Is Zenwalk For Linux Noobs???
 

the title says it all.....also, how is the hardware support for zenwalk....

I'd say so. It took to my laptop perfectly (wireless too) so that should tell you something about the hardware support.

wat type of wifi card do you have

PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter

Zenwalk for noobs?

Well it's based on slax so you'll have to get used to the package manager or install programs from source.

Also, installing isn't something that may be easy for noobs compared to installations like Fedora that are pretty much click and install, as it's one that is text based so some experience of installing an OS would be useful.

Just my :twocents:

"base on slax" is wrong, it's based on Slackware (slax is a liveCD nased on Slakware)

anyway, could you explain why "based on sla*" means (for you) "get used to the package manager or install programs from source" ?

A package manager is mostly specific to 1 distrib (or 1 type of distrib), as apt* is for *buntu and debian.
By the way graphical netpkg is really close to synaptic (in fonctionnalities i mean).

and "compile from sources" = depend if you particularly want to use 1 specific app you like/you're habit or if you're just looking for a functionality.
In this case, ZW as most distrib, has a tool/app for it (except a really specific demand, in this case, peoples at zencommunity/on forum could [help to do/have already done] a package).



i don't see why "install in text mode" = "not for noobs" ...

Well i must say that it is a rather 50/50 thing.
The installer is rather complicated for first-time-users, but powerful for advanced users.
The distro itself is orientated at "ese of use" as you have grafical frontends for most tasks (just check the "zenpanel" und "system").

Since it comes with most apps needed preinstalled (for a normal desktop user) it should be pretty easy to mantain and use.

what thing let you think that ?
I just want to know, if possible we'll try to do something better ;).
But we already have:
- auto-partitioning (or not, as you like)
- no questions about which packages install
- ...

What can be improve, except a "graphical install", that will offer exactly the same options, but that can support mouse too for clicking (not a realy big improvement imo, as using mouse when there is only 1 window is pretty useless...).

i don't know really. if the box works straight away after intallation, then great!! it's even for noobs. BUT, what if it doesn't (like in the case of mine). i didn't even get to wifi connection. it even didn't set up ethernet config to connect up to the internet, which is a big aargh!! for me.

and no supporting drivers/detecting properly widescreen/nividia graphic card i got. i think auto configuration of zenwalk can be pretty bad sometimes. it worked almost perfectly on my old computer, while it's not working very well on my new laptop. my laptop was perfectly configured by knoppix and sabayon. so it just tells me that one failing in zenwalk lies in this crucial first configuration stuff. of course, i can dig into config files manually, but most people don't have time for that.

i don't care about whether the installation of zenwalk is graphical or not. i agree with guth, and really, it's such a petty point to make that "lack of graphical installation stuff" is one big put-off factor.

so at the moment, i have to choose other distros that does better job in detecting/config my laptop automatically than zenwalk does.

of course i will come back to zenwalk as soon as this "problem" is resolved... coz i loved zenwalk so much on my old laptop...

try looking on support.zenwalk.org, there's a lot of howtos and stuffs...

Can you open a thread with your problems (and hardware), like which wifi card, how do you connect on ethernet, ...

It might be really easy to solve, if peoples don't tell us we can't help/improve.

cheers guth... i've already done that. but i am not really complaining about my problems with zenwalk here. you see... i am talking about something more general. that detection stuff should not be "problems" from the first place. i know that some other distros can do better detection and stuff, and i asked myself "why not with zenwalk?"

and i know this kind of things are not easy on noobs (even with helpful hands of the community). :) i guess many people don't stay on one distro long enough (or have the patience) to fix their problems. it's much easier to move on to some other distro that works "out out of the box" than to solving the problems.

anyway, that's my opinion. there are many people who give up because of bad auto config, and they don't even bother to report to the community. when i am tired, i am one of them. now after a nap, i got back my spirit, so yeah, i intalled zenwalk again, with the renewed spirit of "this time i will make this thing work!"

in short, if works, zenwalk is good for everyone - that's how i came to love this distro. but if it doesn't work well, then better for busy noobs to find some other distros.

i got your point tsuren,
i asked you to report as you seemed not to be a noob, so the information/correction/experience of your problems might be great help/improvement for us :)

Well I'd consider myself a newbie (only just this month installed ubuntu for the first time and gotten rid of windows) Now I've taken it upon myself to test a few of the distros that are out and "about" last night I installed the latest Zenwalk onto a spare computer the install was easy enough (even though the install was not a *click, click* type of install and I actually had to read some of the menus a bit) I still managed to get Zenwalk up and running in about thirty minutes. Maybe this linux thing isnt as bad as a lot of people make out. Or maybe im just really lucky :D

I have been using Zenwalk for over 6 months now, and a couple of "Linux for noobs" distros before that.
I would say Zenwalk is good for noobs with over few months of experience. I would highly recommend it to those who want to learn a proper Linux OS instead of just another distro.

Sure the installer is text based, but it is pretty much straight forward. And after that all you need to do is have ability to access to the internet (to ask questions or what not).
Other Zenwalkers are very responsive and supportive- but search first before asking. Hope you give it a try!

FYI- I've just recently gone over 1 yr of using Linux.

i have taken to zenwalk easily. i managed to get it installed through the text interface without a hitch and it configured my dual boot no probs. i have not had a lot of expereince with linux and this is the first distro that i had sucess with and found satisfying. i was using it to learn shell and understand linux while keeping my windows for doing my regular tasks.

i cant access it at the moment as i reinstalled XP and it has cleared grub. any advice re this would be great?