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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Andrew,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I can’t comment on whether you had good advice or not. Since
I haven’t tried SuSE (or any other version Linux recently).... so that
only leaves me qualified to talk about my experience on my netbook and another
computer. Both worked without fiddling with Mint 8. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>At the end of the day no OS is perfect, so what worked for me,
might not work for you and your hardware. I chose Mint after a lot of reading
up, as I was about to install Ubuntu, and read that Mint supposed to be a bit
better again. For example it has all the media CODECs preinstalled in the main
version, so media files just work out of the box. I think I read it has better
wireless card detection too. I must say I like the Mint main menu too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I’m sure you could make any version of Linux work for you.
One particular tip is to Google search your your laptop model number and the
name of the linux you are considering: eg for my Samsung NC10 netbook, I
searched for something like: NC10 Mint linux (and variations on that theme
eg NC10 “Mint 8”;)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>You should get a feel for whether anyone has trodden the path
before you and solved any problems if there were any... which might help you
pick a distro of Linux that works with your hardware better than a different
distro (or even different version of that distro). In the case of my Netbook, I
found that someone had made a repository for Ubuntu & NC10 netbooks, that
made all the screen brightness key strokes work etc. and fortunately they
worked for me with no modification on Mint too (as the vast majority of Ubuntu
stuff does). But I had a very complete experience out of the box without those
extras.... they were just the icing on the cake! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>If you have older hardware, then the latest version of a distro
isn’t always better, since sometimes the advances break compatibility
with older hardware. Older ATi graphics cards drivers being one example broken
by newer Kernels, and ATi have failed to update the drivers. Open source community
drivers are getting better though, and in most cases the graphics still display
fine, you just get less advanced support for the hardware and it’s 3D acceleration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>So although I’m very happy with Mint here, (and I
recommend at least giving it’s Live CD a go, so you can see how it looks
for yourself on your hardware), you might well find your best distro of Linux is
a different distro/version to me. Hopefully the google search for your computer
model will help you narrow the list down very quickly so you can try a few live
CD/DVD’s out to see how well it works for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'> herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk
[mailto:herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Andrew Porter<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 02 April 2010 19:03<br>
<b>To:</b> herts@mailman.lug.org.uk<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Herts] Questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Mike<br>
<br>
I either received, or took the wrong advice from a former colleague. Suffice to
say, it was SuSE Linux that was introduced on a corporate computer that some
engineers were asked to use, therefore, this was their first introduction to
Linux. With impressed responses all round means that the general opinion, at
the time, was for SuSE Linux, without necessarily understanding the
implications of how to install and fully set up SuSE Linux. In addition, when
one former colleague did install SuSE Linux, it was a dual boot system with
Windows 98, where it appears that SuSE Linux was able to detect far more from
the Windows 98 settings, when compared to SuSE Linux and Windows Vista, no
great surprise now that I understand how much Microsoft appear to tie in their
users. Perhaps Microsoft regard Linux operating systems as an increasing market
competitor, particularly when Dell started to offer ready to run computers with
Ubuntu Linux installed.<br>
<br>
Time to step back and recognise that I need to start with Ubuntu or similar, as
an alternative to SuSE Linux, or more significantly, to detatch myself from
Microsoft Vista.<br>
<br>
Andrew<br>
<br>
On 02/04/2010 15:41, Mike - XP Computers wrote: <o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><pre>...and Ubuntu would have been a better introduction to Linux.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre></blockquote>
<pre><snip><o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>I have been very impressed by Mint Linux, which is based on Ubuntu, but with<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>a few usability tweaks and customisations pre-configured. I am using Mint 8<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>here (which is based on the latest Ubuntu 9.10). Mint 9 is coming soon, to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>be based on the imminent Ubuntu 10.4<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>As a newbie to Linux, I found the process to be very simple and effective.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>In fact I am assessing it from the perspective of rolling it out to people<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>who are less tech savvy than myself, and I finally think I've found a distro<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that I could safely recommend to others no matter what their level of tech<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>expertise. It just works!<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Highly recommend taking a look. It uses Ubuntu repositories too, so you get<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>all the perks of Ubuntu, with a few extras that Ubuntu doesn't have...<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a
href="http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php">http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Mike<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>From: <a
href="mailto:herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk">herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre>[<a
href="mailto:herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk">mailto:herts-bounces@mailman.lug.org.uk</a>] On Behalf Of Andrew Porter<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Sent: 02 April 2010 14:51<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>To: <a
