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Old 02-19-2012, 12:05 AM   #1
MidnightRadio
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Trisquel on ZaReason's Alto 3880


I've never used Linux before and I'm going to be buying a ZaReason Alto 3880 soon. They say they'll put Trisquel on it, and after everything I've read about free versus open-source software, I think that's the option I want, but I know there are issues with completely free software sometimes not working with a laptop's wireless card or other parts of the hardware. Then, there's the issue of being able to watch YouTube videos and whatnot, which, if I'm correctly understanding what I've read online, requires proprietary software of some kind.

ZaReason says that Trisquel works with some of their computers, and I think the Alto 3880 is one of them, but could someone explain to me what issues I might run into running that OS on that laptop?

Thanks.
 
Old 02-22-2012, 12:31 AM   #2
unSpawn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MidnightRadio View Post
ZaReason says that Trisquel works with some of their computers, and I think the Alto 3880 is one of them
You should not. (think I mean.) ZaReason sells you the laptop so they should offer you the right choice of Linux distributions IMHO.


Quote:
Originally Posted by MidnightRadio View Post
could someone explain to me what issues I might run into running that OS on that laptop?
In terms of hardware you're facing three items: the kernel (version), device drivers and userland applications. Each version the kernel improves device handling so there's a distinct difference in a distro running 2.6.18 (say Centos-5) and one running 3.2.3-something (like Fedora). Device drivers the kernel doesn't ship with can be compiled. In case of wireless they may (or may not) require firmware often found on CDROM installations that come with the other OS (or can be downloaded from the vendors website as well). As for userland applications all current maintained mainstream distros ship with tools to get your wireless going. As for Adobe Flash and other license-encumbered software Trisquel simply doesn't ship those (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisquel). But reading just one of many reviews shows there would be no problem installing any current Linux distribution (next to what you have) on the machine to meet your needs.

Last edited by unSpawn; 02-23-2012 at 04:09 PM. Reason: //Fix typo
 
Old 02-23-2012, 04:01 PM   #3
lcafiero
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Thanks for the plug, unSpawn.

I booted Trisquel on the Alto 3880 from my FSF card (the FSF membership cards at one time, perhaps still, come as a bootable usb "card"), and it ran as well as a distro unencumbered with proprietary software would. With Trisquel, you'd have the "unmarked" versions of more popular software -- Icedove instead of Thunderbird for e-mail, Iceweasel instead of Firefox, etc. -- and you'd have to install things like Flash in order to participate in most of what's on the Web, and so on.

In short, there are a lot of things you might want to do once you install Trisquel, but there are a plethora of other distros that have all that already, right out of the box. But if you have your heart set on Trisquel, the Alto would be a good choice as a laptop.
 
  


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