KarsusTG

I learned C++ in high school about your age. Granted it was Boreland C++ at the time. If I were teaching a kid today, I would probably go Python -> C++ -> Assembly -> Java/C#. Once you get into college, if you go CS you will learn C -> Assembly -> C++ -> then Java or similar depending on department/etc. I was CpE so I was a bit more hardware level, but ultimately after C++ it is the same salad with different dressings.

I would bet money it could run Tiny Core since it is targeted at 486 level hardware. I would start there and move to Puppy Linux. If it runs puppy well enough (and it should) then move up to AntiX. If AntiX runs well, you might try crunchbang++, but this is about as far as that hardware would take you. You might maybe get peppermint (kinda like ubuntu based chrome os) to run well enough, but that is a big maybe. You certainly wont get modern chrome to run on that hardware worth a dang. I agree with everyone else here though. Daily life will be a struggle for that processor.

I think I learned things backwards, but ultimately it made me a better programmer. My path was C -> C++ -> Assembly -> Java -> Matlab -> Javascript -> python. I have dabbled with c#, but it was in a brief but weird time in my life where I thought I might actually go back to windows. I have professionally worked with c, c++, and java. The only time I used assembly was at a hackathon for an embedded project. I have a love/hate relationship with javascript, mostly because it feels like there are so many fundamental parts missing. I LOVE Matlab and it is just so dang useful. If you want to actually learn the fundamentals of programming and understand what is happening, you should really learn c / c++. Learn pointers, memory allocation and how that all works. Build the constructors and destructors for your objects, learn how inheritance / multiple inheritance works, abstract classes and functions, polymorphism, and and and lions and tigers and bears oh my! Ultimately, I guess it depends on where you want to fall on the coder [ --- ] programmer spectrum. There is nothing wrong with just being a coder.

TBH you are better running a shadow client or similar. It is what I do nowadays.

Well first you need to understand that every time you introduce an adapter you introduce another point of failure. Second, sodimm is slower than most regular memory, often has different voltages, and generally something like this would require a lot of tinkering to get running. But even then, I don't believe it would ever really be stable. I don't really understand how this could be worth the headache.

Whichever one you need. Installing a bunch of distro's just because you have room is just giving yourself a part time job.

Desktop Dungeons

awesome. If this is for your fathers multimedia build, you might consider ubuntu studio. It would be a bit less resource intensive and a bit more user friendly. https://ubuntustudio.org/

lemme take a look, I have not used virtual box in a few years. Have you tried changing the resolution inside the distro?

Ya, there are some area's where vmware is just better. It sounds like you need to install virtualbox-guest-utils and virtualbox-guest-dkms.

yup, right control + f on virtual box Edit, you should be warned that distro is coming right along and is chock full of eye candy, but it always runs like crap in a vm. It is just too resource intensive unless you have beefed up that vm.

I disagree with the government in this case. Walmart is one of, if not the largest IT employer in the world.

Ya, I have put a number of 1030's in computers at work and they have been great even with only 2gb vram. It's why I don't understand the hate on an AMD competitor with 3gb of ram. The competition can only be a good thing imo.

But in order for it to be a monopoly, it would have to also be the only walled garden would it not? There is 5 or 6 of these gardens you can be in, often simultaneously. I cannot find anything comparative to this. Like what? I am not trying to be super pro apple, I am just curious.

I think it's great as we are not really starving for high end cards. What we need are more capable and power efficient low end cards, especially for laptops and low end desktops. I also don't really understand the hate on the 3gb vram. I can put this is my nieces computer and she could watch netflix, play facebook games, and do her school work with no trouble whatsoever. The truth is something like 98% of the pc user base wont ever even max out an onboard intel...

I do not understand how Epic has much of a leg to stand on here.

No, as others here have said, the thermal paste on the cpu/gpu is supposed to be replaced every 2 or so years. I am betting you have never replaced it. Op, you have gone 100,000 miles without changing the oil...

Op, as several have said here, there is no meaningful difference between ubuntu server and ubuntu desktop. Ubuntu server is just the desktop with all the superfluous apps and the gui stripped out. You either need to install ubuntu desktop and uninstall all the unnecessary software, or install ubuntu server and install the gui. That really is all there is to it.

