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Fastbooting Linux For Dummies?

Posted by timothy on from the every-second-counts dept.

Linux First timer writes "I wonder whether the Linux Gurus of Slashdot could help me with some advice on setting up a Linux system for my wife. She is not at all computer literate, but likes to get on the net for a few minutes every morning to read news etc. She is always bitching that our XP desktop takes way too long to boot 'just to get on the net for a few minutes.' I was thinking that I could take an old laptop we have, do a little first time test drive installing and using Linux, and possibly solve her problem in one go. The requirements for the system are simple: fast as possible boot/load Firefox, easy for a computer dummy to get onto the net, hard to break through random incompetence, and comes with Open Office.org or similar for occasional use. Wouldn't be used for much else. Any useful advice for us two poor Linux newbies? For example, is Ubuntu the best choice for this, or is there a better Linux flavour for the purpose? Any useful tweaks a novice can handle to make it work better for these simple tasks only?"

7 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. hibernate instead of shutting down... by fasuin · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you put your system in hibernation mode, the wake up process is much faster then a cold boot... My windows desktop wakes up in less than 5 secs. It boots in more the 3 min...

    1. Re:hibernate instead of shutting down... by FirstTimerWhoAsked · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The reason she boots every morning is because she thinks she will "break" the computer by leaving it on. Not sure if she is afraid of malware or thinks the computer is suffering 'wear and tear' in hibernation mode, but she just thinks its safer to turn it off. And before you say "educate her" - she doesn't listen to me when her 'intuition' tells her something.

    2. Re:hibernate instead of shutting down... by nmb3000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The reason she boots every morning is because she thinks she will "break" the computer by leaving it on. Not sure if she is afraid of malware or thinks the computer is suffering 'wear and tear' in hibernation mode, but she just thinks its safer to turn it off. And before you say "educate her" - she doesn't listen to me when her 'intuition' tells her something.

      Then it is her ignorance that's standing in the way of a fast-access system, not software.

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    3. Re:hibernate instead of shutting down... by Toonol · · Score: 5, Funny

      Point her to a random comment on Slashdot. Typically, women will believe the expertise of a random stranger far more than their husband.

      Why, I don't know... but it's the truth, and nearly globally applicable.

  2. Re:What's the hardware? by gbarules2999 · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Slackware with a XFCE and Firefox/OpenOffice" = Zenwalk. Easier than Slackware itself; comes with a few extra tools. http://www.zenwalk.org/

  3. Damn small linux by goombah99 · · Score: 5, Informative

    DSL linux boots insanely fast. On my pentium 2, 300Mhz machine it takes 28 seconds to cold boot off of a CD. And part of that is the delay at the grub prompt! Plus it fires up the applications like a mail client nearly instantly.

    main difference is the graphics and dialog boxes are not as sexy as ubuntu

    I note that one possible reason linux or windows boots slowly or wakes from hinernation slowly on an older machine can be it's memory starved. For example ubuntu boots on that machine in about ten minutes(!). the machine only has 396MB of memory so it's a miracle ubuntu even boots at all.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  4. Linux Newbie by troll8901 · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the standard of a Linux Newbie (from TFS)?? Recompiling the kernel, modifying startup scripts and understanding SSEx instruction sets?

    It's too much. I'm quitting the Linux stuff and going back to Windows. I'm going to download Test King papers, memorize the answers, and get my MSCE certification. Experience and knowledge be damned!