Linux for ... Grandfather?

MazurMe · 2009-04-09 10:23:13

Good Morning Archers, firstly I would like to thanks for this great distro, abs and aur are great whereas simplicity of this linux is awesome. I am using Linux from two years with some breaks for Windows. Now I came back to Arch and I would like to install it on my Dad Laptop too but when Kde 4.3 will be out. Now I would like to install it on my Grandfather laptop, main reason is that Windows XP he get just suck. Laptop is Acer Aspire 5103 with AMD Turion 64, 1GB RAM, ATI RADEON X1300 and Atheros Wireless. Firstly I was thinking about Fedora or Ubuntu but last time when I tried 9.04 beta and installed ATI drivers, it dies after reboot. So ArchLinux is my option and now, what should I install on Laptop for a man who even don't know how to install software on Windows?
I am thinking about i686 with two partitions, one ext4 for / and ext3 for /home. I don't want to use ext4 because it is freezing my system when I am copying big files (more than 10GB). My problem is that which drivers should I install for X1300? This is laptop so power managment will be needed whereas wireless is Atheros 5006G I think. I will install it in next month when my Grandparents will came (Jupi-_-) so I hope there will be good enough Catalyst and it will work with 2.6.29 Kernel and Xorg 1.6.
My question is, what software I should install there? Maybe anybody got this Laptop with ArchLinux? Please write anything helpful and sorry for my english .

Thanks!

pharcyde · 2009-04-09 14:44:34

I would just try to get ubuntu working.

hatten · 2009-04-09 15:24:47

test all ubuntu distros, not only a beta

MazurMe · 2009-04-09 15:53:58

I tried but it is not that what I am looking for. I will try Fedora 11 now, maybe it will be better than Ubuntu =S.

Kaeso · 2009-04-10 03:07:58

I've set my grandfather up with Debian (Lenny). It seems to be working... It's the i686 KDE version, with one ext3 partition. The machine's specs are a bit different than yours though; in particular the wireless and graphics are both Intel. My machine has an ATI card though and I used to have Catalyst running (under both Debian and Arch x86_64; it's a dual-boot set-up) but I switched to the free drivers since they seem to cause me less trouble.

madeye · 2009-04-10 07:15:02

I've setup both my parents with arch linux on their workstations. I take care of the updating and everything, because they don't want to/have the skills to do so.
Anyway it's not a problem for me, since they were calling and asking me questions all the time when they were running windows Actually they call less now they are running Linux!

I would say. If you have to keep the system up to date anyway, then go for a distro you feel at home with.

lilsirecho · 2009-04-10 07:32:31

Grandfather, no great grandfather I am at 83.

I have i686, x86-64 and ext4 along with Faunos on my desktop(s).

FaunOS is static with no changes due to no admin but it is alive and very useable for any aged user. It has true high speed since it runs in ram. Cannot have a catastrophic fail since it installs from USB flash. Just reboot when troubles beset!

Best of Easter season!

MazurMe · 2009-04-10 12:40:18

Thanks guys but I think I will try to install ArchLinux with OpenSource driver.

R00KIE · 2009-04-10 13:20:47

It all depends on the knowledge your grandfather has about pcs, how to solve problems and curiosity.
If he's curious and still willing to learn then go ahead with Arch otherwise I guess Ubuntu, Fedora or Suse may be better for him as things are made to be more user friendly (read: more like windows) (not that Arch isn't user friendly but it is a different kind of user friendly which I prefer ).
Has with everything you may want to try the latest stable versions. For "older" ATI cards I would recommend you stick with the open source driver as most probably it will work much better (in Ubuntu just say no when it asks to install the proprietary driver).

tjwoosta · 2009-04-10 15:04:53

ive installed a few distros on my parents computer (i was trying to find one that didnt require my assistance to use after i set it up once)

first i installed ubuntu 7.10 (that lasted about 2 months before things started breaking all the time)

then i installed opensuse (that worked out quite well for a while, i probably should have kept it on there but i was having issues with network manager at the time, and was discouraged by my trials with ubuntu)

then i installed mandriva (it still there, and just as rock solid and maintenence free as the day i installed it)

if i had to do another install i would probably try debian for the sake of stability and low maintenance

Last edited by tjwoosta (2009-04-10 15:05:50)

MazurMe · 2009-04-10 15:41:41

Thank you guys, currently I am thinking about Ubuntu 9.04 with ATI open source driver. Main reason for this is that my grandparents are coming for two weeks to London, then they are going back to Poland so I will not see them for five months. And it is quite hard to explain how to use terminal :].

doorknob60 · 2009-04-11 01:45:55

I'd personally go with Debian Lenny since it's stable and is probably the least likely to break, and won't need to be upgraded every 6 months (Ubuntu) or every day/week/whatever (Arch). With those specs I'd just go with Gnome, and make sure things like automounting and wifi work like they should, and make sure they can use Synaptic (or any other frontend), and they're good to go.

betawhh · 2009-04-11 02:46:39

Ubuntu 8.04 or below should be your choices.

