Well it came in today and the first order of business is to wipe Windows 7 Home off the hard-drive and put Linux on it.
A couple guys at work really talked up Arch Linux as a stripped down DIY distro. (This is what I am running on my MythTV backend already but not a full-desktop install).
I am currently elbow deep in installation, updates to follow...
EDIT1 ======
So definitely more hands-on than an ubuntu install. My first cut left me rebooting into a system without wireless. Mulligan
EDIT2 ======
Downloaded broadcom driver from manufacturer website, transfer by usb drive to laptop, built and installed. Can now ping google (you're welcome google).
EDIT3 ======
Just upgraded to the bleeding edge `pacman -Syu`... rolling release model sure beats ubuntu
EDIT4 ======
Time to choose a desktop environment. i don't know what it is but the more processing power i get, the less software bloat i want to run. leaning towards xfce...
5 comments:
Sandy Bridge i3 (2310M) or last gen? And why linux? Do you just like to torture yourself with the command line (I'm sure Jen loves it too)? Any special software or expected battery gains? The way I look at it, if I have to dig through wikis and forums to install equipment/software, I better be getting paid for it.
I wish you the best of luck with the laptop though, in my experience Acer has the absolute WORST support and RMA process.
i'm surprised to hear a sys-admin describe the command line as torture.
if not linux then what? i dorked around w/ the windows 7 that came on the laptop and there is no way i am using that. os-x? have you used the terminal in os-x?
if you want linux w/out the wikis then you use ubuntu. if you're comfortable doing it yourself then you can branch out. the advantage of arch is that you know everything that is getting installed on your machine and you aren't installing software that you don't need.
Ubuntu f-ed me over last week. After taking your suggestion to wipe pulseaudio off of my computer, I found myself booting to a blank screen with a blinking cursor. Not even the command line. After trying to work through GRUB to get things to work, it was quite clear I had no idea what I was doing. Eric, the command line IS torture! I was finally able to get the command prompt up and figured that it was my desktop manager that was not loading properly so I tried installing xfce to no avail. Finally I had to figure out how to uninstall the desktop and reinstall it and surprise, it worked! I hope that is the last time I spend that much time typing commands.
Still, it is way better than the shitty Windows Starter that came loaded on my netbook.
adam, i must say i am impressed that you were able to work your way through that. i do remember a similar issue on my desktop that required re-installing gnome (another reason to get away from ubuntu).
talked a bit w/ my buddy at work who has been using arch for a while now. turned me on to a few key packages that he uses for things like wireless security and installing user-supported packages. i am really liking the fact that everything for configuring arch is contained in a single text file. rc.conf f.t.w.
I have a new Acer TimelineX 4820T and run Archlinux & Openbox and it is just about flawless, everything works.
It rocks .............
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