I am thinking about installing Slackware onto a new laptop I plan on buying. I plan on listening to music, playing older games, and watching movies on the laptop. Maybe even use it for school. I have many questions about compatability and other things to get it all working that need answering before i go ahead and do this:

1. As I'm told, Linux does not contain power management as windows does, but I am also told that some distros of linux have this feature - or one like it. Does slackware contain this feature?

2. Does slackware contain DVD-READY software?

3. I want to transfer about 11gb of MP3s from an NTFS partition using a CAT5E cable. Linux doesn't like NTFS, but does it recognize it?

4. I want to use WineX to be able to play games such as quake 3 arena and warcraft 3 on linux. I am told that I have to pay for WineX to be able to get these programs to work correctly. How much does it cost? Is there an alternative?

Thanks in advance for any help I recieve.

EDIT: I just saw the laptops section - I appologize for posting here instead of the laptops section.

See http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ if you plan on 'buying' a laptop, see this link for 'hardware' that is already working, and to what point it is working. I think you might be missing the point about 'distros', Debian, Mangdrake, Slackware..., they are pretty much the 'same' linux kernal (I hope I'm saying that right), and even if a 'program' is not written for one distro, you can get the 'source' code and compile it.

1. Linux does not contain power management as windows does...this is always true, for anything in linux is not as 'windows does', but apm for laptops, yes, please see http://www.worldvisions.ca/~apenwarr/apmd/

2. Does slackware contain DVD-READY software? Yes, and it's functional, to a point, for example, see http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd/index.shtml

3. I want to transfer about 11gb of MP3s from an NTFS partition using a CAT5E cable. Linux doesn't like NTFS, but does it recognize it? I'll assume you mean from another computer running NT/Win2k and connected via NICs and network cable, Yes, you can mount the NTFS volume (read-only) on another computer with SAMBA. See any SAMBA howto. It might be easier to move the HD into the linux box, mount it RO and copy those files over. Or, if you have a utility for the NT/Win2K like Omni-X (see http://www.xlink.com/nfs_products/Om...i-X_Server.htm ), you can share your MP3s via the NFS file system

4. I want to use WineX to be able to play games such as quake 3 arena and warcraft 3 on linux. I am told that I have to pay for WineX to be able to get these programs to work correctly. How much does it cost? See http://www.transgaming.com/ , it looks like about 15 bucks (3 months x 5 bucks) Is there an alternative? I'll leave that up to you, or someone else to check out.

2. Slackware doesn't actually have mplayer as a package set... nor xine or ogle, the more user friendly DVD multimedia players. You have to remember that DVD decoding is technically running afoul of the DMCA so most distros are leary to support it by default. You can snag a copy of xine and mplayer at www.linuxpackages.net, its a site for stuff that isn't by default in the slack tree.

3. Try it the other way round, by default on the slacktop youre going to be running an sftp and an ftp server, just ftp the files over.

4. Actually, whoever told you Quake3 arena needed WineX was a bit off... it was originally released to run natively on Linux BEFORE the windows release was public. Warcraft 3 is, as far as I know, all WineX... and you have to remember to install the OpenGL version if I remember right. If you get stuck on either of these, just search through the forums here, they've been covered a lot.

Why Slackware though, its one of the oldest, most unixlike distros... its my favorite, but its more pre-built for a server then a power workstation, especially one that will involve gaming. You're going to have to hand configure X for DRI, probably quite a number of other things.

Cheers,

Finegan

Thanks for the help guys! About finegan's response, I was told to run slackware because it was easier. Is gentoo a better option? I was thinking of putting that on besides slackware.

Is there another source where I could find what laptops work with what? Because all they talk about in faheyd's link is RH.

Hi,
People have used all sorts of linux distro's to install on laptops. One of the user friendly ones are SUSE. I personally use Mandrake on my W/S's, and Slackware on my servers. It's a personal choice. Being 'free', I can download any of them and try them out to see which ones are best for 'me'. On that link, http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ , I saw all sorts of distros being used, RH, MDK, Debian, Slackware, etc. The trick on a laptop is to only install what you need, being that resources are on the low side (with lower priced laptops), which is a bit tedious on the install. If your laptop (or the one you're going to buy) is on the list above, you should have some luck with 'any' distro. You just might have to be a little bit more 'crafty' than most to get all the functions up and running on the first try.
But that's what the forum is all about, trying to give you help on your adventure when things get tough.