I was just given a Compaq Evo n1020v P4 notebook. I have often thought about installing some flavor of Linux on it. My reasons are to:

1. Save money on software. Almost all of my software now is open source - having an open source OS would be one step nicer

2. I would like to be able to increase the speed and utility of the notebook. I have heard the Linux is more streamlined and compact so am hoping to achieve some benefit from that. Is Linux appreciably faster than XP? more stable?

I would appreciate any input.

Hmm I suppose I will come back to this, don't have time to type out a proper answer at the moment.

Seablade

Ok I am going to keep this somewhat brief...

Advantages of Linux:

1. Security-
In the past, and even some in the present, the default security policy on windows was to have the default user be the administrator. This opens up TONS of security holes, and is part of the reason Windows is considered so insecure. The other major OSes out there have all shifted away from this to my knowledge(DISCLAIMER: Lack of knowledge on Solaris etc.) and have both a superuser (root in linux's case) and a regular user that is used day to day. This basic change makes a huge difference. Vista I believe moved to this as well, to an extent, but unfortunately I have seen more than a few factory installed systems that do not follow this, and when people do follow this in Vista, Vista has about the most annoying approach to this.

2. Openness-
Open source, means just that. You have complete access to everything about it. It also means that 5 years down the road, if a project dies, changes licenses, or whatever, you can easily fork off the last version that was open and continue it. It means that in most cases, if a piece of software is used commonly, it won't die easily, but if it does, you can continue it yourself should you choose. It is more than just being free price-wise, and while it may not mean much to you now, wait until you get on an IRC channcel, report a bug, and have the developers troubleshoot it with you, and fix it then and there(This has happened for me several times).

It also means that in most cases, your OS won't be loaded down with DRM mechanisms only there to make your life miserable and make you purchase music, videos, etc. multiple times. On the flip side, this also means that on occasion with new technologies, it isn't immediately supported(HD-DVD and Blu-Ray with AACS were not until cracked ie.) In general this is not to much of a problem however IMO, as they tend tog et supported in an open method sooner or later, and I prefer not having to worry about DRM crap.

3. Stability-
This goes a lot with security, but in general(There are always exceptions) Linux I find to be more stable than Windows. I spent several years in IT. I know how to stabilize Windows, or did up until Vista rather. Vista I won't touch. In general a decently set up system in Linux vs Windows, the LInux system tends to be more stable. A piece of software may crash, but you are much less likely to have crashes take down the entire system.

4. Customization/Choice-
This is the big one, and the reason why Linux tends to be scary to so many folks right off. There is a LOT of choice to be made with Linux. Distributions make a lot of that choice for you, depending on which distribution you get you will start with many choices made for you in how they see them being made. But that doesn't mean you can't change them.
This also leads a lot of linux newcomers into a problem, as there is so many choices, and so many ways to do things, it can be very confusing at first. I can customize a linux desktop to run on a touchscreen enabled PDA, my audio workstation with very low latency performance, a router, a NAS... the list goes on. This is just what I have done recently in my own home. But in many cases people don't need all that choice, so distributions like Ubuntu, or eLive have come along, with an overall vision for something they see as being useful to people. They make a lot of choices for you, so your first choice comes to which distribution to use. That can be a tough choice sometimes, for many people the standard Ubuntu, eLive, Fedora, or whatever works fine. For others it won't.

There are many more reasons. There are drawbacks as well, in many ways Mac OS is a valid choice for many people. It has a much more user friendly administration, has many of the advantages of above over windows. However it also locks you down to the Mac 'experience' and is very difficult to customize even close to the level I can with Linux. Even changing how my desktop acts or looks is difficult in Mac compared to Linux. But it is stable, and a good experience for many folks that don't want that choice.(DISCLAIMER: This post was typed on my Macbook Pro with Mac OS X. I am going to put eLive on here as soon as I get moeny to order a larger HD and replace it though

On to your specific comments:

If most of your software is already open source, you have likely crossed one of the most troublesome hurdles for many people going to Linux. Your software likely already works, but double check it and know what will and won't work. In many cases Open Source software is cross platform, in many cases it may have even started on Linux, BSD, or whatever. But often times folks have specific closed source programs they think they need, and finding a solution for this can be the first catch. If you do, post them up and you will likely find suggestions for replacements, or how to get them running.

