Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
Karl wrote: > I would like to > try Linux on this laptop before I blow Vista away or make it a dual boot > machine. What live CD (DVD) distribution would you recommend. That's very much a matter of taste. Most current users are siding with Gnome vs KDE or Apt vs rpm. > I am > leaning towards Knopix. As it is a laptop, I presume you're looking for mostly desktop functionality, as opposed to server... My own personal preference is for Mandriva One. Others will, no doubt also suggest Ubuntu. Both are quite usable. Also check out PCLinuxOS and DamnSmallLinux. There is a good list over at http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php The great thing about live Cd's is that you aren't installing anything... you can play with several before making a commitment. > Also, whatever live distribution I try, what > would you recommend for a dual boot setup. Using the live version for > the dual boot would seem to make sense since at that point the hardware > compatibility will have been established. Both Mandriva One and Ubuntu have the option to begin an install from the Live CD desktop. That makes things very easy. Hope this helps a little, Brian -- --- | [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.hirebrian.net | | IT/MIS Manager - 8 Yrs Experience - Contract or Permanent | | Self-taught, Fast Learner, and Team Player | |Ready to Start TODAY at Your Company.| --- ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
[WARNING: low-content post ahead]
On 10/10/07, Jarod Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Most current users are siding with Gnome vs KDE or Apt vs rpm.
>
> Pardon the rant, but... Its NOT apt vs. rpm.
Hey, did you know there's no such word as "irony" in the dictionary?
Really! Look it up! ;-)
> Hey, we do live CD's too... ("we" being Fedora)
2002 just called. They want their new feature back. ;-)
-- Ben
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Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On Wednesday 10 October 2007 02:50:48 pm Brian Chabot wrote:
> Karl wrote:
> > I would like to
> > try Linux on this laptop before I blow Vista away or make it a dual boot
> > machine. What live CD (DVD) distribution would you recommend.
>
> That's very much a matter of taste.
>
> Most current users are siding with Gnome vs KDE or Apt vs rpm.
Pardon the rant, but... Its NOT apt vs. rpm. They are *different things*. One
is an automatic dependency resolver and package installer, another is a
package format. The two can be used in concert, as has been the case for
years. Its perfectly possible to 'apt-get install foo' on an rpm-based system
and have apt download and install rpm packages, complete with solved
dependencies.
Its apt vs. yum vs. whatever else or dpkg vs. rpm vs. whatever else.
> > I am
> > leaning towards Knopix.
>
> As it is a laptop, I presume you're looking for mostly desktop
> functionality, as opposed to server...
>
> My own personal preference is for Mandriva One.
Just downloaded the latest Mandriva One earlier today to give it a spin
myself... That, along with openSUSE 10.3 and the latest Ubuntu gusty. Only
got around to poking openSUSE so far, and aiiiee, I'd not wish it upon
anyone... I have higher hopes for the others. But anyway.
> Others will, no doubt also suggest Ubuntu.
Hey, we do live CD's too... ("we" being Fedora). We've also got a fancy set of
tools[*] to let you easily scribble a live CD/DVD iso onto a USB key to make
a live USB stick. I've got one on my keychain, another on my desk and yet
another in my laptop bag. :)
> The great thing about live Cd's is that you aren't installing
> anything... you can play with several before making a commitment.
>
> > Also, whatever live distribution I try, what
> > would you recommend for a dual boot setup. Using the live version for
> > the dual boot would seem to make sense since at that point the hardware
> > compatibility will have been established.
>
> Both Mandriva One and Ubuntu have the option to begin an install from
> the Live CD desktop. That makes things very easy.
Same with Fedora.
[*] okay, its pretty much just a shell script that knows how to wedge a live
iso's contents properly onto a usb stick and make it bootable, but it works a
treat.
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Jarod Wilson
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Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On 10/10/07, Karl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Vista is one sick OS. It may just be the crapware > installed, but it is slow and easily confused. Bloatware is a huge problem. If possible, I recommend a clean install from an OS disc without OEM-added bloatware. (Whether that's an option depends on what the OEM gives you, and I don't know if the Vista licensing rules even allows that.) > What live CD (DVD) distribution would you recommend. Of all the live CD distros I've tried, I've had the best luck with Ubuntu in the "just works" department (especially when it comes to laptops with wireless networking, which all seem to belong to the chipset-of-the-month-club). The Knoppix DVD release, while rougher around the edges, wins in the "most software crammed onto one disc" category. > Also, whatever live distribution I try, what would you recommend for a dual > boot setup. Knoppix isn't (or wasn't) really designed for permanent install. It's focused on being a live CD, and updates are (were?) not that frequent. Ubuntu has regular updates, which makes it more suited towards a permanent installation. I think. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On Oct 10, 2007, at 15:48, Ben Scott wrote: > 2002 just called. They want their new feature back. ;-) Hey, I was doing live CD build systems in 2002 and I wish I had the Fedora tools instead. Except the Fedora tools cost you a gig of dependency hell if you want something crazy like Firefox on your LiveCD; they need a sub-package dependency solver. Just re-design RPM is all I'm asking. :) -Bill - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On Wednesday 10 October 2007 03:48:41 pm Ben Scott wrote:
> [WARNING: low-content post ahead]
>
> On 10/10/07, Jarod Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> Most current users are siding with Gnome vs KDE or Apt vs rpm.
