Re: Why Linux on a Laptop?
On Fri, 30 Nov 2001, Alec wrote:
>I'm wondering what everyone's motivation is for using Linux on a laptop
>instead of Cygwin + Windows. The way I see it, a laptop is basically a giant
Well, running windows is just too tricky. One has to be very careful
not to break the system (did you know that the "dir" command in
windows may completely destroy floppy disks? I didn't before it
did that, at the very first time I tried to use windows)
Installing programs in windows is very difficult. I know, I tried
installing LyX with cygwin but there were problems with fonts.
If you're a normal user, all you need is Debian--it comes with
all software normal users need. With windows, you have to install
tons of software separately, and it is not only difficult and
time-consuming but costs a lot.
In my case, I will be giving the laptop to my brother, who isn't
expert with computers. So what's easier than him to plug the
system in to the net so that I can ssh in and do the needed things?
The windows has poor hardware support. You have to grab all drivers
somewhere from the net, while in Debian and other Linux distributions
they usually come with the CD. And even if you *do* have the drivers,
they are usually buggy and do not support the hardware well.
For example, the windows video drivers that came with my laptop
(IBM Thinkpad) scramble the screen after each time I come up from
suspend/hibernation/standby. Maybe there's a fix somewhere on the
net, but why bother when I have a Debian CD handy?
Then there's also the license issue. I bought an used laptop,
and yes, it had windows pre-installed. So what, where is the license?
I didn't get even any CDs, much less to talk about some "license"
sheet of paper, or manuals. So I take it that the windows copy
was an illegal copy.
>keeping all their mail and personal archives in one place, etc. Laptops don't
>get used much as servers or development workstations, are they?
As a matter of fact, I thought a bit about this. And my conclusion is,
why not? Laptops are as powerful as many desktop computers. They
are less upgradeable, but on the other hand they do support hot-swapping
(PCMCIA), use little electricity, generate little heat, take up little
space--all are very preferable features for a server. And the
battery is basically a build in UPS--you'll save a lot of money by
avoiding bying one. The display is a bit expensive and useless for
a server, though.
Reply to: