what do you think about Netbook distros?

[Luca_turicci]

Hi, I'm a huge fan of netbooks, and i'm trying to promote them at my work, with friends and clients, (my bros already have netbooks) and i try to promote Linux, too.

The thing is, many ppl comes to me asking me to "uninstal that horrible program" that comes with the netbook (they mean the OS, but nobody here knows what an OS is) and that doesn't let them install WinLiveMessenger...

I haven't used those linux distros, only the one that comes with the EeePCs, mine came with WinXP (it was a gift, and my bros didn't found any HP Mini with MI).

So, those distros are making Linux more famous, but in a bad way!, when I tell people about netbooks and linux almost all of them tell me "Ah, i wanted to buy one of those cool little laptops, but that Linux thing just sucks!". Only when I show them my netbook running Ubuntu is when they say "ah, it's not that bad".

I think that all those companies making netbooks should put Ubuntu on them instead of creating a new and special OS for their computers.

What do you guys think?

[binbash]

Moblin is the best out there and it runs perfect on my box.

[azangru]

Eeebuntu 3.0 Standard is gorgeous!

[bodyharvester]

im using UNR of 9.04 now but i have puppy linux (seamonkey, i think its called) on a 128mb usb stick and it is simply gorgeous when compared to the basic Gnome deskotp

[Luca_turicci]

well i've tried many Netbook remixes and stuff, but what about the "original" ones that come with the netbook by default?

I personally use Karmic desktop (i hate the netbook remixes) all netbooks should come with it, or moblin.

[kevdog]

Id like to see a Moblin ScreenShot!

[Luca_turicci]

Id like to see a Moblin ScreenShot!

And why not a video?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsCpIeLLoT8

[markbuntu]

I use Kuki on my aspire one. If you have an aspire one you should give it a try. It is a Jaunt remix specifically for the aspire one. Uses XFCE and the 2.6.31 kernel is now available. Everything works OOB. They will be releasing 3.0 very soon.

http://www.kuki.me/

[macogw]

Kubuntu Netbook Edition is shaping up rather nicely.

[Swagman]

My daughter installed UNR on her 701 and put up with the jerky mouse on the desktop as it works alright in selected apps.

She said to me a couple of days ago that the latest update has now fixed that issue.

Brilliant.

:-)

[coldReactive]

Bleh, Ubuntu won't even detect my Wifi in 9.04 (have to install backports), and the sound has to be redone with OSS, and there's a battery draining bug in the kernel.

Great job.

[Tristam Green]

Tried Crunchbang on my AspireOne D150 - was generally unimpressed.

Going to try Puppy or Debian later.

[coldReactive]

Going to try Puppy or Debian later.

lol @ Debian. Good luck trying to get it not to spit out the error "Wrong CD." (unless you have a USB CD/DVD-ROM Drive) Or having it detect your ethernet.

[meeples]

my aspire one came with Linpus Linux Lite. worst distro ever.takes about a week to work out how to change backgrounds.

im cuurently running both ubuntu karmic(desktop not unr, dont really like it.) and jollicloud. loving jollicloud more than moblin tbh, the app install and update system is seemless.

[coldReactive]

my aspire one came with Linpus Linux Lite. worst distro ever.takes about a week to work out how to change backgrounds.

im cuurently running both ubuntu karmic(desktop not unr, dont really like it.) and jollicloud. loving jollicloud more than moblin tbh, the app install and update system is seemless.

Too bad jolicloud (http://www.jolicloud.com/) is invite only.

