Libranet good and stable?
 

Hey everyone!

Got a quick questions here, ok I have a friend who wants to make the switch to Linux. She has partitioned her HD to two sections, and has XP running on one.

Here is the system:
1) It's not a laptop, it's like one though, it has a touch screen but it also has a keyboard. I am not sure what she called it.
2) 2 partitions one blank one windows xp
3) Even though she wants to keep XP the computer is still a play computer so nothing is critical as far as data loss is concerned.

Here is what she wants to do with it:
1) dual boot, (does linux need to be on first, or should i just leave windows alone and go from there?)
2) how do you NOT install to the Master Boot Record?
3) which is honestly the BEST for newbies? She is thinking about Libranet, but I have never used or until today heard of that one...is is ok?

Thanks a lot everyone.
Mike

Her PC sounds like a tablet PC. I am not sure how well Linux runs on those yet. Give it a shot :)

It is best to have Windows already installed if you're dual booting....so you should be OK with your current set up.

During setup of Linux you can specify NOT to install to Master Boot Record, then you must install to the superblock of the Linux partiton and boot to the OS via Floppy. I personally think you should just let it install to the MBR and Linux will give you a nice Bootloader to Choose Windows XP or Linux.

I think Libranet would be OK, but I don't know if it recognizes Windows during the install. It might. I can tell you for a fact that Redhat, Mandrake, and SuSE all are great and recognize Windows during the install.

Peace,
Whitehat

Libranet is very good and stable, it is also excellent for learners because it makes things simple but using standard (Debian) tools rather than proprietary systems (like SuSE and their Yast for example). It will recognise Windows partition, and set up double boot; no problem there. So usually I would recommend Libranet without hesitation. The only catch is, if what she has is really a tablet then it might not be very well supported by Libranet or any other distro for that matter. Better find out more details about hardware before jumping in!