Ubuntu on Clevo?

Has anyone tried it yet? Is it stable?

 

yeah i tried it...kubuntu....but honestly compared to any M$ product it is a joke. I know people will argue and give me crap, but it has so many issues..I like how some things work out of the box ( wireless) and its great open-source for people that need it ( IT, servers). But for most computer users it really isnt a Logical reality to use the OS. But hey dual boot it or use a LIVE cd and check it out yourself. For me it was rather dull, though much faster ( probably because I had 75% less APPS that would work on it), but to each his own.

 

it's a joke.

gaming on linux is a joke.

i compiled gentoo on my sager 5680 and had compiz and 3d GUI stuff.

it took me weekz to get driver support ATI compiled and I edited so many conf files to get it to work

then I made a stage 4 tarball of my system and config. and stored it away for safe keeping.

 

dexgo, Gentoo and Ubuntu are in totally different leagues, and as far as I can tell, nVidia drivers are easier to install with all distros than ATI.

Ubuntu comes, generally speaking, ready to roll as soon as it's installed (yes, there are exceptions, but not nearly as many as with Gentoo). Gentoo, IMO, is not the right distro for anyone new to Linux, especially a person asking about Ubuntu. And, btw, the OP didn't even mention gaming. I assume he's considering a dual-boot machine, and he probably prefers Windows over any Linux distro for gaming needs.

 

I`m running Ubuntu with Maya 2008 for weeks now and no problems at all....

 

On which system?

 

ubuntu 7.10 64 bit
clevo d901c, quad core 2.4ghz, 4GB RAM, 2*8700M GT
all drivers were preinstalled

 

I'll be dual booting Vista and Ubuntu on receiving my Sager NP5793!

 

i agree, I am not new to linux tho. i have been using/working on bsd/unix/SUN OS/ linux for over 10 years

 

I have been a linux user since 2001 and I've tried different disrtos since then.
On my Sager 9750 I tried:
Gentoo -gave up cuz of issues.
Fedora Core 8 -kept crashing every time I use it.
Opensuse 10.3 -By far stable OS I ever seen. Easy to use.
Kubuntu 7.10 -Not bad, stable, easy to install software and Nvidia drivers. Currently using.

Installed some games with linux like Diablo 2.

 

I love linux, and the idea of linux (which has gone a little corporate over the years)
in fact some linux distros are more expensive than windows now. for desktop users, I mean COME ON!

anyway that gripe out of the way, I have to agree, that linux STILL isnt completely plug and play like windows is.
Your average user wont want to spend the time editing configs, never mind learning it in the first place.

they just want to run the system download patches and if it goes wrong shove in a recovery disk.

not ideal, not the best way to keep data safe, but for average Joe its fine.

 

I will be running a dual boot system when I get the Sager 5793 was going for the 9262 but bailed because of heat issues (sorry I live where it gets HOT.) Anyway I have been in and out of UNIX since the early 80's and it is getting better. Especially the Linux kernel and most of it's variations out there. There are just so many choices on how to complicate your life available today it is mind boggling. I just want to play games in Vista and maybe do a little photo editing. Since the rest of what I do is available for Ubuntu I will use that. I am not afraid of having to do a little command line work because if that is the price of freedom so be it.

You are right Ubuntu is not for everyone and that is the point. After all an OS that was originally made by programmers/engineers for programmers/engineers is going to be a little different. A little time spent in configuration is supposed to be fun. Think of it as solving puzzles on a path to freedom. Freedom from a hole in the pocketbook. Freedom to make choices instead of having them made for you. Plus the virtual freedom from viruses, add ware, spy ware and a host of other problems available for the M$ OS.

Oh sure you can make Vista somewhat safer only by spending money or spending time. You know working. Working on finding the best solutions by reading reviews, visiting forums then paying for a single solution or going out rounding up all the current best pieces. Then you get to install and configuring your boxed version of security software. Or you get to do the same thing for all the free security system pieces you gathered. You get to do this so your expensive OS can be protected. So! There you have it. It is all the same, just it is just as much work only done in a different way.

After all the bad old days in big iron was a lot worse.

Eventually the Linux distros will catch up with the rest of the world and it will be almost as bug free (?) and install just as easily (?) as the M$ offering (I think it already is.)

Look at it this way. If you can get Ubuntu working on your computer at least you will have a system to use if (when?) everything else goes down.

 

Anyone tried OSX Leapord on a Clevo yet?

 

I would, in general, agree with BOFH1971 and RaderCad that, in many respects (probably the more fundamental ones, too) linux is a better OS than Windows; however, as I know from first-hand experience, full support for old(er) hardware can be spotty, and, at least for me, trying to deal with that aspect - e.g., trying to hunt around for similiarly situated folk with the same problem - was a serious deterrent to making use of linux (I think I tried 6 or 7 variants).