[meeples]

Too bad jolicloud (http://www.jolicloud.com/) is invite only.

request an invite then ;)

apparently your getting them within a couple of days now

[kerry_s]

lol @ Debian. Good luck trying to get it not to spit out the error "Wrong CD." (unless you have a USB CD/DVD-ROM Drive) Or having it detect your ethernet.

then you was using the wrong installer! anyways there installer is broke right now, it keeps putting the usb as sda & the main drive as sdb, so you end up with a borked install.

here's the link anyway, just in case they fix it:
http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/netboot/mini.iso

to the download page:
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

you grab from: other images (netboot, usb stick, floppy, etc)

[coldReactive]

then you was using the wrong installer! anyways there installer is broke right now, it keeps putting the usb as sda & the main drive as sdb, so you end up with a borked install.

here's the link anyway, just in case they fix it:
http://people.debian.org/~joeyh/d-i/images/daily/netboot/mini.iso

to the download page:
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

you grab from: other images (netboot, usb stick, floppy, etc)

Can't use any, Debian doesn't detect Ethernet nor wifi.

[snowpine]

Can't use any, Debian doesn't detect Ethernet nor wifi.

Weird, I wonder how all those Debian users are getting on with no ethernet or wifi... why would anyone use a distro with no networking? That's just dumb. :)

[cascade9]

Weird, I wonder how all those Debian users are getting on with no ethernet or wifi... why would anyone use a distro with no networking? That's just dumb. :)

Yep, the only thing dumber than using debian would be basing another distro off it :P

If there is an issue with debian and wifi/etherent its probably a hardware issueand/or the deb guys got onto the high horse about 'real' FOSS and proprietary drivers. *this msg posted from a debian box* :twisted:

[Irihapeti]

I mostly use standard Ubuntu 8.04 on my EeePC 900. Had to do a few tweaks to get it working properly. I've also got standard Ubuntu Jaunty on a SD card for pure curiosity's sake, and Puppy Linux and NimbleX 2008 on another SD card. I use NimbleX only occasionally, because a few things don't work, but it does have a fully-functioning bluetooth for talking to my Nokia 6120c.

[Luca_turicci]

Don't be so negative, coldReactor, i wonder, what hardware do you have? maybe it's just you who gets those problems.

I've tried many distros, and all of them can handle wireless out of the box, only have had problems with Jaunty, can't get wired connections to work.

[bodhi.zazen]

I like the idea of a netbook respin.

So far though it is not working at all on my netbook.

Basically, if you have not seen them, these remixes are a new GUI interface, "optimized for a smaller screen" . Either you like the new interface or you do not.

The problem with these respins is that they do not necessarily include the kernels or drivers (especially the closed source psb video driver). This is the real Achilles heel of all the respins.

Another, minor problem with these respins, as far as I can tell none are optimized under the hood to boost performance of your netbook.

If you are interested I posted a blog about such improvements:

http://blog.bodhizazen.net/linux/netbook-optimization/

The third problem, I have found the UNR developers to be cold fish in terms of any feedback I have given them. The do not even have a mailing list and they seem to have little or no interest in any feedback from the community, at least judging from the contact I have had with them. I have posted twice on Launchpad and sent a few emails and was disappointed (to say the least) with the lack of any meaningful response from the UNR team.

Now some respins work quite well on some hardware, but in my experience, you are better off taking as new a kernel as you can (Fedora 11 or Ubuntu 9.04) and doing some customization under the hood.

The optimizations I posted on my blog are not overly technical and most users should be able to follow most of them. You will get better performance with Ubuntu 9.04 or Fedora 11 with a few tweaks then you will get out of most of these netbook respins.

So at the moment, nice idea, needs work (drivers (psb), willingness to listen to feedback, and optimizations for the netbooks).

[bodhi.zazen]

Too bad jolicloud (http://www.jolicloud.com/) is invite only.

+1. That sums up much of my experience with these remixes as well. Most of them are personal customizations at this point. If you have the same hardware configuration of the respin you will do "OK". There is not more "generic" respin that works on the majority of netbooks as of yet.

[bodhi.zazen]

If you are looking for a very nice distro , check out slitaz (http://www.slitaz.org/en/)

30 mb distro, has an eeepc respin, also 30 mb.

This distro is fast and light on netbooks, runs a modern kernel so hardware detection is excellent. Graphical tools for networking and package management. The repositories have just under 2,000 applications, at least the basics of what you need your netbook to do are covered.

