Linux Ubuntu and mesa7176E

I have Linux cnc running on Ubuntu kernal on an old machine which also runs Windows XP. I have recently purchase a MESA 7176E module and stepper drivers. My question is can I remove XP and install the DEbian based Linux CNC on the is machine to enable me to use the ethernet connection of the 7176E without interfering with the Ubuntu version.?

You can.

Remember, the Mesa Ethernet cards require a different real time kernel than the standard RTAI one that is on the Linuxcnc iso. It is much easier to setup and patch these Preempt-rt kernels and therefore not so tied to specific distributions as the RTAI one. You can use just about use what ever Linux distro you desire with Preempt-rt. (Mint, Ubuntu, Debian...) But life might be simplest if you choose one that has a buildbot version of Linuxcnc available..

Thank you for your reply. Being a retired machinist very new to the computer world, I am not sure I understand "patch these Preempt-rt kernels". Can you advise which of the packages has a BUILDBOT version.

Buildbot is a Linuxcnc repository where new pre-compiled versions of Linuxcnc are stored.
buildbot.linuxcnc.org/

Take a good look at the installation instructions in the Linuxcnc documentation. It is explained fairly well there. (I have been using Linuxcnc for 7 years and I have never tried to patch my own real time kernel yet. So don't worry to much about it.)
linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/getting-sta...th_preempt_rt_kernel

There are currently Preempt-rt kernels avalible from Debian directly for Debian 7 (Wheezy), 8 (Jessie), and 9 (Stretch). That could be installed using the above instructions (with minor variation for the distro version you choose)
And Linuxcnc buildbot has precompiled versions of Linuxcnc for each of those.

(These precompiled Preempt-rt kennels do not always seem to be available. They seem to have a tendency to pop up for a few months then disappear for a while. (Has something to do with new kernel releases.)

You can install Linuxcnc from the new iso-livecd with the released version 2.9 and the Preempt-rt kernel (not RTAI):

www.linuxcnc.org/testing-stretch-amd64-rtpreempt/

Floris