Clearly, one of the primary benefits of linux is the ability to fine-tune and customize it by rooting through config files and whatnot; however, it strikes me that most linux variants present the obverse of the problem with Windows - Windows presents a one-size-fits-all package that is aimed at your average teen (whoops, I meant consumer - I must be in a New York State of mind this morning ), and that is very hard to actually get a hold on to customize (to the extent that is even possible) - the concept of a "power user" in Windows seems to be a rather anemic instantiation of the possibilities that concept conveys; however, there is a benefit to that formula inasmuch as everyone can pretty much jump in at the same basic starting point, and with a reasonable certainty that, provided they met the "system requirements" listed on the side of the package, that Windows will work tolerably well out of the box. Linux, on the other hand, provides an actual "power user" experience, but without a strong enough baseline starting point to, if you will, bootstrap the beginner into a default starting point.

Now, to be fair, and to (hopefully) forestall some of the corrections I will get, this situation has substantially improved in the last few years, to the point where there is an embarrassment of riches in terms of unified packages (i.e., kernel plus GUI, plus familiar-looking crutches) that should get most beginners off to a happy start, and provide them with the functionality they need without having to tinker under the hood - at least until they get comfortable enough to begin exploring on their own.

However, that applies primarily in terms of recently-released hardware; there are greater difficulties with getting support for the latest, newest hardware, and in particular there is a distressing swiss-cheese quality to much of the support for older hardware - in my case, a _Compaq presario notebook from 2000 (it ran WinME, until I got my grubby little mitts on it). In that case, many of the problems stemmed from _Compaq's botched implementation of ACPI - which is truly ironic considering that _Compaq was one of the primary developers of that protocol - and, as a beginner trying to get various linux variants to work on that notebook, I found it very distressing that there was little active assistance in getting the issues resolved. I understand the issue of prioritizing scarce resources (i.e., coders); however, as the problem had been concretely identified and, apparently, solved by those will much better coding skills than I, it would have been nice to have had an actively supported resource that I could have drawn on - a framework within which I could have figured out how to apply the corrections that were needed; something like that should be more or less fire and forget (keeping in mind, of course, that newly discovered ACPI flaws would have to be added in as they were found, which would consume some resources), and would not have represented such a major drain on resources. Nonetheless, the "official" position that it was a problem that would not be officially addressed because, given that the cause of the flaws was the original manufacturer, it was solely up to that manufacturer to fix it, was rather disheartening and quite a disincentive to pursue linux any further for the time being.

All of that being said, I quite agree that, on a new notebook, having a linux installation would be an invaluable fall-back position (if not, eventually, a primary OS), not the least because, given MS' track-record of bungling consumer-level support, it would be dumb to not take advantage of what's available to protect ones' self in the event that MS bungles it again with Win7.

In terms of the proprietary systems that build upon the linux kernel, I have to take a more agnostic view of that - free is, of course, nice, but, as we all know, there's no such thing as a free lunch, and in the case of linux, the "cost" of getting the basics for free is that you have to invest a lot more of your own time and effort to make it work on each particular hardware configuration. The only benefit, then, to having a proprietary system built on the free foundation, is the ability to pay someone else for already having gone through that hassle, and straightened it out so that, for the cost of a few $$ one can avoid the need to learn the linux kernel before being able to use it as a basic computer. In that instance, I tend to think that the existence of for-pay superstructures that rest on top of the for-free foundation of the linux kernel will, in balance, be more good than bad for linux as a whole.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, unless MS can pull off a truly miraculous reinvention of Windows with Win7, and do it on time, and within consumers' budgetary limits, MS will essentially drop-kick itself into the dustbin of history insofar as its status as the predominant OS is concerned - who knows, if they're sufficiently late, and the product is sufficiently lame, MS may have to open-source most of Windows and try to turn a buck to support itself by providing installation and support services.

 

I am surprised with the positive reception Linux has in this thread.

As a user of Debian exclusively for ten years, I have a few observations:

'Ubongo' has done more to recover 'weekend' Linux users to the OS than any other effort so far, and for that I congratulate them. However their default windowing system (Gnome) is in fact a joke. It is hyper-simplefied, like OS X, to the point of unusability in my opinion. Those wishing to see the true power in Linux should try Kubuntu (KDE-based), and learn about Konqueror as file manager and browser. For easy app searching install kpackage. For a free M$ Orfice replacement, OpenOffice. For open-source virtual machines, VirtualBox. For more dazzling eye-candy than any other OS can offer, CompizFusion.

Personally I like Debian, upon which Ubongo is based; although it is a spartan start, it is highly stable, fast, and the most capable Linux distro in existance.

Games on Linux? Who cares? I use my machines for work, not blood-sports. I can't imagine and am repulsed by these ugly violent games these days, and believe that they are contributing to a more violent and nasty mindset in our culture.

