Turning the page on Linux with Mepis and Toshiba
Okay, for those of you who have actually stayed on with me from the beginning you know of my issues with Linux and my laptop. To recap – I had a crappy Acer with an equally crappy 4318 wifi card – this was a problem since every distro I tried would fail miserably with the wifi connection. I was trying to dual boot, then I simply relied on live discs, but to no avail. I was about to give up, when suddenly there were all these Linux users telling me that if I was a Windows user and having such a hard time of it, why didn’t I just give it up and go back to Linux. Of course this just pissed me off – If you are supporting open source software that is supposed to be free and for the benefit of all who are not into proprietary software why deter those that are trying to embrace it. In the end I gave up as well.
Now, I have a new laptop – Toshiba Satellite X200-AA3…This is a sweet upgrade from my last laptop! The Satellite X200 features a sound system that boasts four Harman/Kardon® stereo speakers with a built in subwoofer, Realtek ALC268 Software Sound and Intel® High Definition Audio for enhanced sound capabilities and broader range frequencies. With a stylish flare carmine colour case, the computer boasts true life graphics and a 17-inch display screen. The fully featured Satellite X200 comes packed with a DVD Super Multi Double Layer drive and an integrated web camera for connecting with family and friends and features Windows® Vista Ultimate. WOW - and if that was not enough it has 256 dedicated video ram! Heavenly!
So now I am going to try it again. To re-establish my initial plan of action – I want to see how easy the different distros are to a window user….most importantly the different distros on my laptop. I know this would probably be easier on the desktop but that is not part of this journey – it is getting an easy distro on my laptop while using windows at the same time……
So I think I will try
October 16th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Mepis, girlfriend, mepis not Memphis
Good choice and good luck
Linux Mint is nice too.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Hey congrats on trying Linux again. You might also try PC Linux OS. Aside from the dreadful name it is actually a decent distro. I have a Toshiba Tecra A9 and had a bit of trouble getting linux installed on it when I first bought it(mostly trouble with the 3d stuff) but have just installed gutsy gibbon. It is awesome.
October 26th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Ahhhh Mepis…. Not half as nice
November 1st, 2007 at 5:29 pm
If you are going to use Mepis6.5, you may want to try Automatix (www.getautomatix.com). Automatix mainly only runs in Ubuntu but they did make a version for Mepis6.0 which also works in the 6.5 version. Sadly Automatix will no longer be available for the up coming Mepis7. This program makes it easy and quick to install some very useful programs and codecs. You may also want to turn on the 3D desktop and use Beryl for a rather enjoyable desktop/laptop experience. Have Fun!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Haha! I was browsing sites tagged ‘Linux’ on MyBlogLog when I came across yours. Reading back through your history with Mepis, Ubuntu and SuSE is reminiscent of my own experiences with Linux over the past 10 years. Even now I have jumped on the Ubuntu bandwagon and using a computer I assembled to run a hacked version of Mac OSX with super-duper specs, it runs just adequately. But as soon as I enable graphics acceleration it slows to an almost unusable crawl.
Windows is, no - becomes, unstable and gets affected by viruses unless you spend more time than it is worth in patching things up. Linux as a desktop environment is *still* not really ready for the mainstream, nor are the available applications really up to scratch (read: Gimp, Open Office).
The only alternative, it seems, is to rob a bank and buy a Mac!
Up the penguins! –Josh