FAO: Linux users and FAO: Mac lovers

[Melksham Red]

Mint with KDE4 will run like shit with 256 of RAM. He needs a light distro / DE. If you want mac type looks go for Dreamlinux:- http://www.ngsys.eti.br/screenshots/dl35screens/screenshot02.jpg

It's based on Debian, just as ubuntu is. So it has a wealth of software available and good support.

Homepage:- http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/

[Barry Scott]

Just got myself a bargain of eBay, and have taken the plunge. Got a new unibody aluminium 2.4 ghz MacBook with 4GB ram, 500GB HD, iWork, iLife, Leopard and applecar until May 2010 for sub £800.

Anyone want to buy a slightly tatty, but well looked after, Sony Vaio VGN-S4XP?

[Barry Scott]

And thanks for the Linux advice. I'll have to bosh one of these on my sisters laptop, or maybe even keep my old laptop and put linux on it for something fun to do.

[@MacPhlea]

Just got myself a bargain of eBay, and have taken the plunge. Got a new unibody aluminium 2.4 ghz MacBook with 4GB ram, 500GB HD, iWork, iLife, Leopard and applecar until May 2010 for sub £800.

Anyone want to buy a slightly tatty, but well looked after, Sony Vaio VGN-S4XP?

you should have traded in against the apple car and got £2k scrappage discount

[luckyluke699]

Mint with KDE4 will run like shit with 256 of RAM. He needs a light distro

Which was why what I actually wrote was For the laptop, I'd use Ubuntu, or else install XUbuntu (Ubuntu using XFCE) whichever works best.

The Linux Mint KDE 7 bit was for him to try himself on a more powerful pc, hence why it referred to point "2"! Though macs do the job too (just expensive). My mate picked up a macbook air in PC world for £800 the lucky goit a few months ago, when there was a minor version upgrade!

[Barry Scott]

Right, got the Mac been using it for a few days and fuck me, even though i've got VMware running, i think i'd have to really have to force myself to go back to using windows for any reason! I love all the gestures on the trackpad and even just backing up my old laptop is annoying now. Thanks to all for easing me from the dark unstable depths of windows.

I'm now fiddling with Linux to put on my old lapper. I tried Linuxmint from the disk and it's got a lot of features and seems quite good, but it does have a designed by kids feel about it. Very fussy, reminds me of Vista or something!

I ran Ubuntu years ago and really liked that, but had so much trouble with Wireless drivers that am put off that slightly. Can any one recommend another Distro for me to try please?

[Melksham Red]

www.distrowatch.com - take your pick. Just remember that when changing operating systems there's going to be a learing curve. Linux isn't Windows.

Puppy is a truely amazing tiny distro that works on most hardware but may have quite a steep learning curve. However it will run like a dream and lighting fast on those laptop specs.

[Barry Scott]

Yeah i went there, but for someone that doesn't known my arse from my elbow when it comes to Linux, it gives me no idea what would be the "best".

Mint seems to have it all, but compared to the way Ubuntu looked when i last used it, there's no comparison.

I'll have a look at Puppy, but have a feeling that'll be little fun for a n00b!

[flammableBen]

You can boot ubuntu from a cd can't you? Why not burn one and see if you have any driver issues in it's sort of default state.

[Barry Scott]

Yeah, but the iso didn't have all the drivers, so i installed and used some crap i got from their site which enabled it all. (That makes it sound really simple, but it was mainly command line crap and various other "hacks" and took days.)

I'm downloading Puppy, Ultimate Edition and the latest Ubuntu to see how it goes. I've tried to install Mint this morning (after running it from a dvd) but when it came to a full install it didn't like my partitions and refused to go on unless I completely format and repartition my HD, which i'm not ready for yet.

I don't even know why i'm bothering to be honest, I have my new computer and can't use 2 at once. Plus my laptop is solid as fuck on XP SP2.

[flammableBen]

OH yeah. I had wireless problems with ubuntu when I tried it a few years ago, but I meant now, it's supposed to be a bit better now I think.

[jayohaitchenn]

Anyone want to buy a slightly tatty, but well looked after, Sony Vaio VGN-S4XP?

What spec and how much?

[Barry Scott]

I'm hoping it is. Ubuntu was really nice and fast when i used it, and mint is just too busy for my tastes. I'll have a go later and see what happens.

Just for the record, now i've delved into the world of Apple, it's clear their loyal users are buried completely up the arse of the company and fail to see the wood for the trees. You find a problem, ask how to solve it, and all they have to say is, "You can't change that and actually it's not a problem, it's better because <insert pathetic excuse that makes no sense here>"

For instance, you can't chose lid closing preferences, and if you close your lid it goes to sleep and more importantly closes your wireless. Therefore you have to leave the screen open if you want to remain online. Well, to Apple whores, it's a good thing because it's not good for the lid to be unnecessarily opened and closed, as well as it might cause the laptop to overheat if it wasn't allowed to sleep...

Just other little issues: No delete key, track pad drag lock...

[flammableBen]

right mouse button? do they have them yet?

[Samdy Gray]

I've been thinking of trying Linux on an old laptop I've got, the thing is it doesn't have an internat CD drive and I don't think it can boot from USB.

Anyway, I can't even download a distro at the moment until Virgin sort out my [lack of] broadband.