Ubuntu Compatibility Check

[Liam Proven]

On 13 February 2014 12:02, Amichai Rotman <amichai at iglu.org.il> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I have already asked this question here, but got no responses at all, so I'd
> give it another try:
>
> I work as a computer technician at a small PC Repair Lab. I treat a lot of
> Windows 7 machines and not one of my customers liked the new Windows 8....
>
> I want to make the best of this opportunity and switch them to Ubuntu.
>
> I would like to have a nice eye-candy app (similar to Speccy by Piriform
> [1]) I can run on their current Windows (XP / 7) machine that will scan
> their computer and produce a report for Ubuntu compatibility, i.e:
>
> * A table that shows Hardware components and a nice green V sign next to it
> (or a yellow sign with a link to the relevant Ubuntu HCL category)
>
> * A table with the currently installed software on one side and the
> available FLOSS alternatives with links to their Web pages.
>
> This app should have internet access and connect to a constantly updated DB
> of apps and hardware info. It would be best if it could connect in the
> back-end to a community updated Web site or something like Alternative.to[2]
> and be a portable app.
>
> I am not a programmer, so I would't know the first thing about creating such
> a program....


I don't know that program although there is at least one Piriform app
I use a lot.

The simplest test of Ubuntu compatibility is of course just to boot a
LiveCD or LiveUSB.

Also note: you can /install/ Ubuntu onto a USB stick. I find it works
best, "cleanest", if you do it on a machine with no hard disks. Then,
no other OSes appear in the stick's boot menu.

(This can be simulated by running the install inside a VM connected to
a real USB stick. VMware Player works better than VirtualBox for this.
To test booting off the stick, as neither the VMware nor VirtualBox
BIOS supports booting from USB, use the PLoP Boot Manager. For best
speed in the resulting system, I recommend a non-journalling
filesystem - I use ext2 - and add the 'noatime' parameter for the root
filesystem in /etc/fstab.)

Then you have a real full Ubuntu system and you can try it on the
candidate machine. You can install AMD and nVidia graphics drivers and
try them. (You might want 2 different USB sticks for that!) You can
try wifi etc.

Various Ubuntu apps will give you a list of identified hardware, e.g.
`hardinfo`.

-- 
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