To Linux or not to Linux.

Medic82 · **on:** July 07, 2009, 09:19:31 PM

At the moment I’m feed up with Vista and thinking of getting a new OS. A resent article in a computer magazine about WINE has made me seriously considering going with Linux. But there is one major thing holding me back and that’s that I’m afraid that I can’t find any drivers for my Acer Aspire 5100.

I googled a little bit but most of the Linux forums out there just reports lots of problems when it comes to the driver for the WiFi card and most of the people are speaking a language that I don’t understand.

So you Linux freaks out there! Can you give me some sound advice and a good Linux forum that I can get some help.

Chako · **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2009, 09:32:07 PM

I am not much for Linux myself...seeing that I like to game and there just aren't any titles for Linux out there worth playing.

However, I am given to understand that Ubuntu is a popular distribution.

As for drivers, you have a right to be cautious. My friends own a local computer shop. When the net books first came out, most of them came with Linux. People bought them thinking to convert them to XP machines. That was a no go. No driver support for much of the new hardware. The same can be said for going the other way. Driver support is a mess right now, and seems to be getting worse, especially for portable computers.

Maybe someone can give you better advice.

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2009, 09:38:18 PM

I know it's not optimal, but you could get a WiFi dongle to plug in and just disable the onboard WiFi card if you have drivers for everything else. Linksys cards can be had fairly cheaply.

Whoey · **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2009, 02:28:51 PM

get an ubuntu livecd, you can try it without touching your existing install. You can even dual boot if you are very hesitant to format.

I haven't had trouble, but wifi seems to be a common issue, that involves some extra drivers in some cases. The forums are usually helpful, and google is always your friend.

I've been running Ubuntu as my main OS for quite a while now, and am rather happy. I really dislike Vista, and win7 seems to be a step in the right direction after the Epic fail that is Vista.

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2009, 02:53:00 PM

Quote from: Whoey on July 08, 2009, 02:28:51 PM

get an ubuntu livecd, you can try it without touching your existing install. You can even dual boot if you are very hesitant to format.

I haven't had trouble, but wifi seems to be a common issue, that involves some extra drivers in some cases. The forums are usually helpful, and google is always your friend.

I've been running Ubuntu as my main OS for quite a while now, and am rather happy. I really dislike Vista, and win7 seems to be a step in the right direction after the Epic fail that is Vista.

On another board I'm on, there's a guy who is a major project manager at MSoft, and he specifically worked on the kernel (is that the right word?) for Vista. Needless to say, he doesn't believe me when I say a converted a Vista laptop to XP just to make it useable. He believes it hasta be other software I've installed. Yea. Right.

Benner · **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2009, 03:40:40 PM

I still cannot fathom how so many call Vista useless and unoperable.

Every single computer where I work runs Vista, my wifes 2 last computers ran vista and although I prefer XP because I am more used to it, I have never come across any issues. I find it hard to believe it is that awful when it's so worldwide now. So what am I missing?

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #6 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:12:05 PM

I don't mind Vista- it works well enough for what I want/need it for on my laptop. There are a few annoying things, like the odd bit of software that it won't run, but it's not the end of the world and is pretty common with any new operating system. Most annoying is how it asks you ten times if you want to run something that you want to run.

Still, I have found it pretty stable overall.

Vista's core is a solid OS- I have a copy of the bare bones OS with none of the addons, which are what apparently is where all the problems and conflicts lie. I have seen the core OS version I have running nice and stable on a PIII!

That having been said, I am experimenting with a small version of Linux that came with my netbook- Linpus Lite is a build of Fedora specifically made for this type of machine. It's good, again for what it's meant for, but I am having more software issues with it than I did with Vista, and while it's not all the machine's fault, there is a learning curve to it that you have to be ready for if you are going to make the switch.

It's not too bad if you have more than one computer so you can use the other to take care of business until you get the new OS sorted out. if you are stuck with one machine, I'd suggest using the bootable CD or dual boot mentioned above.

