not as breezy as the day before

where linux fails me currently on my dell precision m90 laptop

• 64-bit  --  both ubuntu and debian fail to work properly (with different glitches) -- i really should try to investigate far enough to file bugs, but haven't had the time (maybe fedora core would work too -- i may try that or another distro)
• vpn  --   i actually had the vpn working on debian just fine at one point (after an hour or so fumfering around trying to understand the instructions to build the cisco kernel module), but after moving to a newer kernel that no longer works and I haven't gone back and repeated the process (it also helps me not be too motivated to fix this issue that vmware bails me out (by allowing me to fire up an xp virtual machine if i want vpn access))
  
• wireless -- there's support for my card (intel 3945abg), but neither debian nor ubuntu work by default, and I've not yet taken the time to try to build the module for a wireless setup (the latest ubuntu was very close to getting it working -- the device was actually created, but it couldn't successfully connect to an unencrypted network.