Which Linux version best for OpenFOAM?
 

Dear all..
1. I am really new in OpenFOAM, since I used Fluent before. I want to know, which Linux version is the best compatibility with OpenFOAM, with almost no bugs?? My friend told me that OpenSUSE better in display, but Ubuntu is faster, is it true in running OpenFOAM?
2. I want to use laptop to run OpenFOAM, what is the minimum specification of processor etc.? Since I always use Windows before, which laptop brand has high compatibility in linux???

Thanks a lot.

Yewebis

openSuSE 10.3 is prefered. And I believe the compatibility of this platform is good. However, the FOAM can be installed on all the linux platforms.

Maybe you can calculate simple case in the laptop.:)

Yea,I think OpenSuse10.3 is the best; u can use the least time on installing.

As for Ubuntu, I got it to work on 8.10, and it might even be a little easier to handle on 8.04. 9.04 is not recommended as people seem to have problems with Paraview on 9.04. In terms of speed I don't think there will be a big difference between different distrubutions, its mainly about the ease of installation.

Dell and Lenovo are known to have pretty solid compability, especially of course if you are looking at a laptop preloaded with Linux.

Thank you so much for explanation...
Then OpenSUSE is easier to install than Ubuntu??
It is hard to get linux preloaded laptop in Taiwan, I mean a laptop with higher specification than netbook for CFD simulation. It is always buy windows first, and remove it...:(

I had installed openfoam on both 32 and 64 bit machines running ubuntu and fedora. Only important thing is to ensure that your gcc matches with the version of openfoam. For compiling paraform the qt version needs to match.

Ubuntu and OpenSUSE will probably be equally simple to install. Ubuntu is easy to install for sure. What I meant (and I think the previous posters as well) was that it might be a little easier to install OpenFOAM on OpenSUSE than on Ubuntu. It's certainly possible on either though. As harishg wrote the main things are that you get the proper versions of gcc and QT, which will most likely be the case if you don't use the very latest versions or very old versions of a distrubution.

See what you can find on ubuntu 8.04 and OpenSUSE 10.3 and then let your gut decide ;)

Btw, you can download "Live-CDs" of the distributions which will allow you to run them from CD without installing so you can test hardware support and see which suits you best.

Ubuntu and suse10.3 is fine.