murtu52 Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Well, after roughly a year of empty promises to myself, I am now forcing myself to install linux on one of my computers. I have been wanting to do this for some time now, but I guess I was just too lazy (and scared to an extent) to do it. So, today, I finally download Ubuntu (after searching around, it seemed like the best choice; all the ones that were recommended as beginner distros didn't appeal to me as a big enough challenge, and the more robust ones look too complicated...). However, I now have a bit of a problem here.Which computer should I install it on? I have a few computers that are sitting around that I could use, but I'm not sure in the end; i'm not too sure that my father would like it if i deleted windows on ANY of the computers. However, I have been thinking about putting it on an old laptop that we just replaced with a new one; its a P-M ~300MHZ, 224MB RAM, and I think a 10GB HD. Luckily, the HD is already partitioned, so I wouldn't have any problem reformatting it. But I have 2 major concerns: hardware and wireless internet. Will this computer be able to handle Ubuntu (to a decent, workable extent)? If it can, will I be able to make my Linksys wireless-B card work with it (keep in mind that it doesn't even work with Windows 2000 currently, but having it work with Ubuntu would be a HUGE plus)? I am really excited about learning to use Linux, but making sure the necessities will be accessable is my priority. Thank you very, very much Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Give it a try, since it is an old computer your dad will probably not have a problem with it. You may get lucky with the wireless card. How come the card does not work with winodws, could it be bad?I would say go for it :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcl Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Ubuntu should be fine. GNOME might be a wee bit heavy but people run it on less. Hardware support may be not be complete, in particular power-management might be a problem, but it's likely that everything you need will work.As for the WiFi card, you'll just have to try it. There are Linux drivers for some Linksys cards and there are ways to use the Windows drivers under Linux. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
naraku9333 Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 ive run linux on hadware as old as a pentium mmx 233Mhz 16MB.your ram is fine, but processor is alittle slow, itll run but may get alittle frustrating dealing with lag.as jcl said gnome (and imo kde as well) would be slow on that system, use fluxbox or openbox ( i dont know if ubuntu installs these)what model is the linksys card? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dragon Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 dealing with the wi-fi card you will be ok, Ubuntu supports close to 90% or the WI-FI's out there. to find out if yours does check Here Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dragon Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 use fluxbox or openbox ( i dont know if ubuntu installs these)what model is the linksys card?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>you can install them from the repositories for Ubuntu. numerous people I know in Ubuntu Chat are using it.I would recommend going here after installing Ubuntu, it has a lot of valuable howto's http://ubuntuguide.org/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
murtu52 Posted June 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Thank you all for your responses. I believe that this is my card:http://www.linksys.com/products/product.as...cid=36&prid=542And after looking at the Wifi Card database it seems there are 3 versions, all three capable of running on Ubuntu. So, I guess the hard part now is to convice my dad .Also, as many of you have recommended, I also thought that GNOME would be a bit too much for my CPU to hold, but unfortunately I don't know how to set up fluxbox or openbox. So, if I end up going that route, does anyone have a good, simple tutorial that can help me out? Thanks.Also, shanenin, actually the card DOES work with the computer, it just seems that lately it isn't communicating with the router. It keeps sending packets, one by one, but nothing comes back. I have done many things, but I guess installing linux will be the only route (for the sake of my argument for my dad ).Please keep the posts coming; these inputs are all very good advice! Anyone else have any other things I should know as well? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iccaros Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 (edited) you can always make your dad feel better by making ht edesktop look like winders...FWM95 does a good job of this..can you tell the diffrence in the VMWARE windows running windows 2000 and FWM95 main windows?That is one nice things about Linux is it can look like anything.. Edited June 15, 2005 by iccaros Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blim Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Hi Murtu,I know nothing about Linux, heh, windows baffles me enough! BUT I sure have first hand experience about "technically challenged parents" I'm pretty sure there is a Dummies Book for Linux. Get Dad that first! I would have been completely lost without my Dummies Books. Also, if there are websites (with pictures--very important that he sees what it looks like!)--email or print those out for him. If he learns a little bit about it, he'll be easier to convince!! Eh, tell him he'll be a lot more techy than his friends if he knows Linux Good Luck!!Liz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robroy Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Hey murtu good luck, I'm a linux noob and having lots of fun trying to learn it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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