Since 8.10, Ubuntu has became quite slow, especially the firefox, and thus I don't suggest Ubuntu 8.10 or 9.04. They are buggy while comparing with 8.04 which is a long term supported version and it is more stable and mature.

Arch is a DIY distro. Do It Yourself. You mentioned that your grand didn't know how to install software on Windows so I don't think Arch is a suitable distro. If you insist on Arch, Do It Yourself. :)

tjwoosta · 2009-04-11 05:08:07

betawhh wrote:

Ubuntu 8.04 or below should be your choices.
Since 8.10, Ubuntu has became quite slow, especially the firefox, and thus I don't suggest Ubuntu 8.10 or 9.04. They are buggy while comparing with 8.04 which is a long term supported version and it is more stable and mature.
Arch is a DIY distro. Do It Yourself. You mentioned that your grand didn't know how to install software on Windows so I don't think Arch is a suitable distro. If you insist on Arch, Do It Yourself. :)

i have to second this

if your going to use ubuntu, which is a decent choice by the way, i would definatly use 8.04

8.10 is also a fair choice, but it does not have the long term support

9.04 hasnt even been officially released yet, its just a beta
(meaning its probably still a bit buggy here and there, and liable to break, which is not something that i personally would want to subject my grandparents to especially if they were in another country)

EDIT: i see now that 9.04 is being released in 12 days, but id still be wary about using it for this if i were you (thats just my suggestion, it could be rock solid for all i know)

Last edited by tjwoosta (2009-04-11 05:25:00)

sa · 2009-04-27 01:16:31

i would say ubuntu. for some reason everything had always been flakey on my Aspire One, but I decided "what the hell" and to give Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix a try with an open mind. i'm actually really, really liking it. i don't think Ubuntu will become my desktop OS but it's quite nice.

banshee28 · 2009-04-30 00:08:59

Edit: after re-reading your post ubuntu might be best

Last edited by banshee28 (2009-04-30 00:10:40)

Peasantoid · 2009-04-30 00:56:02

Even with Ubuntu, managing the system requires no small amount of proficiency... I hear Ark Linux is good for this sort of thing.

xaff · 2009-04-30 07:13:24

My mom uses Ubuntu since 9.04, there weren't any problems, even with upgrading to 9.10 (which she did herself). Don't get me wrong, she only knows what icons to click to run firefox, solitarie etc. She's not capable of finding/installing new software or fixing anything. It's just with Ubuntu there weren't any problems.

However I am tempted to install Arch + Openbox on her computer, since Ubuntu/Gnome is quite slow.

Llama · 2009-04-30 09:11:26

Pay closer attention to Pardus Linux, MazurMe .

Peasantoid · 2009-04-30 11:17:48

xaff wrote:

My mom uses Ubuntu since 9.04, there weren't any problems, even with upgrading to 9.10 (which she did herself).

Karmic is scheduled for October...

xaff · 2009-04-30 22:46:18

Peasantoid wrote:

xaff wrote:
My mom uses Ubuntu since 9.04, there weren't any problems, even with upgrading to 9.10 (which she did herself).
Karmic is scheduled for October...

Oh I ment 8.10 -> 9.04. Won't post next time without a coffee first

Arch Linux

#1 2009-04-09 10:23:13

Linux for ... Grandfather?

#2 2009-04-09 14:44:34

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#3 2009-04-09 15:24:47

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#4 2009-04-09 15:53:58

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#5 2009-04-10 03:07:58

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#6 2009-04-10 07:15:02

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#7 2009-04-10 07:32:31

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#8 2009-04-10 12:40:18

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#9 2009-04-10 13:20:47

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#10 2009-04-10 15:04:53

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#11 2009-04-10 15:41:41

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#12 2009-04-11 01:45:55

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#13 2009-04-11 02:46:39

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#14 2009-04-11 05:08:07

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#15 2009-04-27 01:16:31

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#16 2009-04-30 00:08:59

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#17 2009-04-30 00:56:02

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#18 2009-04-30 07:13:24

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#19 2009-04-30 09:11:26

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#20 2009-04-30 11:17:48

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

#21 2009-04-30 22:46:18

Re: Linux for ... Grandfather?

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