Given the specs you have, you can install either xubuntu or lubuntu. Both are light system resources since they are designed for low-spec systems. If you were used to windows XP, xubuntu will be the closes to its easy of use.

I don't know the speed of your GPU or its latency metrics so xubuntu would be the safest route.

Memory and cpu will work well, and xubuntu has an updated kernel that should provide the firmware for you internel and external devices.

Linux is an OS. The reason it is termed distro is because most of the linux OSes are remixes of another linux OS, e.g, ubuntu derived from debian, fedora
derived from RedHat.

Something might have gotten overwritten do to a full /home directory. It would not hurt to re-submit them. Make sure those jobs are scheduled to end at the correct time.

It depends on what you are trying to do with linux. You will have to be more specific.
You said you are an electronic engineer. I have a brother-in-law that works professionally in that field :-). I am guessing you are using a particular programming language. Linux supports more popular languages. Which one are you using. Plus, you are probably using an emulator to simulate your prototypes. What kind, and I'll see if one is available for linux.

Again, I don't know what you use in school, check out this link below to see if any rings a bell.

ubuntu for electronic engineers

The first part in the script seems as if you were adding the driver to both the onboard parallel port and the pci port. The onboard port my have been using another driver that allowed the kernel to access it. I would leave that be.

That last part of the script indicates that the kernel auto-detects what io ports )io_hi are on available and assigns the appropriate driver. You told the kernel what parport to detect rather then letting it do it itself. Seems like either would've worked. From observation ;-)

Can you give use a complete desciption of the jobs that you are running in your cluster? Did you create the jobs with a script or did you use an app wizard.

The files that you removed may have contained information of when those jobs will stop. Back up all your files from your home folder to another storage medium. Make sure the files are accessible. Use a liveCD to boot the system and use one of the partition managers to re-size your partition giving it enough space.

re-size using GParted

I have not tried any of those distros that you mentioned. Should though :-)

There is one thing that I did not mention. I have found that the newer kernel versions, 3.x.x have a tendency of consuming battery life excessively. What I would do is look for a distro that uses any kernel version marked 2.6.x. They seem to go easy on mobile battery life. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS uses such a kernel.

ubuntu 10.04 LTS

If you are using the later UIs like Gnome#, or Unity, you may experience a decrees in battery life. Also, the kernel in use could have extra functions that could drain it too.

Stick with Gnome@, XFCE or LXDE if you like user-friendly UI.

Have a look at this site:

How to Maximize the Battery Life on Your Linux Laptop

Another benefit to using "open" cloud standards is to keep service vendors competitive. The goal is to deliver optimal results to consumers. Vendors will need the ability to adapt to users needs and using opensource is becoming the primary way of doing that because it is not a "what you see is what you get" philosophy.

Can you send a link to the article that you can't edit?

Welcome @whonew

Glad you decided to dabble into linux. You have embarked on a whole new adventure. Enjoy. Remember, we are here to help.