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Experience with a Live Disc - Gnoppix

As most anyone around here will recommend for truly new users, Ubuntu (which uses the Gnome desktop by default) and it's derivatives Kubuntu (KDE by default) and Xubuntu (Xfce by default, the leanest one of the three) would more than likely get the nod.

If you need more lean, then Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux, or Zenwalk Linux might be right up your alley on that older laptop.

For learning, the best solution is always the... errmmm... best solution:

Just get your hands dirty and throw caution to the wind. Since you're using a laptop that's more or less a spare machine to play around with, screw up the OS, do all sorts of silly stuff to it to learn - I mean with the OS, not the laptop itself. Install stuff, delete stuff, reboot, redo it again, install the LiveCDs directly to the drive, read as much as possible, etc.

If you need to get online with that laptop, find a cheap PCMCIA (PC) NIC card someplace locally like a used computer store or eBay and have fun with it.

There are literally hundreds of Linux distros out there and more being created each and every day.

My number one recommendation for any new Linux user is this:

Go to a bookstore someplace close by and get "Linux for Dummies," or some other Linux book - ANY book in your hand is better than NO book at all. Ubuntu just released the "official" guide to Ubuntu; it should be in stores within the next two weeks.

Play around with it, have fun with it, break it, wipe it, do it again.

Linux is best learned by doing, so get busy. :D

Hope this helps...
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ps
The Ubuntu Forums are filled with helpful and willing people, as well as tons of great information for new users. Read, ask questions, use the Search function - you can find most anything there quickly or get answers in short order.

Good luck...
 
There is a piece of software for Linux called ndiswrapper which will allow you (with pretty good results) to use the Windows drivers for a network card under Linux, believe it or not. The NDIS specifications are like defaults for all network cards, or a basic driver platform that all network interface cards must adhere to - sort of like VGA mode for video cards; all of them have to support that so you can install the drivers to get the extended modes.

Ndiswrapper homepage should get you started. The Ubuntu Forums, again, are loaded with info and helpful people that can probably get you up and running with that card. My personal suggestion still stands: find a PC card that is well supported across the platform. Who knows, that card you have just might be supported depending on the chipset it uses.

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EDIT:

Little bit of research turned up this info:

I have a Blitzz Netwave Point II wireless PC card. That's model BWP612B, and it has a Realtek 8180 chipset.

So... now you go from there. :) The Ubuntu Forums, again, are loaded with info about people using ndiswrapper to get it working. Also, there appears to be an effort to create an opensource driver at:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/rtl-ddp/
 
If you do decide to get a PC(MCIA) wireless card, make sure to get one based on the Atheros chipset. Most all D-Link cards are based on that chipset, a lot of Netgears too, possibly a Linksys maybe. Atheros chipsets are the most supported these days, directly in the kernel and with a driver - MadWiFi - that is constantly being worked on.

www.madwifi.org for more info about it.

Ubuntu and its derivatives support Atheros cards right out of the box, so to speak, with excellent results.

Hope this helps...
bb
 
Xfce is light on the resources, so yes, in terms of desktop managers (Gnome,KDE,etc) it's one of the lightest and most responsive ones. Fluxbox is probably the lightest and fastest one of all. Worth checking out, I guess.

bb
 
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