FreeDOS/Ubuntu on HP laptops?

[Bret Busby]

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005, roach wrote:

> 
> Hi,
>
> Anybody manage to get their hands on one of these yet? I've tried - but can't.
>
> You're suppost to be able to order one of the listed laptops, with FreeDOS
> pre-installed and a custom version of Ubuntu on CD.
>
> Nothing on HP's site, HP Customer Services knows nothing and they don't
> respond to my emailed queries.
>
> http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/58780
>
> http://www.ubuntu.com/support/custom/hplaptops/view?searchterm=laptop
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportMachinesLaptopsHewlettPackard
>
> -- 
> Robert "roach" Spencer
> Pietermaritzburg
> South Africa
>
>

I don't know of the specific offer, however, after reading a review of a 
previous offer, whereby in the USA, the HP NX5000 laptop could be 
purchased with SUSE Linux installed (thus, the laptop appeared to be 
Linux-compatible), we bought an HP NX5000 for me. Whilst the laptop had 
WinXP installed (I wanted a dual-boot, anyway, for a particular 
Windows-based genealogy application), we installed Linux on it.

Initially, a problem arose with the installation of Debian Sarge (when 
it was testing), to do with an interrupt conflict between the network 
card and the WiFi device, but that was resolved by performing an install 
with Ubuntu 5.04, which breezed through the installation. Unfortunately, 
some problem arose with the Ubuntu installation (if my memory was 
correct, it was something to do with being unable to install PINE), so 
we installed Debian Sarge on the laptop, to dual-boot, and that appears 
to run okay. If my memory is correct, the problem with Ubuntu and PINE, 
was to do with PINE requiring older libraries than were present in 
Ubuntu 5.04.

Anyway, Ubuntu 5.04 should install okay on a standard HP NX5000 laptop, 
from our experience.

The HP NX5000 laptop is a relatively cheap laptop system, and, given the 
ease of installation of Ubuntu 5.04, there should not be any justifiable 
reason why a person on this list, cannot simply purchase an HP NX5000 
and install Ubuntu 5.04 (or, even 5.10) on the laptop, without any 
significant problems.

And, apparently, the HP NX5000/SUSE Linux pre-installed system, involved 
custom components in the laptop, making it SUSE-compatible, but my 
standard, HP NX5000/WinXP system, runs okay as a dual bootable system 
with Debian Sarge, and Ubuntu 5.04 apparently installed okay on it.

So, you should be able to buy an HP NX5000 and install Ubuntu 5.04, if 
not 5.10, on it, as a dual boot system. Details relating to the NX5000 
and Debian, that I had read, should be able to be found by searching 
using google, and "Linux" and "NX5000" as keywords, to find the reviews.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

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