Laptop OSes

[noidly1]

anyone have any info on which, if any, non-windows OSes will work on a dell latitude d600 and have the appropriet drivers? I would like to run a unix or linux OS but have very little experience with them. Are there any install-and-run OSes with simple/standard apps and programs? any help would be great. thanks.

[happybunny]

ubuntu

http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html

[leonpmu]

you could also try kubuntu, which uses the kde desktop...I also run SUSE on my laptop without issues, one of my clients has a Dell, which also wroks perfectly with SUSE..

[deathadder]

You could also have a look at Mandrake, Fedora.

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

[gentoostu]

Hey Guys,
As u mentioned non-specific UNIX-like OS's i suggest you take a look into FreeBSD as a further alternative. The following URL's may help you figure out which "drivers" or modules you will need for ur laptop plus i think one of them has a kernel config u may just be able to pilfer:

http://www.stacken.kth.se/~kaj/2006/dell.en
http://www.igps.ca/tech/d600.txt

FreeBSD is not your run of the mill run's perfectly straight out of the box SuSe style OS, you will have to work a little and do a fair amount of reading if you want to get the best out of the OS. As far as i know you can choose the packages u want during the install so it is possible to install Xorg and GNOME or KDE which should install a good selection of general productive software.

If you are looking for something easier i suggest possibly looking into DesktopBSD or PCBSD, both of which i have not had any expirience with as im a traditional minimal/optimal install person, however they have had some good reviews rescently (apparently bringing BSD to the masses but im skeptical as always with such claims).

Good Luck.

[Icarus]

Here's a few suggestions
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html

I'm running Gentoo on my D600, anything will work it's just how much tweaking you care to do to make it work

[eskaypey]

Have a look at http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html for some more info too

[irlandes]

I originally had a Compaq laptop, and ran it with earlier versions of Mandrake. I have had several versions of Mandrake, and now Mandriva, on my Inspiron 2650.

Biggest problems for me were the modems. The Compaq had a Lucent chip, so I just had to find the tar ball and learn how to install it. Later, they came up with auto-install rpm's.

On this Inspiron, it uses the much harder Conexant modem, and I finally had to spend $15 for the propietary driver. There is a free one, but it only works with an older kernel, not on 2.6.

And, I am a klutz with wireless, fortunately seldom need it. Then, I have to use Windows.

It is partly a lack of a m b i t i o n. I had to edit this because it converted that word to *****ion, that is really strange, what is offensive about a m b i t???

Otherwise, I have Mandriva LE 2005 working almost perfectly.

I from time to time try another distro as Live CD. In fact that is a good way to start, especially if you have fast Internet to download them.

One really slick one, though it doesn't come with all the goodies, is Puppy. It is a minimal, and actually runs live at around 70MB. You can get other options, such as the OpenOffice.org version. At the mininal 70 MB, if you need to rescue files from a busted system, puppy will load itself completely into RAm on most machines, which frees your CD writer for burning CD.

Also, v. 2.03, I think it is, suppplied native writes to NTFS!!!!!!!!!

I downloaded a bunch of CD's of different distros this last week, using Puppy 1.06, a very old version. There is a problem with CDs on kernel 2..6, and 1.06 still uses 2.4, so I can burn good iso's with no problem.

I was happily surfing the Web via my son's high speed Internet with that old Puppy while downloading iso after iso, and then burning each one.

Most of the Live CD's set up your fan and all the needed laptop stuff.

One I hesitate to recommend is Knoppix. I haven't checked in recently, but the installer was never perfected through v. 4.0 (it is now at 5.0 and I do not know current installer status.)

And, there was a very surly moderator on knoppix.org who really trashed anyone who needed installation help, saying only fools would try to install Knoppix. He says having tried Knoppix and liked it, if you are intelligent, you will immediately cast off what worked so well and go to Debian stable, his personal favorite. Grrrr!!!

For that reason, and it is human nature to install a Live CD that works great, do not try Knoppix, for your own good. There are too many Live CD's, such as Kanotix (I had a problem with a Sis video card, and Kano himself answered my question on kanotix.org and next version worked!!!)

pclinuxos is pretty good.

Distros relative standing varies as each goes through development. Right now, Ubuntu or KDE version Kubuntu is near the top of the pack and either are good newbie choices.

The trick is to try one of a Live CD, and if it doesn't find all your hardware, except possibly wifi or modem, try another. Ubuntu and pclinuxos seem to work on most everything, though, and they have a lot of apps for free download from the repositories.

Be aware that Openoffice.org comes on most main Live CD's, and gives you full MS office compatiblity, free.

Do be aware a lot of people have very strong feelings about their favorite distro. See comment about Knoppix moderator. So, when you ask about distros, the result is usually called distro war, and can get really heated.

As a newbie, to try Kubuntu as a first Live distro, then if you like it, and can get downloads, try others. Trying different ones is a great learning experience, and at little cost on a live CD.

If you don't have fast Internet, www.cheapbytes.com sells cheap CD's of most distros.

[noidly1]

WOW... i went to lunux.org and got blown away by how many distros there are.

