[Hudlug] buying a laptop

[Tim Bray]

MICHAEL WEAVER wrote:
> If I choose a make of laptop for running Linux, do I need to check to 
> see if the distro I choose will run or if a laptop runs Linux, should it 
> run many distros?

The main areas where compatibility can be a problem are:

1) The kernel  - all of the hardware in your laptop must be supported by 
the kernel

2) The graphics card of the laptop needs to be supported by XFree86 or 
X.org.  Also, in this instance some cards will only be support in 2D 
mode, and some will be supported for OpenGL 3D type graphics.

[Yes, I know cool graphics aren't that important for blind people :) ]

> Also if I were to for example choose Ubuntu, would laptops running 
> Debian support it with the distros being similar?

I would suggest in this case, that if a laptop is fine with Debian, then 
Ubuntu will cause no problems.

One feature of Debian is that the release cycle is very slow, which 
means older versions of the kernel and Xfree86, supporting less 
hardware.   To many people, a slow release cycle is an advantage.  If 
you have the latest hardware, then you have a problem.

Ubuntu has a fast release cycle (every 6 months).  This means that the 
kernel and the X.org are likely to be fairly recent.  Ubuntu is 
therefore much more likely to support recent hardware.


hope this helps
Tim