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| Brandon | Puppy Linux 5Most of you should know by now that I am an avid linux user. However my distro of choice has changed, originally I used Ubuntu, as I was new to linux, then I used Puppy and my fork, DCL, and now I'm using Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu). However my girlfriend recently got a wireless router so I decided to set up a laptop for her for her birthday. I knew what machine to use right away, my Toshiba Tecra 8000, it's a solid laptop, and has a decent battery. The specs (Pentium II 366Mhz, 128MB RAM, 5GB HDD, PCMCIA Wifi) and the fact that my girlfriend who lives a 25 minute drive away from me made choosing the right distro an important choice. Of course Puppy Linux was my first thought, it's networking support has always been better than other distros for me and it's requirements were low enough for this older laptop. After installing Puppy, I was impressed with the new version. First of all it contains package compatibility with Ubuntu, so apps are easy to find, but also the repositories have easy access to popular applications. The newer networking tool by Barry seems to be much simpler to use and seems to work fine. In the past I would sometimes have to manually edit config files to get wireless to work at boot-up, but using this tool, I didn't have any trouble. If you have an older computer (with less than 512MB RAM) I'd definately recommend trying Puppy Linux 5.1.1 | 2010-10-21 | 1:56 PM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5What about graphics card compatibility? I found that Ubuntu and Mint don't work with anything other than SVGA generic display drivers. From looking up the new version it looks like wifi is supported a lot better. I'm assuming it includes ndiswrapper for specific WLAN drivers? | 2010-10-21 | 11:20 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5It works well as far as graphics go, if it fails to boot to an Ctrl-Atl-Backspace to get to the prompt and run "xorgwizard" which should let you choose the more basic X server. If you are looking for the accelerated drivers I did see utilities for that in the "QuickPet" or something like that application that gives access to the most used packages.
The wireless support has always been great in Puppy, it's the only distro I've ever managed to use ndiswrapper in. However, in the past I've always had to use ndis for my broadcom pcmcia cards, and in this version they work fine.
| 2010-10-22 | 10:04 AM |
| ksr | Re:Puppy Linux 5Does it have a fast boot? As I have a decent laptop would I be better off sticking with Ubuntu? | 2010-10-22 | 11:43 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5With a newer laptop I might recommend booting to the puppy live CD to mess with it, but wether or not it's better than using Ubuntu depends on your individual needs. | 2010-10-23 | 8:35 AM |
| ksr | Re:Puppy Linux 5Out of interest, Brandon, did you get anywhere with writing your own wm?
Have you heard of this? http://pywm.sourceforge.net/ | 2010-10-23 | 3:10 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5Nope, I've been a conformist lately, running an almost stock install of Ubuntu. | 2010-10-23 | 5:08 PM |
| Dick | Re:Puppy Linux 5im gonna time the boot of my linux os some time. it is archlinux which is lightweight and optimized for modern processors and it seems to boot real quick | 2010-10-23 | 6:40 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5I run an Intel 40GB SSD so my boot times are fast, hell my BIOS takes longer to boot than Ubuntu.
| 2010-10-23 | 8:04 PM |
| Dick | Re:Puppy Linux 5You have a SSD? they're pretty cool. I dont know how they are now but they used to be very expensive and only come in small spaces. I would buy one if it was cheap and came with at least 200gb. | 2010-10-23 | 11:19 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5I have 2 Intel 40GB models. They go for about $100, so they aren't cheap compared to regular hard drives, but for me, the speed is worth it. | 2010-10-24 | 7:36 AM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5They are cool but they are delicate with respect to the SSD's flash memory lifetime. | 2010-10-24 | 1:38 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5Well if you configure your software right then it isn't an issue. | 2010-10-24 | 4:35 PM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5File system updates I'm assuming.
I'm amazed at their speed but I just can't risk data loss. | 2010-10-24 | 6:12 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5And I suppose hard drives never fail? :P As with any storage device you need to keep back-ups. | 2010-10-25 | 11:00 AM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5Regular disks fail because of poor composition of the magnetic substrate, cheap parts (i.e. motor, read/write heads, etc.) but SSDs make you feel like the failure is imminent because of their more definite lifespan (~10,000 reads/writes per cell) whereas regular disks carry a degree of uncertainty (good/bad). Maybe my perception's wrong but it feels like using an SSD is like owning a really fast car but the body's made of glass. Virtual memory would be one of the bigger issues I'd see with SSDs.
We can argue semantics but I'll just wait until you give the thumbs up after a few years with your SSD or when technology improves / price goes down. | 2010-10-25 | 11:28 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5For me, the speed and the lack of noise/not having to worry about moving my computer and breaking something, make it worthwhile. However, SSDs aren't for everyone. | 2010-10-26 | 6:39 AM |
| ksr | Re:Puppy Linux 5Todd: Per block yes, but with optimal wear levelling the figure is around 2 million complete write cycles. For a 64GB SSD writing at 80MB/sec, the site below gives a worst case lifetime (continuously writing) of 51 years. Basically, it's not something you need to worry about. Also, there is no effective limit on the number of reads you can do.
Writing to flash is a three stage process - erase, write, read back. If your cell has reached the end of its lifetime and can't be erased or written to correctly, it becomes read-only. Your SSD has failed in that you need to buy a new one, but you still have access to all of your data. You don't just hit a brick wall where all of your data disappears.
http://www.storagesearch.com/ssdmyths-endurance.html | 2010-10-27 | 1:55 AM |
| ksr | Re:Puppy Linux 5Caveat: Price is obviously still an issue, which is why I've just bought a 1TB HDD for the same price as a 64GB SSD. | 2010-10-27 | 1:59 AM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5^^OWNED.
lol Yeah, I really like my Intel 40GBs. | 2010-10-27 | 10:46 AM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5Way to be a troll, Brandon. :-P | 2010-10-27 | 2:10 PM |
| Brandon | Re:Puppy Linux 5I didn't mean to troll, but he basically proved your arguement useless, with the exception of prices, which in my opinion they are worth. An SSD easily doubled the speed (in everyday usage) of my netbook, and for $100, what else can you get for $100 that'll double your machines speed? | 2010-10-27 | 2:39 PM |
| Todd | Re:Puppy Linux 5True but I didn't legitimately research them either. I just went on Wikipedia, saw it and thought, "SSDs sound pretty delicate." It's kind of like when they invented the first form of temporary memory for a computer, they created drum memory which could be easily damaged if not well-maintained.
Then with the invention of core memory and then volatile RAM, we had a better form of memory. I was assuming by how young SSDs were since their introduction to the market that I'd wait for the technology to improve. Now I'll just wait for price. | 2010-10-27 | 3:16 PM |
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