Folding Forum

I'm looking at a fast operating system, that's also very light.
Has few to no extra modules or programs installed, but the bare necessities (or as few as possible); meaning small footprint, and the ability to install fah client (either via synaptic, or apt-get, or has the dependencies to build/makefile and config from the terminal).
Not meant to run as a full fledged desktop, but a barebones OS, dedicated to folding, running as a dual boot OS (either via Grub, or as a Live OS from a stick), with a full desktop OS, like Windows or Ubuntu.
The theory being, the smaller the operating system, the more resources are dedicated to folding.

Additionally it has to be free, and compatible to run on Xeon servers (or normal Intel X86/X64 computer systems); has to support graphics card drivers (Nvidia or AMD).
It also has to be either a 32bit OS supporting PAE, or a 64bit OS, for those running more than 4GB of RAM, and more than 2 Graphics cards.

FreeBSD and Linux come to mind; FreeBSD not specifically because it's small, but because it's been used in the server market for about 3 decades; and ISN'T considered a Linux operating system.
I'm just interested to see how it performs compared to Linux and Windows.

Linux on the other hand, has hundreds of desktop variants, but the most popular (Ubuntu, Mint,...) aren't what I'm looking for here.
I'm looking for something much more efficient. Something you can dual boot on the side, with a full operating system like Ubuntu, or Windows.

I wondered if some people can share their experiences with:
- Clear Linux (Intel)
- Tiny Core
- DSL (Damn Small Linux)
- Any others?

Would like to hear experiences of others in terms of speed, compatibility with both system and graphics drivers, and ability to compile FAH on those operating systems?

At first sight, FreeBSD's OS isn't good for folding nor bitcoin, as GPU issues arise, despite Nvidia having great driver support for FreeBSD.
They say CPU folding happens fine, and the core can be modified to get up to 20% faster mining, by stripping it from all unnecessities.
It's probably very similar to small or lightweight versions of Linux.

Some members of FAH have been on FreeBSD forums, 8 and 4 years ago, but not a lot of info there.

Ubuntu Server is enough for a headless system ...

Would like to hear experiences of others in terms of speed, compatibility with both system and graphics drivers, and ability to compile FAH on those operating systems?

You cannot compile FAH yourself, the FAH cores are downloaded as binaries from Stanford University

Using any of the BSD variants is just not a good approach for F@h. At the minimum you would need to install the Linux support layer, then add any missing libraries and other software support needed by the folding client and the downloaded folding cores.

P.S. Any of the BSD unixes are not considered to be Linux because their software ancestry precedes Linux. Linux was written from the ground up to not be BSD because otherwise it would have been stomped out by the copyright holders to the AT&T and BSD Unix code.

FAH was specifically designed to work with the hardware and software that you're already using. The official stance is that you should install FAH on your home computer rather than purchase equipment specifically to run FAH. Not surprisingly many people ignore that recommendation.

Nevertheless, the official answer is: The best OS for folding is whatever OS is already on your computer.
(Actually, it's mostly a matter of personal preference. Other than that, nobody really has measured anything significant. Feel free to report back after you've tried FAH on several different Distros.)

Yes, Linux tends to have more efficient GPU drivers that Windows, but choosing which Linux to run or suggesting that somebody might compile FAH for a specific distro is making FAH into something that it was never intended to be. You'll find questions and answers about whether using the latest driver or selecting a specific previous version will help the PPD, but that's not the question you're asking -- or responding to. The rest of this topic is superfluous.

Choose one of the supported versions. Install the drivers and the client, and let your hardware take over the task of folding.

Topic closed.