Tek wrote:
> 
> 1/ what version of linux should I get?

Depends of your goals. Easy to install? Hmm, maybe Fedora or Ubuntu.
Easy to keep up to date? I'd guess pretty far every of them today.
Extreme optimization to get the last 0,05% of power to use with no fear
of hard thinking and with no knowledge of the word "easy"? Gentoo, Crux
or Slackware.

> 2/ how much better is 64-bit pov compared to 32-bit on the same system? 
> (i.e. is it worth the effort?)

Haven't tested 32-bit binaries for a loong time, since my Gentoo
compiles pretty far everything from the sources.

> Now I realise there's no straight answer to question 1 but I'm getting SO 
> annoyed with linux users! Whenever I ask one of the guys at work they always 
> name about a dozen versions of linux I should try. It's an OS! I don't want 
> to try it, I just want to install one and use it! I'm not scared of having 
> to use a command prompt (I use linux remotely from a windows PC at work 
> sometimes so I know my way around), I just want someone to tell me what the 
> difference is between them.

The answer depends pretty much of you, while the question really is
"what do you want". Everyone remembers Mr. Morden from Babylon 5 at this
time ;).

And the systems goes much deeper than just a useable shell. If you've
just basically used the unix-shell you've been provided, you'll notice
the difference if you'll go for eg. Gentoo. If you're actually
administrated Linux-system, you should get along with any distribution.

> Can all versions of linux run povray? Can they all run the same programs, 
> and if not why not? Do different ones run pov at different speeds? Are there 
> special 64-bit versions of linux (like windows) or is it just exposed in a 
> more implicit way?

Not all distributions are compiled to be 64-bit yet. AFAIK at least
Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora are providing amd64 -support on some
level.

> BTW, I've just started using emacs at work, so don't worry about suggesting 
> a version of linux that's friendly for windows users, I can handle a steep 
> learning curve (I'm going to regret saying that!).

Well then... http://www.gentoo.org/
But don't say I didn't tell you that's not the easiest-to-install ;).

> Please help me!

We will. Just be patient.

> Thanks


-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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