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

[Daniel Hauck]

Stephen Davidson wrote:
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> Daniel Hauck wrote:
> 
>> 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.
>>
> Hi Daniel.
> 
> I will admit -- running an older SuSE (10.1).  Everytime I've upgraded,
> I've always spent at least a week (sometimes more) fixing stuff that
> used to work, but stopped working during the upgrade.  I will also admit
> that I've been hearing that upgrades have been improving -- I've just
> been too scared to try, as I've been too busy to be able to afford
> having this machine down for a week or two..
> 
> - -Steve

I can't say if this is good advice or even practical for you, but I will
say that with each upgrade/release of Fedora, I have managed to acquire
a new hard drive for my computer.  Then I just install fresh and import
any data from the previous drive using a USB adapter or box.
Admittedly, I have collected more than I need...I should probably divest
of these older drives from FC4 and on up eh?  But anyway, I never
upgrade.  I do fresh installs.  I do this for two reasons:

1. I fear problems from upgrades... they can't have anticipated
everything that a user tweaks and so surely something will be lost or
confused.
2. When upgrading, you run the risk of your old settings being retained
causing you to miss out on some "new user experience" or another that
would have been a hallmark of the new release.

I generally have most of my tweaks and adjustments listed in my head and
don't mind terribly having to "re-tweak" stuff, but it does take time
and does leave me disabled for a time.  As I am a support type guy, my
laptop is my tool and when it's down at the wrong time, it's a problem.
 But in a pinch, I could install the previous drive and pick up where I
left off last... yet another advantage of my "don't upgrade" policy.