[NTLUG:Discuss] My Linux journey with a new laptop, still have problems (be warned, long post)

[Daniel Hauck]

Stephen Davidson wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Greetings.
> 
> Glad to see I'm not the only person having issues with KNetwork, or some
> of the Video stuff.  My Video card crashes when laptop is docked, and I
> try to switch to Text Only mode (for say, terminal VT-01).  The machine
> in question is a Dell Latitude C640.  I just get things working well
> enough to do my day-to-day, and 'move on'.
> 
> - -Steve

The C640 is an older machine but should also be very well supported.  (A
quick hardware break-down might be handy for reference though)  I have
found as a Fedora user that with each new release, Laptop support
becomes slicker.  With Fedora 8, everything on my Dell Inspiron 8600 was
supported out of the box.  The proprietary video drivers were not
included, but for "day-to-day" whatever, the OSS drivers are simply good
enough.  Even my Intel ipw2200 wireless was supported without having to
find "firmware" files for the driver or any such nonsense.

I don't use KDE and can't speak to that, but I have heard that KDE
support under Fedora is growing tremendously and is no longer the
red-headed step-child.  Gnome is still favored, I believe though.

So with that, you might consider giving Fedora 8 a try.