Troubleshooting Linux Gos 3.1 Gadgets

After becoming once again disenchanted with Windows’ buggy and virus ridden OS, I decided to try out a Linux distribution. A couple of years back I had tried Ubuntu 7.04 and had given up after many hours of trying to solve an unsupported video driver crisis. The laptop in question is an Everex va2001t. My main objective this time around was to set up a lightweight fast running OS, and primarily run web apps. After a small amount of research I discovered that Gos, an Ubuntu based operating system which often comes preinstalled with some Everex machines, is considered a lighter Ubuntu with a sleek feel reminiscent of Mac OSX. I’ve never been much of a mac user, however I have no aversion to its styling.

Gos stands for “good operating system,” although with its bright green desktop background many think it stands for “green operating system.” To add to the confusion, Gos 3.1 Gadgets comes loaded with Google Gadgets, leading some to believe that Gos stands for “Google operating system.” But it’s not. Gos also comes in another version called “Gos Space” which includes a bunch of mySpace linkage and usability.

I didn’t really care for either bundle but went for the gadgets because it was a more recent distro. I downloaded the iso and burned the image to a bootable disc. You can run the disc from memory and test it out before making any decisions about installation or partitioning. Initially I couldn’t get the computer to boot from the cd and kept messing around with the boot order from the setup menu that you access when your computer first starts up. It turned out that I didn’t specify to make the disc bootable when I burned the cd, and was able to find the right setting in Nero Burning Rom to eventually turn out a good disc.