My quest for a better distro


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Thread: My quest for a better distro

  1. #1
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    My quest for a better distro

    As you may have read, I love my netbook: http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153361

    However, I'm starting to dislike Ubuntu for technical reasons (Unity, etc) and other less technical ones.

    Additionally, I really think my netbook *should* run faster than it does with Ubuntu 11.04 and Gnome v2.

    I've tried other distro's, but none of them function as universally well "out of the box" like Ubuntu does.

    Why is that?

    Debian doesn't work with my wireless card.

    Mint has mouse issues I can't get past (but I'm trying again).

    I read good things about Fedora but they've gone with Gnome v3, which I will resist for as long as possible.

    If I remember correctly, slackware and openbox are super impressively fast, but again I recall there is no wireless nic support (for my netbook anyway).

    So, why does Ubuntu work so well?

    How can I get "smaller" distro/DE to work with my hardware "out of the box" like Ubuntu does?

  2. #2
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    How about giving Mepis a try? Its wireless works OK on mine.

    Mandriva or a member of this family is another candidate. It was called Mandrake before and one of the big decent families.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
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    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  3. #3
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    For a netbook, I'd suggest a look at Peppermint OS.

    Based on Mint/Ubuntu, with a very nicely set up LXDE desktop, optimized for netbooks with lots of familiar web applications already linked to.


    http://peppermintos.com/
    Last edited by blackbelt_jones; 11-03-2011 at 05:34 PM.

  4. #4
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    Didn't parse your other thread, but what wireless NIC do you have? Debian stable runs fine out of box (uses NetworkManager) on my netbook (HP Netbook Mini 110). If your card is very new it may need a driver newer than what is in the stable repo.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

    -Mark Twain

  5. #5
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    So far, all the suggested distro's LiveCD's boot up and work perfectly.

    However, I know that so does the debian installer but once I've installed, the wireless card doesn't work.

    I find this both confusing and frustrating as this is my only computer now.

    Going through a fresh install would be fine as long as the outcome was a working device.

    Any, I'm still evaluating peppermint and linuxmint versions and might decide on a usb flash drive install "just in case".

  6. #6
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    Try the KDE or LXDE versions PCLinuxOS.
    You can tuna piano, but you can't tune a fish.

    http://www.lunar-linux.org/
    It's worth the spin.

    http://www.pclinuxos.com/page.php?7
    Puts the rest to shame.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by happybunny View Post
    However, I know that so does the debian installer but once I've installed, the wireless card doesn't work.
    This is actually good news. If the wireless works at install time, then it knows how to communicate with your wifi fine, just something is now preventing it post install (most likely a conflicting package from tasksel? or config overwrite/delete).

    Assuming you still have the Debian install and it did indeed make a connection at install time (don't want you to have to reinstall just to test), here are a few things you can check.

    • The obvious (but often overlooked) things, like DHCP on/off, out of static IP range on router, encryption protocol match, proper SSID, proper default gateway, etc.

    • Assuming NetworkManager is your control program (default, but if not apt-get install network-manager - there are some specific to DM's like network-manager-gnome), right click the icon it places on your taskbar and verify Enable Wireless and Enable Networking are checked. Then in Edit Connections, Wireless tab, verify there is an entry (create if not) and check the information against the above bullet.

    If those don't get it then its not a simple oversight. You can try disabling the connection in the Wired tab just to verify. Also note give NM at least 30s to make a Wireless connection from the top closed (suspend) before giving up on it.

    Some other things to poke at:

    ifconfig to see which (if any) your wireless is assigned too. Mine is eth0 for Wired, eth1 for Wireless. You can then try resetting it with (matching your identifier)

    Code:
    # ifconfig eth1 down
    # ifconfig eth1 up
    If none of these things work I can point you to more detailed troubleshooting. I'm leaning towards it being something more simple since it worked at install time.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

    -Mark Twain

  8. #8
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    Don't look further, don't waist your time.
    Have a look at Bodhi Linux, the best lightweight distro out there.

  9. #9
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    I tried Bodhi and I get how hard it's trying, but I *think* it's "too old" since it doesn't detect my wireless card at all.

    Love liveCD's since I didn't have to ruin my current install to find that out.

    So far, Vector linux is outpacing them all.

    It's odd: current Ubuntu/Gnome runs youtube fullscreen, but HD videos don't run at all while Vector linux runs HD videos flawlessly, but youtube can't run fullscreen.

    The search continues but I just bought a new netbook (lenovo x120e) so the search will continue on that when it finally arrives.

  10. #10
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    Exclamation

    Don't know if this will help you or not, but openSUSE was released earlier this week. Good luck on finding a good OS to use. I use Fedora on my netbook & it works fine as a kickstart server.

  11. #11
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    I haven't tried suse in years, and I see it comes with gnome/xfce/etc so I will try it out via a liveCD.

  12. #12
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    openSuse Gnome edition uses gnome3. Delete.

    Anyway, I have finally find the perfect distro:
    HD video plays flawlessly
    youtube videos play fullscreen without issue
    boot times are quick, applications are responsive
    I can even watch Netflix videos now!

    Which distro? Windows 7.

    My whole world is turned upside down now!

  13. #13
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    Have you tried CentOS? I know it's a server distro but still... See the link: http://www.centos.org
    I equivocate, therefore I might be.

    My Linux/Unix Boxes:
    Home: Slackware 10, CentOS 5.3, RHEL 5, Ubuntu Workstation 9.10, Work: RHEL 5, CentOS 5

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