To Caldera or not to Caldera

Mon Sep 4 09:59:01 EDT 2000

Hi Brent,

     It's my understanding that the Dell drivers are included in the
RedHat source packages.  I downloaded the Dell version by mistake and
compiled it.  I couldn't use sound for some reason.  Now there's only
one kernel version, so I think we're ok.  Obviously, one would need to
check with Dell or RedHat before buying a machine.

          HTH.
          Bill
On Sun, 3 Sep 2000,
Brent Harding wrote:

> With dell redhat systems, how hard is it to get speakup on them? I've heard
> the disk control drivers are binary provided by dell, no disk, no boot,
> recompiling the kernel could jeopardize support for the hardware, as dell
> builds the code right in to the kernel. I'm thinking of going preinstall of
> linux for my next system, as I have plenty of access to windows on this
> machine now, and my laptop, so if I need to use windows, not a lot will be
> missing, if one networked the machines.
> At 12:16 PM 9/3/00 -0700, you wrote:
> >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
> >> 
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Speakup mailing list
> >> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> >> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
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> >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
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