Posted on 03/02/2009 5:43:01 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
I understand that Linux is more of a hobbyist OS, and not for beginners, but it really needs a much better install. One idea that might be pretty good would be an open source program (multi-platform) that does nothing but analyze the user’s machine and recommend the best distro. But of course, the installations should be much less demanding and cryptic.
Hence the problem with Open Source......cheap, but spotty hw support. I perfer CentOS, which is open source, but an exact copy of RedHat Enterprise. Its the best free OS out there in my opinion. Of course i don’t use this for a personal machine. Excellent for webservers though.
It might, but it would be slow. I'm running Kubuntu on a machine ca 2002 or so. 1.1 GHz, 512 MB RAM and it runs acceptably well -- with a low-end graphics accelerator (without it, well, OpenOffice and some other apps are horribly slow).
As somebody else said, you might want to try a lighter-weight distro. I put Xubuntu on an old Win98 machine (500+ MHz, 256M RAM) and it runs reasonably. And with FAR better support for the WiFi card than the Win support that came with the card!
Thanks Sionnsar!
Thanks! On the recommend of a FReeper, I kept my eye out for FreeBSD, and found it New Year’s Day at the bargain books, along with some Linux books and other stuff, a giant pile of those oversized (and fairly recent) computer books for around $40.
Linux in 2009: Recession vs. GNU
http://www.internetnews.com/ | 12-29-09 | Bruce Byfield
Posted on 02/17/2009 9:50:31 AM PST by Brookhaven
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2187555/posts
Vietnam to widely use open source software
VietNamNet | 16:19’ 06/01/2009 (GMT+7) | HC
Posted on 01/07/2009 12:13:45 PM PST by Salo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2160442/posts
LCA 2009: Making Linux more secure
IT Wire | 16 January 2009 | Sam Varghese
Posted on 01/16/2009 6:42:44 AM PST by ShadowAce
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2165736/posts
How to make a bootable USB drive
Posted on 11/13/2008 2:19:50 AM PST by perfect stranger
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2131337/posts
5 Great iTunes Replacements for Managing iPod in Linux
junuaza.com | 9/18/08 | jun uaza
Posted on 09/18/2008 7:40:26 PM PDT by martin_fierro
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2085554/posts
Puppy Linux will work with you in an interesting interactive way ...
Bumping this thread and bookmarking for later.
I really wanted to run something based on FreeBSD...had limited success with PC BSD ...it just gave me fits...with my wide monitor....also helps if one has an nvidia graphic card. ..for all of the Linux Distros....
What machines do you have? Asus EEEs?
What are the System Requirements for Puppy version 4.1.2?
*************************EXCERPT***********************
I think I read that Puppy is made to run on an intel 486 and higher, but in these forms I have heard of folks running it on older and minimal hardware.
Like 4G HD with 64mg of Ram!
I would suggest you just burn a live disc and boot it up and see what happens.
You will be amazed at how fast it is and how well it runs on old computers.
I have it on an 11 year old intel 586, and a celeron laptop and it runs great.
If you have any trouble booting the regular release try the retro one.
This is from the release notes;
| Quote: |
| Running the new kernel on old hardware The 2.6.25.16 kernel should run just fine on very old hardware. I have tested on an old PC with Cyrix 6x86 CPU and 128MB RAM and it runs fine. I configured it very conservatively, |
Some Dells and some OEM boxes. At least one of the Dells has W98 installed on it.
Love your profile page quotes, BTW.
I’ve got an old Gateway (it’s squeaky clean though, a fastidious friend gave it to me) with the old PC connector for the keyboard (pre PS/2) and related hardware. I d/led everything I could find for WFW 3.1, and burned it onto CD for later. Still want to put the thing on the web over DSL for kicks, but it’ll probably wind up getting Linux’ed. May try that Puppy you linked up there.
Thanks!
That thread I linked to at #32 has a ton of tips and tricks in it....
Yep reading it now.
It’s not so much that Linux, Ubuntu specifically, has spotty hd support, it’s the fact that the standard downloadable distribution only comes with free and open source drivers and software.
I’ve seen some exceptions in the last 2 releases of Ubuntu, namely 8.04 and 8.10, in that they have a pop up dialog that offers to download propriety drivers for nVidia, ATI, and Intel drivers for you-once the systems recognizes those as being installed.
The trick is, and I really wish someone would write a short install note that downloads with every download, you need to add the repositories for non-free (open source), proprietary and 3rd party drivers in the Synatpic Package Manager, or using the command line.
8.10 was the easiest, and most full featured, Ubuntu I have ever installed. My GeForce card, Belkin USB Wireless, Sony Mavica, everything was recognized at install and drivers offered for them.
Right out of the box, I can play, rip, and record CD and DVD, Flash is present and working. I’m very pleased. This release knocks LinuxMint into second place for me.
gOS is kinda a nowhere link I think.
http://www.thinkgos.com/gos/index.html
http://www.thinkgos.com/cloud/index.html
I messed with OPENSuSE a few times, and had problems configuring various programs. I switched to Fedora 10, and no problems so far, and I’m fairly new with Linux. It’s my exclusive OS, and there is very little I can’t do with it that I could in Windows, PLUS I don’t have to worry about updating my anti-virus and anti-spyware.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.