Should I switch to Fedora ?
 

Hi, I've used Ubuntu before and I really like it. I got a new laptop but Ubuntu won't work on it. I have some questions though:

1. Why should I choose Fedora ?

2. Does it have ease of use ?

3. Is it debian based ? (Does it use .debs or .rpms) I think rpms

4. Would it run well on a Gateway laptop (MX7118) with
2.2 ghz AMD processor
512 of
Ati Radeon Xpress 200M graphics card

5. Do I need 5 cds to install it ?

6. Anything else I need to know ? I really need some help so any would be appreciated :)

1. I think its a personal choice. It depends on what you're going to do with the machine. I've never used Ubuntu, so I can't compare. I have Fedora Core 4 on one of my PCs at home. I think it works well for what I do, my kids prefer it over the other two machines (one with WinXP and one with Gentoo, Debian, and Scientific just fer playin' with).

2. I think so. FC4 installs pretty easy from CDs. The only problem I've had is partioning from the GUI during install. But that's only when I'm using an old hard drive that needs to be repartioned and reformatted. In those situations, I partition using Debian first. Depending on the packages you choose to install, alot can be done using GUI rather than CLI.

3. It uses RPMs. It comes with a GUI package updater, you can use yum from the terminal, or download and use the rpm command.

4. I'm running FC4 with:
AMD Athlon 1000MHz,
392M RAM,
old RIVA TNT2 video card,
20G Samsung hard drive,
30G and 40G Western Digital

All of the hard drives are at least 5 years old and have been formatted, partitioned, reformatted, repartitioned, etc. No sound card, 'cause I have a stereo for listenin' to music.

5. There's nothing that I can think of that would prevent me from recommending Fedora.

How many cds do I need ? 5 ? Because there are 5 isos.

I only needed four for FC4, so I went and looked on one of the mirrors. Yes, there are 5 isos and you will need one CD for each. Plus a sixth if you want to make a rescue CD.

If you have a broadband connection, you could download just the first ISO, or the boot.iso, and choose HTTP installation to install from a Web site:

http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/fedora...rkinstallation

Ok, thanks :) Does Fedora have a dual boot option ? And If so can someone give me a guide ?

What about Mandriva ? Is that any good ?

It can install into a vacant space on your disk, and setup a boot menu that supports multiple operating systems - chapters 5 and 6 in the Installation Guide cover this (see previous link).

If you don't have free (unpartitioned) space available on your disk you will need to use Partition Magic or similar to make room before you start the installation. Microsoft have patents over NTFS, so Fedora can't include the facility to resize Windows partitions.

I switched to Ubuntu after using Fedora since it started. I love Linux and I have been using it for years but I still feel like a rookie. The main reason I switched is because I can find easier support for building and maintaining desktops and servers for Ubuntu. This web site is fabulous; http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Edgy. I was using the Stanton Finley site for Fedora. It was similar but the one for Ubuntu just cannot be beat.

Personally I would prefer either Fedora or Mandriva over (in my case) Kubuntu.
I have always considered Mandrake/Mandriva good. I was impressed when I finally tried Fedora Core 4, and now 6, but it has never become my prefered distribution.
Why doesn't Ubuntu work on your laptop?
Sometimes a distro change (due to hardware or preferences) is just what the doctor ordered and sometimes it is a waste of time.
My current preference (by a nose) is Suse.

Fedora uses RPMs, but it isn't debian based - it's based on the redhat distros

Dual booting is all to do with the bootloader, so the answer is yes. HGow to do it depends on what you're dual booting with

Edit - this is a really old thread!!