Old Computer....New Problems

The year was 2006 and flush with some bonus cash we decided to buy a new computer. We settled on a Sony Vaio RS710GX package because it was on sale and had everything we needed.

As time passed, prices dropped, and next thing you know everyone had their own laptop. So, the Vaio was relegated to being a print server/file store...and the computer on which I did the taxes/bills/job hunting/etc.

Eventually I upgraded it to 1GB RAM and Windows7. We bought the Windows7 family upgrade which comes with 3 licenses. However, we have 3 other laptops in the house and eventually I decided that instead of wasting a license on the Vaio I'd use it to upgrade the new and more powerful laptops.

So, I've got to decide what I want to do...which OS will I go with?

First, lets look at what I HAVE to be able to do on the new OS:

• Manage my Ipod
• Spreadsheets for finances
• Web
• DVD/CD creation
• Ease of use/updates/support

My first choice would have been Solaris, I use it at work and I love it for the servers I manage....but....its performance is not great on the home desktop. Add to that the fact that Oracle is clamping down on licenses and support for Solaris and that OpenSolaris isn't as active as it had been in the past. Also, I don't want to spend a lot of time compiling OpenSource programs for Solaris...when the Linux support for those Apps is already there.

So, I decide on Linux....Ubuntu in particular. It's known for its ease of use, it clean interface and packaging, it's large repository of Software packages, active support community....it seemed like the way to go.

I first try 11.10 which was the latest version at the time. Running from the live CD worked great...but all attempts to install failed during the grub install. You can see that adventure here: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub-installer/+question/182142

Ubuntu 11.x based distro's (LinuxMint) also failed with the same error. However, other distro's succeeded (Solaris, Backtrack, Auditor). In fact BackTrack5 which is an ubuntu 10.x based distro installs. So, instead of using the 11.x I decide to go with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. BOOOSH! it works like a champ.

The Nvidia drivers installed easy enough through the Hardware Drivers GUI, although I did need to manually edit the xorg.conf to set the refresh rates for the monitor. I didn't HAVE to install the nvidia drivers, the default nouveau drivers worked pretty well at 1024x768...but I wanted 1280x1024 which required the drivers.

I then used ndiswrapper to set-up the Netgear WG311v3 wireless interface...and biggity bam...I was up and running.

So let's look to see if it met my requirements:

• Rythmbox - Manage my Ipod
• OpenOffice - Spreadsheets for finances
• Firefox/Chrome - Web
• Brasero/cmd line - DVD/CD creation
• Community/update manager/etc.. - Ease of use/updates/support

10.04 is still a gnome distro, which I find I like better than the newer unbiquity interface in 11.10 (from the liveCD...since I couldn't resolve the grub install issue).