Migrating to linux as a CS Student
 

Hi friends,
I have just joined University pursuing computer science and I've become fascinated with linux and the flexibility it offers. To such an extent that I'm planning to switch to linux, and that is something I need you guys to advise me on.
I have a Compaq Presario V3000 laptop with NVidia GeForce Go 6150 graphics, 1.5 GB RAM, 2.2 AMD Turion 64 Processor, Connexant Audio and Broadcom wireless.
I have fallen in love with this field, and I've taken to algorithms. Moreover, I want an operating system that can grow with me - something that I can customize as my knowledge in this field grows - so that after some time, I start calling my linux installation as something that has been customized by me itself.
Thus, I need you guys to tell me in details about which distro you think I should migrate to. I want something that has good initial support - things like sound/wifi should not take too much time configuring, plus the customizability should be good.
I will be very thankful to all of you who reply.

PS- I currently have windows vista home basic installed on my system, which is running fine. I can free upto 50 GB's of space - out of which I'm willing to keep 20 GB for linux.

Your best bet as a n00b would be using Ubuntu, they have a great support forum:

http://ubuntuforums.org/

A good site to check out for installing Linux on a laptop is here:

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

This guy installed Ubuntu on the same laptop as you:

http://starbase-12.blogspot.com/2006...buntu-606.html

Once you are comfortable with Ubuntu, then think of migrating to either BSD or Slackware if you want the real feel of 'Nix.

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. The thing is that I have used Fedora in the past for around 6 months - on a desktop PC. From the link you posted, it shows that I'll have to install the drivers on my own, which I think can also be done on a fedora installation - because ndiswrapper works on Fedora as well.
Moreover, I'd like to work on the fvwm2 window manager and would like to configure it and customize it on my own. Another good thing about fedora is that it has applications like latex, gcc, on its DVD so installing them wont be a hassle.
Ubuntu is user friendly, yes, but I've had some basic experience with linux (worked on a fedora machine for 6 months or so, at home), so I'd still want to ask you what OS I should go for. Is it Fedora or Ubuntu? I'm willing to try different distros as well but I have very little idea about which OS is better as per my hardware's and my needs. :)

IMHO, go with Ubuntu, I think you might learn more with it being that it's a Debian based distro. I have played with both and I personally don't like Fedora.

If you're really serious about learning Linux, might as well jump right in with Slackware. There is an old saying, "If you know Fedora, you know Fedora, if you know Slackware, you know Linux."

I would just recommend reading up on Slackware before going through with your initial install if you follow my advice. The only way to learn it is to use it properly, yeah, you'll screww something up, we all do, but you learn from your mistakes.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

If you want a custom distro try: Gentoo, Slackware, LFS. LFS will take the longest to install, but it will be 100% custom. Gentoo is next longest and it can be up to 99.9 % custom. Slackware takes the shortest time to install, but longer to customize, it can also be 99.9 % custom, but usually it's gonna end up 50-60 % custom.

Ok, thanks for your advice guys, I've started downloading slackware. Meanwhile, I've installed Fedora 8 as a trial on my laptop. The install went smoothly but I'm having problems with the OS during booting - it freezes anytime during bootup and even the mouse wont move. If not during boot, the OS freezes soon after I log in. Can anyone tell me how to sort out this issue? What is causing this problem, based on the hardware config I have?

If I was you I would try Ubuntu as a start and then as you become more advanced I would
try LFS

www.ubuntu.com (ubuntu)
www.linuxfromscratch.org (LFS)

There's nothing wrong with installing multiple distros. If you don't need anything fancy, you could run them in virtual machines. Get virtualbox for windows... you can even install a couple of distros simultanuously. If you want a productive system, go with Ubuntu (Suse, Fedora, Debian...). Yes a couple of things work differently than they do on a more "pure" system, but basically it's all pretty much the same.