linux distribution

[theGoldenGoat]

my school requires a laptop with the software they install on it (MICROSOFT OF COURSE!) at the beginning of the year.

I'm looking for a particularly ubobtrusive(smallish) and very compatable(something that windows will bitch least about) distro of linux that id be able to install on the laptop.. dual boot style. wondering if you had any suggestions or inclinations to particular distributions... im not an experienced linux user but personally find that practice with something is the best way to learn to use it.
every bit helps

~~ thanks ~~

[GodMinusOne]

my school requires a laptop with the software they install on it (MICROSOFT OF COURSE!) at the beginning of the year.

I'm looking for a particularly ubobtrusive(smallish) and very compatable(something that windows will bitch least about) distro of linux that id be able to install on the laptop.. dual boot style. wondering if you had any suggestions or inclinations to particular distributions... im not an experienced linux user but personally find that practice with something is the best way to learn to use it.
every bit helps

~~ thanks ~~

go with Slackware... www.slackware.com

[converge]

well... you might take interested in playing around with cygwin , although if you really want to dive into linux I would recommend going all out with slackware or gentoo. I do not advocate fucking around with your school IT staff (having been one myself), but in the name of learning: what are the consequences if you fuck up the box? If it is your only box, you may also want to consider consequences to being able to get your work done if things don't go as planned... on the other hand, how likely is it you could drop $100-200 on a cheap box for yourself? that would be the ideal to give you full range playing room

[theGoldenGoat]

well... you might take interested in playing around with cygwin , although if you really want to dive into linux I would recommend going all out with slackware or gentoo. I do not advocate fucking around with your school IT staff (having been one myself), but in the name of learning: what are the consequences if you fuck up the box? If it is your only box, you may also want to consider consequences to being able to get your work done if things don't go as planned... on the other hand, how likely is it you could drop $100-200 on a cheap box for yourself? that would be the ideal to give you full range playing room

the cool thing is it is mine. the school tells you which laptop they want you to buy(dell latitude series) and every student is expected to buy one. our IT dept is so lazy that theyre clever about it.. if you fuck up your laptop they wipe it and reimage. not saying this is a bad approach but sometimes its completely unnessesary. theyve got a fileserver where students can back up their work which ill utilize.

[converge]

to that I say... d00d! whatcha waitin for? backup them papers and start destroying shit

[highwizard]

my school requires a laptop with the software they install on it (MICROSOFT OF COURSE!) at the beginning of the year.

I'm looking for a particularly ubobtrusive(smallish) and very compatable(something that windows will bitch least about) distro of linux that id be able to install on the laptop.. dual boot style. wondering if you had any suggestions or inclinations to particular distributions... im not an experienced linux user but personally find that practice with something is the best way to learn to use it.
every bit helps

~~ thanks ~~

I'm so so so so sorry.

[blackwave]

I'm looking for a particularly ubobtrusive(smallish) and very compatable(something that windows will bitch least about) distro of linux that id be able to install on the laptop..

Mr Anderson, Why install, when you can boot?
http://www.demolinux.org/

... and I recently ran into this in a previous linux format zine...
http://www.slackware-live.org/

[theGoldenGoat]

Mr Anderson, Why install, when you can boot?
http://www.demolinux.org/

... and I recently ran into this in a previous linux format zine...
http://www.slackware-live.org/

yes this had crossed my mind (saw it in a different thread a while back) but i dont have an internal cd-drive and it would be too inconvenient to lug the cd drive and cable around with me. of course, if my IT dept bitches about it ill be sure to try this out

[TwinVega]

my school requires a laptop with the software they install on it (MICROSOFT OF COURSE!) at the beginning of the year.

I'm looking for a particularly ubobtrusive(smallish) and very compatable(something that windows will bitch least about) distro of linux that id be able to install on the laptop.. dual boot style. wondering if you had any suggestions or inclinations to particular distributions... im not an experienced linux user but personally find that practice with something is the best way to learn to use it.
every bit helps

~~ thanks ~~

I'm not anything close to a linux expert, but if you can partition your harddrive then all versions of linux would be very compatable, all you would have to worry about would be the unobtrusive part....

[converge]

blackwave brings up a really good point... installing is no longer necessary for those afraid of losing their windows.. knoppix, gentoo... so many live cds out there...

[ck3k]

blackwave brings up a really good point... installing is no longer necessary for those afraid of losing their windows.. knoppix, gentoo... so many live cds out there...

Knoppix STD is sweet, hardware compatability is good, and it has all sorts of fun toys :D

Other install options

The more I play with it the more I like Gentoo 1.4 also slackware 9, but if you are looking for the gui driven eye candy deal, use mandrake 9, I have used it and liked it, I just had to wipe it cause I wanted to give something new a try.

About fucking up windows :

Just make sure your lilo/grub conf is all spiffy and has the option to boot windows, cause that is an easy way to fuck up a system.

[murakami]

Dual boot systems on a single disk suck.

Most new laptops can have a second disk in the CDROM bay, others can boot from a USB device. I thought I would miss having a cdrom/dvd drive, but I just mount one on a desktop. If you can afford it, having a disk for each operating system is the way to go.