Would Knoppix be a good test for buying a laptop ?

[Dreamert]

I mean, let say I walk into a computer store shopping for a new laptop. I wanna be certain that a specific model would run Linux hands down so I insert my bootable Knoppix cd. In this scenario say that it boots flawlessly and runs just fine.

What do you guys think ? Can I draw a fair and solid conclusion as to say that about "any" linux distribution would be just fine for that laptop or is it just a guess ?

In more technical terms, does Knoppix use all the same librairies that other linux distros use or is it particularly picky and well customised as to fit to as many different machines or configurations out there ?! <

Sorry if it sounds newbee's question ...but... well it is 8)

Tkx to all of you out there, from a newbie.

[oggi]

running knoppix would be a good test/indicator of linux hardware support

installing new version of major distros like suse, redhat, mandrake shouldn't be a problem when knoppix started up sucessfully. these distros differ slightly from knoppix which is a debian system, but that shouldn't matter.

I wouldn't recommend to install debian woody on a new notebook, it would cause some trouble (or possibly fail). hd install of knoppix is another possibility but due to the testing/unstable flavour I would recommend newbie-friendlier distros like Suse et al.

have fun

[Henk Poley]

What do you guys think ? Can I draw a fair and solid conclusion as to say that about "any" linux distribution would be just fine for that laptop or is it just a guess ?
More or less yes. You should know that not all distro's will install that up-to-date software as Knoppix does.

[Dreamert]

What do you guys think ? Can I draw a fair and solid conclusion as to say that about "any" linux distribution would be just fine for that laptop or is it just a guess ?
More or less yes. You should know that not all distro's will install that up-to-date software as Knoppix does.

So its fair to assume that if Knoppix boots and runs successfully with its up-to-date soft and all, so there is a good chance that many other distros will too ?!

good thing settled then tkx guys.

[Tacvek]

I have found this is not the case. There is some sort of problem running redhat on my laptop, although knoppix runs fine. It appears to be very complicated involving out of date drivers, incorrect video card detection, and some sort of compatibily problem with the 'northbridge'. that plus he fact that a MS patch has changed the settings stored in my NIC's eeprom. Plus i would have to install acpi support into the kernel.

[garyng]

I have found this is not the case. There is some sort of problem running redhat on my laptop, although knoppix runs fine. It appears to be very complicated involving out of date drivers, incorrect video card detection, and some sort of compatibily problem with the 'northbridge'. that plus he fact that a MS patch has changed the settings stored in my NIC's eeprom. Plus i would have to install acpi support into the kernel.

I believe the difference between a major distro(RH, Suse) and KNOPPIX is that KNOPPIX can follow the progress of drivers, kernel changes etc. more closely as the release process(what to include in next ISO) is less rigid. Here, the debian advantage shows. Ironically, people comment that debian is slow and outdated but that only limits to the 'stable' repository. The unstable repository(which KNOPPIX use) follows closely with the latest upstream versions, more so than RH etc. So to some extend, Debian is the best distro. Want aboslutely stable running linux, use stable(woody) so long you don't need features that is not in there. Want to closely follow the upstream packages without resort to the source route, use unstable.

[fingers99]

I think what you suggest is about as good a benchmark as you'll get (although SuSE's live evaluation CD would probably tell you a bit more about how SuSE would run on a given laptop).

Remember to take a list of the cheatcodes with you and remember that a HD install of Knoppix is a (very) worthy contender for your distro of choice. :wink:

[blahblahblah]

it makes sense that it would be a good benchmark but..
i tried mandrake, red hat 9, suse, and college before resorting to knoppix. none of those distros would install properly. im sure that MAYBE with a lot of tweaking i could have gotten it going, but i have neither the time nor the linux knowledge to do that. Knoppix works perfectly on my system but all other distros i have tried do not. Im sure this is rarely the case, but it is possible that you could check out a pc with knoppix, have everything work fine and then try to install redhat and have it not work.

i figure its probably a good idea to try it, but a better idea would be to build a custom machine with hardware that has been documented as working flawlessly with many distros. this is what i plan to do when i get the money, since i feel it is the only surefire way to get it all up and running easily.