Episode 70 - Arch Linux

[Chess]

In this episode: a discussion of an advanced Linux distribution, Arch Linux, including some hints and tips on getting Arch Linux installed and how to update and configure the system; Listener Tip; audio and email feedback.

http://www.linuxreality.com/podcast/episode-70-arch-linux/

[Claudio]

Darned it......released minutes after I left the house!!!  CURSE YOU CHESS!!!!!

I guess at least I'll have something to listen to during the afternoon once I sync up the ol' iPod during my lunch visit at home.

[BarkingPerci]

That's why I love my little MuVo TX FM - I just shove the guy in my USB port and drag over the new episode.  No syncing necessary .  I think all portable music players should come with a built-in non-proprietary USB connector so you always have the option of adding/removing files.  It's one of the reasons I still use it (it pulls apart and essentially becomes a USB stick till you put it back together)

I'm excited about listening to this - Arch is a distro I've been meaning to investigate.

[Claudio]

Great episode, Chess.  BTW,  I took notice that you had an iBook that wasn't getting much use.  What are the specs on it?  G3?  G4? 12" or 14"?

EDIT:
Nevermind, I just heard it again and you mentioned G3.  Still, what are the specs on it?

[thelastknowngod]

great episode chess. ive been meaning to check out arch as well. this def gives me the motivation to do so.

[Sharperguy]

thanks for yet another great episode

I have just installed Arch and am planning to give it a good test run as I am out of school for the summer.

I have been looking for a more advanced distro, and Arch seems to be great. I have tried Gentoo on a VM and their system seemed good but I couldn't get the kernel to compile when i tried out on the real thing.

Anyways, I have to get back to grabbing packages

[thwzr]

Hi Chess, GREAT podcast!  Been listening since the first couple of episodes and really have been enjoying every episode. 

I noticed towards the end of this latest podcast -- when you were mentioning the different machines you have running at home -- that you have a Thinkpad T42 laptop.  I've been looking into getting a refurbished T42, however, I've been a little  hesitant as they all come w/ ATI video cards.  Basically, I'd like to run Beryl on it and was wondering whether you or anyone else has tried this and what the experience has been like.  I've heard good things about ATI/AMD's latest drivers, but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually experienced getting Beryl, or 3D acceleration in general going on these particular laptops.  The actual ATI cards that seem to be coming w/ these laptops are the 7500, 9000, and 9600 -- so if anyone else has any other laptop w/ this video chipset in it that input would be much appreciated as well.

I thought I would post this in the forum rather than email you personally, as I know you get lots of email and I'd be more likely to get a timely response from either you or anyone else that can help out.  Hopefully this is the correct area to post for this type of question. 

Again, thanks so much for the great information you keep putting out every week!

Sincerely,
thwzr

[Claudio]

I'm not Chess, but I can tell you that the Xorg driver for ATI cards works with AIGLX and Beryl.  As far as I know, the fglrx proprietary driver does NOT support Beryl.  I have the ATI RADEON IGP 345M on my HP nx9010 work laptop and with Ubuntu 7.04 AIGLX/Compiz/Beryl worked right out of the box.

[julenissen]

I think I heard someone wanting to know about installing from a browser. I found this web page that will work for him     

http://goodbye-microsoft.com/

hope I didn't misunderstand     


installing Debian while running Windows  ..............

EDIT:

    I listened to the podcast again and found out that this question was from a listener at the LinuxActionShow   

Sorry


Chess....You Rock !!!

[Chess]

@thwzr:  I seem to recall getting compiz and beryl to work with the free radeon driver, but like Claudio said, I think there are issues with the proprietary driver, which is fine for me because I have no need for the proprietary driver.  I actually find the free radeon driver to work really well (assuming you have a supported card) and I get glxgears framerates of about 1500 at the native 1400x1050 resolution on the T42, so lots of older 3D games like Quake3 and Unreal Tournament just work out of the box.  The T42 itself is a great laptop, but it's bit large by today's standards, though not really that heavy considering its size.  It is very thin, which is cool.  I can't decide which I like better, the T42 or the X40.  The X40 is nice, small, and light but the 1024x768 resolution isn't that great.  Overall, I'm a huge fan of Thinkpads, and there are lots of great used/refurbished ones for sale out there.  They are not that cheap even used since they tend to hold their value really well.  The Thinkwiki site is a great resource for getting stuff to work, although all the hardware on Thinkpads is really well supported.  The cool thing is that the extra buttons like volume, screen dimming, and the little light at the top of the screen are all done in the BIOS, so they always work regardless of the OS. 

Thinkpads are great.

[mjjzf]

I am looking forward to grabbing this podcast - I have been away in Hungary for a while, my fiancée is Hungarian - because I have yet to find out why I would want to install ArchLinux. Not that I haven't already, I just didn't find anything that would make it a better offer than Debian, the great community distribution - except maybe newer packages, if one sees this as a good thing.

[taspinner]

Great podcast -- I'm one of the folks that backed up and listened to all of the past episodes. 

I'm still a bit puzzled by the "advanced" distributions.  If I can add anything I want to a "beginners" distribution like Ubuntu, why use an advanced distribution?  What is the benefit that offsets the greater challenges in installation?

[Claudio]

Great podcast -- I'm one of the folks that backed up and listened to all of the past episodes. 

I'm still a bit puzzled by the "advanced" distributions.  If I can add anything I want to a "beginners" distribution like Ubuntu, why use an advanced distribution?  What is the benefit that offsets the greater challenges in installation?

The reasoning is mainly because of the ability to configure your installation during the installation.  Yes, distros like Ubuntu do have an "expert" option that allows you to do the same thing, but by default it isn't this way.  Some people that prefer the more "advanced" distributions don't need to be bothered with having the hand-holding installations as the default.  They usually know how to set up everything they need manually during the installation and don't need it to be considered an afterthought (as is the optional "expert" installation in Ubuntu).  This is about as good a reason I can give unless someone else can give a better argument.

[Hiko96786]

Great podcast -- I'm one of the folks that backed up and listened to all of the past episodes. 

I'm still a bit puzzled by the "advanced" distributions.  If I can add anything I want to a "beginners" distribution like Ubuntu, why use an advanced distribution?  What is the benefit that offsets the greater challenges in installation?

The reasoning is mainly because of the ability to configure your installation during the installation.  Yes, distros like Ubuntu do have an "expert" option that allows you to do the same thing, but by default it isn't this way.  Some people that prefer the more "advanced" distributions don't need to be bothered with having the hand-holding installations as the default.  They usually know how to set up everything they need manually during the installation and don't need it to be considered an afterthought (as is the optional "expert" installation in Ubuntu).  This is about as good a reason I can give unless someone else can give a better argument.

Sounds about right to me. But hey, I think it really all comes down to freedom. The "advanced" distros allow you more choice and that is an expression of freedom. You have more control over how and where the distros is installed.
Mahalo,
Edward

[mjjzf]

That is exactly the point. One of the strong points of Slackware is that the boot scripts are very transparent:
* Is sendmail installed and executable? Then start sendmail.
* Should I control the fan? Then control fan.
And so forth.
Chess, you mentioned getting a bundle of Slackware questions, and I would like to note that I usually ask on this British Slackware mailing lidt.