Re: Debian vs. Fedora on Laptops
On Sun, 26 Dec 2004 03:30:07 +0100, Ryan D'Baisse wrote:
> 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?
If you have a laptop then there is no distribution of GNU/Linux that
doesn't give you headaches once in a while. Debian is no worse than the
others, overall, and is possibly somewhat better in some ways. However,
you do have to educate yourself to solve the problems that arise. One
way in which Debian is different is in its poverty of wizard type
programs, compared with other distros.
> 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?
No. Take reassurance from the fact that Debian is one of the major
GNU/Linux distributions and it has a lot of capable people working on it.
While some things will not work without effort, it is generally true that
with some effort, and with the help of many excellent tools developed for
Debian, you can achieve your goal.
> 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?
In a sense, it isn't integrated at all. Debian is highly modular.
> Any chance I can get away
> from these issues by switching from Fedora to Debian.
I don't think that you should switch from one distribution to another in
order to solve a single problem like this. Debian has its own
weaknesses and Fedora is an excellent distribution; many capable
people are working on it including many of the Linux hackers.
Choose Debian if you want freedom, modularity, APT, and attention to
technical detail. Choose Libranet or Ubuntu if you want all of the
above plus easier installation and configuration, minus some freedom.
Choose RedHat if you want to use what the majority of corporate users of
GNU/Linux are using.
--
Thomas Hood
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