Can anyone give me help on which linux will work well on a compact armada E500 laptop with intel pinetum 3, 900mz processor, 256 memory, that will work with a Trendnet wireless pc card-( tew-421pc ), from a 2-wire external modem. Please ask any questions if you need to to help me find a good linux os for my older laptop. Thank you, Craftsman

Hi,
You may find this a useful site for checking out questions like yours.
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/
cheers,
jdk

Thank you for the link jdkaye. I will check it out. Thanks again, Craftsman

This page suggests Ubuntu should work well with it. The article is from 2006, so I am guessing that compatibility only improved with time:

http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry476.html

This page from the ubuntu help forums suggests that it can be made to support your wireless card:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=201673

Again, compatibility probably increased with time, so by now it might very well autodetect and configure the wireless card.

Hi,

I suggest that you look at 'The LiveCD List'.
Try a Livecd to see what works and what you are comfortable with.

This link and others are available from 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Hi There,

Basically, it depends upon the level of pressure you can handle...If you are a newbie, then you should try with Fedora, but it is not stable at all, so you need to be patient with that while installation. Otherwise, you can try RHEL5 as it is the best flavor to start linux.
All total there are more than 10,000 flavors available, so more you hear the names of linux flavors, the more you get confused....So decide soon and start...

Cheers,
kapil.

two things:

a) if something's unstable, why recommend it to a new user? (in what way is it unstable anyway? )
b) RHEL5 being best flavour to start Linux is pretty much personal opinion, and therefore subject to be different for everyone...

Hi Craftsman,
While it is true certain distros (such as Ubuntu) are a bit too "heavy" for your older computer, you still have lots and lots of options. Really it comes down to your own tastes and preferences, as well as of course what you're going to be using the computer for (web surfing, word processing, multimedia, programming, etc).

If you are new to Linux and want a fast, lightweight Linux "distro" that is perfect for older hardware, definitely check out Puppy Linux.

A more "serious" option that is very stable and full-featured is Debian Lenny. Highly recommended.

Really though, if your needs are modest (surf the web, listen to music, word process a letter), most desktop Linux distros will fit your needs. So I suggest that you go to a site like www.distrowatch.com, browse through the 10 or 20 most popular, pick a few that sound interesting, and burn some Live CDs. A Live CD will allow you test whether you like a given distro and whether it will work on your hardware. Once you decide, you can do a full install to your hard drive (which will be faster than a Live CD, plus of course you can save your files and settings). Because your opinion counts more than mine when it comes to your own computer.

In addition to the Linux-laptop.net site recommended above, also look at tuxmobile.org and linlap.com.

I also Like Debian for slightly older hardware. Swap out gnome for XFCE4 or LXDE and the system can be pretty slim.



in case you want something that is small and lightweight

Puppy
DSL Linux
Vector Linux

Ubuntu comes in a live-CD version. It would be a good idea to try a live-CD to check for hardware compatibility.

If Ubuntu seems sluggish, given your amount of RAM, you can try Xubuntu, which uses the "lighter" XFCE desktop as opposed to Gnome.

craftsman

If you want to run a GUI I would strongly suggest bumping your memory up to at least 512(more is better). Memory is as cheap as it has ever been. If that is an option, it will greatly improve your Linux experience. I have a 1ghz PIII with 512 (256 dragged unbearably) and a X2 3800+ with 2GB. For doing BASIC things, like web browsing, there is no significant difference in the machines response (feel). Now obviously if you try to run multiple tasks, or cpu intensive tasks, you can rapidly tell the difference.

Most of the current distros have a liveCDs available. Grab a few and see what feels right to you. Try to stick with the mainstream distros, not becuase they are necessarily better but becuase there will be more people to help you when you run into issues. The issues are generally not that big of a deal. It is just that thinking in windows and running Linux does not work. One has to learn to think Linux, which takes a little time. Until you learn to think in Linux, you are going to need some assistance in order to stay on track.