Linux is not 'better' than windows. It has strengths in some places windows is weak and weak in some places where windows is strong. There are four main reasons for you to be on linux, IMO. You are a developer and don't want to deal with the headaches of windows. Linux is simply waaay better for a developer if just for the stability alone. You want more control of your own system. Linux will give you complete control of everything, for better or worse. You need a server are you are setting up a remote box for that purpose, this is where most linux boxes are in actuality. You need to learn Linux for IT/job purposes (servers, development environments, etc) in which case jumping in with both feet would be my recommendation. That laptop will struggle to push a robust vm, but you can easily download virtual box and play around with a few distro's to see what you like. Fedora is typically the goto for developers as CentOS and RedHat are what the commercial companies use, but all three of those use Wayland which isn't compatibly with Nvidia cards without a lot of tinkering and hoops. Even then it is often up to chance. I typically recommend Mint / Ubuntu for someone just getting started. I ran MX linux for many years on my desktop, but I don't recommend it for laptops, especially if you need to it actually be a laptop because it typically has terrible battery optimization. If you want to run Linux and still game, I HIGHLY recommend you delete windows from your computer all together and go with an ubuntu/mint derivative and just use a shadow service, or similar. POP_OS can be great if your games are mostly supported by Linux, but the truth is Nvidia puts almost no effort into linux drivers, and that is even more true for their mobile drivers.

Ya, at this point I am carrying 2 laptops, a surface pro, and several tablets. I really need to get that down. I don't know about QC, but the lifespan, updates, and security are undeniable. The eco-system integration is both the biggest pro and con to going this route. I am not really more comfortable on one or the other. The only specialty software I really NEED is stupid expensive and Linux only (how ironic) and I have a dedicated thread-ripper machine just for that software. Everything else I do I can do on any of them. The truth is though, I probably spend 6-10 hours a month tweaking and futzing with things on Linux to get this or that to work and I am tired of it. Linux on a laptop honestly sucks even though it's my preferred development environment. I would much rather develop on Mac OS than Windows and the media options are much better on Mac OS, so there is that. But the versatility and availability of powerful hardware on windows is a tremendous advantage. I guess the questions is for those of you that made the switch to Mac, are the quality of life improvements of the apple ecosystem worth the increased cost and giving up the versatility and power of the windows hardware?

hehe, ya. One of the dangers of auto-correct...

