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Fluxbuntu...
9 November 2007 09:30So, last night, between work and my brief (and largely unconscious) visit to the pub, I flattened the Toaster2's (*) HD again. Xubuntu used to be a good distro for casual Linux use on elderly machines (as opposed to the tinkering power-usage more commonly associated with linux), but in the latest version they've slapped too much Gnome stuff in there. Coupled with the fact that a standard install uses an Ext3 filesystem, this makes for a rather slow machine. Slower than win98se on the same box, in fact, which is poor.
However, the machine's not really up to XP or Win2k, and win98se doesn't handle the wireless security that's needed... so Windows is not an option. Not that I mind overly much, to be honest.
So I thought I'd have a go with Fluxbuntu, as I've played with fluxbox a bit before, and I like the general Ubuntu ethos of making the machine usable to people unfamiliar with linux... even if it still takes a bit of upfront setup for some of the flavours. Other than the main Ubuntu branch (which I have running happily as a dual boot on my main machine), Fluxbuntu has so far been the smoothest install of the lot. It all went smoothly and it's done most of the work for me already. I'm going to have to beat it to make the soundcard behave, but that's normal for this particular flavour of IBM thinkpad... I'm also going to have to harass it a fair bit to get it working on our wireless, although it *has* correctly identified the wireless card on its own. Xubuntu didn't manage that, and I managed to make that work... so I think this is a promising sign. I just didn't have time to fiddle with it last night - I had far more important things to do!
In other news, Fluxbuntu's default install looks really good. It's a bit different to what most people are used to, but I quite like that. I hate the fact that most other window managers spend their whole time trying to copy Windows or MacOS X. Fluxbox does that a little bit, but it's also different enough that it's it's own entity.
if I can get it to connect to our wireless by default then I'll once again have a spare spod machine. I probably won't leave it downstairs, but if we have guests who need to spod, or if I have need for a remote control for Otto (the front-room media machine) then we'll be sorted.
(*) for the uninitiated, Toaster2 is my old laptop - the one that's a few years newer than the original Toaster, but still rather elderly. It's a pII-366, I believe. 128mb ram.
However, the machine's not really up to XP or Win2k, and win98se doesn't handle the wireless security that's needed... so Windows is not an option. Not that I mind overly much, to be honest.
So I thought I'd have a go with Fluxbuntu, as I've played with fluxbox a bit before, and I like the general Ubuntu ethos of making the machine usable to people unfamiliar with linux... even if it still takes a bit of upfront setup for some of the flavours. Other than the main Ubuntu branch (which I have running happily as a dual boot on my main machine), Fluxbuntu has so far been the smoothest install of the lot. It all went smoothly and it's done most of the work for me already. I'm going to have to beat it to make the soundcard behave, but that's normal for this particular flavour of IBM thinkpad... I'm also going to have to harass it a fair bit to get it working on our wireless, although it *has* correctly identified the wireless card on its own. Xubuntu didn't manage that, and I managed to make that work... so I think this is a promising sign. I just didn't have time to fiddle with it last night - I had far more important things to do!
In other news, Fluxbuntu's default install looks really good. It's a bit different to what most people are used to, but I quite like that. I hate the fact that most other window managers spend their whole time trying to copy Windows or MacOS X. Fluxbox does that a little bit, but it's also different enough that it's it's own entity.
if I can get it to connect to our wireless by default then I'll once again have a spare spod machine. I probably won't leave it downstairs, but if we have guests who need to spod, or if I have need for a remote control for Otto (the front-room media machine) then we'll be sorted.
(*) for the uninitiated, Toaster2 is my old laptop - the one that's a few years newer than the original Toaster, but still rather elderly. It's a pII-366, I believe. 128mb ram.
