linux for school

[lucas0012]

I'm a 12 year old from au.
I have a minor disability Preventing
me from using my right arm.
so i'm intitled to a laptop for year 7
however i paid for one myself an eepc 900 laptop (Win xp with sevice pack 2)
I have permission to take it to school (public).

my question

I have tried to get in contact with the school
but failed.
So I understand if you can not answer

Am I aloud to uninstall xp and install linux mint.

Is their a rule saying i can or can't install linux.

p.s

(school is Tomorrow)

[pmcoleman]

Linux is not illegal nor pirated software. Also, there are many applications that can be used for school such as Open Office. If the document is saved as a .doc format it will port to Windows without any problem.

It is not illegal to wipe xp from the hard-drive and install Linux, assuming of course that it is your personal machine. One word of advice: I installed Linux on a new machine once and found out it voided the warranty on the new machine. I ended up having to pay for a repair normally covered under the warranty out of my own pocket. If keeping your warranty valid is important, especially for a new machine, it would be better to simply use the Live CD for the time being.

The question to ask is if Linux Mint will install and recognize your laptop's hardware correctly. One way to test this is to use a Live Linux CD and boot to it first. If your internet, touch pad, mouse, keyboard and LCD screen works with the live boot CD, installing the Linux OS to the laptop should work just as well. It is important that you download the correct Linux version for your computer. In other words, if your new laptop is a 64 bit machine, you will need a Linux version made for 64 bit machines.

I would suggest testing the system with the Live CD first and use / test it for a few days before installing it to your hard-drive as a secondary operating system. ( a dual boot setup). This way you will be able to utilize each operating system as needed for school. Secondly, a dual booting machine will save you some headaches should a problem occur; You can then reboot the laptop to the other OS. I used a dual-boot setup for a few months before switching over completely to Linux.

On another note, I attend a college that has told me that I cannot use anything but Windows for my assignments and intranet access in the school. After three years I am still using Linux for everything in my school assignments, with the exception of one class on Visual Studio. For that one I used the school's computers to complete the course.

[jmadero]

I would say dual boot for a few reasons.

1. Your school may give you specific software that only works in Windows (I know, everyone hates that, but it's a reality that needs to be addressed).

2. Warranty coverage. Something goes wrong with your computer you can live cd into your computer, go into your partition manager, wipe the linux boot and only leave the XP boot (I would have thrown a fit if my warranty was wiped from installing my own OS....)

3. Are you a linux user usually? If so than this doesn't apply but if not you may find difficulties getting used to it so it's good to have a backup for at least a few months.

A few more things to point out:

1. IT IS NOT TRUE that you need a 64 bit OS if you have a 64 bit processor. I use 32 bit Ubuntu on my 64 bit intel chip because 64 bit OS is just not as stable yet (it's getting there but it has some time still)

2. Why Linux Mint, I would definitely suggest one of the more popular distros such as Fedora Core, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, etc...

[Thrillhouse]

If you bought the computer yourself, you should be able to do whatever you want with it. However, know that that might mean some software that your school wants you to use won't work on Linux. Otherwise, you should have no problem. If the school provided you with the laptop then you might have some issues but since you paid for it yourself, I'd say you're in the clear.

Good luck.

[Bemk]

About that warranty thing.

I don't know how things are where you live, but here in the Netherlands the law states that a product should last for a normal period of time. If the product fails to do so, the company should provide guarantee, even when it has ran out according to their licence. If the product fails because of abuse though the warranty will run out and the problem will be the owners.

This would mean that on my notebook my Windows guarantee has ran out. That is because I abused it by removing it. However if my wireless fails, PackardBell should still fix it, because that has nothing to do with the OS.

Now I already said that I don't know how things are in your country, but it would be something nice to check out.

I know I can't expect Microsoft to give me a free licence any more because my own ran out, because that's because I removed Windows from my system. However now my keyboard keys are coming loose, I think they should help me because even though the machine is 3 years old, the keyboard shouldn't do that. (lucky for me I have a wireless keyboard, my keys just fall of).

[pmcoleman]

About that warranty thing.

I don't know how things are where you live, but here in the Netherlands the law states that a product should last for a normal period of time. If the product fails to do so, the company should provide guarantee, even when it has ran out according to their licence. If the product fails because of abuse though the warranty will run out and the problem will be the owners.

This would mean that on my notebook my Windows guarantee has ran out. That is because I abused it by removing it. However if my wireless fails, PackardBell should still fix it, because that has nothing to do with the OS.

Now I already said that I don't know how things are in your country, but it would be something nice to check out.

I know I can't expect Microsoft to give me a free licence any more because my own ran out, because that's because I removed Windows from my system. However now my keyboard keys are coming loose, I think they should help me because even though the machine is 3 years old, the keyboard shouldn't do that. (lucky for me I have a wireless keyboard, my keys just fall of).

I agree. My problem with the warranty issue was a bit critical and I did not have the time nor the additional resources required to fight for the warranty fix. The company claimed that the hard drive could not be covered because I changed the OS. While ridiculous, non-the-less, the time frame for getting the problem addressed adequately under the warranty was unacceptable. I odered a new drive and had it shipped overnight, then reinstalled the Linux OS without issues. The warranty, according to Dell, was completely nullified by my own constraints.

I did not detail the problem in the first post, simply because it did not seem relevant to the original question / query; Just thought it should be something to take into consideration before wiping the HD. In retrospect I think I could have left it out completely..

[elija]

2. Why Linux Mint, I would definitely suggest one of the more popular distros such as Fedora Core, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, etc...

I would like to field this one. Linux Mint is a fantastic distribution that I would recommend to anyone. It starts with Ubuntu and adds lots of extras including it's own configuration tools. In no way can it be described as a re-skin of Ubuntu.

Oh and it loses that ****** brown

[jmadero]

haha fair enough The great thing about open source is choice I've personally never tried Mint, but was just recommending based on what I know in terms of support and what I see in forums. I suppose the best advice is to try a few and stick with what you like

[Bemk]

I think so too, althouh I think Mint also has support from Ubuntu because it's Ubuntu based. (I have seen some Linux Mint questions in the Ubuntu section here). I think because Ubuntu users also support it, the support for Mint will be a bit better, because Mint users will also support it.That's Ubuntu + Mint, where Ubuntu is Ubuntu only.

[Jonathan183]

lucas0012 - I would recommend a dual boot given your situation. Trying to get tech support when you no longer have the OS the machine was shipped with will be difficult ... don't give them any excuse to say they won't support your system.
Mint is a good distro to use ... if your an experienced Linux user you already know that - if your a newbie then you can look here at distos.
I suggest you talk to the school and get them to say if it is OK for you to use Linux instead of Windows.