Ubuntu vs. Win7

[st4rdust]

I'm curious how much of an impact that your OS has on mining results. The Linux distro I hear about being used for mining BTC the most is Ubuntu. Does Ubuntu has any particular advantages over other distros? What are the pro's and con's of using either OS for mining?

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[HappyGuy]

I cant speak too much about mining, but Linux is certainly better for security.  Ubuntu is extremely easy to setup and use. 

 

[ANSYSiC]

i mined on windows 7 64 bit and now Ubuntu 11.04 32 bit.

there is no reall difference, perhaps ubuntu hast +1 MH/s on my 6950.
the only difference is, that with actual drivers on windows you cannot use hardware acceleration if you're using a amd 6950 (maybe the whole 6xxx series), because the system freezes.

instead of trying to reach maximum MH/s you should try to reach maximum uptime. both your pc and mining pool.

[ANSYSiC]

I cant speak too much about mining, but Linux is certainly better for security.  Ubuntu is extremely easy to setup and use. 

 

extremely easy?! a lot of terminal stuff to do until you get a miner working...

[Nobu]

As HappyGuy said, Ubuntu is really easy to set up. It's also more cutting-edge (if you use the latest version) than some other distributions, but usually more stable. There are other distributions that you could use which are more cutting-edge than Ubuntu, but aren't as easy to set up or are less stable, then there are distributions which are more stable than Ubuntu but less cutting edge (and may or may not be easier to set up).

I think Ubuntu is a good middle-ground distribution, that most people could easily learn; although I'm not sure I agree with every direction it is going.

I won't discuss it's merits or faults in relation to other distributions; I'd rather not start a fight, and I'm really not the best person to discuss those points with, anyway. Suffice to say, you should try different distributions yourself (in a virtual machine, if possible; although it may not perform as well as if you had installed it to disk) and see which ones you like. I'd spend a minimum of about a week getting to know one distribution. After that, you can try others and probably determine whether you like them or not in about two or three days (although longer is better).

Can't say whether Windows 7 is better or worse than Ubuntu; Haven't used it. It seems like an okay operating system, though.

Re: "terminal stuff"... GUIMiner works on Ubuntu, IIRC.

(I use fedora, btw)

[ANSYSiC]

terminal stuff is also installing amd app sdk   

and of course hours of googling for tutorials

edit: http://www.the-server-admin.com/linux/34-bitcoin-mining-on-ubuntu-11-04-64bit-natty-with-ati-card-,-python,-and-poclbm-miner.html

[Nobu]

Ah, yeah, didn't think about that.

As you can probably tell, I've not GPU mined before.

[KenJackson]

extremely easy?! a lot of terminal stuff to do until you get a miner working...

You make it sound like "terminal stuff" is difficult.    

Windows users generally only have a DOS Window as  a point of reference.  This is sad, because DOS is the worst, weakest, most frustrating command shell on the planet.

The Linux default is bash.  The power that bash gives your fingertips probably can't be appreciated if you've only used DOS. 

I learned bash by installing Cygwin on my Windows machine (years ago) and slowly grew in my appreciation of it without leaving the Windows environment that I was comfortable with at the time.

[makiet]

Ubuntu is the best.

I can develop some bitcoin project on it much easier than windows

[ANSYSiC]

Or do it like me
Ubuntu and Win combined on one desktop :D:D
http://img146.imageshack.us/i/winbuntu.png/

[John (John K.)]

IMHO, linux serves the best for me right now 

[Maxim Gladkov]

Linux, of course!

[The_JMiner]

I thought there was difficulty with Ubuntu and some GPU drivers?