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richard
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Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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 Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2024 12:59 pm Post subject: Works Laptops needs Linux |
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I have been given the go ahead to dual boot my works laptop with Linux but I'm wondering what to install. I know we all have our favourites but I'm not after bleeding edge but something reliable and that has access to a wide selection of Network and Diagnostic tools.
Cheers
Richard
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masinick
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Joined: 03 Apr 2024
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Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2024 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: Works Laptops needs Linux |
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| richard wrote: | I have been given the go ahead to dual boot my works laptop with Linux but I'm wondering what to install. I know we all have our favourites but I'm not after bleeding edge but something reliable and that has access to a wide selection of Network and Diagnostic tools.
Cheers
Richard |
How about Debian Lenny? It is easier to install than ever before, extremely stable, just recently released, and it has more packages than any other binary based distribution that I know of. I have an instance of Debian Lenny on my Gateway PA6A laptop and it installed surprisingly easily, with less Debian installer "chatter" than I have seen in the past, and it has not required a lot of updating since being installed. I am sure that any diagnostic tool that you may need will be available in the Lenny repositories.
You may want to enable the Multimedia repositories and the non free repositories. |
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richard
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2024 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I was thinking of Lenny as it is very stable and repositories are huge. The only thing I'm not sure about is the Broadcom wireless adaptor
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masinick
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2024 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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You will not have wireless firmware support immediately at installation time, but wireless firmware is DEFINITELY available. I know, for example, that the fwcutter firmware is available. You would have to have a way to get it - perhaps connect wired, add some repositories, then install the firmware, but from then on you could run wirelessly. I do this all the time with my Gateway PA6A laptop - connect to the 'net and install, download the extra firmware I need, enable it, then set up my wireless access point and disconnect the wire. I am running sidux wireless right now on the Gateway, in fact.
sidux would be a good cutting edge system, but I think you want something stable, which is why I suggested Lenny, otherwise I think that sidux could do a great job too, it's probably too volatile for your particular interests though.
I'd be inclined to recommend SimplyMEPIS, which has Lenny as its behind the scenes repos - and that could be one avenue to take as well. You could install SimplyMEPIS, but since you indicated interest in a lot of network and diagnostic tools, there might be more that you want to add. SimplyMEPIS does have excellent, simple administration tools, so it is possible that you could start with a SimplyMEPIS installation instead of a Lenny installation, and that might even INCLUDE the wireless firmware that you need. Once installed, you could inventory to see if it has enough tools, and if not, tap the Lenny repos for tens of thousands of additional applications.
Either way, you have Lenny software behind you. I am keen on either option; I have BOTH, plus I have sidux and antiX in addition, so I am covered - simple, stable (MEPIS), small and fast (antiX), and cutting edge (sidux), all Debian based. |
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richard
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| Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2024 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| I hadn't thought of SimplyMepis - Thanks
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mmmna
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Joined: 21 Apr 2024
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2024 12:37 am Post subject: |
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| richard wrote: | | The only thing I'm not sure about is the Broadcom wireless adaptor |
AFAIK, broadcom stuff is getting solid workaround support. fwcutter seems to have been somewhat integrated into recent kernels, so there is one path towards getting a broadcom chipset working (just remember to keep your Windows driver handy). I guess I'm suggesting that the broadcom stuff might not be as major of a hassle if you hadn't kept up to date on the fwcutter front. I believe you are able to get a newer kernel into Lenny, am I right?
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masinick
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2024 1:33 am Post subject: |
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| b43-fwcutter is DEFINITELY in Debian Sid. Will check to see if it is in Debian Lenny - I do expect it will be there as well. |
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masinick
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2024 3:09 am Post subject: b43-fwcutter is there; get wicd too; it is great |
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b43-fwcutter is definitely also in Debian Lenny; I am running using it now. I also took the trouble to go out and get wicd and replaced gnome-network-manager with wicd because I did not like the (at least visible) lack of choices in configuring the interface. I had it up in SECONDS once I had wicd in place.
To get wicd, you add their deb package and their key, as documented on this page:
| Quote: | Installing Wicd in Debian
Wicd is included in Debian Sid, so you can just use apt-get install to get it.
You can also use the apt repository. Just add the following line to your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://apt.wicd.net lenny extras
where lenny is your version of Debian in lowercase (lenny, sid). You'll also need to add the key used for signing Wicd by running the following command in a terminal:
wget -q http://apt.wicd.net/wicd.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Now you can apt-get update and apt-get install wicd to install Wicd. If you are using Lenny and you use Madwifi, make sure to use wext in Wicd. |
http://wicd.sourceforge.net/download.html |
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ghostdawg
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Joined: 27 Dec 2024
Posts: 130
Location: MO
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2024 7:00 am Post subject: |
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He may want to use Squeeze since Lenny is stable now and it will be more for desktop usage. Even though squeeze is called testing, it's as stable as lenny. In fact, I run all my non sid systems using the word testing in the repositories so when it does change, I don't have to make changes to the repositories.
I always replaced gnome-network-manager with wicd myself, it is a better network manager than the gnome version.
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