href="mailto:herts@mailman.lug.org.uk">herts@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Subject: Re: [Herts] Questions.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Steve<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Your comments are consistent with the general recommendations that I have<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>received from work colleagues, that is, Q-Tek did not provide the full set<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>up they should have, and Ubuntu would have been a better introduction to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Linux. Apparently, it is notably better in detecting the dual boot Windows<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>element, and able to extract the Internet settings information, etc. As for<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the Lexmark printer, I have found that Lexmark do provide driver software<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>compatible with SuSE Linux and other Linux operating systems, therefore,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>once SuSE Linux is set up correctly, it should be a straight forward process<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>to down load the software. Suffice to say, help received from Lexmark with<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Windows Vista was really comprehensive, easy to understand and follow. The<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>bad bit was trying to stop Windows Vista automatically overriding the<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>correct driver software! Put it this way, Vista is my first ever Microsoft<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>purchase, and will be the last.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>I must add that rather than feeling that my experience with Linux has been<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>bad, or possibly frustrating, I suspect that this has more to do with Q-Tek<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>not preforming the installation requested completely, possibly because they<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>are not familiar with Linux installations. Being new to Linux myself means<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that I was unable to detect that this issue was applicable, therefore, I am<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>reluctant to blame Linux as being at fault. In fact, I remain very keen to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>have a Linux operating system as my prime operating system, and only use<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Microsoft products as a last resort for those increasingly less common<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>elements that require a Microsoft operating system. Even within my Microsoft<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>system I use Open Office, etc., and have found this better than Microsoft<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Office.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Yes, operating a Linux system from a DVD does work, and this is one method,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>possibly, of testing Ubuntu, before installing over SuSE Linux. The live<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>DVDs I have are those intended to allow the user to run a Linux system from<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>a DVD, without endangering the computer's existing operating system. If it<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>works well, then the option exists to provide an installation. As my<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>computer is already a dual boot system, with a 50% partitioned hard drive<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>means that the process should be relatively simple, provided that I over<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>write the correct half of the hard drive! However, I know that the Windows<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>side is a FAT32 or NTFS system, and SuSE Linus should be EXT 2 or EXT 3 so<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that the risk of deleting the Windows system in error is low. Even if I did,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>I have an external hard drive used as a full back up of the Windows Vista<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>system, all the documents, files, etc.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>As for bringing in my computer, the answer is yes. However, I am may miss<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>this month's meeting, I as I am due to be in France on a business trip.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Suffice to say, being in the minority as an Analogue Design Engineer at work<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>means high demands upon my time at work!<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Enjoy your Easter break, whilst I look forward to eliminating my initial<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>frustrations with SuSE Linux, where SuSE Linux, itself, is not the cause of<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the problem.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Regards<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Andrew Porter<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>PS. I have been advised that SuSE Linux is biased towards office<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>applications, therefore, a Local Area Network. This make explain why Ubuntu<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>is regarded as a better option for the home user.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>On 02/04/2010 12:37, Steve Clark wrote: <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>On Wednesday 31 Mar 2010 21:22:22 Andrew Porter wrote:<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>4. Is Linux your main OS? <o:p></o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre><pre> It was intended to be, but I have failed, so far, to get the system to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> recognise the DVD drive, the printer, and connect to the Internet. Books,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> etc., have not been of any help, as they assume that all that is needed has<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> already been established, reference the DVD drive recognition, printer, <o:p></o:p></pre><pre> Internet connection and settings. The information sources are intended to <o:p></o:p></pre><pre> provide guidance once all that is needed is in place and working.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>I'm sorry to hear you've had such a bad experience with Linux so far. I<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>think <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that back in the old days (a few years ago) I too found it tricky to get <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>everything working, but my recent experience, mostly with Ubuntu, has been <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that it 'just works'. I've plugged in a webcam, Bluetooth adaptor and<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>scanner <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>and had them working without any extra drivers or even editing of <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>configuration files.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>You say you've tried SUSE, which I haven't used. Have you tried other<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>distros? <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Have you tried live CDs? Can you bring the PC to a meeting so we can try and<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>help?<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Herts mailing list<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a
href="mailto:Herts@mailman.lug.org.uk">Herts@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a
href="https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herts">https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herts</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> <o:p></o:p></pre></div>
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