To Caldera or not to Caldera

[Gorgotek Systems]

My experience with different Linux distributions has been that each one
does things slightly different, configuration utilities, directory trees
in different locations sometime symbolicaly linked for compatability,
different startup scripts to bring up network connections and the use of
different hw device file names. As a general rule I try to use the
utilities of the Linux distribution that I am using to configure stuff
first and if that fails I will try the generic Linux way. I think
Caldera uses "lizard" which corresponds to the RedHat "linuxconf".

Can you get a new IBM Thinkpad with nothing installed? I would opt for
Linux since it should be cheaper but If you plan on running Windows
under Vmware you may opt for a Windows pre-install since Windows may be
alot cheaper when acquired with a Thinkpad. It would be nice if you get
get the Thinkpad with Linux, Vmware and Windows pre-installed.

Past experience with Dell computer we actually chose to pay more money
with a pre-installed RedHat desktop to see how Dell would install Linux.
Our only choice of pre-installed operating systems were Windows OR
RedHat 6.0, since we wanted a multi-boot we then had to go out and
purchase Windows 98 for an additional 200 dollars. I think I understand
this philosophy, based upon statistics Dell wants to know if sales are
from Linux OR Windows.

One thing you may want to confirm is whether or not you can to a "text"
based install with the Caldera distribution, I know with RedHat or
Mandrake you can still select a "text" based install.

Greg Keto

Janina Sajka wrote:
> 
> I'm looking for a little advice from the sages on this list. I'm about to
> buy a new portable computer. From the hardware side I've pretty settled on
> getting yet another IBM Thinkpad. I've had good enough experience with
> them for some years now to feel comfortable getting another Thinkpad. This
> will be my third in a row.
> 
> IBM has actively begun supporting linux in that they now offer one of
> their leading Thinkpad models with Caldera OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4
> preinstalled. So, here's the dilemma--Shall I get the preinstalled linux
> and then patch with Speakup and tweak for my needs? Or should I just get
> the hardware I want and go with an install from scratch? I have no
> experience with Caldera whatsoever. All my working experience on Linux has
> been with RedHat (plus a few forays into Debian). My desktop system is
> running RedHat, and I'm keeping that system for the foreseeable future.
> 
> So, what would you do? And, how would you decide?
> 
> On the plus side I see two advantages, primarily. First, I think I can
> assume the unit will be functional out of the box. Or, is that
> foolhardy? Is it likely to be functional in X, but have many console text
> features missing?
> 
> My second reason for going with the preinstalled system is that I want to
> get vmware running for Windows access in a Linux console. I've never
> succeeded at getting X working on my own--so have always fallen short of
> this goal to date. I feel I'm ahead of the game if I get a working X
> environment out of the box. Is this enough reason to go with the
> preinstalled Caldera?
> 
> I very much appreciate any wisdom you would share on this. Thanks in
> advance to all of you.
> 
> --
> 
>                                 Janina Sajka, Director
>                                 Information Systems Research & Development
>                                 American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> 
> janina at afb.net
> 
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