Switch to linux

...I have this sudden urge to explore other distros. I’m not sure why, since I’m very happy with Ubuntu and I’m not interested in switching.

But I somehow have a need to understand the differences between various distros. I might even make a small partition and install one to play around with. Perhaps Fedora Core or Mandriva.

This is too much fun. Free software is a beautiful thing.

Last weekend, I installed the recently released Ubuntu 8.04. I reformatted my laptop in the process and got rid of the dual-boot. No more Vista at all! YAY!

I still have my XP box, and I have no idea when that will change. But my primary machine is this laptop, and now it’s fully converted to Linux. I feel pretty accomplished. :D

I installed Ubuntu 7.10 over a week ago and it’s been smooth sailing since then. While I do have the dual-boot set up, I haven’t run Vista at all. I really, really like this OS. I definitely still have a lot to learn, but I can do that as things pop up. In the meantime, I’m able to accomplish all the basic things I need a computer for.

One issue I am working on resolving is getting the wireless to work. But I know it’s fixable, from everything I’ve read. I just haven’t found the right solution yet.

But this is good. Really, really good. :D

Well, that wasn’t working. I finally decided to try Ubuntu with Gnome, since that was a close second when I was considering distros.

I used Vista to kill the partition, which was a mistake because on restart, GRUB wouldn’t load and I wasn’t able to load either OS. I played with an Ubuntu live CD and had the same problems—incorrect screen res options and no wireless.

Eventually I reinstalled SUSE just to get GRUB going again, so at least I can load SUSE and Vista again. But I kinda liked Ubuntu, so I’ll give that another shot later on and see if I can resolve the problems there.

Somehow, I don’t think I’d be having any of these issues if I wasn’t installing on a laptop…

I partitioned my hdd and installed openSUSE 10.3 with KDE.

Everything went smoothly, but I’m having hardware issues, which I guess isn’t surprising, considering it’s a new laptop and I’ve come across more than a few posts citing SUSE having issues with hardware compatibility.

One is that SUSE doesn’t recognize my wireless adapter. I thought I installed the proper madwifi file, but I might not have done it right cuz I’m so new to this.

The other is that despite having the correct aspect ratio listed (16:10), the only screen resolutions I have to choose from are 4:3, so my screen is stretched and looking fuzzy.

I’m not ready to give up yet.

When I started down this path, I was planning on blowing up the C drive on my laptop and just going for it. But I found that partitioning is not difficult at all! I don’t know why I was so scared of it.

So yeah… I’m gonna go dual-boot for a little while.

I’ve started on this project before, but it’s really going to happen this time! And I think part of the reason is that I put it up on my 43 things page and had to look at the goal every time I logged in.

I decided to use openSUSE with KDE. I was leaning towards Ubuntu, even though it was almost a tossup between it and SUSE. But when it comes to KDE and Gnome, I have a clear preference for KDE, and it looks like Ubuntu is better suited for Gnome and SUSE has a long history with KDE.

I came to this decision after reading dozens of reviews, comparisons, forum threads, blogs… I hope it was the right one, but then, if I don’t like my choice, I can just try another option. After all, the software is free.

I think it’s going to be either Ubuntu or SUSE.

I’m having a tough time staying impartial, but SUSE has a cute name and an adorable logo! I’m liking a lot of stuff I’m reading about Ubuntu, however.

I still need to read up on Gnome and KDE. This is exciting!

I’ve spent the majority of my online time today reading up about different distros. I’m learning good stuff. I really think I’m going to make this goal happen.

I used SUSE for a while once, kinda liked it. I liked KDE, too. But I really want to read up on all available distros and find what’s right for me.

But pretty soon I need to start getting more serious about it.

Because I just got a new laptop, and it came with Win Vista. It’s basically designed for the total idiot. I already have issues with MS, but seeing that they’re moving in this direction makes it clear that knowledge of linux will be a real necessity in the coming years.