January 2010 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Looking at new and inexpensive laptop for Linux use.

by Richard Klein

I've had my Dell Inspiron 8200 for I don't know how many years now, and I'm still happy with it. I've installed Win2000, WinXP, Win7, debian, Ubuntu, and FreeBSD on it without any significant trouble. It still seems fast enough to me. The 1600x1200 resolution on a 15" screen may be hard for some people to read, and the the USB 1.1 ports are slow. You'd probably be better off buying something new, but I can verify that several flavors of Linux work fine on this model. -- Rich Sent from Southborough, Massachusetts, United States

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Looking at new and inexpensive laptop for Linux use.

by E Johnson

We just bought a Lenovo G550 from newegg for $499. This has a T4400 dual-core Penitum (2.2 ghz) and it has 4 GB memory with a 15.6" screen. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146706 This unit comes with Windoze7. It looks good & everything works fine so far. Arrived here one day after placing the order. We bought this unit for my roommate's auntie, so unfortunately, we can't do a test install of a Linux distro to report on, but probably you could wipe it and install any flavor of Linux. Would probably run fairly fast if you keep the bloatware to a minimum. At least one person reports that he has this unit set up in dual boot with Ubuntu 9.10: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-laptop-and-netbook-25/lenovo-… Note: 3 years ago when I was in the laptop-buying mode, I originally orederd a Lenovo. At the time, their customer support team was in a foreign country (startc with Ch--) and I was not happy with customer interface. So I went with the Dell at that time. Don't know anything about Lenovo's customer support teams now, though. I have a Dell Inspiron 15n here with similar dual processor, also 15.6 inch screen. Mine came with Ubuntu pre-installed, but it's been running Debian Lenny for quite a while. My Inspiron 15n has less RAM than the Lenovo above, but runs fine in Lenny. You'd be welcome to come out to the house & have a look. Good luck Liz J 2010/1/29 joel d <joelgroup(a)gmail.com>: > Hi all, > > I am considering replacing my old broken screen laptop (Pent 350 & > 256MB) with a replacement. > > Does anyone recommendations on $400 to $600 laptops for Linux with a > regular 15" or so screen and at least 2-4GB RAM. I am going with a > low-spec (and low cost) as I have used the laptop an hour or two a > week in the past as for daily use my eyes prefer my desktop's 24" > widescreen LCD. > > In this price range I am mostly finding Netbooks and the occasional > low end Acer (newegg). I could handle the speed of a netbook but my > older and poor eyes would protest (and the additional RAM cost makes > them spendy-ish for what you get). > > Any recommendations for a new, regular 15" or so standard notebook on > the cheap for Linux use (prob. Ubuntu or KUbuntu)? I am thinking my > concerns here and hardware compatibility and cost. > > Thank you, > > Joel > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Looking at new and inexpensive laptop for Linux use.

by Tatsh

I know I am gonna get shot for this one. I use an HP G60t series laptop (G60t-243cl). I bought it off eBay (refurbished) for $450. It loves Linux, hates Windows XP (yes I downgraded). I've got everything working on it including the Webcam which is luckily UVC-based. There's no bluetooth on it so I don't have to worry about that (don't really care for that feature). There's also no Firewire (which was a big let down AFTER buying it). 3 USB ports. If you go for a GXX series HP, you might have some good luck. I also use a 24" LCD with my laptop with the HDMI output (it also has VGA). Even audio works through HDMI (pick nvidia HDMI codec in kernel + Conexant Audio for HD)! :) Not going to get shot for this one though: I use Gentoo. joel d wrote: > Hi all, > > I am considering replacing my old broken screen laptop (Pent 350 & > 256MB) with a replacement. > > Does anyone recommendations on $400 to $600 laptops for Linux with a > regular 15" or so screen and at least 2-4GB RAM. I am going with a > low-spec (and low cost) as I have used the laptop an hour or two a > week in the past as for daily use my eyes prefer my desktop's 24" > widescreen LCD. > > In this price range I am mostly finding Netbooks and the occasional > low end Acer (newegg). I could handle the speed of a netbook but my > older and poor eyes would protest (and the additional RAM cost makes > them spendy-ish for what you get). > > Any recommendations for a new, regular 15" or so standard notebook on > the cheap for Linux use (prob. Ubuntu or KUbuntu)? I am thinking my > concerns here and hardware compatibility and cost. > > Thank you, > > Joel > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- Tatsh www.tatsh.net ddrtist(a)gmail.com

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Looking at new and inexpensive laptop for Linux use.

by Adam Keck

HI Joel, There are a lot of off-lease IBM Thinkpad T42s on various retailers for ~300. Some Thinkpad models haven't fared so well, but, if I recall correctly, the T42 is pretty solid. I had a used Thinkpad 600x running Linux for almost 6 years, so a decent Thinkpad can last quite some time. Also, I find T-series Thinkpads easy to fix, since almost everything replaceable has its own faceplate on the bottom and Ebay is full of parts. Driver support for older laptops tends to be better than for brand new ones, as well. If you do want a new Linux model with minimal hassle, Dell sells Inspiron 15n with Ubuntu for ~600. We have been quite happy with our Ubuntu Dell Mini 9 for the past year and half. -Adam On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 12:48 PM, joel d <joelgroup(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi all, > > I am considering replacing my old broken screen laptop (Pent 350 & > 256MB) with a replacement. > > Does anyone recommendations on $400 to $600 laptops for Linux with a > regular 15" or so screen and at least 2-4GB RAM. I am going with a > low-spec (and low cost) as I have used the laptop an hour or two a > week in the past as for daily use my eyes prefer my desktop's 24" > widescreen LCD. > > In this price range I am mostly finding Netbooks and the occasional > low end Acer (newegg). I could handle the speed of a netbook but my > older and poor eyes would protest (and the additional RAM cost makes > them spendy-ish for what you get). > > Any recommendations for a new, regular 15" or so standard notebook on > the cheap for Linux use (prob. Ubuntu or KUbuntu)? I am thinking my > concerns here and hardware compatibility and cost. > > Thank you, > > Joel > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Jan. 29, 2010

Looking at new and inexpensive laptop for Linux use.

by joel d

Hi all, I am considering replacing my old broken screen laptop (Pent 350 & 256MB) with a replacement. Does anyone recommendations on $400 to $600 laptops for Linux with a regular 15" or so screen and at least 2-4GB RAM. I am going with a low-spec (and low cost) as I have used the laptop an hour or two a week in the past as for daily use my eyes prefer my desktop's 24" widescreen LCD. In this price range I am mostly finding Netbooks and the occasional low end Acer (newegg). I could handle the speed of a netbook but my older and poor eyes would protest (and the additional RAM cost makes them spendy-ish for what you get). Any recommendations for a new, regular 15" or so standard notebook on the cheap for Linux use (prob. Ubuntu or KUbuntu)? I am thinking my concerns here and hardware compatibility and cost. Thank you, Joel

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Building a PC for another arch? PPC64?

by Brian Conway

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010, Tatsh wrote: > Where can I find parts to build a PC based on PPC64? Really, I'd like to build > something similar to the Xbox 360 for development purposes and for fun. It seems > like it's impossible to find the parts though (at least with Google). Anyone > know suppliers? If it's way out of price range I'll step out but I'd like to at > least see where to get this stuff. > It doesn't qualify as "similar to the Xbox 360" or even PC-like, but there are a lot of fun ARM devices on the market these days, many of which are tiny and/or low power, if playing around with other architectures is your goal. SheevaPlug, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheevaPlug Brian

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Building a PC for another arch? PPC64?

by soup

On 1/29/2010 9:25 AM, Tatsh wrote: > Where can I find parts to build a PC based on PPC64? Really, I'd like to build > something similar to the Xbox 360 for development purposes and for fun. It seems > like it's impossible to find the parts though (at least with Google). Anyone > know suppliers? If it's way out of price range I'll step out but I'd like to at > least see where to get this stuff. > > This is the hardware, generically: > http://www.free60.org/Main_Page > > <SNIP> It's probably a lot cheaper to just find a used Intellistation Power machine. You can get them in multiproc configuration. I see them on ebay for a few hundred every now and then and I've seen them at the MIT flea for even cheaper, likely stripped though. Starting from scratch would be rough these days. I think the only other place to get 'inexpensive' boards for such a beast would be the amigaone crowd and there's no way it's going to be super cheap. They were trying to sell G3 and G4-based machines for ridiculous money a few years ago. > Thanks > Good hunting! soup

Jan. 29, 2010

Building a PC for another arch? PPC64?

by Tatsh

Where can I find parts to build a PC based on PPC64? Really, I'd like to build something similar to the Xbox 360 for development purposes and for fun. It seems like it's impossible to find the parts though (at least with Google). Anyone know suppliers? If it's way out of price range I'll step out but I'd like to at least see where to get this stuff. This is the hardware, generically: http://www.free60.org/Main_Page Some of it needs specific type, such as the RAM, and etc. The video card could be any recent ATI HD I'm imagining. The motherboard for this would need PCI-extreme slots. Yes I am aware it has been hacked with JTAG and all. I am not looking to hack mine. Just to build a similar machine for development where I'll run Linux and hopefully put together a complete (free, GPL) toolchain. Thanks -- Tatsh www.tatsh.net ddrtist(a)gmail.com

Jan. 29, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Penetration Tester

by Tal Cohen

It actually is specified, I just didn't include it in the email. Tal PS PCI ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Nassar" <nassar(a)alum.wpi.edu> To: "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 4:51 PM Subject: Re: [Wlug] Penetration Tester > That's certainly a legit reason. :) > > What compliance requires penetration testing but doesn't specify what > test suite to use? > > > Tal Cohen <wlug(a)cohen123.com> wrote: > >> Not to mention, it is a requirment for for certain compliance that I am >> trying to meet :) >> >> Tal > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Jan. 19, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Penetration Tester

by Nick Nassar

That's certainly a legit reason. :) What compliance requires penetration testing but doesn't specify what test suite to use? Tal Cohen <wlug(a)cohen123.com> wrote: > Not to mention, it is a requirment for for certain compliance that I am > trying to meet :) > > Tal

Jan. 18, 2010