[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Debian vs. Fedora on Laptops



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Ryan..


Ryan D'Baisse wrote:
| I am looking to move from FC2 to Debian, but have questions...

I haven't used Redhat since it was Redhat, but here goes..

| 1. I am still a Linux newbie.  Most of the install issues, both with
| the OS and with applications, have been taken care of for me with the
| slick install wizard and the RPM-based installations.  How much of a
| learning curve would one be faced with from Fedora to Debian?

I think zero, with the new debian-installer project, installing debian
is a breeze, whereas this was the most difficult part of using Debian
before.

| 2. I have been reading two books, "Linux Pocket Guide," by O'Reilly,
| and "Beginning Linux Programming," by Wrox.  Both tend to stress Red
| Hat and Fedora.  Will these books still be of use to me on Debian?

Yes.

| 3. My primary machine is a laptop (Toshiba 5005-S507).  Most of the
| info I can find on Google, pertaining to laptops, is for Fedora or
| Mandrake.  How well does Debian handle laptops?  Any URLs would be
| GREATLY appreciated.

Amazingly - using Gnome with Debian I had support for EVERY feature on
my laptop. Using KDE I have support for every feature, bar the hardware
volume controls. Have you looked at linux-laptop.org for walkthroughs
for your model?

| 4. My second biggest problem on Fedora was/is wireless support.  I am
| currently using FC2 with Linuxant's DriverLoader software on my
| Linksys WPC54G PCMCIA NIC.  Be honest; am I going to be crying if I
| try to set this up?

I use the free ndiswrapper - works like a dream. Took me less than 2
minutes to set up.

| 5. And, finally, my biggest problem, and one of the reasons I am
| looking to leave Fedora, is ACPI.  I have to bypass it with later
| versions of the FC2 kernel and with the base install of FC3.  And,
| unfortunately, there are problems with my NIC if I bypass it.  How
| tightly integrated is ACPI with Debian?  Any chance I can get away
| from these issues by switching from Fedora to Debian.

I don't use ACPI - no problems.
Hope this helps a little.
The main advantage I've found in using Debian over any previous
distribution however, is apt-get; I love it.. it keeps me updated with
the latest version of everything. I haven't had a problem with
commercian software either (VMWare). Debian is a dream come true for me.
If it doesn't look good for you - maybe look into Ubuntu which is debian
based. Hope this helps somewhat,
Cheers,
Tim

- --
Tim Ebenezer
tim@freerecords.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFBziQPEB6ldf04qpcRAmbIAJ423Hjg8vJXTg8WPJUeJ54LN8+pLQCgxUrI
hW8iER2qD3X3bD2AtQ9chOA=
=26P1
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----



Reply to: