Half a Page of Scribbled Linux

This was the easiest installation ever. Networking and sound works right out of the box. So do the ThinkPad volume control buttons (openSUSE missed these). Ubuntu found the old installation of openSUSE and pulled in the Firefox settings. The only thing not quite right so far is the middle trackpoint button doesn’t enable trackpoint scrolling.
When I did the install, I clicked Advanced settings and told the installer not to install the boot loader. This is because the ThinkPad has the ThinkVantage button that’s part of the MBR that in the past would be overwritten by some installers. I didn’t know if Ubuntu would have preserved it, but Grub is already installed so I knew I could skip it. I only had to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and add an entry for Ubuntu. [update: Ubuntu does overwrite the MBR.]
Suspend works fine. Hibernate does too, except at restart, I had to pick Ubuntu from the Grub menu. This is probably related to my installation (or lack thereof) of Grub.

I was listening to LugRadio Friday and they’re pro-Ubuntu. I’ve never run Ubuntu, but liked their stance on usability as a high priority. It turns out Ubuntu has become more popular than I thought (see DistroWatch’s Page Hit Ranking). With the failed upgrade of openSUSE, I’m starting from scratch with whatever distribution I load on Pinto, so now’s a good a time as any to try something new. Stay tuned for the gory details.