Laptop friendly Linux distros

[Colin McGregor]

--- teddy mills <lfeder-rieW9WUcm8FFJ04o6PK0Fg at public.gmane.org> wrote: 
> I have no problem with running Linux on desktops
> because there are few 
> thermal issues.
> I do have a problem with running Linux on laptops,
> because I do not know 
> what to look for to get the proper thermal support.
> I mean it has to be more than APIC thermal/fan level
> control?
> 
> Most Linux distros I have seen,  almost never turns
> on a laptop cpu fan 
> at random times, no matter how hot the laptop is
> getting
> Can you recommend a distro that I can safely run on
> a laptop? Thank you 
> in advance!

I am currently running Debian Etch on my laptop (an
admittedly slow Pentium III 600), no problem. I know
the Ubuntu people boast about the strength of their
laptop support, and you might want to look at them.

As for fan use, with my laptop that is a BIOS
function. In the BIOS I can specify fan usage to be
battery optimized (use as little as possible, and if
that hurts performance, so be it), or I can select
performance optimized (use as often as required to get
max. performance, and if that hurts battery life so be
it).

So, periodically (like if I know I am going to be away
from electrical outlets for a while) I will change the
fan (and CPU speed, screen brightness, etc.) settings.

Colin McGregor
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml