From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from pfui.uark.edu([130.184.144.59]) (3254 bytes) by braille.uwo.ca via smail with P:esmtp/D:aliases/T:pipe (sender: ) id for ; Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:10:55 -0400 (EDT) (Smail-3.2.0.102 1998-Aug-2 #2 built 1999-Sep-5) Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] ident=ccn) by pfui.uark.edu with esmtp (Exim 3.16 #1 (Debian)) id 13lwjy-0000HD-00 for ; Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:10:58 -0500 Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:10:58 -0500 (CDT) From: Chris Nestrud Reply-To: ccn@uark.edu To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca Subject: Re: best way to install linux to a laptop In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII List-Id: You might want to check the PCMCiA howto (www.linuxdoc.org) to make sure that your laptop has cards which are supported. I was installing Debian on a friend's laptop, and while it detected the floppy and cd drives without problems, it didn't detect the PCMCIA modem and NIC. It's also possible that I missed something in the install. Chris On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Kirk Wood wrote: > I will attempt to address a number of issues you have brought up: > > 1. Hardware detection: Nearly every distribution can detect > hardware. The differences come down to configuration methods and placement > of files. The other difference is installation of pre-packaged > bianaries. (One other note, I would recomend not I repeat not going with > RedHat 7 as there could be some compatibility problems with libraries and > why invite such potential problems starting out?) > > 2. Booting from CD, or dealing with posible floppy, CD swap problems. If > you have access to a CDROM burner, you can make your own bootable CD that > uses the correct kernel. If this isn't an option, then you will want to > select either Debian or Slackware. Debian allows downloading most of the > files. Slackware is laid out in such a manner that installing most things > from floppy is doable. (Though it will mean a lot of floppys going through > the drive.) > > 3. Selecting a distribution because your ISP uses it makes no > sense. Having said that, I think Debian can give you all the benifits of > RedHat and a whole lot more. First, you can install a version of RPM that > will install RPMs without problem (though it is not the recomended means > as that doesn't update the dpkg database). Second, you can install > linuxconf the main program for administering your machine. This is a great > program and I highly recomend it. You can add users, setup your network, > and a whole lot more. For ease of administration I haven't found anything > that beats Linuxconf. While RedHat came out with it, thanks to GPL you can > easily add it to Debian. (And the package is ready to go.) > > The latest Debian will allow you to accept a default install that sets up > most things needed. It finds PCMCIA if you have it (and removes it if you > don't). You can easily install it using a PPP acount if you can't bot a > floppy then mount a CD. > > > ======= > Kirk Wood > Cpt.Kirk@1tree.net > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup >