Lubuntu

[makitso]

OK, I have this little Gateway netbook Lt31 that has been a real pain in the ars as far as Ubuntu is concerned. The problem has always been the ATI graphics card. I have tried various distros, Mint, Xubuntu and ubuntu (all versions) with little real success. The main problem has always been the graphics corruption or the general usability.

So, the other day I tried lubunty 11.04 and to my surprise it installed and wonder of wonder, no graphics problems. Lubuntu is a clean professional install and desktop. Does it have all the Ubuntu stuff -- no. But, for a netbook it works fine. So, I installed libreoffice, firefox, Cairo dock and it is really solid.

Its about time. Now if they would include the Jupiter applet for power management it would be perfect. :D

[angryfirelord]

There is a PPA available, but I haven't tried it.

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/jupiter-0050-released-fixes-restore.html

However, Jupiter may not work in LXDE.

[makitso]

Yes, I installed jupiter on my Thinkpad T60 and it made all the differences in the world. Have not tried the process on Lubuntu yet.
However, I am using Lubuntu 11.04 so I don't suspect that the above ppa would work. When I upgrade to 11.10 will give it a shot.

[WasMeHere]

congratulations to the lubuntu team :-({|=

[amjjawad]

congratulations to the lubuntu team :-({|=

Thanks :)

[amjjawad]

OK, I have this little Gateway netbook Lt31 that has been a real pain in the ars as far as Ubuntu is concerned. The problem has always been the ATI graphics card. I have tried various distros, Mint, Xubuntu and ubuntu (all versions) with little real success. The main problem has always been the graphics corruption or the general usability.

So, the other day I tried lubunty 11.04 and to my surprise it installed and wonder of wonder, no graphics problems. Lubuntu is a clean professional install and desktop. Does it have all the Ubuntu stuff -- no. But, for a netbook it works fine. So, I installed libreoffice, firefox, Cairo dock and it is really solid.

Its about time. Now if they would include the Jupiter applet for power management it would be perfect. :D

I'm very happy to read about your experience with Lubuntu. Thanks for using Lubuntu :)

Lubuntu 11.10 will have XFCE Power Management.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/Announcement/11.10

[Artemis3]

Xubuntu comes with compositing enabled; that might have triggered your video problems. It can be disabled in the window manager settings.

However LXDE uses less memory, if that fills your needs, congratulations.

[rogue1987]

I agree, I wish I would have found Lubuntu earlier also. It saved my eeePC from the retired pile.

[amjjawad]

I agree, I wish I would have found Lubuntu earlier also. It saved my eeePC from the retired pile.

Better late than never ;)

[makitso]

I turn'ed on composting in lubunty by installing xcompmgr. This allows Cairo to do normal transparency. I did not get any ATI graphics issues by doing so.
I can't remember if the problem existed when I tried xubuntu. But Mint 11 had it as well as Ubuntu 11.04 and 11.10. It is a well know problem that gets fixed from time to time.

I know what shell you use is a personal issue. In terms of pure utility, xfce has more capability. But, IMO, Lubuntu comes across as a more professional polished package, pleasing to the eye. I kind of reminds me of the linux of old simple, elegant, useful.

[viperdvman]

I have had no problems on my netbook, which also uses ATI graphics. I just stuck with the open-source driver and not downloaded the proprietary driver. ATI's drivers are notoriously sucky with Linux... though I only speak for the ones that were released for 11.04, which is also what 11.04 will still try to download today. I've also heard some users here running 11.10 who are having trouble with ATI's latest driver. So yeah, generally ATI's drivers suck with Linux. I can only hope the newer drivers work better with 11.04's kernel.

Congratulations with Lubuntu 11.04. Glad it's working great for your netbook :)

[TerryP]

Congrats. I also use Lubuntu 11.04 on a netbook and it works great.