Laptop Distribution options (NOT for old laptops)?

tamakizu

For old laptops, see Laptop Distribution options (for OLD laptops)? --pjp

This is a hard one because i love gentoo and have found it to be the most suited distro for me so far BUT!! i have a new laptop (my laptop is always my linux box) and for whatever reason (hardware, software ect) i cant emerge gnome so i need a distro that will let me use my favourite apps yet give me what gentoo does (Great package management, nice and up to date, Solid Stable OS) anyway any suggestions??

PS for my 1 and only problem please read http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=43173

EDIT: Title was "Help me choose another distro" --pjp

tamakizu · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:44 pm Post subject:

just to help myself a little although i would love your feedback guys?? what about Sourcemage or Lunar??

aja · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 10:22 pm Post subject:

I think that maybe troubleshooting the problem on gentoo (if the error you posted is indeed your only error) might be more productive. If your laptop is incapable of running Gnome under gentoo, then it should be incapable under other distros, too. And I'm pretty sure that anyone having problems installing gentoo would continue to have problems installing any other source-based distro.

I posted a link to your thread about the ghostscript problem that might be helpful.

Black Sword · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 15 Location: Roaming

Instead of Linux how bout a BSD.

FreeBSD or NetBSD would seem to be the most applicable. You'll find yourself right at home since BSD really in the ancient chinese secret word for unix. Along with the ports collection, which I beleive inspired Gentoo's portage system, they just "feel" like Gentoo.

Take a look:
www.freebsd.org
www.netbsd.org

If you must have linux I would suggest Red-Hat--by far the most commercial and up to date or Slackware which is what I feel is the best comprimise between power user/stability (debian) and up to date software/hardware (Redhat). Debian is just too far behind on software support--even unstable.

idl · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 11:29 pm Post subject:

I'd recommend FreeBSD above any other Linux distro, If there wasnt a Gentoo, FreeBSD is where i'd be!
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RdsArts · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 11:36 pm Post subject:

FreeBSD on laptops is great. Just put 5.0 on my Toshiba Satellite 2804, runs like a dream.

nerdbert · l33t Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 981 Location: Berlin

before I started using gentoo I liked debian pretty much (especially because there is an emerge equivalent called apt-get)

the main reason I use gentoo now is its tweakability, but debian definately does the job
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tamakizu · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 12:08 am Post subject:

freebsd might be an option i have never really played with it much which is as good a reason as any to do you

as for debian i have never got on with it i alwys like to have newer packages especially as this is a home laptop for messing about with not a production server but maybe the unstable is worth a last resort look dunno

gsfgf · Veteran Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 1266

fix gentoo

BSD doesn't work on laptops. 5.0 should, but iirc, it's not stable which means few packages and possible poor reliability. Also, i was just using freebsd 4 the other day and gentoo is much nicer. If only gentoo had lots of prebuilt packages i'd be using it on the aformentioned bob, but since i only see it for about 1.5 hrs a week i need something faster to install.
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RdsArts · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 7:39 am Post subject:

gsfgf · Veteran Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 1266

gwiedmann · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2002 Posts: 17 Location: Canada

I would give Knoppix and/or Morphix a try. Check them out as a cdrom run distribution. If you like them do the hard drive install. You end up with a nice debian system on you laptop. The latest Knoppix is a beta but it is fairly stable and up to date. I put it on my new laptop (radeon 7500c and weird sound card) and knoppix handeled the hd install without a problem. I have higher glxgear fps then under gentoo. The install took less then 35 minutes.

Can O' Beans · n00b Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Posts: 50

Vector Linux is getting a good reputation lately. A custom version of Slackware and it has apt-get i beleive.

http://www.vectorlinux.org/ <-- down as I write this, but I did download the iso earlier today so.. /shrug

I have FreeBSD 5.0 on my Compaq ML350 server and it runs very nicely. There were just a few problems here & there with some of the packages due to some program getting updated while some packages relied on previous version (can't remember which).

magnet · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 582 Location: france

I agree with aja, you should try to fix your problem instead of moving to other distros/os.
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abclements · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:04 pm Post subject: Just a thought

Lindows
www.lindows.com
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magnet · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 582 Location: france

windows
www.microsoft.com
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magnet · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 582 Location: france

ok it's a joke

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Ari Rahikkala · Guru Joined: 02 Oct 2002 Posts: 370 Location: Finland

Thank god it's April 1st

.
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modal · Apprentice Joined: 02 Oct 2002 Posts: 277

Debian is a great distro (it's what I used before Gentoo). It is solid, secure, stable, and easy... apt-get is sexy (not quite as sexy as portage, imho)
You can even use progeny's discover (which is the official new, automatic hardware detection program for debian installer).

SuSe, Mandrake, Redhat, Lindows = RPM hell, and too windowsish. (aka, too much hand holding)

Lunar, Sourcemage = fun, but immature source based distros.

FreeBSD = 5.0 is nice, probably would work with your laptop
OpenBSD = my favorite server OS, just wanted to give it props.
NetBSD = bleh. no comment.

Debian, Slackware = more for experienced, but, honestly if you already run Gentoo, you are MORE than experienced enough to run either of these.

magnet · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2003 Posts: 582 Location: france

I agree with you modal, exept for netbsd , which is my favourite BSD, I used to run it on a laptop , it was working great ! :twisted:

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S_aIN_t · Guru Joined: 11 May 2002 Posts: 488 Location: Ottawa

freebsd is amazing.. i know someone who runs openbsd on his laptop.

however, i think you should keep trying to fix the problem you have with Gentoo. There is nothing quite like it out there.

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Diezel · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:20 am Post subject: Laptop distribution

Hello people,

basicly I need something to install on my laptop. My Gentoo install was b0rked and I really don't want to use a source-based distro on it anymore.
Poor thing get's so hot

I would like to know what you would use if not Gentoo. I've tried Fedora Core 2 and Suse 9.1 but I really don't like them. Fedora does not support the Synaptics pads "tap" function off the box and it's irritating. And Suse, well I just think they are both to bloath.
Debian might be something but every .deb is so old.
So, give me ideas on what to try out.

// Diezel

EDIT: Merged thread. --pjp
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nightblade · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:25 am Post subject:

What about Slackware ? Lots of ppl I know use Slack on their laptops, and are pretty satisfied with it....
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codergeek42 · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:31 am Post subject:

You could try using the debian unstable branch. That's just a little older than (say, for example) Gentoo's ~arch tree, as far as I know.
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Wolven · Guru Joined: 05 Aug 2003 Posts: 325 Location: Norway

How about Ubuntu Linux ?
I read some where (On this forum) It's supposed to be a good distro for laptops. Haven't tried it my self though...
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