Linux: Video Adapter Blues

Having previously configged a beater laptop with the ability to triple boot, and, having enjoyed satisfaction oozing from pores while simultaneously thanking the Linux gods, it would only follow reason that now comes the tweaking, or, if you prefer, the tinkering.  After all, why the hell else would you have been interested in Linux in the first place if not to muck about?

But given that two of the three OSs on this laptop are fresh installs, the sum total of the tweaking has been limited to finding & installing the correct drivers, particularly for the video adapter, which, to my knowledge, has traditionally been a problem for Linux distros mostly because the video adapter manufacturers (such as nvidia) didn't want to play ball and acknowledge that (gasp/shock) consumers would actually want to use an alternative OS to Microsoft Windows, and, therefore, did not bother with providing its pain in the ass proprietary drivers to be even a little bit compatible with open source. As a result, open source had to code its own video drivers which did not always work.  In fact, back in 2005, I once spent 80 hours (yes, I logged my time) attempting to find the correct video driver for yet another beater Dell laptop in order to get Mepis and/or Kubuntu to render correctly.  I searched and spent hours upon hours trying various suggestions offered by the global Linux Community, but in the final analysis, it was a spectacular failure. The experience left me very frustrated and wanting to toss the computer through a window. Fast forward nine years and here we are today with similar frustrations caused by the damnable video adapter.

As previously mentioned, the hardware on this box is legacy, so finding drivers can be somewhat of a challenge, but on the other hand, what I've determined is that the age of the hardware and the search for the correct drivers for it seems to be six of one, half a dozen of the other in that don't go thinking that just because you may have a brand spanking new $3k laptop that finding and installing the appropriate video adapter will be a cakewalk. (Hint:  It may not necessarily be so.)  Conversely, just because you may have a legacy video adapter (in my case) don't assume either Linux (or the video adapter manufacturer) has an open source version for it.  Do you see the conundrum here?

My particular situation is thusly - Although I have previously determined that in order for successful video playback to occur, I would need to install Nvidia's legacy drivers.  After a few days of struggling with choppy video, I did just that.  And it worked out but only because the manufacturer had such drivers available.  The problem now is do I want to take the plunge and install the updates?

You may be wondering why I would hesitate, after all, you as a Windows user (most likely) would ask why not?  The answer is because sometimes, newer is not always better.  And in Linux, this is especially the case.  Sometimes you just have to be happy with what you've got.  If it works, then why fix what is not broken? While I tend to agree, it's not that cut & dried for me. You see, my Linux Mint partition is the Cinnamon edition desktop, specifically, version 1.4.0.  (the latest is 2.x). Cinnamon is to Linux Mint what Unity is to Ubuntu.  I don't actually have aspirations of upgrading to the latest/greatest version of Cinnamon simply because it probably wouldn't render correctly (if at all) on this box anyway, particularly given the legacy hardware.  However, I would like to upgrade Cinnamon to (at the very least) v. 1.6, or, if possible, even v. 1.8.  That way I would be able to take advantage of the improvements in those editions.  I want to use desklets, in particular, but v.1.4.0 does not support such a feature.

What to do...what to do...

I suppose I can bite the bullet and just install, but then I would run into (gasp/shock) the desktop possibly not booting up and the last thing I want to do is screw around with having to fix it.  Note here, I say this as if I would know how to do so off the top of my head. (I don't.)  A screw up caused by an incorrect/incompatible video adapter driver would entail some research how to fix it and I'm just not very keen on having to do such a thing.

Yes, well, that's what the users forum is for, eh?

Not so fast.

Although the Linux Community is famous for the breadth of issues posted and solved, and is used as a selling point for installing/learning Linux, I have personally found that the problems I have posted specific to my system seem to mystify the illustrious Community.  In fact, I have determined that while I am by no means a Linux Guru, I seem to be the only one who can resolve my system's issue(s) because when I post, the questions usually go unanswered, or, if answered, are done in a half-assed manner and/or contain incorrect information and/or are delivered with unmistakable contempt. So much for that whole The global Linux Community is there to help you sentiment.

So allow me to include the following disclaimer -you, dear audience, should know that if you're going to opt to use a Linux distro, altho you've got the esteemed above referenced Community to turn to for help (allegedly) as in life, you are, largely on your own when it comes to certain situations.

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