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Which version of Linux to download?
Hello,
I have an old laptop and want to install linux on it. It's a Toshiba Satellite A-15 S1292. I upgraded it several times. Currently, it has a Intel Celeron 2.4 GHz single-core, 1 GB RAM, 110 GB hard drive, Intel (GMA) 852GM 32 MB shared video. I was planning to install red hat on it but don't seem to have any easy way of download the iso so I going with fedora 14 http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora . Can some one please tell my if I'm heading in the right direction. If someone installed linux of this laptop and had any problems, please tell me about them. Thanks, Mike |
I don't know anything about that particular laptop, but it should be OK. And Fedora is as good as any other to start with, but you might want to try a few others, everybody has different tastes.
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A laptop of that spec should run pretty much any mainstream distro. You may however, want to run something with a lighter desktop environment like LXDE or XFCE. You can install these desktops on any mainstream linux.
If you're new to linux, you may want to download a Live CD version and just boot it up and see what works on your hardware out of the box. Most of the main distros have live CD's. |
Fedora is a great choice, good luck with it!
The reason you did not easily find a Red Hat download is that it's commercial (not free of charge) software that must be purchased from http://redhat.com Fedora is very similar except it is free, community-driven, and targeted at desktop/laptop users (not servers). Excellent choice! Be sure to visit http://rpmfusion.org if you need "non free" software like Adobe Flash, proprietary video drivers, etc. Or http://easylifeproject.org if you want one-click "tweaking." |
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
The Fedora 14 Desktop Edition requires at least 512 MB memory (RAM), 1 GB recommended for best performance. Will there be performance issues when I install additional software? Also, what info about the monitor do I need to have with me during the setup? It's a laptop screen and I don't want to fry! Thanks again, Mike |
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I see you have 1gb of RAM. That should be ample for typical web surfing/office/etc. tasks. Your monitor should be detected and configured "out of the box." Your best bet is to try Fedora as a "Live CD" for a while to make sure a) it supports your hardware; and b) you like it. :) |
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Just in case the monitor won't be detected and configured automatically, what info do I need to have available?
Which do you prefer and why? GNOME-based, KDE-based, LXDE-based or Xfce-based Fedora desktop? |
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Different linuxes...
There are family groupings of linux distributions. Fedora is one, but there is Debian/Ubuntu/Mint, openSUSE, and PCLinuxOS, each somewhat different in how they configure linus. If you have trouble with Fedora, try a live-cd of some of the others. Fedora is known to require some hand work to install on some systems. The Intel graphics chip on your laptop may require a little tweaking before you get it to perform to your satisfaction. Google should help you if you search with Intel(GMA) 852GM and a particular distribution. |
Based on your hardware level, I would recommend you try Xubuntu or Ubuntu but your hardware is old so the graphical needs to be lite. I'm not a fan or agree with a lot of Fedora.
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Well, is Fedora the best distro for a beginner? A few of you guys suggested Ubuntu, any reason?
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I'd suggest burning some Live CDs and taking a few distros for a test drive. It really is not much different than test driving a car; your goal is to find one that is reliable, handles well, and feels comfortable for you. :) A great resource for learning about the different Linux distros is: http://distrowatch.com |
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of nonsense. I have an "old" and I mean 11 year old H-P desktop Pentium 3, 550 MHz processor with 784 MB of RAM that has run every Fedora release from Fedora Core 1 to the recent Fedora 14 with Gnome desktops. But as others have mentioned you can try out the Live releases whether Fedora or some other distro to see which suits your taste. If your laptop can boot from a usb device create a liveusb and save yourself from burning a disc. :) phil |
I wouldn't say they're nonsense. It's no secret that Gnome is very bloated so to say that he's better of using XFCE is not that far fetched. Obviously bloat, speed, and performance are all relative terms and it's up to the user to decide what's in his comfort and priority level. Everybody's just giving him a heads up on their past experiences and trying to be helpful IMO.
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