On 8/28/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">MICHAEL WEAVER</b> <<a href="mailto:michaelweaver1@btinternet.com">michaelweaver1@btinternet.com</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
If I choose a make of laptop for running Linux, do I need to check to see if<br>the distro I choose will run or if a laptop runs Linux, should it run many<br>distros?</blockquote><div><br>
Unless you don't mind your portable not working as you wish (its being to<br>
some extent a paperweight), then I think that the answer is definitely: Yes,<br>
you do need to check that your distribution and your proposed purchase are compatible.<br>
<br>
This is what we have vendors for.<br>
<br>
Another factor is whether you intend to run your portable as a portable<br>
(away from power, away from the office) or as a small footprint desktop<br>
system with a convenient uninterruptible power supply.<br>
<br>
If I have an axe to grind, it is to suggest that you take the time to <br>
contact hardware manufacturers and suggest that if they want business<br>
from clued up purchasers then they should ensure that their systems<br>
are compatible with various polished distributions such as Red Hat or<br>
SuSE.<br>
<br>
Many of us here may be familar with those systems but actually run <br>
Gentoo, Ubuntu or Debian, and tend to point newcomers to Ubuntu,<br>
Fedora or Mandrake. (Actually, SuSE is newcomer friendly as well).<br>
I don't think that we can expect hardware manufacturers to assert,<br>
far less guarantee, that their systems will be compatible with all<br>
of those, all of the time. In reality, compatibility ought to increase over<br>
time, and it is a goal of Gentoo and Ubuntu.<br>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Also if I were to for example choose Ubuntu, would laptops running Debian<br>support it with the distros being similar?
</blockquote><div><br>
I think that the answer is yes, features supported under Debian will also<br>
be supported under Ubuntu, but I would not expect anyone (even the<br>
manufacturer) to be able to guarantee that.<br>
</div><br></div>See <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7464">http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7464</a> <a href="http://hardware.newsforge.com/hardware/05/07/14/1721248.shtml?tid=61">http://hardware.newsforge.com/hardware/05/07/14/1721248.shtml?tid=61
</a><br>
and possibly <a href="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">http://www.linux-laptop.net/</a><br>
<br>
Ben<br>