Hi,

Linux newbie here. I'm looking for the right distribution to use. I would ideally like the following characteristics:

--not cpu-intensive: it's for an old laptop which I'm making into a video/audio client, so could do with using as little of the cpu and ram on running linux, and more on the video, as possible!
--quick to boot: this is important. I don't want to have to wait ages each time I want to listen to my music
--allows me to use videolan
--allows me to set up wired and wireless networks
--likely to allow me to use the tv out port on the laptop

All suggestions welcome!

Alt

not an easy question....
I would suggest slackware, but there is so much manual configuration involved. It doesn't come with video Lan client. Wireless, I am not sure. But give it a try. It boots fast. And, believe me, Slackware has a very responsive/helpful user community (here at Linux questions). This is most important, IMHO, than the distro itself. Every distro will have some limitations, it is more important to be able to tap in to other's experiences.

Try Amigo. Ask more question in the Amigo forum, where the creator of amigo has been known to go.

Or try DeadMini, which can appartly boot in 3 seconds.

For other mini-distibutions chech here http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributi...Distributions/ .

Given the video/audio requirements you have, I'd say you are looking at either Arch Linux (fast boot) or Vector Linux(light).

Zenwalk also come to mind as a slim desktop distro, but I've never tried it.


As far as the tv-out, it entirely dependes on the video card in the laptop and the driver availability.