That aside, My primary love of Linux is that there is no pervasive user-tracking as there is in Winduhs. Did you know that Winduhs is always watching and recording every move you make? Even if what you're doing is not illegal today, that doesn't mean it will not be tomorrow. And just look at this. Also Winduhs and other corporatized OS's are shot through with DRM and other technologies which consider the user guilty until proven innocent. No thanks.

To me Linux is about Freedom -and- Security. Yeah, it takes a little work. It is not, nor has it ever been, for the shoe salesmen of the world.

 

I've used Kubuntu, which I think is just a different desktop manager then Ubuntu. Unfortunately I didn't get to use it for overly long because my HDD imploded. The short experience i did have with it though, I found the install process to be very easy, and if you wanted to go the route of not using the terminal, it's just like Win XP. It also has tons of IRC help tasks so it is pretty easy to learn and get assistance with it.

 

Ain't it fun when that happens? Was it a long, drawn-out implosion, where you kept rebooting, each time feeling like you were playing chicken with total data-death, or did it just not boot one morning?

EDIT: To stay on-topic, too, when I was going round-robin with all the different linux variants, I played around with both of the big GUIs - both are pretty decent, and each major variant adds its own thematic personalization, so you don't need to worry about too much conformity even in terms of the same GUI. If I recall correctly (which is highly dubious), I think that I found KDE more congenial - 'tho I wouldn't put much stock in that as a useful opinion.

Also, @Quantumstate - that's the beauty (at least to me) of a system like the 9262 - enough hard drives to spare so that I can have a different OS on each of three drives in the system, wihtout having to worry about monkeying around with inter-OS partitioning, or losing a good OS because the other OS installed on the same hdd went kablooey. I'll be much more inclined to start experimenting with linux when I can mix and match OSes by swapping physical drives.

 

The difference is that Gnome is so dumbed-down it is hard for me to use.

KDE is 'object-oriented', meaning that everything is treated like an object. Humans evolved to deal with objects which each have their own properties and often inheritances; in KDE you right-click anything to get at its properties. KDE can be as simple or powerful as you like. The power is just behind the curtain for access if you want it.

Konqueror is not only a superb browser (I've used it almost exclusively for six years) but it's also the most technically-advanced file manager I've found. It can natively deal with so many data formats, such as FTP, bittorrent, SSH, SMTP, fish, SMB, etc.

Anyway, KDE for the mid-skilled to power-user, Gnome for the n00b.

 

Good point!:laugh: :laugh:

Better make sure it hasn't been secretly sending copies to ole Bill, or making covert copyright claims on the pix to the copyright office - you never know with B.G.

 

Thats why we pay the big bucks for a real firewall that lets us block access from almost anything installed on the M$ OS.

Still! We are wondering what it could be doing when it is connected? Scary stuff.

Getting back on topic now.

The install of Kubuntu went fine. LOL only three re-installs from my being greedy! Too much stuff out there. The only driver left we have to install is for the built in WiFi card which has to be installed 'wrapped' as the driver that is out there for it lacks any security. Anyway we will probably stick to the zydas USB antenna for the boat, gets us out to about mile and the driver for it came up with the OS. The installed display, sound and WiFi were not supported in the OS. This left me going out for advice in the ubuntu forums. They have very fast responses in the absolute beginner pages. Response is about 5 to 10 minuets most of the time.

The above install saved my bacon when a M$ upgrade (?) harshed three files so bad it would not boot. Luckily we could access Kubuntu and got off all 17.9 GB of my wife's pics and all the important docs.

The re-install of the windblows wiped out our grub loader but a quick look into the ubuntu forum got it back in a jiffy.

The hardest thing I had to get used to was using the GUI and the kommand line (kubuntu has a sense of humor) at the same time.. Old habits die hard.

I am still looking around for the Sager computer issues with the various ubuntu's does not seem to be many of them. Thankfully so, as the new NP9262 arrives sometime next week.

 

Got the Sager NP9262. Heat is no issue as it runs cooler that the under-clocked Toshiba we were/are using.

Although! The stock build had the main hard disk mounted under the battery (on top of it when right side up.) This space has a very limited air circulation. The main hard drive was hitting 50 degrees C on a regular basis in 23 to 26 degrees C ambient air. The maximum thermal operation for this drive is only 55 degrees C, so we ended up moving it to the main hard disk compartment that has lots of air circulation vents. The temps came down by 5 to 6 degrees C right away.

The Kubuntu install was a snap, we are using the 32 bit OS because of driver issues. Found the newest nVidia drivers and got the screen and drivers working very well. The new fire fox install was relatively painless. Less of a driver problem getting this beast up than the Toshiba. Now we only have the sound (realteck) drivers to install now. LOL I have to go in and debug the make file for this driver as the manual install won't finish because of a wrong directory listing, welcome back to systems operations.

All in all this install was a relatively painless process and now we have a rescue system for when windblows crashes. Or the waited for virus brings down the other 90 percent of the PC's out there.

On another note Logitech does not support any version of linux. Bad Bad! Now I have to go out and hunt for third party drivers........