Def

Abstraction · **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:16:50 PM

Vista is an odd beast - on my computer it's horrifically slow, but on my parents computer i built for them more recently, which has technically worse specs but newer componants, it absolutely flies. it boots to a useable desktop in 20 seconds, no slowdown anywhere while it's running either, its absolutely perfect and on both computers it's wonderfully stable. But despite the stability s on my pc i cant use vista at all, it's just too slow, even with a fresh install, this is despite the hard drive being slower, the (dual core) cpu being slower (but a newer model), the ram being slower and the motherboard and gpu both being cheap budget models with no bells or whistles. I have Windows 7 and Ubuntu installed for general use and then a 64-bit XP install for games. I barely ever boot into my vista partition nowadays as it just frustrates me seeing my computer struggle to do the basics.

Medic82 · **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:19:00 PM

Quote from: Benner on July 08, 2009, 03:40:40 PM

I still cannot fathom how so many call Vista useless and unoperable. Every single computer where I work runs Vista, my wifes 2 last computers ran vista and although I prefer XP because I am more used to it, I have never come across any issues. I find it hard to believe it is that awful when it's so worldwide now. So what am I missing?

The issue for me when it comes to Vista is the speed. I have Vista on my stationary PC and on my laptop, the stationary PC have NO problems what so ever with Vista regarding the speed since I have beefed it up nicely while my laptop is SO slow. I think Vista is great, but when every task use twice as long, if not even more, on my laptop than on the stationary then I get frustrated.

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:33:04 PM

Brutally slow.

Can't use legacy drivers (like for downloading from a Canon Eos 20D digital camera)

With older versions of MS Office, it would "encounter unexpected errors" and close the program without any chance to salvage the document being worked on.

It was cheaper to buy another copy of XP and use my old MS Office than to buy new version of Office.

MS fookers.

cliosguy · **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:35:01 PM

well for me it has been working just fine(vista) i dont ask my computer to do much so i guess that may be the reason

Sazabi · **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2009, 06:21:10 PM

With the exception of VCL Player sometimes crashing while opening a video, I can't say I've had any true issues with Vista. The whole shutting down of Office---but wait, Office has crashed while trying to shut down! ZOMG!---issue has repaired itself, too. I've really not had any other problems with it on my machine; granted, I do have three gigs of RAM and a triple core processor. >.>;

On that note, I copied music files from a Vista-running laptop to an MP3 player for a friend. Slowest. Machine. Ever. I'm pretty certain it was either single core or only had one gig of RAM; either way, whenever the security popup would show, the computer was unusable for a minute on either side of clicking allow or deny. Plus, the Sidebar took a good three minutes to simply load after the core finished initializing. -_- I don't see how she can even use her computer. :/ Plus, so far as I know, it's still relatively new at less than a year old. ~_~

[Edit: Oh, I forgot to answer the question of the OP. XD I somewhat-recently repaired a 3(?) year old laptop that had suffered from hard drive failure; after installing a new hard drive, I went the cheap way and went with the latest Ubuntu 9.04 build. Seeing as it was for my mum, who is technologically challenged, she has come to like Ubuntu, which really is a nice OS. For a free, open source, and continuously updated (for builds that haven't been supplanted by others) OS, you can't go wrong with Linux... unless you are a gamer. :/]

Whoey · **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2009, 06:40:31 PM

Our new Laptop came with Vista as well, I think it's the ask twice security popups that has yes/no options... In linux/ubuntu, when I go to install new software it asks me for my admin password once. In vista I find it treats every install package/archive/download like it's a trojan from step one, then won't proceed with the install until you say it's ok twice... I also find it boots rather slow on the hardware I have. It does seem to be usable yes... it resumes from sleep in a very short time. I also despise the new menu structure with a scroll bar/split levels in it... I find it makes searching for some items more difficult and annoying. I found it quite annoying that I bought a brand new machine (they just started making this model) that came loaded without the latest service pack... which means if I ever use the restore I have to re-download all that crap again. (not Vista's fault entirely...)

