Should Ubuntu have a Laptop edition?

[vishzilla]

I was wondering, should Ubuntu have a separate Laptop Edition specifically designed for Laptops

[sp0nge]

Personally, I don't see any major advantage. I run Ubuntu on every machine I have(5), 2 of which are laptops. What would be included in a "Laptop Edition"?

[p_quarles]

For what purpose? Laptops and desktops tend to have similar specs, and laptop-mode is already packaged with the installation CD.

[mytwobears]

I've been running ubuntu on my laptop starting with Edgy, then upgraded to Feisty, and am now running Gutsy and everything runs like a dream, except for my wireless and that's because of poor supported driver issues. Therefore, I really don't see a need for such an edition.

[jcwmoore]

I got a lappy, i've been through edgy, fiesty, and now gutsy, and every thing has worked great...so i can't say that i see a need for a laptop edition, but i think it would be nice to have a distro that is configured for a battery powered pc. laptop-mode just isn't enough...

[fatality_uk]

I have Gutsy running VERY, VERY well on an eeePC. No need for a seperate lapbuntu here ;)

[jespdj]

There are already so many variants of Ubuntu: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Gobuntu... and each of those is available as a Desktop or Server variant, and of each of those there is a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. That's already 5 x 2 x 2 = 20 editions.

Do we really need a Laptop variant also? That would make 5 x 3 x 2 = 30 editions to choose from...

I don't think it's necessary to have a Laptop variant, but there are some things in the current version that could be optimized with regard to laptops, especially with regard to power management.

[vishzilla]

Ok. I got your point. I wish they could improve the power management. I get only 90 mins of my laptop. With XP, i used to get about 2 hrs. I dunno why this happens

[lisati]

For what purpose? Laptops and desktops tend to have similar specs, and laptop-mode is already packaged with the installation CD.


Ok. I got your point. I wish they could improve the power management. I get only 90 mins of my laptop. With XP, i used to get about 2 hrs. I dunno why this happens

Like the others, I don't see any real advantage, other than the possibility of incorporating extra power management options.

I'm not fully clued up on automatically detecting the power management features a particular hardware configuration has, but I imagine that just as its possible to infer things like CPU type and kinds of graphics cards, some corresponding test might be available to an automated installation process that helps it adapt to a laptop's needs.

[lisati]

Ok. I got your point. I wish they could improve the power management. I get only 90 mins of my laptop. With XP, i used to get about 2 hrs. I dunno why this happens

It's possible that your battery is on the way out. I used to get just over an hour on my laptop when new - it came with XP - but recently it's dropped down to about 15 minutes, which is a bit grim! (I have a dual boot system and suspect that in my case it's more likely to running it of AC more than the batteries)

[mcsimon]

I want a tablet edition!

that's one thing that windows has integrated really well.

[speedwell68]

I also see no need for a laptop edition. Just seems like more work for the developers. My Acer runs sweetly on Ubuntu. I had a few silly issues with Edgy, but with Fiesty and Gutsy all has been well. I get about 2hrs 10 mins running on battery.

[Tristam Green]

I want a tablet edition!

that's one thing that windows has integrated really well.
As far as I know (haven't tried it yet myself, but will soon), Wacom design stuff is supported fairly well.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't mind eating a little crow. I'm kinda hungry anyway :)

[aysiu]

It's not as if the developers have easy fixes for the laptops that don't work well with Ubuntu right now but just can't fit them on the desktop CD, so I don't see the point of a laptop edition.

The hardware detection is at the kernel level.

[mcsimon]

As far as I know (haven't tried it yet myself, but will soon), Wacom design stuff is supported fairly well.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't mind eating a little crow. I'm kinda hungry anyway :)

the actual tablet drivers work well but things like handwriting recognition and onscreen keyboard are messy and unintegrated whereas the tablet sidebar in vista is fantastic.

[stalkier]

I agree and have also been doing the same, though the driver support issue was fixed in Gusty (for me).

[sp0nge]

I agree that the battery issue is more likely linked to hardware failure. I've had this laptop for about 3 years, and it gave me 2 hours plus at first, when I was running XP. Once I Switched, the power supply was only giving me about 30 minutes of life, and now, I need to keep the machine connected to the power source (simply because I'm too cheap to buy the battery at this point).

Everything else works great! The only issues I've had with Ubuntu, as noted, was getting the drivers working for my wireless card. But with a little tweaking and hours scouring the forums, it all worked out and I haven't looked back!

[euler_fan]

I've been running ubuntu on my laptop starting with Edgy, then upgraded to Feisty, and am now running Gutsy and everything runs like a dream, except for my wireless and that's because of poor supported driver issues. Therefore, I really don't see a need for such an edition.

+1

[bruce89]

The hardware detection is at the kernel level.

<sarcasm>Maybe we should have different kernels for each machine so they only have the modules for the hardware that is present.</sarcasm>

[fatality_uk]

<sarcasm>Maybe we should have different kernels for each machines so they only have the modules that are present?</sarcasm>

LOL. What did Linux say on TrueNuff, "Once this guy ran a Linux kernel on a a wristwatch" "With Linux, you can tap into the limitless power of community" :D

[lisandromendez]

I don't think that there should be a Laptop Version. I don't understand what would be the advantage of doing that.

[beardiggin]

Although I am not sure that a separate laptop version needs to be created. I would like to see some features in a laptop for security reasons. For example, I think it is ridiculous that certain websites ask if you would like to be remembered if you are on a laptop. And some even go so far as to check it for you to "make it easy on you." Maybe the folks working with Firefox could do it, or maybe the OS/desktop could help by warning you when this kind of behavior is about to take place.

I would also like to tell my laptop to basically remember nothing so that I don't accidentally have Firefox remembering passwords to important sites I have visited.

[SomeGuyDude]

I'm torn. I can't imagine what it could possibly do, but I also would like to see it optimized a little more for battery life and such.

I swear Ubuntu kills batteries. I'm a student so I'm out on mine a lot, and my battery life went from over five hours to barely over four, and I bought this thing in October. I don't know what's going on but it's ******* me off.