Mostly interested in hearing from people that have made the transition or work with these systems on a daily basis, especially with a developer focus. I don't really care about the Mac/Windows flame war stuff. In my mind, they each have their strengths and weaknesses and provide comparable work flows once you learn their ways of doing things. So a bit of background. I come from an engineering background. I am a software developer, mostly been server side, embedded systems, and that sort of thing. I also do drone work and have some serious number crunching requirements on that side. I have recently been working towards getting into mobile and web development, mostly because I want to get into a stable freelancing routine and that is where the bulk of the work is as well as being able to do it while traveling for my other job. My primary purpose in making this transition is to limit the fragmentation, become more mobile, and eliminate some of the work flow interruptions from jumping OS's constantly for different tasks. I have not really been 'dedicated' to any particular OS. The last 8-10 years I would say I have been spending about 60% of my time on Linux, about 30% on Windows, and about 10% on Mac OS. But over the last year or two my time on the Mac OS has been eating into the Linux portion, greatly. I have purchased software for each of them that I use on a regular basis, but because of this my software library, media library, and workflows have been somewhat fragmented across the different eco systems. What I like about Mac OS and Apple in general: Everything just seems to work right off the bat. This really struck me when I swapped to thunderbolt monitors and the OS not only made the transition, but also automatically re-arranged the monitors to the configuration I had before without me having to intervene. The apple silicon is a modern marvel. Most users don't really appreciate the level of engineering in their silicone, but it is amazing and the transition to most of their machines to these chipsets makes this a great time to jump in as a developer. Everything is pretty tightly integrated, I can pretty seamlessly go from the ipad, to the mac book, to the mac mini desktop almost as easily as if I was just using multiple monitors on the same system and that is awesome. This means I can transition workflows easily without having to think much about it. The software is almost always optimized for their machines so even when it is at a lower spec device, you don't really feel it. The apple store is pretty comprehensive and frankly, once you have paid the apple tax on the hardware I find the costs to be pretty reasonable. Their machines are built for media, which I do appreciate given the level of travel I frequently do. What I like about Windows and Microsoft in general: Basically everything works on windows. The hardware you can get your hands on that will work on windows is second to none. The progress they have been making with WSL and becoming developer friendly is pretty awesome. I used to HATE writing and compiling code on windows, not I only dislike it, although VS code is awesome and runs on all three operating systems. It is probably the most familiar operating system to me outside of Linux. One note with the surface pen is almost not replaceable. What I don't like about Mac OS and apple in general: Apple Tax... Their hardware is overpriced for the specs you get and is often not as resilient. Their T2 Chip, DRM, and their right to repair stances are frankly embarrassing. The lack of windows snapping is irritating some times. I have found an app that fixes it somewhat, but it still feels clunky. Sometimes software availability can seem limited. I don't really play games so this is drastically reduced on that side, but it is real on many other fronts and I will have to take steps to mitigate this if I do go all in. What I don't like about Windows and Microsoft in general: Their update scheme is lead by a group of monkeys with typewriters. Seriously, I have never seen regular patches to fix patches that were there to fix other patches. At least not as a regular way of doing business. I don't feel windows is nearly as stable as Mac OS or Linux and system stability is really important to me. It feels like windows is still designed almost exclusively for stationary desktop use and are not nearly as mobile friendly. Hardware I currently have: 2019 Mac Mini i7 6-core, 32gb Ram, vega64 e-gpu, Mac OS MSI GS66 stealth i7 6-core, 32gb Ram, 2070 super max-q, Windows 10 Pro, Fedora, used as a developer machine, and is generally crazy overkill for what I do with it. Most of the time it sits on a desk tied to a thunderbolt docking station. Lenovo P53 xeon 6-core, Quadro rtx 5000, 128gb Ram, Windows / MX-Linux / Fedora, used for processing and heavy loads when I need it while traveling. Also somewhat overkill most of the time, but I also don't have to worry about it breaking if I run it maxed out for 10+ hours straight multiple times a week. Custom Workstation 3970x 32-core, 256gb Ram, gtx-2080, Cent-OS / MX-Linux. Primarily a Pix4d processing machine and vmware host. Multiple Android and Mac tablets, Surface Pro 6 i5 version, used primarily for note taking (the pen is awesome) and light web browsing.

I think which one is best is highly dependent on your skillset, hardware, and use case. Typically for users with very little tech savvy I would recommend Peppermint, Mint, or maybe Ubuntu. For semi-power users on a desktop I would recommend either Fedora or MX depending on their hardware and use case. On a laptop I would almost always recommend Fedora because you will have the fewest "my wifi doesnt work" type of problems with that distro. All that being said, it can often depend on hardware. Fedora is almost exclusively Wayland now and even though Wayland is clearly the future, Nvidia has refused to support it so.... Also, if you are going to work in the IT field, you should know debian derivative systems for web servers and such, but 90% of the rest of the linux world is going to be rhel based systems.

But the op is referring to it as the home consumer level NAS appliance. I have never personally seen one of those that had a decent Xeon and enough ram to do many of these things, especially all at once. Mostly what I see are QNap and Synology DS418 type models. They can do some things, it's true, but trying to get one to host multiple servers, a virtual machine with relatively heavy compute requirements, and push HD video all at the same time is far FAR outside its wheelhouse. The ram requirements alone exclude these devices. I upgraded my server that I use as a NAS from 32gb to 64gb recently because I was constantly running low on ram. Basically you can use a NAS service on a server, but you cannot use a NAS device as a server... Which is why I said as the OP is constructing it. They really need a different name for those things.

There are a lot of things that a server can do that a NAS, as you are constructing it cannot normally do. For instance, hosting virtual machines that have enough juice to actually do practical things. Or compile containers. Or host web, minecraft, and other gaming servers, etc. How about an exchange server?