Blows the 1 Gb UNR 9.04 respin out of the water =)

[coldReactive]

If you are looking for a very nice distro , check out slitaz (http://www.slitaz.org/en/)

30 mb distro, has an eeepc respin, also 30 mb.

This distro is fast and light on netbooks, runs a modern kernel so hardware detection is excellent. Graphical tools for networking and package management. The repositories have just under 2,000 applications, at least the basics of what you need your netbook to do are covered.

Blows the 1 Gb UNR 9.04 respin out of the water =)

Tried slitaz via USB using the Slitaz 2.0 Live CD ISO via unetbootin, but... it won't let me login as tux, always gives "failed to execute login" or whatever.

Guess I'll be staying with my bulky UNR. Also, 2.6.25 isn't all that new (In fact, wifi for my machine doesn't work out of the box until 2.6.29)

[snowpine]

If you are interested I posted a blog about such improvements:

http://blog.bodhizazen.net/linux/netbook-optimization/


Really interesting, thought-provoking, and helpful, thanks!

I was curious what your opinion is regarding the Ubuntu lpia architecture optimized for the Intel Atom.

ps I've used SliTaz on both my Dell Mini and my EEE, and I agree, it rocks! It makes an excellent USB distro, or 2nd distro for a dual boot with Ubuntu on occasions you just want to do some light surfing.

[snowpine]

Tried slitaz via USB using the Slitaz 2.0 Live CD ISO via unetbootin, but... it won't let me login as tux, always gives "failed to execute login" or whatever.

Guess I'll be staying with my bulky UNR. Also, 2.6.25 isn't all that new (In fact, wifi for my machine doesn't work out of the box until 2.6.29)

Hi ColdReactive, have you tried TazUSB, the official SliTaz USB creator? It is way better than Unetbootin (for SliTaz purposes of course): http://www.slitaz.org/en/doc/manuals/tazusb.en.html

As TazUSB runs from within SliTaz, you will need either a 2nd machine with a CD drive, or VirtualBox.

Also, SliTaz "cooking" is up to kernel 2.6.30 now, no worries there. :)

[coldReactive]

Hi ColdReactive, have you tried TazUSB, the official SliTaz USB creator? It is way better than Unetbootin (for SliTaz purposes of course): http://www.slitaz.org/en/doc/manuals/tazusb.en.html

As TazUSB runs from within SliTaz, you will need either a 2nd machine with a CD drive, or VirtualBox.

Also, SliTaz "cooking" is up to kernel 2.6.30 now, no worries there. :)

Yeah, not going to happen if it can't be done with Ubuntu or Debian. Guess I'll stay with UNR.

[bodhi.zazen]

Tried slitaz via USB using the Slitaz 2.0 Live CD ISO via unetbootin, but... it won't let me login as tux, always gives "failed to execute login" or whatever.

Guess I'll be staying with my bulky UNR. Also, 2.6.25 isn't all that new (In fact, wifi for my machine doesn't work out of the box until 2.6.29)

That seems to happen when you select to use xorg, use the default option (? vesa).

[coldReactive]

That seems to happen when you select to use xorg, use the default option (? vesa).

That worked. Going to try cooking now.

[snowpine]

That worked. Going to try cooking now.

It's easy. From the command line:


su
(enter password: root)
tazpkg set-release cooking


Good luck!

[coldReactive]

Burned cooking to my USB Stick, all I got was a blinking cursor when I tried to boot.

[bodhi.zazen]

cooking is working here.

I installed the cooking iso with unetbootin, it gives an error message, hit the "no" button (ignore).

When installing a new image on a usb, best delete all the old files or if you must re-format the device.

[snowpine]

Quicker to install 2.0 and then set-release cooking as I mentioned in my previous post. The most recent cooking "snapshot" is actually older than 2.0 at this point. (Unless you are using the daily build of course; in which case disregard this post... :))

[_BlondieGirl_]

Can you tell me if Ubuntu Netbook Remix has a modified kernel, optimized for Eee PCs? I can't find that info. I only know that it has a new GUI, but that's not important for me.

