Re: [tlug] Need purchasing advice for a linux compatible desktop

[Godwin Stewart <godwin.stewart@example.com>]

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:44:58 +0900, Joseph Essertier
<essertier@example.com> wrote:

> Here's what I need to do with it:
> 1. Run Ubuntu and Debian on it.
> 2. Be able to use almost all the hardware
> 3. Be able to play DVDs (In either GNU/Linux or Windows)
> 4. Be able to burn CDs

So far so good for 99.99% of PCs.

> 5. Be able to use an iPod with it

That'll be more tricky. A cursory google around showed links to a project
that enables a port of Linux to run on the iPod, but I didn't see anything
that enables a Linux machine to communicate with a standard iPod. I think
you're going to be out of luck there. Regardless of the PC you choose. This
is an O/S issue, not hardware.

> 6. Have working speakers, but minimally adequate speakers (=sound comes
> out of them) would be fine

Most sound cards are supported by Linux. Speakers are passive devices
unless you go out and buy windows-only things that connect via a USB port.
If the ones you're looking at have a standard 3.5mm stereo jack then
they'll work.

> 7. Have a large screen, roughly 17 to 19 inches wide

The screen is irrelevant. If your graphics card is supported you can hook
any monitor up to it. A monitor, except for a few plug'n'pray and energy
saving functions (which are handled by X anyway), is an entirely passive
device.

> Here are some other things I'd like to be able to do (my wish list)
> 1. Use my printer with it (Canon Pixux iP4100). I'm guessing that has
> little to do with the computer and only to do with the OS, but I'll put
> this here anyway since printing can be done with my wife's Windows laptop.

http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi?make=Canon

> 2. Be able to burn DVDs

Any MMC-compatible device will work in Linux. ATAPI devices are
MMC-compatible as a general rule - I have yet to come across one that
doesn't work.

> 3. Have a dual boot setup with GNU/Linux on one partition and Windows
> (any version from Windows 2000 or later) on another

No problem - except that you might have to make sure the boot disk is a
PATA drive rather than SATA. I'm not sure how good kernel SATA support is
these days since I don't have any SATA drives.

> 4. Do some simple photo editing, nothing fancy; and instant response is
> not necessary

http://www.gimp.org - it's provided with most distros anyway.

> 5. A keyboard that is easy on fingers that do a lot of typing

That'll be difficult nowadays. Keyboards are built knowing that most PC
users only use them as drool receptacles and only get their fingers near
them when they can't do something with the mouse. I'm on my 3rd keyboard in
a year...

And no, the other two weren't drenched :)

> This computer looks very good:
> Dimension^TM 9150
> http://www1.jp.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=jp&l=jp&s=dhs

Why go with a brand machine? They never put the same stuff in two different
series labelled identically, so you never know what's in the box unless you
disassemble it and void the warranty.

Ask a dealer to build you a machine with identifyable parts of known
origin. You'll know exactly what you're buying, you'll be able to choose
parts that *are* penguin-friendly, and it won't be significantly more
expensive than a brand-name PC anyway.

-- 
G. Stewart - godwin.stewart@example.com

Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

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