Congratulations in Order

[Magickman]

Congratulations, Fedora, and here is why

Last year I bought my wife a new Toshiba Satellite laptop, it had Windows 7 86_64 installed. She used it as is, until she was hit with a virus, then it was set in my lap with an order to, "put Linux on it!"
So, I installed PCLinuxOS, for it's ease for new Linux users, and because she was already familiar with the OS. All went well for several months, then the Wifi quit working. "Unable to find IP address," even with a static IP. So, I installed Vista for her, installed the correct drivers for her laptop. Wifi still would not work. A little research in the Toshiba forums showed a conflict with Broadcom and Realtek drivers.

So, I rigged her an Ethernet line, and she had to sit near my modem to get online, and real hassle, especially when I was working on a customer's machine, I had to unhook her.

Then last night her OS developed a major problem. Icons disappeared. Sound quit entirely, display was really big, and could not be configured. System Settings would not launch. Disgusted, she was using my machine, running, of course, Fedora 17 KDE 86_64, and asked me, why not install this on my laptop? Well gee, honey, no problem.

Installed Fedora KDE 86_64 this morning, just got her all configured a little while ago. I installed broadcom-wl, shut down, unplugged the Ethernet line, and booted to BIOS, where I disabled the onboard LAN, and booted her up. All I had to do is configure the Wifi, and wa la, it works GREAT!
So, in your face, Microsoft! Fedora is better than you in more than a million ways!

Congratulations, Fedora. I just mailed off a copy of Fedora 17 to my sister-in-law, who has the same laptop, and the same problem, along with an email telling her how to install and configure Fedora, and a link to this forum.

[swl72us]

I think Fedora is plenty easy and user friendly enough for any one to use if they know how to get it set up initially (i.e. install flash, wifi, codecs, etc.) That being said congrats on getting your wife (and potentially your sister-in-law) to drop Windows for Linux. I have been trying to convince my wife to make the switch. I have been using Linux off and on since 1998 (Redhat 5.1 I believe) and am just now truly satsified with Linux and have completely dropped Windows from my life. I truely believe that it is finally very easy to drop Windows and never look back.

[marko]

Fedora 16 would have been a better choice, they're going to be hit with some huge update sets when the official comes out at the end of the month

[hadrons123]

Yes.F16 was trouble free for me since its beta.

[Dan]

+1 for F16 ... in several DE/WM configurations.

[GoinEasy9]

I agree F16 is running on the desktop and laptop without a hitch. I am anxiously waiting for the final F17 though. I want to see how it installs to a UEFI motherboard. Kubuntu 12.04 worked out of the box with Grub2. I'm hoping F17 will do the same. Although I haven't seen anything in the mailing lists that would confirm that.

[jarrett]

Something does not add up.... why not disable the ethernet controller through the bios when using Windows if there was some interference? I mean, you have it disabled now, so why not before?
And who's to say that Fedora keeps running smoothly, you have been running it for less than 24hrs on the laptop when you wrote this.. tsk tsk.
Hope all goes well, but your post does not make sense.

And another confusing thing: Why have a modem with only one extra port if you have customers bringing you computers? Something to think about maybe

Cheers!

[george_toolan]

Why do you have to sit near a modem when an ethernet cable can be 100 meters long?

[Magickman]

It has been a number of days now, my wife is still running Fedora 17, flawlessly. She did have me download Mate Desktop, she always liked Gnome, but hates Gnome 3 like most everyone else. And I'm sorry, but a 100 foot Ethernet line is overkill, isn't it? Her WIFI is working perfectly, and fast.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by george_toolan

Why do you have to sit near a modem when an ethernet cable can be 100 meters long?

Same reason he had to boot her when he needed the 10bX - he doesn't have a switch or long cables. Lucky he had one short cable.

Originally Posted by Magickman

It has been a number of days now, my wife is still running Fedora 17, flawlessly. She did have me download Mate Desktop, she always liked Gnome, but hates Gnome 3 like most everyone else....

So you installed a beta version of a constantly changing, bruising edge Linux distro on your wife's system. That's passive-aggressive behavior my friend; I predict divorce. Hope you really are the magickman when it comes to wriggling out of this one.

On a more serious note - what exactly is the issue w/ the wifi vs wired ? What you describe should never happen.

Gotto admit I generally feel Fedora is not for noobs. Everything may be great on first install - then we introduce some new bum-chompers - systemd, gnome3, some SEL policy change or cgroups - and the chomp bites hard on the noobs. Still *IF* you are around to be the sysadm it may work out. Be prepared to pay for your sins.

[ElderSnake]

Good luck Magickman, hope you come out of this one alive

Still least she's enjoying it at the moment. Here's hoping F17 ends up being as stable as everyone says F16 is.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by ElderSnake

Good luck Magickman, hope you come out of this one alive

Still least she's enjoying it at the moment. Here's hoping F17 ends up being as stable as everyone says F16 is.

Even numbered Fedora distros are stable,
Odd numbered are all weasel bums.

It's time proven rule of thumb.

[ElderSnake]

Well there goes that idea then

Well Magickman, even more luck to you

[Magickman]

Originally Posted by stevea

Same reason he had to boot her when he needed the 10bX - he doesn't have a switch or long cables. Lucky he had one short cable.



So you installed a beta version of a constantly changing, bruising edge Linux distro on your wife's system. That's passive-aggressive behavior my friend; I predict divorce. Hope you really are the magickman when it comes to wriggling out of this one.

On a more serious note - what exactly is the issue w/ the wifi vs wired ? What you describe should never happen.

Gotto admit I generally feel Fedora is not for noobs. Everything may be great on first install - then we introduce some new bum-chompers - systemd, gnome3, some SEL policy change or cgroups - and the chomp bites hard on the noobs. Still *IF* you are around to be the sysadm it may work out. Be prepared to pay for your sins.

Come on, now! It ain't like that! She is just my Queen, that's all, and her wish is my command. I am 58 years old and disabled. She is 32 years old and hot. She is also disabled. That laptop is her favorite toy. She Facebooks, plays games, instant messages, emails....I, on the other hand, work on them. Mostly reinstall Windows after a HDD erase. People around here have taken some hard virus hits of late, and some people will download everything they see, and often install two different anti virus programs. This never, ever works out.

I got to be a Fedora man back in FC6 days. You know, those days when Fedora downloaded as 6 CD sized iso images?
I know Fedora is cutting edge, if it were not, I would find something else. Why is this, you ask? I bore easily when it comes to my computer. If a distro just installs automatically configured, like Windows, it is not any fun. When it ceases to be fun, I am out of it.

The wife is actually loving her Fedora installation. She commented to me that Mate was faster than KDE. We used to run Fedora with Gnome, until, that is, Gnome changed.......I know, new things make new money, and who am I to criticize. We love Fedora, and would not run any other OS. Keep up the great work.

[ElderSnake]

Well the key thing is you're both happy with it and it's working for you.

I too am using MATE on Fedora 17 on my little netbook. It is faster than KDE or the Gnome 3 powered variants (G-Shell or Cinnamon etc) so I'm really happy with the efforts that have brought that option to us.