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ebrian - 25 Jun 2007 17:29 GMT

Hi folks,

Sorry in advance that this post isn't specifically about programming.
I have question for some of you seasoned programmers. My kid brother
has asked my parents to give him money to build a new computer. He's
in University taking Computer Science, and says the computer he has
right now isn't powerful enough to handle the rigors of projects he
has to do at school.

He claims when he runs two compilers at once, his computer crashes.

The thing is we just got him a new computer last year, it was a Core 2
Duo processor with 1 gig of ram (it's a laptop). Having already spent
a good $1200, we're wondering if his claim is legit or not. I took
Software Engineering in college years ago and not once did I ever have
to upgrade my computer for the sake of school projects -- I only
upgraded for games! Furthermore I had friends who didn't even have a
computer at all, they did all their work in the computer labs. So I'm
just wondering whether or not we really need to shell out more money
for him; or is it more likely he's using school as an excuse to
upgrade his box for other (gaming?) purposes?

Thanks

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Steve W. Jackson - 25 Jun 2007 20:15 GMT

> Hi folks,
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Thanks

It's an excuse, definitely. :-)

A Core 2 Duo system is obviously pretty new, and 1GB RAM is reasonably
good for most anything he'd be doing in school. If he's crashing
frequently, he should fix his other issues and not claim he needs a new
box.

Signature

Steve W. Jackson
Montgomery, Alabama

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Daniele Futtorovic - 26 Jun 2007 14:56 GMT

>> Hi folks,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> frequently, he should fix his other issues and not claim he needs a new
> box.

Load o' bollocks.

Give that kiddo his new machine, for f.ck's sake. You can't get anywhere
with a Dual Core laptop ... it surely is slow as hell for Medieval
Tota^H^H^H^H^H COBOL 2010. And there's a known and well-documented issue
when running two compilers that it will crash any intel dbl-core proc.
A one-year old computer for a CS student... HA! That's no proper
hardware for even a middle-sized project. Surely not with that brand-new
HL3 scripting engine.

What's the matter with you, OP -- what's you playing gestapo here, fancy
brownnosing for your parents' money to support your drug-addiction.
Such hypocrisy. You make me wanna puke me guts out.

[switches back to Monkey Island on his quad-core & mini-bar]
df.

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Christopher Benson-Manica - 25 Jun 2007 21:52 GMT

> Sorry in advance that this post isn't specifically about programming.

Well, it's most certainly not about *Java* programming. It would have
been more appropriate (but still not very) on comp.programming.

> I have question for some of you seasoned programmers. My kid brother
> has asked my parents to give him money to build a new computer. He's
> in University taking Computer Science, and says the computer he has
> right now isn't powerful enough to handle the rigors of projects he
> has to do at school.

> He claims when he runs two compilers at once, his computer crashes.

If he's first year or second year, he's certainly not being truthful,
and probably still not truthful otherwise. Your brother simply
doesn't have access to development software that would require more
resources, setting aside the questions of a) whether he actually runs
more than one compile at a time, and b) whether he truly needs to do
so. Furthermore, it's rather unlikely that running multiple compilers
would cause a "crash" - at worst, one might expect to go get a soda
while waiting for a compile, and on a machine such as the one you've
described it's likely to be much faster than that. Heck, have him
bring the computer home and show you specifically what happens, if of
course the problem is anything other than a graphics card that doesn't
run World of Warcraft as fast as he might prefer.

Signature

C. Benson Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
cbmanica(at)gmail.com | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

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ebrian - 25 Jun 2007 22:09 GMT

On Jun 25, 4:52 pm, Christopher Benson-Manica
<a...@otaku.freeshell.org> wrote:

> > Sorry in advance that this post isn't specifically about programming.
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> C. Benson Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
> cbmanica(at)gmail.com | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

Thanks for the info. I'll have a talk with him.

I came here because he's programming in Java.

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Christopher Benson-Manica - 25 Jun 2007 23:39 GMT

> Thanks for the info. I'll have a talk with him.

You might mention that at least one professional Java developer (me)
runs a sophisticated IDE and routinely compiles a project consisting
of 1200+ Java files and runs several heavyweight applications, all on
a *single* 2.0GHz laptop processor and 1GB of RAM. Whatever real
problems, if any, your brother is having, they will in all probability
not be solved by a hardware upgrade.

> I came here because he's programming in Java.

No problem, just be aware for future reference.

Signature

C. Benson Manica | I *should* know what I'm talking about - if I
cbmanica(at)gmail.com | don't, I need to know. Flames welcome.

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