Best Notebook For Running Linux

Hello,

For enterprise use, the General Dynamics Tadpole Bullfrog might be a good choice, although it is more of a luggable system than a notebook.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

I loaded Ubuntu on my Compaq (HP) 8710w with no problem whatsoever, no devices undetected, no wi-fi or network issues. I was surprised to say the least. I have been using Linux since about 1995 and have never had an install go without a hitch. Made me glad I decided to format that Vista hard drive!

Well-known hardware tends to work well with Linux, so lean towards laptops that use fairly well known and tested hardware inside.WiFi and Bluetooth are both big issues with Linux, and the Ubuntu Community Documentation has a great page on various WiFi adapter’s compatibility with Linux: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported

Wifi seems to be one of the last real concerns when buying a notebook. That and double checking how well the graphics card is supported.
I’ve had to load Linux in compatibility mode, once, being another thing… and it might take some tweaking to get suspend and hibernate working, and occasionally might be messed up entirely….

Hmm… I guess you may have a point. I started out by meaning to say “but you just need to do research on wifi before buying, then thought of other common problems.

That said, I’ve always considered the appeal of a Linux desktop to be the pursuit of solving any problems though, and people complaining about things not working can always reinstall their Vista if need be. As much as Ubuntu tries to run a lot of automagical scripts to accommodate all types of setups, it often needs tweaking and figuring out where in the process of making things automatically easier is failing is more frustrating for me than configuring it all myself in Gentoo.

The reality is that it shouldn’t be that hard for laptop manufactures to put a hard core Linux geek on any particular model (with supported wifi and decent graphics drivers) and have the most workable solution possible in a rather short period of time, but they don’t really bother. Many people would do it free of charge if they could simply keep the hardware.

Intel WiFi works with nonfree firmware, I don’t see how that’s beneficial. You should look for a laptop with an Atheros card instead.
Also, there’s a 100% free netbook called Yeelong made by a Chinese company named Lemote. Even the BIOS is free.

Colin: Appreciate the feedback, but I need to point out why HCL’s are so bad.

Case in point – Edimax EW-7318USG – “Works out of the box in Intrepid. Only tested WEP. Wasn’t able to use channels > 11, though. Addendum: This device has been known to not work for some users.”

Completely false and written by an idiot. The device has worked for great since Ubuntu 7.10 with WPA2, out of the box. Been testing wifi dongles for years and even worked with Edimax in making sure that they would NEVER resort to using revision numbers or change chipsets on us.

Sorry, but so much of Ubuntu’s documentation is either written by morons or by people who do not know what they are talking about. And I happen to love the distro – go figure. ;)

Regarding the Atheros point – Google Atheros and Linux. You will find TONS of people tired of MadWifi dropping the ball.

Many Linux users are thrilled to have working wifi without the armchair politics of asking themselves whether or not it is “FoSS enough” or not. I for one, could not begin to give a damn. It works or it does not…there is no “try”.

I have been using Jaunty on my Acer Aspire One for the past six months. I flip back and forth from windows to linux using grub, but I am finding I like linux so much more. I had some wi-fi connection issues, but used a package called wicd and can connect everytime even when friends cannot on their vista.

Let me say this I am not the expert in my house when it comes to linux, but I can update my packages and find software when needed. I am a novice, but learning quickly.

I installed Ubuntu out-of-box on my Acer Aspire ONE ZG5 10″ and everything was detected fine. However at the first kernel upgrade Wireless and SD-Flash support died on me. I just connected to my ethernet connection and downloaded the kernel sources and built from source.. apparently the binary kernel updates don’t like the ZG5 model’s hardware very well but the kernel continues to support it to this day.

OK-I’m having MAJOR issues, with my 2 1/2yr old Dell Inspiron E1505-and desperately need some advice!! I’d planned on attempting to install Ubuntu months ago-then developed health problems-one thing after another…
I’m generally computer literate-although a BIT outdated. Meaning-I haven’t installed a new OS in quite a few years. My current OS-XPsp2, (sp3 kept crashing on installation). Basically-I need to know 1. if anyone can recommend the best Linux OS for my model, 2, possibly a link to a video, or written guide for install. I want to wipe the drive first, so-from there? THANK YOU in ADVANCE!!!!! elaine