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levyte357- View Drop Down
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    Posted: 24 September 2014 at 11:18am
Have moved from Mint to Ubuntu on both Desktop & DELL laptop, as install is pain free, Basically DELL develops drivers for Ubuntu, so Ubuntu install  supports "ALL THE HARDWARE", straight from install.

However can't ignore privacy issue, so will again try FreeBSD, Debian,Centos, Fedora.. (Last installed these, almost 5x years ago).

For these, seems they have backward version of Kernel, so Gnome not working properly on modern display hardware.

Anyone got Debian, FreeBSD, Fedora, Centos "fully working", on modern Dell laptops, with Sandybridge chipset?


Edited by levyte357- - 24 September 2014 at 11:47am
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cravings View Drop Down
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Points: 7442 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cravings Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 September 2014 at 12:25pm
i've never used a dell laptop, but i have manjaro on my thinkpad for the last few years. only real issues i notice are with wireless, but i believe that's a constant issue on linux.... how is the wireless support on dell laptops?
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levyte357- View Drop Down
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Points: 8128 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote levyte357- Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 September 2014 at 3:12pm
Originally posted by cravings cravings wrote:

i've never used a dell laptop, but i have manjaro on my thinkpad for the last few years. only real issues i notice are with wireless, but i believe that's a constant issue on linux.... how is the wireless support on dell laptops?


Some DELL laptops are Ubuntu certified..

That means, you install Ubuntu, and everything works..

Not Even Windows 7 does that, on some DELL kit manufactured 2011+.  Shocked

I installed 14.04 LTS on my DELL 6420, and the wireless, webcam, LAN/Wifi, Gfx, USB3, Touchpad, Smartcard, SD Card, all worked after install before updates.. In fact Lan connector was used during install.. LOL

Need all that driver support, but without Ubuntu tracking/privacy issues.

So far on Centos/Debian, Gnome failed to start, directly after install, probably due to lack of Intel HD3000 support, in slightly older Kernel.Confused

Just don't have the time these days to screw around, in Linux innards.
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soundchippy View Drop Down
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Driver support is in the kernel, not the distro. Generally speaking, Intel stuff is well supported (eg wireless cards). I had a crappy realtek card which kept dropping out despite having the proprietary drivers. Switched it out for an intel version and everything was super. Its not really appropriate to judge Linux support based on the oem brand names (dell, hp etc)...imo.
The latest Fedora and Ubuntu releases have up to date kernel/features and if you want bleeding edge you can try arch in the form as Antergos or as cravings said Manjaro).
If you don't like the terms of service for Ubuntu's unity dash but still want Ubuntu you could install and run gnome-session-flashback or alternatively use another distro which uses it as its base (eg xubuntu, lubuntu, elementary, ubuntu-gnome...).
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levyte357- View Drop Down
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Points: 8128 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote levyte357- Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 September 2014 at 3:00am
Have recently installed Cinnamon desktop for Ubuntu, and I gotta say things are now almost perfection...

Until I installed LMDE VM. (Linux Mint on Debian with Cinnamon).

Seriously considering hosing Ubuntu install now, and switching to LMDE..




Edited by levyte357- - 28 September 2014 at 3:01am
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levyte357- View Drop Down
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UPDATE:

Tried installing Debian on spare partition, but it hosed my Boot Config and had to re-install existing UBUNTU partition. <facepalm>


Sorry but recent experiences with Debian, LMDE, Centos, Fedora, OpenSuse, lead me to believe, UBUNTU is years ahead of all these other Linux distros, in terms of, driver/application support, installation processes.

There are ways to sort the privacy issues, so for me that is the way to go.
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soundchippy View Drop Down
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https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
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levyte357- View Drop Down
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Points: 8128 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote levyte357- Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 October 2014 at 10:23pm
Originally posted by soundchippy soundchippy wrote:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair


Promised a lot, looks flash, didn't work...LOL
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azlan View Drop Down
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Points: 364 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote azlan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 October 2014 at 7:31pm
in theory if you can get the dell drivers (for ubuntu) they should compile into mint (or just about any other debian derrived distro) painlessly 
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