Which Linux ?

[nickd01]

Hello,

I've inherited a Dell Latitude L400 notebook. Currently it's dead but I am waiting for a power adaptor to liven her up.

From reading on the internet it doesn't seem powerful enough to run Windows XP or Vista so I was thinking of sticking a Linux distribution onto it. The only real criteria is that it can surf the internet, view some photos and look as close as possible to XP so the girlfriend can use it easily.

Can someone point me in the direction of a suitable install that could work for me?

Thanks

[Blue Meanie]

A lot of peeps like Ubuntu,or red hat.

[CommanderJameson]

Kubuntu sounds about right (easy to install, looks a bit like Windows).

ETA: The nice thing about Ubuntu (and its derivatives) is that you boot off a Live CD, so you can see how well it's going to work, and then you just double-click an icon on the desktop to install it - and you know how well it's going to work because you've just seen it.

Edited by CommanderJameson on Wednesday 26th December 19:51

[nickd01]

Thanks chaps.

Is there a general Linux website I can use for FAQ's etc ?

[CommanderJameson]

The Ubuntu Community site is very good for finding your bearings.

Start here.

[Neil_Sc]

I've been using Debian 4 and it is great

[CommanderJameson]

Neil_Sc said:

I've been using Debian 4 and it is great

Indeed it is - there's a good reason Ubuntu's built on it - but for someone's first adventure in Linux, the installer might be a bit fearsome.

[Bodo]

Neil_Sc said:

I've been using Debian 4 and it is great

Though, is it great for beginners too?

Another vote for Kubuntu, very easy to start with.

[MrTom]

I had Ubuntu 7.10 on my ibm t42.

Pros
Everything is free
Forum support is brilliant
Everything just works
Can make it very pretty, compiz fusion, berol etc

Cons
Battery life takes a hit compared to windows xp (although tweaking reduces this)
Driver support for hardware is crap
Theres too many updates
No games
Every piece of windows software isnt replicated in linux and cant be run on wine (windows emulator)

I would say if you want a neat media pc thats portable ubuntu is brilliant, but anything outside that its pants.

[RoadRailer]

If the machine is lacking enough grunt to run XP then the KDE desktop in Kubuntu or the Gnome desktop in vanilla Ubuntu may be too much for it too.

Try Xubuntu or if you are feeling uber geeky - Damn Small Linux or Puppy.

For fresh from microsoft converts PClinux OS is a good choice, but again you may be constrained by hardware limitations.

Depends on your skill level really - if you have a penchance for sandals and beards then there are a multitude of different distributions to choose from. GIYF.

[onomatopoeia]

Ubuntu, you get all that Debian goodness in a distribution that is updated more often than once every geological era.

[Neil_Sc]

Bodo said:

Neil_Sc said:

I've been using Debian 4 and it is great

Though, is it great for beginners too?

Another vote for Kubuntu, very easy to start with.

Well I'm not exactly a pro, I know my way around the Unix file system as I use AIX at work, but not much experience of setting up Linux, I found it easy to install and with the apt-get command, easy to install any applications I need.

Edited by Neil_Sc on Thursday 27th December 10:56

[hornet]

onomatopoeia said:

Ubuntu, you get all that Debian goodness in a distribution that is updated more often than once every geological era.

Or breaks less often, depending on your point of view :-)

Something like Puppy or Damn Small Linux is ideal if all you're doing is browsing/emailing, but you can't ignore the sheer size of the Ubuntu community, so I'd probably go for Xubuntu. There are a few even more lightweight Ubuntu spinoffs (Fluxbuntu and Debris are two I know of), but I think they're a bit "one man band", so support might be a problem. I used to use BFX (which morphed into Debris) without any problems, but it was a bit out of date.

Loads of info over at Distrowatch

I'm assuming Ubuntu comes with Open Office pre-installed these days, but could be worth ditching that and using Abiword and Gnumeric if you want more lightweigh apps. That's what I use, albeit not very often and not for anything vastly complicated, but I haven't had any dramas - both seem to handle MS Office formats ok.

[Pigeon]

hornet said:

I'm assuming Ubuntu comes with Open Office pre-installed these days, but could be worth ditching that and using Abiword and Gnumeric if you want more lightweigh apps. That's what I use, albeit not very often and not for anything vastly complicated, but I haven't had any dramas - both seem to handle MS Office formats ok.

I find openoffice is more stable than abiword and less prone to WYSINWYG problems. Sure it's a bit big but it isn't enough to be a problem. Only niggle is it ignores all system-wide options for turning off antialiasing and I haven't found its own option yet, so all my menus are fuzzy. But the important stuff works better.