Re: REQ:Opinions on distros and hardware support and stuff

From: ray (ray_at_zianet.com)
Date: 02/15/05 

Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 08:36:48 -0700

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 16:09:24 -0500, Rick wrote:

> I've taken a look @ SUSE Linux, Fedora Linux and Mandrake Linux. All
> appeal to me because of the 64-bit processor support and because I
> have a 64-bit AMD processor. Anyway, a graphical interface and overall
> style of a linux distro is very important to me. All three are really
> similar in desktop appearance. I've been to disrowatch.com and these
> are the top three that are listed. Which of the three has less trouble
> of setting up? My concerns are setting up my usb cable modem
> (Thompson-RCA), my pci graphics card (Nvidia) and the detection of my
> SATA/RAID seagate hard drive. Might I run into any problems setting up
> these things on any of the beforementioned versions of linux?

1) as has been mentioned, most distros come defaulting to either kde or
gnome. There are a bunch of other alternatives - I'd suggest installing
and trying several - I like xfce a lot myself, but usually go with kde
because it's 'easy to work with'.

2) the nvidia card should be easy - there is a default nvidia driver
included and you should be able to download and install their proprietary
one.

3) As I understand, usb modems are not really well supported. It is much
easier if you have a broadband modem which will connect via ethernet -
then the only realy problem is setting up the NIC.

Don't know about the 64-bit support either. I'm going to suggest you
install several distributions, and boot into them on a rotating basis
until you find what you like best - it is not a difficult process to
multiboot linux.

Relevant Pages

  • RE: Windows 98 box is owned
    ... even though I still have to convert my wife and parents over to Linux, ... > longer have support in the future. ... Windows PC's require a lot of overhead to keep ... >>2) Install ZoneAlarm. ...
    (Security-Basics)
  • ModemData by scanModem tool
    ... I manage to install Ubuntu Linux, ... I scanned the modem chipset with *scanModem tool, ... Downloaded packages must be moved into the Linux partition ...
    (Ubuntu)
  • [SLE] No Suse after XP install - modem woes
    ... My main problem here was my modem. ... My neighbor then decided she found Linux more difficult than ... When I try to install Linux 10 now it gives an error 'No Hard ... can yo please tell me how I can use internet in Linux with dial-up? ...
    (SuSE)
  • Re: Linux, over hyped by the Linux community, discuss.
    ... software developers and hardware manufactures, fine as a web server yet ... OS still with a tiny market share even though many of the Linux community ... Samsung have very good support. ... I took my time doing the install and setup. ...
    (alt.os.linux)
  • Re: Newbie Questions: dial-up modems, QWEST DSL, networking
    ... > controller-type internal ISA modem that I cannot get Linux to recognize. ... I fear I am going to have to uninstall Linux, ... > install W98, make it install the modem, add Linux to the HD, then see if I ... and a USB connection to my other PC. ...
    (linux.redhat.install)