Yet another Windows 'desertor'
 

Well, kind of anyway...

At work I'll still be programming under Windows, but at home I say "no more!".

At home I have an ageing presario1200 laptop and a white-box desktop. I rarely use the desktop and do most of my stuff in the laptop. Unfurtunatly since I installed XP it's been hell. The damn thing just doesn't work with 64Mb RAM. Even the most simple tasks will make XP access the disk like crazy (presumably to swap cache pages). Web access is another nightmare with only two options: you let yourself get hacked or you spend half your time downloading 200+ Mb patches (which with a 56K modem is ALL of your time and more).

So I turned to good 'ol Linux. I'm not actualy new to *nix systems since that's mostly what is used at the uni.
Right now I'm trying to shove a Slackware 10.0 distro down the throat of the Compaq Presario 1200 (which was literaly made to run Windows).
The install went ok, kernel compilation also ok, had a bit of trouble with the winmodem and usb mouse, but was able to figure it out. Next on the hurdles list is usb link to Fuji AF250 camera and usb link to HP Photosmart printer. Once I'm done I'll update your HCL list.

Oh, and of course, Linux/KDE works fine with just 64Mb.

Best Regards,

J.Guilherme

Welcome to LQ!
I wonder which KDE version do you run, probably one of the latest? Interesting that it runs fine for you with 64MB...

Hi.

I'm running KDE 3.2.

Maybe I should clarify - I meant 'fine' as in way faster than XP (which is truly unmanageable in this machine). Of course it's not lightning fast, but I didn't expect that from a Celeron 700Mhz with 64Mb.

J.Guilherme

You're not deserting, you're evolving
 

Leaving MS in the dust is what many people would do if they KNEW there was a viable choice.
Since you mentioned that you're a programmer, I'd like to encourage you to take things one step further.
The Linux and Windows interface is dreadfully similar. Take a look at Mac OS X Panther to get an idea of how to better organize and orchestrate things. Not only would I like to see people evolving in droves, but I'd like to see a fresher, more intuitive interface in Linux as well. Apple is constantly showing the way in this arena, so why not make a good thing (Linux) better!

I will. Just let me settle in first :)

Right now I'm enjoying the mere fact that I can choose what I want to use. After having configured KDE to my taste, I tried FluxBox (following the tip of a work colleague) which I found to be very nice.

I finished configuring the laptop this weekend and all hardware is working fine. BTW, the camera is a FujiFilm FinePix A204 (not A250).


J.Guilherme