This is my first post. I want a notebook that I can use as a dual boot. I do not yet have a linux distribution picked out, which brings me to my question. What linux distro should I be looking at? I have some ideas about the hardware: Intel core 2 duo processor, DDR2 667 MHz ram, 7200 rpm SATA HD, nVidia graphics card. I would like suggestions on the hardware as well. I have used redhat and fedora at school but have no experience with setup or maintainance. Most of my research experience is in LabVIEW programing, though I also do c++ and LISP. I have a retail version of windows XP home, and I'm debating on the to switch to Vista.

I would appreciate and links to appropriate literature.

Thanks in advance,
Nick

Hi, welcome to LQ!

I split your unrelated post out of the thread you posted it to; best of
luck with the inquiry.


Cheers,
Tink

OK

I was not sure where to post my question. Perhaps I should have just started a thread.

I'm new and just learning the ropes.

What I wanted to do was learn from people with more experience. So I might avoid as many pitfalls as possible.

That's certainly "best practice" if the thread you're
posting into isn't exactly the same issue.

A good move. :}

As for your original question: there's a brilliant
site http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ where you can
read up on others experiences with Linux on all sorts
of laptops. My personal preference is (always has
been) IBM Thinkpads, though I can't recall whether the
current models (including my R60) have 7200rpm drives.

As for vista in the dual boot: if you're lucky enough
to get a notebook w/o OS or w/o Vista pre-installed
I'd stay clear of it.
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut00...ista_cost.html



Cheers,
Tink


P.S.: I like your sig.

Well nickboarder27, I notice that Tink' didn't suggest any particular distro so I will. Have a look at the *buntu's. Ubuntu is gnome based (I don't personally like gnome) then they also have kubuntu which is KDE based (my desktop environment of choice) or they have xbuntu which I believe is xfce based (xfce is a much more basic desktop environment as I understand it - though I also believe it's less resource dependant and apparently runs on kit that might struggle with kde or gnome).

You can download/burn copies (hell you can even ask them to send you a free copy - though that takes a couple of weeks). It's only the one disc. It's reputed to be very user friendly and theres lots of help/support etc out there for it.

It runs, in the first instance, as a "live" cd i.e. it runs entirely from the disc and doesn't touch your hard drive (and logically is a bit slower). You can then tell it to install. It's a handy way of checking whatever device you're trying or thinking of trying to install it to. You could also try knoppix for that. Both are debian based.

Plus if you then installed, say Ubuntu to the device and wanted to try KDE (which IMO is easier to start with when moving from windows as it feels more familiar) then you can just install that as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide on.

regards

John

p.s. erm, my great aunt is in her late 70's and she dual boots windows XP with Kubuntu, no problems at all.

Ok, now that John has thrown distros into the picture ... :}

I dislike ubuntu, give me Slackware or plain old debian (if a big
software repository and convenience is more important than full control
[but then, why switch from windows to begin with ;}]) any day ;}

If you decide to go with the *buntus, make sure NOT to grab the latest
6.10 but the 6.06 LTS (long term support). One of the issues that I
had with Ubuntus is that the upgrade to the next major version commonly
means a re-install (which I find a pain in the proverbial), plus in
6.10 they said ttfn to good old init in favour of the experimental
and (imnsho) poorly documented upstart. Manual changes to the system
have become a real PITA with it (again, just my experience).

My mother in law who will be 70 soon uses Slackware, no dual-booting :D


Cheers,
Tink

Thanks for the input.

I think I found the hardware I want (pending the quote).

I am getting a notebook w/o OS, and I will be getting all the hardware manuals and windows driver cds.

I do allot of LabVIEW programming and both Mandriva 10.1 and RHEL 3 are fully supported. I don’t know anything about these distros, are they suitable for a beginner? Should I get a different distro first gain some experience and then transition?

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/web...4?OpenDocument

Well, there's a pretty good chance that it'll work w/ any recent distro,
really, but in terms of the ones officially supported I'd go with
mandriva for two reasons:
a) bigger selection of packages ;}
b) way lower price.


Cheers,
Tink

Just a note on wireless if your going to use it in linux:

Try to get a wireless card with an Atheros chipset. In my experience the native drivers for them are way more solid, reliable, and easy to use than anything else I've run across. You almost certainly want to stay away from broadcom based cards unless you want to futz with ndiswrapper.

I found Mandriva 10.1 kernel 2.6.8.1 for 8 bucks (4 cd set).

http://lincd.com/product_info.php?products_id=1

Where could I find out what comes with this release? I'll need emacs and a gcc, as well as lisp.

Might I suggest that you save a couple bucks per disc and burn your own. Look here for a long list of downloadable isos of the latest and greatest. See the handy "Need Help?" links on the left for instructions on downloading and burning the images to blank media.

About your requirements; every recent distro I know of has emac, gcc, and lisp. Even if it doesn't install one or more of them by default, the software packages you need are generally very easy to find on a supplimental disc or online.

Happy hunting.

The notebook I am awaiting a quote for will come with the;

INTEL PRO/WIRELESS 3945ABG 802.11ABG M-PCI MODULE

The motherboard chipset is not listed I will send an email to find out.

Is Mandrake Linux 10.1 Official another name for Madriva 10.1? I think I have heard it called Mandriva 2005 LE also. Are these distributions actually the same or not?

I looked for Mandriva 10.1 at iso.linuxquestions but no dice.

Mandrake 10.1 was the last version that used that particular nonclamenture. Instead of 10.2 they called it Mandriva 2005LE (the LE being limited edition because it was immediately after they bought out connectiva and change the release cycle to annual from 6 monthly).

So currently this is what you will be finding.

You also mentioned was it (mandriva) suitable for a new user. Well that usually gets a big fat YES for the answer. Prior to the *buntus it was the distro that more often than not, was the one suggested for the new user (particularly in Europe - far, far away from the MS of the linux world i.e. Redhat ).

Even though it had a rep' for new users, it [probably still] has everything the advanced user could want. I'd say just get the latest version, then find out about setting up the repo's courtesy of easyurpmi (get a repo for everything - thats what I used to do when I ran it) and then you just install what you want. It is a good, easy to use (IMO - and judging from your programming mentions you know a hell of a lot more than me) distro, but if I can manage it, then anyone can.

regards

John

p.s. Oh and just to make my life easier, I just used to send to Mandriva (and before than mandrake) for my discs, as the "originals" where also configured with the proprietary stuff like the nvidia driver and realplayer (and a few other bits) straight off the disc - not that it's hard to install/config them anyhow it just suited me to be lazy and I figured that their work was good enough to "donate" towards - hell it's not as if it's expensive either.

I appreciate all the helpful info. Thanks to all who contributed.

I have to say, my first LQ experience has been very positive.