I recently bought the Eee PC 1000HE and I've a long-term relationship with Ubuntu, you know :P

I want to optimize Ubuntu in my new Eee PC.

Should I install Ubuntu Netbook Remix or just the regular version of Ubuntu and then install an optimized kernel such as the one in Array.org (http://www.array.org/ubuntu/index.html)?

Thanks in advance! :KS

[Luca_turicci]

Don't install a netbook remix, they're ugly, use the desktop version

[macogw]

Can you tell me if Ubuntu Netbook Remix has a modified kernel, optimized for Eee PCs? I can't find that info. I only know that it has a new GUI, but that's not important for me.

I recently bought the Eee PC 1000HE and I've a long-term relationship with Ubuntu, you know :P

I want to optimize Ubuntu in my new Eee PC.

Should I install Ubuntu Netbook Remix or just the regular version of Ubuntu and then install an optimized kernel such as the one in Array.org (http://www.array.org/ubuntu/index.html)?

Thanks in advance! :KS

Dunno about Jaunty, but I think Karmic will have the modules that Eeebuntu uses to get Eee PCs working.

[Tristam Green]

Seriously though, I'm right with bodhi.zazen on his assessment of Netbook remixed distros. Most of them just downright don't work well unless you've got the "right hardware".

Ones I've tried now:

Crunchbang - not impressed.
Kuki - not impressed at all.
Sidux - impressed until actually installing it on the HDD. Then, talk about a clusterbomb of video handling.
Ubuntu vanilla - working well so far, haven't attempted camera or mic. Don't know if I want to stay with GNOME (KDE seems nicer for a netbook)

I'm about darn ready to try my hand at installing Arch to the Aspire One, and if it runs decently call it a day.

[bodhi.zazen]

I'm about darn ready to try my hand at installing Arch to the Aspire One, and if it runs decently call it a day.

Took a (brief) look at that last night. The arch .iso would not boot. The net install can not find the kernel (looking fo r/dev/archinstall or some what) and the minimal (base) install kernel panics.

Need to look at how to make the arch iso bootable on USB.

Take home message: Arch is a great distro ... once you get it installed and configured ...

[Omnios]

Lxde run on Arch looks interesting. Gnome connection applet works in it and looks neet haven't tried the netbook launcher app yet though. Tried this on my laptop but still waiting to get a Dell netbook wich will probably run this as Arch and LXDE are both lightwieghts. Install and config might be would be a bit more complicated than Ubuntu. Arch is a base install so you install the DE then the programs you need for it.

http://lxde.org/

Might be a better option than some of the netbook distos for larger more functional netbooks

[coldReactive]

Lxde run on Arch looks interesting. Gnome connection applet works in it and looks neet haven't tried the netbook launcher app yet though. Tried this on my laptop but still waiting to get a Dell netbook wich will probably run this as Arch and LXDE are both lightwieghts. Install and config might be would be a bit more complicated than Ubuntu. Arch is a base install so you install the DE then the programs you need for it.

http://lxde.org/

Might be a better option than some of the netbook distos for larger more functional netbooks

Lubuntu will be a flavour starting with 9.10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubuntu

[benniej2k]

great info (especially since i just bought one) -- thanks!

[NormanFLinux]

LXDE is the way to go. Its lightweight and boots up fast on a Via CM-7 HP Mini 2123 - the underpowered processor can run like its a top of the line chip! Netbook distros are going to emphasize low power consumption, quick bootup and ease of use in the future.

[schmidtbag]

personally i dislike most netbook distros. i installed regular ubuntu and just spent a little time simplifying it and making the interface as usable as possible without it feeling like a limited child's toy. if i get the touchscreen available for my netbook, maybe i'll switch over to a different distro or variant

[drawkcab]

I hate NBRs.

I've just been using crunchbang and eeebuntu on my eeepc.