> >
> > Pardon the rant, but... Its NOT apt vs. rpm.
>
> Hey, did you know there's no such word as "irony" in the dictionary?
> Really! Look it up! ;-)
I hate users... But love irony...
> > Hey, we do live CD's too... ("we" being Fedora)
>
> 2002 just called. They want their new feature back. ;-)
Hey, we've had 'em for a few releases now, its just not terribly well
known. :)
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Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On Wednesday 10 October 2007 03:42:57 pm Ben Scott wrote: > On 10/10/07, Karl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Vista is one sick OS. It may just be the crapware > > installed, but it is slow and easily confused. > > Bloatware is a huge problem. If possible, I recommend a clean > install from an OS disc without OEM-added bloatware. (Whether that's > an option depends on what the OEM gives you, and I don't know if the > Vista licensing rules even allows that.) > > > What live CD (DVD) distribution would you recommend. > > Of all the live CD distros I've tried, I've had the best luck with > Ubuntu in the "just works" department (especially when it comes to > laptops with wireless networking, which all seem to belong to the > chipset-of-the-month-club). Bleah. Ubuntu gusty is crapping all over itself on a ~2 year old Dell Precision 470 workstation right now... Corrupted bootsplash screen for 5 minutes, then finally dropped to text console and said something about one of the services failing to start. After another 5 minutes, it finally got to the login screen, said user 'ubuntu' would login in 10 seconds. User logged in, and was promptly dumped, back to a message "Your session only lasted less than 10 seconds ..." (nice engrish there). Huh. I was going to suggest possibly a bad burn, but upon looking at .xsession-errors, I see a warning about some gtk+ stuff trying to run setuid, and it not being supported, and a refusal to initialize gtk+. Closely followed by 'Could not launch dbus-daemon', because dbus_daemon_pid != 0... Granted, its pre-release software, but ouch... So stay away from today's gusty, I guess. :) > > Also, whatever live distribution I try, what would you recommend for a > > dual boot setup. > > Knoppix isn't (or wasn't) really designed for permanent install. > It's focused on being a live CD, and updates are (were?) not that > frequent. I've installed knoppix to HD a time or two, and from there, just pointed apt at debian repos for updates. Might not be 100% kosher, but it worked for me at the time... -- Jarod Wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
On Wednesday 10 October 2007 04:41:27 pm Jarod Wilson wrote: > Bleah. Ubuntu gusty is crapping all over itself on a ~2 year old Dell > Precision 470 workstation right now... Corrupted bootsplash screen for 5 > minutes, then finally dropped to text console and said something about one > of the services failing to start. After another 5 minutes, it finally got > to the login screen, said user 'ubuntu' would login in 10 seconds. User > logged in, and was promptly dumped, back to a message "Your session only > lasted less than 10 seconds ..." (nice engrish there). Huh. I was going to > suggest possibly a bad burn, but upon looking at .xsession-errors, I see a > warning about some gtk+ stuff trying to run setuid, and it not being > supported, and a refusal to initialize gtk+. Closely followed by 'Could not > launch > dbus-daemon', because dbus_daemon_pid != 0... Granted, its pre-release > software, but ouch... So stay away from today's gusty, I guess. :) Must retract this statement until I checksum the iso I downloaded, and if that's okay, burn a new disc. A check of the disc says 'errors found in 4 files!'. -- Jarod Wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
> That's very much a matter of taste. True > As it is a laptop, I presume you're looking for mostly desktop > functionality, as opposed to server... Knoppix is quite good for autodetect hardware and see what works. But it's not really a full-service desktop. Ubuntu is a good install and ok "live" (if you like Gnome; or Kubuntu or Xubuntu if you like KDE or light WM's) with good laptop support; that's what I'm using for new installs now. There is an Ubuntu InstallFest in Cambridge MA this Saturday if you want "spotters" for a full install. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MassachusettsTeam/Events/InstallFests/2007-10-13 PCLinuxOS has gotten good buzz lately. See also http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php + http://www.livecdnews.com/ -- Bill [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
"Bill Ricker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Knoppix is quite good for autodetect hardware and see what works. But > it's not really a full-service desktop. If you're looking for 'bare-essentials', sysadmin style toolbox distro, check out Finnix. No desktop crap, though it does run X with a slick background image. It's got all the network/sysadmin troubleshooting tools you need, does all the hardware autodetect that knoppix does, and boots fairly quickly, even under QEMU (unless you running qemu on a PPC Mac :( -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Best live CD (DVD) distribution
Thank you everyone for your generous responses. I have to mull them over. I bought my desktop computer with Xandros preloaded and never replaced it, so I am used to the KDE interface. The laptop needs only desktop functionality, but must have wireless capability. My home network is wireless and it is convenient at the library. I may try more than one Linux flavor. I assume that Cheapbytes is as good a place as any to order disks. Karl ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
