Then there is also, MINIX.  A year or two ago they received a large grant to 
continue work on that OS.  My understanding is that the main difference between 
MINIX and the others is that MINIX only loads modules when required instead of 
all on boot to minimize the memory footprint.  Also, if a module crashes it 
can be restarted and not crash the entire system.

http://www.minix3.org

Thomas




On Thursday 15 December 2011 10:35:45 you wrote:
> On 12/15/2011 09:57 AM, Thomas Bennett wrote:
> > On Wednesday 14 December 2011 11:31:03 you wrote:
> >> I just had a Howard Beale moment with Apple. I'm mad as hell and I'm not
> >>   going to take it anymore.
> >>
> >> I'm curious what people can suggest for linux laptop?
> >> Any suggestions for distros and hardware?
> >>
> >> thanks. b,chris.
> >
> > Short version - download distros and try different ones before you get a
> > computer to see which distro you like.  imho
> >
> > First I usually try to find a laptop with the clear screen, lots of ram
> > (the more the better), and NVDIA graphics card.  I've run linux on
> > several laptops: dell, sharp,alienware (pre dell ownership), and others. 
> > Most of the others are ones I boot from a linux disk to repair or recover
> > files from them for other people. For the NVDIA driver, I always download
> > it from the NVDIA WEB site and have not had any problem with that as
> > opposed to package versions.
> >
> > I prefer Fedora having used redhat linux since version 0.98 about 1989. 
> > I would suggest that you download ISO files and burn those to DVD to
> > install and test on an old machine to see what you like.  Many you can
> > download "live" editions and run straight from the disk.  I like
> >
> >   http://distrowatch.com
> >
> > because they have most every distribution there, even the unheard of
> > ones.
> >
> > I love my MacBook and Fusion (vmware for mac).  This is the only
> > platform, to my knowledge, that you can run every OS on.  Currently I
> > have Windows 7, Fedora, GOS (Google Operating System, actually a linux
> > dist), Android LIve, OpenSuse, React OS (a free Windows OS to run MS
> > Windows programs),Koha, Solaris, and yesterday added Windows 8 developer
> > edition.  Some of these, like Koha, were VMs I downloaded.
> >
> > You can get a VMWare player program and download distros to see if you
> > like them also.
> >
> > Thomas
> 
>    Finally, someone said something about Fedora. :)  I started using it
> a couple of years ago instead of a dual boot on my workstation.  I
> sysadmin a bunch of Redhat servers and I realized that Fedora is like a
> future version of what eventually will be on Redhat.
>    It is a constant exercise to work with it and comprehend the
> direction they are trying to go with the init system for example.  Think
> of it like a treadmill.  You get something out of it.
> 
>    And I agree with the above, get a few 2G usb sticks and put a few
> live distros on and plug them in in the store.
> 
>    Distrowatch is frustrating because most of them say a variation on
> the same thing, "Based on Ubuntu but made to be easy to use and
> reliable." or "Based on Ubuntu and easy to install and use out of the box."
> 
> PaulC
> 

-- 
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Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett           Appalachian State University
Operations & Systems Analyst            P O Box 32026
University Library                                Boone, North Carolina 28608
(828) 262 6587

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