This goes into that customization thing above. Ubuntu Linux, a dsitribution of Linux, for example is a good choice for many people coming to the world of Linux as it is very user friendly. But it is not known for being the fastest distribution around(Though I believe it has improved slightly since earlier version, I haven't tested it lately). On the flip side, Gentoo Linux, a different distribution, is not exactly user friendly, but extremely customizable and very easy to get VERY fast. There are other distributions that form a middle ground however.

In as far as increase in utility, it all depends on what you are planning to utilize the notebook for. What are you planning on doing?

Seablade

Wow! Thanks! Lots a smart people on this forum As you said, already using open source software has crossed a lot of barriers. I have already found all of the apps that I need in Linux. I will give it a go next weekend...please cross your fingers for me

Sure thing, my recommendation is to try out a live cd first and see if all your hardware works out of the box or not. If it doesn't, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't, but it might require a little bit of work on our end, usually nothing to bad though.

Seablade

Another good new user distro is PCLinuxOS. Reasonably fast and stable IMO. I have it running without problems on several machines. Dell 8600,Gateway M505 laptops and two built desktop box machines, one with an old AMD Ahtlon 1 gig and a eight year old overclocked to 733 meg. Intel both with dual boot XP.

Four years and 1 post. That's what I would call a semi-lurker.

It is impressive, I will admit.

Seablade

long time me no go on the forums but here is my 2 cents:

Yes, both of your goals can be achieved. Since you already know which software you are gonna use once running Linux....you've won 1/2 the battle. The 2nd 1/2 is to get the distro to run properly w/ your hardware (not very hard these days anymore...in most cases).

That said, as a n00bie you are best of sticking to a simpler distro. Ubuntu is a good choice. Its well packaged and has a HUGE community, so if you ever run into trouble there are always plenty of people who can offer help. On the flip side, you won't be juicing out maximum performance from your hardware.

Alternatively there is PCLOS as suggested earlier. This is my personal favorite friendly distro. It is significantly faster than ubuntu, yet still just as well packaged and works very well out of the box. On the flip side the community is smaller (buy rapidly growing).

If you wanna step it up a notch (ok..not Gentoo) in difficulty (and if done the right way...SPEED), since you already know what software you want this might work well too (since you install a bare-bones distro...pretty much a kernel and basic text-mode tools). The distro is called Arch. I love this project. Gives you (most of) the speed and customization of Gentoo w/o having to wait hours of code to compile (its binary).

In either case...you will have fun with linux. I am currently forced to run WinXP on my laptop because a school application I use requires XP + IE6 or 7 + DirectX... can't wait to hop back on Linux soon enough.

ABF have you tried installing IE6 through wine and seeing if it would run that way?

Seablade

figured i'd throw in my two cents if you don't mind. I've been a casual linux user for over a year now. I started with gentoo which wasn't bad, i liked emerge which lets u get applications from the cmd prompt, but after jackin up my kernel a couple times I moved to an easier distro -- ubuntu and have been happy with it since.

I haven't had to recompile my kernel yet. its ran pretty flawlessly. its has apt-get which is as good as emerge cept u don't have to compile from source and worry about all the cflags.

wine runs good and one of my favorite things --beryl/compiz is easy and pretty much integrated into the newest version -- the gutsy gibbon.

I highly suggest tryin it out, definitely check out beryl too the 3d features are nice, particularly the cube, which will allow u too do tons of multitasking. and i have it workin on a really old computer myself.

def give it a try and i suggest downloading the ubuntu live cd to start, like a prior post stated it will show u what works out of the box, you'll probably just have to enable some "restricted drivers." furthermore you'll have a fully workin internet connection as well.

If u plan to dual boot install windows first or if its already install linux comes with a nondestructive partition editor called gparted.

so u can resize that partition without loosing ur files then install linux on the remainder of the space, all available via the live cd... i just suggest installing windows then ubuntu cause GRUB will automatically configure for windows, windows is not the same for linux of course.

and u can see all the files on ur windows partition, where as its not as fluid on windows (u can see the files with some applications but not modify them.)

surely give it a shot.

and don't forget beryl/compiz!

hmm i just got an M1730 as a replacement for my e1705 and ive been using it as a gaming machine every since i got it...

ive been running vista and im actually really happy with it. i guess its because i actually have the proper hardware to run it..


but im keeping linux on my ultraportable... its user friendly, and it does everything i need for school