Linux and open source, in general.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Saturday 7 June 2008, 2:43 PM
PCLinuxOS 2008 Gnome on new laptop.
I recently purchased a new Toshiba laptop. Model #A205, T2330, 1.6 GHz,
2GB system memory, 128 meg video memory, 200GB SATA HD, 15.4 screen, DVDRW, 802.11 bg PSAF3U-OW900V. It was a display model and was the only one they had in stock, so was reduced by almost $200.00. It came pre-installed with VISTA, and I inquired about buying with the OS removed. The clerk informed me that if I had to send it in for repair it had to be exactly as it stood, with VISTA . He also said they weren't allowed to remove any windows OS, because of their deal with Microsoft. I played with VISTA for 2 days and was so frustrated with trying to find items, the annoying UAC, plus it wouldn't run some of my games that I decided to remove VISTA and install Linux. I first tried the latest version of Ubuntu, but it didn't find all the hardware and I've never been a real fan. Next I installed Mandriva 2008, and it found all the hardware, but some of the programs had dependency problems. I then downloaded and installed PCLinuxOS 2008 Gnome. It found all the hardware, and everything worked, out of the box. My HP PSC 4100 was setup properly, all the programs worked correctly, and I am on a wired network with a cable internet connection. First thing I did was run Synaptic Package Manager, find a repository with a fast download speed, and check for updates. Georgia Tech had the best speed, 900 KPS +, and there were a few updates. I then added the KDE desktop environment and was all set. My startup time is around 30 seconds and shutdown even less. I have the 3D Compiz Fusion running and everyone at work was really impressed by the speed and look. Texstar and crew really outdid themselves on this one. As of now, there is no way VISTA will ever be re-installed. The only thing I regret is that I had to pay for VISTA, and it counts as a sale for Microsoft. I wonder what the actual figures are for VISTA usage, and how many people have done what I did, and upgrade to Linux?
