 8

Many people have said it in detail before, so I will just address the original poster’s question directly.
If you really want to carry out large-scale development under Linux, large memory and SSD are all things that can directly benefit. One of the benefits of Linux is that it is highly customizable. There are low-configuration running methods for low configurations, and high-configuration running methods. For low configurations, all lightweight software can be used, and for high configurations, all heavyweight software can be used, such as writing Python. You can use vim to write, or you can use pycharm to write. The former requires configuration and familiarity with various plug-ins, while the latter can be used out of the box. Sometimes, what you save money on is time here.

Let me talk about my personal feelings. Many people criticize Unity/Gnome-shell/KDE for running slowly on their own computers. They turn around and praise Xfce4 for its speed. In fact, they have SSD+N card closed source driver+good CPU+ With large memory, these three gadgets run very well, but the price of Xfce4's speed is its lack of appearance and functionality.

Answer 9

If you have development needs, no matter how high the machine configuration is, it won’t be a waste.
If you just play with Linux, that's pretty much it.

Answer 10

If you don’t need it at work, don’t worry about it.

I just want to say that most Linux running production business uses large memory, SSD and array. If you have students who are interested in big data development, you will find how necessary it is to have SSD, 64G memory, and T-class hard drives on test machines and development machines.