SO many flavors... what do i want today?

on a serious note though, i see a lot of network/server based distros and have been told that unix/linux is based on it. is this true? is it a concern for me?

as for the gui, kde, gnome, x-window, exc., what is the difference between them?
does it matter which i use in my lappy or is it just another flavor?

is there a site that explains or has a glossery of terms or file extensions? so far what i gathered is that the "kernal" is the "command.com" of u/linux.

what do you call the "config.sys" and "autoexec.bat" and "msconfig.exe" in u/linux?

obviousely im a windows user and can't splell, ha ha, anyway, i grew up in computers in the late 70s when a neighbor had a heath-kit put-together unit and all it had was a bunch of tube displays that he could understand and make it display stuff. then came the apple. my friend tought me how to write simple programs in basic. after that, i went in the army. not until the early 90s did i get back in with dos as a user and haven't done any programing. when xp came out, i was lost, i can't figure out how to get it to drop all the crap and have it work like 95/98 dos. dos dosen't pull files off the hd and hold em in memory like xp and loose them when the power gets turned off.
turn off the power, and blue screen on restart, not dos. turn off the power in dos and it don't care. i hope u/linux isn't like that, er; xp.

also; xp has this thing with the "register" and in the "documents and settings" that have a different thing for this thing and that thing, administrator setings, network settings, user a settings, user b settings, common user settings,yada yada yada...
leave the crap off and have one set of settings for everything and leave it alone.

this is why i wish to go to u/linux!
let me have total control of the os/computer and make it easy.
is u/linux like this, i hope so...

which distro do you think would be best for a user like me that doesn't need a server os on a laptop that i can dictate what is installed and or ran and not have to worry about any hidden or useless stuff?

does it matter which distro i use if i want to run a windows app? i have a bunch of automotive apps that only run on windows that i have use for tuning cars and bikes with and other automotive stuff.

all i need is an os for my lappy that is easy to work with and doesn't have a server but lets me connect.

the above suggestions do help, just a quite bit fuzzy on u/linux programing type stuff.
just like to get in without having to read a 1000 page book on u/linux. ya right...
is there a "readers digest" version of a guide on u/linux?

thanks.

[happybunny]

lets see...where to begin...

1. unlike Windows, linux is linux, there is not Home/Pro/Server/Advanced server/Bills' Server/Mikes/Server versions...linux is linux.

2. http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142980

3. file extensions dont mean squat in linux

4. the kernel is the kernel in every OS. "command.com" in Windows refers to a command line/terminal/konsole where you type in commands rather than have a gui

5. /etc/init.d/ would be the closest thing. In it lists what might be started at boot. Additionally, etc/modules.conf loads drivers that sometime config.sys would.

There is no one place for what is msconfig in linux, if i remember what that actually does.

6. Yes, linux does not use a "registery" of any sort. However, killing the power on a running OS is bad no matter what. Not everything gets flushed to disk all the time so what ever is in RAM at the time of the power outage is "lost" (altho usually recovered). The closest thing to "documents and settings" is /home where each user gets to store their own files and configurations.

7. No.

8. The condenced linux book is www.google.com/linux or www.justlinux.com

[Fat_Boy]

The only problem I had running SuSE 9.0 on my Latitude D600 years ago was the Intel wireless card but that has been resolved.

[irlandes]

There is no guarantee you can run a specific Windows application in Linux.

However, there is a for-pay product, Crossover, which allows an awful lot of Windows apps to run in Linux. Even major apps like MS Office, and I think earlier versions of AutoCad - though that is by memory.

So, there is a good chance you can run your automotive apps as well, but the only way to be sure is to try it.

What many of us do, if we have a big enough HD, is to set up our machines dual boot so at boot we decided which way to jump. And, if you have trouble with your favorite apps in Crossover, you simply boot in Windows and run them there.

We have a lot of stuff in Linux which replaces Windows stuff. Openoffice.org does all the MS Office stuff (except for the few who use really complex macros.) If you use OO, do be sure to change format when you Save, because v. 2.0 saves as ODT. While that may be the standard of the future, at this time almost no one else can open your files in ODT.

There are all sorts of apps for Linux that are either better than for Windows or for-pay on Windows and free on Linux.

By the way, the DOS prompt equivalent is called the terminal prompt in Linux. It is also much more powerful than the old DOS commands.

But to survive on Linux, you must put out of your mind everything you know about Windows or you are going to explode your brain trying to find everything when it simply does not exist in Linux. Linux is not a better Windows. It is totally different.

My favorite is Kstars, a real time plantarium.

I will never again voluntarily have a computer that does not have Kalarm, and there is no Windows equivalent; Kalarm is the best alarm I have ever seen, and I have my 2010 driver's license renewal set in there as well as stuff for today or this week. I move that stuff to new installations.

GIMP is a free photo editing program. Photoshop users claim it isn't the same. But, a high school teacher in Australia started half his students on one and half on the other. Mid term he reversed his students, and the GIMP users complained as loudly as the Photoshop users that they couldn't do what they needed after the change. Top graphics pros may need Photoshop but for home users it will do it all.

One big difference is permissions. Each and every file in Linux has permissions, and the important ones are set to root or administrator only. This is how we are exempt from viruses, trojans, and spyware. Without going to su (read up on that) or sudo on some cases, or logging in as root (which is not recommended) we can't even write to our system files, and invaders don't stand much of a chance. You can change permissions when needed.

There have been written 800 "viruses" for Linux, which MS propagandists make a big deal about BUT NO ONE HAS EVER GOTTEN THEM TO WORK IN ANYONE ELSE'S MACHINES. Hee, hee.

FORGET ABOUT HOW WINDOWS AND DOS WORKS. YOU WILL WASTE A LOT OF TIME IF YOU DO.

[KenP]

Ubunto 6.06 works fine. Finds all hardware out of the box Intel 2200 Wireless Adapter too

not tried any others

Ken

[noidly1]

G-Ubuntu?
Kubuntu?
Xubuntu?

Is there a diffinitive list of differences between the three Gnome, KDE and Xfce, preferably in table format?

thanks.

[eskaypey]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...p_environments