Title: What is the your favorite version of Linux or Ubuntu? Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Jun 12, 2011 Author:Ubuntu candidate and/or glutton for pain Post Date:2011-06-12 12:25:18 by HAPPY2BME-4UM Keywords:None Views:326 Comments:30
What is the your favorite version of Linux or Ubuntu?
Playing around with Linux Ubuntu on an old laptop and trying to decide which one to use.
Linux is known to run great on older hardware.
There are tons of them. My biggest headache will be drivers for my wireless NIC and printer.
I have no complaints. I love the ease in switching desktops, a feature windows does not even have yet. I also have no problems with any drivers, the ones I needed were included already. If your hardware is real old, you might have a problem, but with a 2009 notebook it works great, much better than windows 7 which I also have on it but rarely use.
I've got Ubuntu 10.04 at the moment. I like it a lot, though one problem that seems to be persistent with Linux, or at least Ubuntu, is the sound. It's improved a lot since the 8.x series but I sometimes have issues with it. My latest project is to get ekiga working, which is a skype voip alternative. I generally avoid the absolute latest release to help ensure I don't get any problems that aren't patched yet.
I've got Fedora Core on another machine but rarely use it. Either is fine, but Ubuntu seems to take care of itself a bit better.
I'll probably to with Utuntu 11.04 with a dual boot at first, then dump the Win7 partition once I get the drivers tweaked on it.
Get vmplayer from vmware.com, and you can run windows virtually on your linux system for those times when it's handy. Running windows and linux simultaneously on the same PC can be useful, depending on your needs.
I would like to point out, to oldsters like me, that the beloved COMMODORE-64 is back in production, in a model that will shift between something resembling the old C-64 operating system and a up-to-date Ubantu system.
that the beloved COMMODORE-64 is back in production,
It was never beloved to me. I had an Atari 800, best gaming PC around at the time. It made the Commodore 64 and Apple II look pitiful by comparison in games. It was also quite capable with regular applications as well. I made a couple for it even. Even learned 6502 assembly language. Lots of fun with that machine, it sucks that they had very bad marketing at Atari, they could have blown Apple and the IBM PC out of the water, they just didn't know how to market their products to save their lives.
For an old laptop Puppy linux would be good because it's fast on computers with low RAM, slow processor and it is very small so it wouldn't take up much room on a small hardrive.
Thanks. This Dell 1150 has 2GB and a P4 2.8ghz cpu. I have two laptops and three desktops up and running, and just wanted to see how far Linux had evolved since the last time I delved into it a few years ago. It's come a long way!
It runs Win7 "ok", but just wanted a bit more snappiness. Not running aero, since the embedded Intel GPU won't support it.
Installed latest Ubuntu, and all the hardware was fine except for the wireless devices. I have a USB wireless NIC and printer. Couldn't get the drivers to install for the USB NIC. Pretty common for Linux.
A great OS, especially for servers.
Win8 is rumored to be less hardware dependent thatn Win7 is.
Had fun with it .. uninstalling ...
U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY
Oh well, in that case the latest ubuntu would be the best I guess. Too bad about the wireless hardware not working. I know that's a common problem with linux and webcams too.
I have my machine with Windows 7 Enterprise, Vista Home Premium, and Ubuntu 11.04. I am thinking of adding XP to the boot list and some more Linux versions. I do hate Windows, but can't totally escape from it yet due to the still high demand for Windows programmers.
FWIW, the only clean way to uninstall UBUNTU on a Win7 install I found was to delete the UBUNTU partition under Win7 disk manager, reboot off Win7 DVD into sys restore - > command prompt -> Bootrec.exe /Fixmbr
Then delete the partition UBUNTU was installed on and recover the space back in control panel/disk mgr.
Those pesky wireless USB nics ...
U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY
Ive tried Caldera, (before the anti Linux lawsuits they engaged in onder the Sco name), SuSe, and Red Hat (Now Fadora in the cheap desktop eddition) but I think Mandriva is the best Linux disrreo out there now.
Those of you who are running Linux as a double boot OS under Windows XP, Vista or 7 should probably use another GPL Free software app, Virtual BOX to run it as a guest OS under Windows on a virtual computer. Saves the problems of having to use the rescue system to fix up messes associated with double booting talked about here. A virtual BOX virtual computer is just another piece of Windows Software that can be de installed (even though it is running another OS) if you no longer wish to use it.
I'm currently running Windows Vista with Mandriva Linux and Windows 98 (for win apps that can't run under Vista because of age) virtual Computers in Virtual BOX.
Virtual BOX to run it as a guest OS under Windows on a virtual computer. Saves the problems of having to use the rescue system to fix up messes associated with double booting talked about here.
Thanks. You're right, except in the case where VMWare (virtual devices) overhead bogs down the advantages of the speed gains Linux has over Windows or Mac.
I run a 3.6 ghz quad core Intel CPU with 16gb of 1600 DDR3 DRAM, over 6TB of disks, and an ATI 6970 video card with 2GB of DDR5 dram on Win7 Ultimate.
I could easily run several virtual OS and have them loaded in RAM, or quickly loaded if desired. But I had rather just have one OS on any machine.
Overkill, to say the least.
The next iteration of Ubuntu I think though is going to give Windows and Mac the best run for the money yet. The first one to run fastest on the oldest installed hardware base will get the prize, IMO.
U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY
The future belongs to tablets running Android or Apple's iOS.
Sometime in the next year, half of all computer sales will be tablets.
As for the need for a desktop to sync your tunes and vids, Apple is doing the Cloud thing. So you can sync/store/backup everything to their only service for $25 a year. A lot cheaper than keeping a modern mid-range desktop machine around. Android and Microsoft and others will follow suit.
The cellphone generation doesn't want landlines. Or to be tethered to desktop machines.
You can argue all you want but the real question is when this all happens, not if it happens.
Actually, these tablets have outstanding battery life and are starting to use custom non-Intel multicore CPUs and fairly powerful video chipsets.
The hardware that a few years were standard on a desktop machine are now possible on tablets with a 10-hour battery life and cellular high-speed ineternet.
All we have to sacrifice is about two years of performance gains. Since the hardware was already ridiculously overpowered, people will barely notice the transition except in terms of the GUI. The decline of the mouse and traditional keyboard for example.
The cloud will own the world.
Clouds. There will be a number of clouds and you'll be able to move some of your archives between them. Google is well-situated. Google may also try to offer a cloud that supports the importing of Apple's cloud content so that they can sever the key link between Apple's hardware and iTunes.