HOO! and linux update

Update: Open Office 2.0 has been released.

Via Daryl: Homeschoolers for Open Office ! RC 2 now available for download.

A few posts back, I mentioned that I was installing linux on a spare computer I had. I hadn’t done anything with it since Monday. Today, I got it connected to the internet through a wireless connection. Tonight I updated the configuration so that it fires up all the network and wireless (including encryption) drivers on boot. Its been an educational experience. I worked with unix years ago, so in many ways it was a dusting of the cobwebs.

The version of linux I installed was vector linux. The computer is the following

P2 266 MHz
192 MB RAM
3.2+2.0 GB HD
DWL-510 Wireless card

To get the wireless running, I downloaded the code for a driver still in development and the kernel headers for the version of vector I had. I had to make a code change to the driver code to adjust for changes in the kernel code. I built the drivers and loaded them in memory. Then, using 2 configuration utilities, I established a wireless connection to the wireless hub. Next I configured the network protocol to use the wireless connection an communicate with and thru the hub. Once I had that working consistently, I added the drivers to the modules loaded on boot and added the wireless network startup to the boot sequence.

Comments

  1. Andrea says:

    The girls are giggling and saying mischeviously, “We should test it!”

    (It’s for them.)

  2. Todd Tyrtle says:

    I’m totally getting inspired to install linux on our computer again. The only thing preventing me is that there are some applications (music making, mostly) that I can’t leave windows behind for. How is WINE these days – have you tried it?