Here's another example: I have an older ADSL router... it doesn't have wifi. I signed up a long time ago to FON (www.fon.com) and got a free (paid for shipping only) wifi unit that plugs into my main ADSL router.

Vista can't work with it easily yet all XP/WinMobile/others have no issues, I regularly connect with the PDA and other laptops I've had to work on (my brother-in-laws) I have to power up my Vista machine (in this case our new laptop), turn on the wifi, unplug (power off and on) the wifi router, and then try to find it once it's finished it's boot routine. Otherwise Vista sees it, but will not connect to it. It's annoying as hell. It also took a while to find this out in the help forums, and I'm sure this isn't the only case of Vista being difficult.

To me, XP was overdue for an update, I think they could have repackaged it with the latest SP/browser/mediaplayer and kept using it for a while longer. People know how it works now... Seems like at least once a week I see an article about them extending the XP lifespan due to Vista incompatibilities. I suspect they rushed Vista out the door. From what I've experienced with the Win7 Beta, it's much better than Vista so far. Lets not forget the fail that was Windows ME... once in a while Microsoft releases an OS that just plain sucks, and too many people just jump blindly on the wagon (in some cases like preloaded new computers, without a choice!)

I'm tempted to partition the drive later and throw on the latest Ubuntu...

Buzzbait · **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2009, 07:34:26 PM

Ubuntu Linux is pretty good. The hard part is the drivers. I had problems with the internal wireless on my Lenovo laptop, and the ended up buying a Wifi card. Unfortunately, the card didn't work either. Then I bought a USB type Wifi gizmo, and that worked. Thoroughly research your wireless chipsets for compatibility. The same goes for video.

Other than the two driver issues, I love Ubuntu. Faster than XP, and 100 times faster than Vista. No virus hassles. Tons of free software available, that actually works. No great replacement for Itunes yet.

Nikos · **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2009, 08:23:45 PM

Medic dude, if you decide to go the Ubuntu (or open-source in general) way, I'm sure there are a couple of people around here that could eventually help you if you bump on some issues. So:

Quote from: Medic82 on July 07, 2009, 09:19:31 PM

a good Linux forum that I can get some help

Try MT.org...

Quote from: Medic82 on July 07, 2009, 09:19:31 PM

At the moment I’m feed up with Vista and thinking of getting a new OS. A resent article in a computer magazine about WINE has made me seriously considering going with Linux. But there is one major thing holding me back and that’s that I’m afraid that I can’t find any drivers for my Acer Aspire 5100.

I googled a little bit but most of the Linux forums out there just reports lots of problems when it comes to the driver for the WiFi card and most of the people are speaking a language that I don’t understand.

The livecd trick is your best bet at the moment; it's easy to try and you'll get a first impression of what is supported out of the box and what will require some tinkering.

Medic82 · **Reply #15 on:** July 09, 2009, 10:06:12 PM

I just gave Ubuntu a try and no surprise, the WiFi card didn’t work. I have used Google and what I have found is not encouraging, there are people that have struggled with the problem for weeks and they still can’t get their WiFi card to work. I tried some of the recommendations I found out there but nothing worked. This looks way to hard and complicated for me that I will rather endure the pain with Vista and wait for Windows 7. Maybe I will give it a go later on.

Whoey · **Reply #16 on:** July 10, 2009, 11:53:49 AM

Seems you are not the first to try...
http://www.n01getsout.com/blog/2007/06/07/installing-ubuntu-on-an-acer-aspire-5100

and more directly: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=816780

hope that helps!

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #17 on:** July 10, 2009, 03:32:55 PM

Windows in general may be bloated, and I am certainly not trying to argue that much of it is unnecessary, but I will say this for it- installing new hardware/software is easier on Windows than Linux. Because of the bloat and fancier veneer of Windows I have managed to install all kinds of things while I still can't get a simple Bluetooth dongle to work on my Linux machine.

Just tossing that out there for the hell of it...

Def

Whoey · **Reply #18 on:** July 10, 2009, 03:48:18 PM

and mine worked in Ubuntu without installing any fancy drivers or anything...

unfortunately not all hardware vendors open their drivers, so it's hard to support everything, that and Microsoft seems to make it easy for them to write drivers for windows.

ecfiffer · **Reply #19 on:** July 11, 2009, 02:11:29 AM

UBUNTU!!!! if you get it you can dual boot with it and vista... trust me you cant go wrong!

if you have questions give me a holla, i'll point you in the right direction as best as i can!

Medic82 · **Reply #20 on:** July 11, 2009, 03:50:07 PM

Quote from: ecfiffer on July 11, 2009, 02:11:29 AM

UBUNTU!!!! if you get it you can dual boot with it and vista... trust me you cant go wrong!

if you have questions give me a holla, i'll point you in the right direction as best as i can!

Finde a WiFi driver that works in Ubuntu

ecfiffer · **Reply #21 on:** July 12, 2009, 04:32:01 AM

intel based... ive never had an issue with them... well hell do this, down load ubuntu and burn the iso on acd and boot off of it... thats another reason why i love ubuntu... it will load what it needs from the cd and wont install anything on your pc. if you do that and and use your current hardware (wifi included) you should be good to go.

or if you have a darker side there is also backtrack.

toothrot · **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2009, 05:12:25 AM

i don't know if it's too late to get a key for the win 7 RC, but i've been running the 64-bit RC1 here for a good while without any problems, and my wife has a slightly newer build of the 32bit version on her machine with no problems.

I skipped right over vista. I'm not keen on a few things they lost from xp, the new windows explorer annoys me the most, but i've got it configured the way i want it now and i think it's a real step up from vista, and at least not a step backwards from xp.

ecfiffer · **Reply #23 on:** July 12, 2009, 05:35:44 AM

ive heard and read some good things about win 7 but its still windows... im stuck with it right now at home with xp.. which isnt bad but the hardware is showing age and thats an issue. i'd like to build my next desktop but my wife wants to go mac. yippy for me... i'll have to learn it and then teach her just like with her blackberry

but it helps that part of my job is a bb admin supporting roughly 400 users

Medic82 · **Reply #24 on:** July 12, 2009, 12:04:33 PM

Quote from: ecfiffer on July 12, 2009, 04:32:01 AM

intel based... ive never had an issue with them... well hell do this, down load ubuntu and burn the iso on acd and boot off of it... thats another reason why i love ubuntu... it will load what it needs from the cd and wont install anything on your pc. if you do that and and use your current hardware (wifi included) you should be good to go.

I have done that but the WiFi will not work and I can't find a driver for it that will run in Ubuntu

ecfiffer · **Reply #25 on:** July 12, 2009, 09:11:06 PM

what kind of wifi card do you have?

Medic82 · **Reply #26 on:** July 12, 2009, 10:13:12 PM

Broadcom 802.11g

ecfiffer · **Reply #27 on:** July 13, 2009, 07:54:26 PM

can you give me the make/model on it? shot it to me in a PM... i'll get you hooked up

Whoey · **Reply #28 on:** July 14, 2009, 02:23:03 AM

Medic82: do these not work for you?

Quote from: Whoey on July 10, 2009, 11:53:49 AM

Seems you are not the first to try...
http://www.n01getsout.com/blog/2007/06/07/installing-ubuntu-on-an-acer-aspire-5100

and more directly: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=816780

hope that helps!

Crouton · **Reply #29 on:** July 14, 2009, 02:38:44 AM

Linux is a fun operating system for people like myself who enjoy tweaking the OS.

It can be quite a pain for a new user however.

I'd suggest you check out www.distrowatch.org it's a website that keeps tabs on all the latest Linux distributions.

I'd also suggest checking out Knoppix. It's a live cd that I have had lots of success with in hardware recognition.

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