Dan Evans wrote:
I am a Linux newbie and think I should buy a laptop to learn Linux. It would be a lot easier to carry to install fests. Can anyone provide information about what I should look for in a laptop; (make and model, disk capacity, memory size, processor type and speed, etc.) Whatever you think is important.
Assuming that you don't want to spend a lot of money, IBM Thinkpads in the 1 Ghz P-III class are readily available at many outlets for under $400. I got one at Computer Geeks in Oceanside (www.geeks.com).
These have been very popular, and as a result there is a wealth of information available online. Take a look at the Linux on Laptops website (www.linux-laptop.net) and you will see what I mean.
I've also had good luck with Toshibas in the same CPU class.
I am also looking for a distribution with a good book included that will run on the recommended laptop. I have several books and several distributions, but they don't match or won't run on my available hardware.
Just about any of the popular distros will work on the aforementioned laptops. For a book/distro combination, consider "Point & Click Linux!" by Robin Miller, which comes with Mepis Linux. This is a Debian-based distribution that I have found to work quite well with these laptops. Even the winmodem works. You can find out more about Mepis (and the book) at www.mepis.org.
That being said, if your primary goal is to learn Linux, you may wish to heed Lan's advice. Laptops (even Linux-friendly ones) present certain unique challenges, and a newbie may be better off starting with a desktop, especially since used desktop systems can be had for next to nothing (and in some cases, nothing).
Monitors etc. are readily available at installfests, so the only thing that you have to bring is the "box," which isn't really that much more difficult than a laptop.
Regards, Robert Stickney -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-newbie
