CDs, etc.

It's fairly common for CDs, etc. to be made available at BALUG and other User Group meetings.

These are CDs/DVDs/ISOs and such typically currently (subject to availability) made available by Michael Paoli at BALUG and some other user group meetings (e.g. Berkeley Unix User Group (BUUG), Bay Area Debian (BAD), Berkeley Linux Users Group, Ubuntu Hour (San Francisco & Berkeley), and sometimes San Francisco Linux Users' Group (SF-LUG) and others). Other folks may also bring additional CDs, DVDs, etc.

qty (quantity) 0, architecture - see also notes further below.

Also, if there are Open Source images you are particularly interested in obtaining that don't at all show as listed below, perhaps inquire, as noted further below, and we may add such to our "inventory".

And don't forget, CD-RW and DVD+-RW media is rewritable - so don't toss those out just because their data is outdated. Donations of rewritable or blank media may also be appreciated.

Much thanks to various folks that have in many cases provided these CDs, DVDs, etc. (e.g. Grant Bowman, Elizabeth (Lyz) Krumbach, the Ubuntu Local Community (LoCo) Team California, and many others).

qty (quantity) 0
If you see one you're interested in that shows qty (quantity) 0 (zero) (that indicates have the ISO image, but don't have it presently on CD/DVD media), ask in advance, and we may be able to burn one for you or copy to blank CD-R or DVD+-R, or CD-RW or DVD+-RW, or suitable flash storage (USB "thumb drive", or SD (SDSC), SDHC, microSD, or microSDHC (for flash devices, >=720,000 KiB recommended for CD ISOs, >=4,596,992 KiB recommended for DVD ISOs)). It may also help (or be required) to bring suitable blank (or rewritable) media in such cases. If not in advance, we may (or may not, depending who's there with what equipment and images, power and time availability at venue, etc.) possibly be able to burn you a CD/DVD or write bootable image of same to flash storage for you at meeting itself. If you're hoping for either of those services (where it shows qty 0), it's probably best to inquire in advance to the appropriate group's list (e.g. BALUG-Talk BUUG , etc.) or check in advance with person(s) you know that would likely be attending and willing and able to provide such.
Also, if there are Open Source images you are particularly interested in obtaining that don't at all show as listed above, perhaps inquire, as noted above, and we may add such to our "inventory".

architecture

• Check the documentation for the distribution, release, and version, for what specific CPUs and hardware are, or likely are supported, or generally known/believed to work.
• Intel/AMD architectures - Intel 80386 and successor/compatible CPUs are generally the most widely supported among the distributions, though some distributions also support additional architectures. Distributions use varying descriptors, but generally use i386 or i686 to indicate an Intel 80386 or compatible/successor 32-bit CPUs, and amd64 or x86_64 to indicate an AMD or Intel 64-bit CPU upwardly compatible with the Intel 80386 family of CPUs. Note that in many cases the distribution's architecture name may not, or may no longer, well indicate the minimum CPU required. E.g. most current distributions supporting 32-bit architectures with an architecture name of i386 no longer support the 80386 CPU.
• Note also that some distributions also provide ISOs/images/media that supports more than one architecture - e.g. by allowing various alternative kernels to be booted and different architecture versions of packages to be installed.
• Some specific distribution details follow, but in all cases one should refer to the documentation for the distribution, release, and version, for what specific CPUs and hardware are, or likely are supported, or generally known/believed to work.
• Debian
  • i386 80386 CPUs no longer supported as of Debian 3.1 "Sarge", but otherwise, i386 architecture supports upwardly compatible CPUs - e.g. 80486 and compatible or upwardly compatible.
• Ubuntu
  • i386 requires PAE as of ??? (not required on 10.04 LTS, but required by 12.04.1 LTS)