Comments on: Finding a decent Linux distro

By: Indigo Jo

Indigo Jo — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:30:47 +0000

As-Salaamu ‘alaikum

Ubuntu should actually detect when you’ve got hardware which requires third-party drivers and install it automatically. That’s what it did with accelerated graphics cards that require binary drivers such as ATi (like mine) and nVidia, and Ubuntu detected the Broadcom wireless device on my laptop and installed the driver, although I can’t get it to connect to anything - I just use Ethernet when I’m on Linux.

On Linux books, you can find big books on Ubuntu at any decent bookshop. The one I have is by Mark Sobell (can’t remember the title, but it’s got an orange and red cover) which has more detail on actually setting up Ubuntu and less on using the applications like OpenOffice. Also, have a look at “Ubuntu Kung Foo” published by Pragmatic Programmers.

By: DrM

DrM — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:56:43 +0000

I have my dell system set up to dual boot XP and Ubuntu. I really like Ubuntu but theres so many things I need to learn, its like learning to walk all over again. I still don’t know to install third part wireless drivers and haven’t had the time to spend on forums. if there any book which you recommend for new Linux users? On a related note, I was testing Windows 7 last week and was disappointed. It may impress Vista users but not those who’ve been with XP.

By: lefty.crupps

lefty.crupps — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:42:16 +0000

Debian Testing net-install would have had you covered, with some manual work after the install. You get IMHO the best, most stable, most well supported, versitile distro out there. With, I might add, some great KDE4 packages in the Experimental branch.

By: Sqb

Sqb — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:11:47 +0000

Salaam Yusuf, I know you don't want Ubuntu systems but have you seen this http://www.ubuntume.com/ ?

By: Lobster

Lobster — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:47:41 +0000

OK you tried the bloat now use the best http://www.puppylinux.org/

By: Indigo Jo

Indigo Jo — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:53:38 +0000

Belal: I didn’t want two Ubuntu systems because I develop software and I wanted an RPM-based system to try certain programs out on. That’s all. You can use the OpenSUSE build service (and I do), but turnaround time is longer if something fails.

By: Belal

Belal — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:22:28 +0000

I haven’t really experimented with other distros but I’ve used Ubuntu since 7.04 and while that version was not flawless, it was better than Windows so I stuck with it. I didn’t know much about computers then so it was a bit of a dive into the deep-end, but I’ve learned a bit since and it’s all been well worth it. Can I ask why you “did not really want another system running Ubuntu.”?

By: anon

anon — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:38:30 +0000

If you got a Dell Inspiron 530 why didn't you get it with Ubuntu preinstalled from Dell, you would have saved some money too. I just bought my mum a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled and everything was perfect. Hint to people thinking about Linux: get a Thinkpad. A Thinkpad T42 will cost £200 from ebay give you years of use and run all Linux distro's flawlessly. A lot of Linux developers and programmers use Thinkpads so they make sure they work. I've tried all the major distros on mine, and many of the minor distros with never a problem, most install better than a 'clean' install of Windows (as opposed to a factory settings reinstall) as all the drivers are installed, unlike a clean install of Windows. Despite trying different distros I keep coming back to Ubuntu. As for fonts try installing the .fonts.conf file from this link (instructions provided) http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2008/10/15/tweak-your-font-rendering-for-better-appearance/ I found the first file to be better than the first. Although the file is designed for Ubuntu it will work on any distro (following exactly the same instructions) that runs the Gnome desktop. In addition download the Droid family of fonts that have been professionally designed for the Google Android system, and set them as system wide fonts through Appearance, and of course enable sub pixel smoothing. The fonts can be gotten from: http://damieng.com/blog/2007/11/14/droid-font-family-courtesy-of-google-ascender To view the fonts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droid_(font) For some reason they seem to work well with Ubuntu and the .fonts.conf file mentioned above.