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The State of Laptop Linux In 2005

Posted by Zonk on from the penguins-in-your-lap dept.

jg21 writes "LinuxWorld's senior editor James Turner reports this month on what he calls The State of Laptop Linux in 2005 and says it's a lot better than it was in 2004, but adds - after conducting his own new test to see if any Linux distro is yet really laptop-ready: "What's needed to make things better? Well, the Linux community needs to address the device driver crisis." Turner acknowledges that binary-only drivers are a sore spot with free software purists, but says he'd "rather have a fully functional, if closed, Nvidia driver than a reverse-engineered one that limps along." Overall though he concludes that widespread laptop Linux is much closer now."

8 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. then, is 2005... by Garabito · · Score: 5, Funny
    the year of Linux on the Laptop?

    Finally! I was getting tired of every year since 1998 being the year of 'Linux on the desktop'

  2. Laptop linux in 2005? by timster · · Score: 3, Funny

    I run Debian, so I'd be much more interested in articles on the state of laptop linux in 2004. I'll be there in a few months, with any luck.

    --
    I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
  3. does not say anything about power management by BigGerman · · Score: 3, Funny

    which is the most important thing for Linux-on-laptop. When I got Gentoo to hibernate (and wake up - important too ;-) on my Fujitsu, that was a happy day.

  4. Re:Gentoo on my Dell D600... by Gollum · · Score: 1, Funny

    Really? Even the smart card reader?

    Interesting!

    Where did you get the drivers for that?

  5. Re:Installation woes by drooling-dog · · Score: 2, Funny
    If it's laptop ready, it should work. If it doesn't work, then it isn't ready.

    These posts always surprise me, because I've been running Linux on an old IBM TP-600E for years, with never a problem at all. I guess I didn't know that it wasn't "ready", or surely I wouldn't have dared such a thing. Should I have been experiencing difficulties? Is there something wrong with me or my laptop? My desktop was running Linux long before it was "ready" for that, too...

  6. shut up hippie by hildi · · Score: 2, Funny

    'oh conserve energy, conserve the environment, what about the baby seals'.

    look, real men carry a gasoline powered generator with them and plug that into their laptop. real REAL men carry a chainsaw with a dynamo on it so they can check email while they cut down 300 year old redwoods.

    piss ant hippies like you are the problem with america, and why we got attacked by the terrorists.

  7. Re:Happy with my laptop, but... by mr.mighty · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have the same problem with windows. I guess Linux has caught up there.

  8. Re:My Take from a windows user at home by Cutting_Crew · · Score: 2, Funny

    but overall that really isnt going to turn me from windows to linux..