Yuppers everything on this Latitude works just fine.

I didn't mean to suggest that ALL Dells suck with Linux, just that Dell has a knack for sticking closed source Windows-only hardware in many of their laptops, and that HP might do the same, explaining the problems tintin was describing.

Member response
 

Hi,

I find that Dell Laptops are fine with Gnu/Linux in the proper hands that is. No problems setting up for someone who does know their way around both hardware and software. Sure, it does require some work to get things proper but still very doable when the proper drivers are available. At one time Broadcom chipsets could be a major drawback. But that too could be worked around by using ndiswrapper as a last resort using a MS Windows driver.

I have been using a Dell XPS 702XL for years and am due for a new laptop so I will likely get another Dell Laptop. Very reliable and useful Laptops.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

Pure Linux here bay-bee
 

I've been windows free at home for a decade now. Every now and then, I'll get a PDF file with forms that I can't open (Adobe doesn't care about linux, or Android it seems).

There are fewer and fewer limitations to desktop linux, and if you compare the pros and cons of linux versus windows, there are few reasons for most users to use windows. True however that many people still need windows - less for the windows and M$ of it, and more for the 3rd party software that is only created for windows.

Meh, when it comes time to tune a motorcyle. I pop in the Windows 7 Enterprise platter drive that came with the Dell E4310.
It will never see Windows 10 because of the word "Enterprise".

When I am done. I reinsert the SSD AntiX 15 Linux drive. Since the mission is done.

Key statement I read here so far.

which are different needs for each user. My needs are not your needs and vise-versa.
Too bad we do not live in a perfect world. But imperfection can be fun with the right mental outlook.
My oulook was to buy a SSD and have fun.

I never stick to principles when pragmatic issues arise. That is just plain insane in my opinion. With a Desert mentality and all.
One should not care if their cup of water came from a bottled water bottle or a toilet bowl. Water is the end need. Regardless of dispenser.

I have lots of linux only boxes (like this one) for certain uses. I keep a Windows drive for only one use that linux does not cover.

Never said linux devs are crazy or windows devs do a better job. But I will say that under linux it's a mixed bag, sometimes a linux distro runs like a dream, and some just seem works in progress although they are released as final products.

The problems with the audio jack/laptop speakers have been posted so many times on forums and what not for many different distros. Sometimes it gets solved, many a times it doesn't.

It's not that it's only certain brands that run linux fine. I've got 2 hp's, one business and one consumer model g62. The g62 seems all fine. I've got an old lenovo thinkpad, that runs ok, apart from the touchscreen. Girlfriends laptop is an acer, and certain distros have no problem with the sdcard reader while others do. Same for the elitebook sd card reader. For the acer that doesn't seem like a hardware problem to me. Small example xubuntu doesn't see the sd card, mint xfce does. Same base, different dev team. And I am speaking out of the box experience, it maybe could be sorted with some digging around, but can't be bothered.

In future if I buy another laptop, which will be a very long time from now as the old elitebook runs very good, I'll try keeping in mind to look for better supported hardware for linux. And if you want a linux friendly box, you need to go looking for it, forget the highstreet shops or big outlet stores, well at least were I live.

I have to admit it's fun getting a distro up and running and customizing the h.ll out of it, much more fun than under windows.

Member response
 

Hi,

That problem is due to the maintainers experience or lack of. Jumping head first into any Gnu/Linux can be frustrating, especially for someone that does not do their research or homework.

That is not true for all distributions. Again it depends on the maintainer & support team or community to aid in solving issues.

Too broad of a statement. Again it will depend on one's willingness to do some research to solve an issue. It will also depend on who you present the issues too solve the problem.

Research your purchase before laying the funds down. Bleeding edge hardware will not always be supported. Dev's need some time to reverse engineer things since a lot of manufactures are not willing to release hardware or driver specs.

One needs to learn more about a particular distribution, distro hopping will only make things worse for a user. Pick a distribution and learn it inside out. Question support forums or users. Look at the distributions documentation or possibly a wiki. For LQ you should look at: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...#faq_lqwelcome to help produce a valuable posting in hopes of getting answers to your query/problem.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

Thats really comparing apples and oranges. Linux is a kernel, GNU is a project that makes utilities, and distros can be made by anyone. I don't think its proper to say 'some distros are good and some are bad therefore Linux is a mixed bag'. Better to say 'some distros are crap - which is no fault of the Linux kernel at all.'

Windows 3.11, 98, XP and 7 are the only decent OS's that MS ever released. All others are shit. Windows 10 especially.

Not necessarily. In the beginning, it might be a good idea for a new linux user to try half a dozen MATURE distros to learn what is similar and what is different. Also, an earlier poster made a great comment about "out of the box" experience. Certain distros will be great for certain hardware, but the same distro could be frustrating with different hardware.

Certain distros have GREAT admin tools (opensuse is good, many others are good - I used to use PCLinuxOS because it just worked and had very good admin modules), while other distros leave you with the necessity of farting around with CLI to setup and admin.

AFTER trying a few distros and getting a "feel" for it, then YES I'll agree, learning one distro and sticking with it is likely a good idea.

I think it is safe to say that MOST linux distros will require some work "under the hood", even if it is something as simple as adding or enabling extra repos. ("What's a repo??", says the linux noob!) Many mature distros will work almost fully "out of the box" but require a bit of extra tweaking through their GUI admin tools. But other distros will require much more extensive CLI "under the hood" work just to get up an X-session.

Playing with words. The linux kernel is not being questioned, it's the distros that are a mixed bag.

And saying W8.1 is shit, imho is wrong. 8.1 runs better, smoother and with less resources than any w7 install I have used on my laptop(s) but it's tweaked, maintained and all telemtry/spying disabled or removed. Agree on W10 though.

Now sticking with one distro and getting familiar with it is a good tip which I will try,, thanks. There are so many flavors to try that one sometimes tends to lose perspective.

Sorry for going a bit off topic. So to summarize, I dualboot :)

Fair enough. As a rebuttal though - To me, the fact that you had to remove all of the 'spyware' that Windows 8.1 automatically enables/installs means that Windows 8.1 is and was a shit product.

I've tried about 2 to 3 dozen (or more??) linux distros - Corel Linux, Debian, Sabayon, Ubuntu and variants, Mandriva, PCLOS, Arch, Fedora, etc... For the last 2 years or so I've been using OpenSuse, which is working a charm. It's forums are broken, though. (Novell issue.) Its admin tool, YAST, is quite good. No distro is perfect, though, as I'm sure you know.

Didn't know this thread was still alive.

:D ...