OS installation blues

By basd on Sep 22, 2009 | In kde4, linux, opensuse

It's a lot better to set up a new computer when you do not actually need to use it right now.

...

So ... I have been down sizing laptops. Two iterations ago, I had a 17" boat anchor. My next computer was a 14.1 (but I wondered at the time whether I should have gotten a 10.1" Toshiba instead) and now I picked up an 11.4" netbook. Gateway LT3101u to be exact.

Normal computer users, of course, would turn it on and expect to use it. I turn on a new computer and expect to be in OS hell for the next 72 hrs.

The first few hours are the part in which I reacquaint myself with all of the reasons I detest Vista and the mainstream computer hardware/software marketing model. Fortunately, the LT3101 doesn't come with too much trial software that needs to be dumped. And, another "fortunately" is that Vista seemingly ran pretty well out of the box.

It's surprising how acclimatized I have become to Linux and the different set of expectations that come with the Linux user experience. Mainly, the expectations that updates will make the computer work better and there are vast repositories of readily available, well-integrated software that will perform the tasks I need to do on the computer.

As opposed to buying untested cludgy programs that may or may not work as advertised. And updates that make the computer work worse starting with the day on which you first hook it up to the internet.

Linux used to be the "awkward" software world for me ... now it is Vista-land that I find cumbersome and awkward.

OTOH, I realize the regular computer buyer is not prepared to spend the first 72 hrs. of new computer ownership uninstalling software, installing security software, defragmenting, resizing partitions and installing new OSes.

Quite frankly, it would be pretty nice to actually use a computer out of the box. If I value my time at anything above $1/hr., I end up with a fairly pricey system!

Well, I am on my 3rd reinstall of Linux. It's not exactly that anything went wrong ... it's more that I made mistakes and also there is some "learning curve" to get the install precisely as I want it.

The good news: the OpenSuse 11.1 installer seems to have done a fine job of shrinking the Vista partition -- something the Vista partition shrinker was not up to. For whatever reason, Vista puts some files near the end of the partition, so I was able to recover, oh, 248 meg. for my Linux system via the Vista partitioner. Hahahahaha. Anyway, when all was said and done, The GRUB boot menu came up and was able to start both my new Linux install and the pre-existing (now shrunk down to size) Vista.

I almost forgot to burn the Vista recovery disks! Netbooks do not have a CD/DVD burner. So, foolish me, I failed to conceptualize how I would burn (or even use) rescue disks. It wasn't until I was ready to install Linux that the fog cleared and I realized what I had to do.

But, although I have a very nice Yamaha external CD burner (that has held its place very well over a number of years), I have never invested in an external DVD burner. So, let me say that 12 recovery CDs takes quite awhile to prepare, especially since the Gateway runs a lengthy "verify" mode after burning each CD.

Now on with the show.

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