Asus droping Xandros for Debian on the eeePC... a good move?

[madjr]

http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/06/24/debian-to-replace-xandros-on-the-eee-pc/

am sure they'll be keeping the easy-no-manual-needed interface :)

debian, hmmm..

[atomkarinca]

I think Ubuntu Netbook Remix would be better.

[barbedsaber]

I think Ubuntu Netbook Remix would be better.

You are not the only one, I agree whole heartedly.

[karellen]

I think Xandros is pretty dated

[quinnten83]

Somebody sick Mark on them, there is some buck to be made here.
Ubuntu net remixed FTW!

[AndyCooll]

Debian is a good choice (or more probably Asus's remix of it), however Ubuntu's remix would be even better.

:cool:

[Solicitous]

Good move dropping Xandros, but I don't think Debian is such a good replacement. I'm leaning towards agreeing with the people saying the Ubuntu Netbook remix.

[gn2]

Debian is an excellent distro, but will need some input from Asus to get it running user-friendly and properly customisable.

For me there are some fairly deal breaking issues with the existing Eee Xandros installation, but this is the worst, see posts 74, 75 and 77:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5249974#post5249974

[Johnsie]

I have an eeepc. The problem with the current setup is that you need to have a mixture of differen distros in your sources.list to do anything cool. Even with the repositories pinned it is still possible to do serious damage to your software. The more software you install the more likely it is that this will happen. The asus repo has hardly any packages on it and the xandros one has more but isnt much better. So you pretty much need to have a debian repository anyway in your sources.list. This mixture of repositories has caused be to go through apt problems several times and I even had to do a a complete re-install one time because the packages got so messed up.

Ubuntu remix seems ok but as yet it is still very much a work in progress, and that is the opinion held by most eee users who have tested it. Also, the boot time isn't as fast with ubuntu as with Xandros, but maybe asus/connonical will be able to fix that. Once of the main selling points for the eeepc is fast booting and that's something most people aren't willing to compromise.

[smartboyathome]

I also agree that they should go with Ubuntu. Debian doesn't offer anything that doesn't fit their guidelines of free, like flash and sun java (and probably mplayer and vlc), and also doesn't have nearly the ammount of support Ubuntu does, thus it isn't as good as Ubuntu.

[madjr]

Ubuntu netbook remix is still feels a bit bloated and slow at boot-up.

i wonder if they can optimize it like their custom xandros

xandros boots in 15 seconds

[dca]

...this has nothing to do w/ Debian being better (even though Xandros, Ubuntu, etc are based on it) than anything else. I think it has everything to do w/ the deal (As with Novell, Linspire, LG, et' al) between Xandros & MS...

Debian will never have a corporate foundation like Xandros, RH, or even Canonical/Ubuntu. That's why (I don't believe) Mandriva (which already has a vers avail) or Ubuntu will be considered in the future.

[Linuxratty]

...this has nothing to do w/ Debian being better (even though Xandros, Ubuntu, etc are based on it) than anything else. I think it has everything to do w/ the deal (As with Novell, Linspire, LG, et' al) between Xandros & MS...


You took the words right out of my mouth..
I agree 100 % with your assessment. I also think the developers can and will turn out a lean,mean version that will meet their needs very well indeed.

[atomkarinca]

Ubuntu remix seems ok but as yet it is still very much a work in progress, and that is the opinion held by most eee users who have tested it.

I tried the maximus and stuff and it seems pretty stable to me.


Also, the boot time isn't as fast with ubuntu as with Xandros, but maybe asus/connonical will be able to fix that. Once of the main selling points for the eeepc is fast booting and that's something most people aren't willing to compromise.

There's a more costumized version of Ubuntu for eee PC's (http://www.ubuntu-eee.com/index.php5?title=Main_Page), it boots faster. And you can always do a minimal install + Openbox :)

[markp1989]

I think its a good thing, Xandros was the worst part of the eee

[der_joachim]

I think its a good thing, Xandros was the worst part of the eee

Although I agree with you, I actually like the Easy Mode. everybody who sees my EEE, wants to play with it and within seconds they actually know how to find every program they like. Furthermore, my EEE is the only linux PC my wife will voluntarily use. The easy mode desktop is perhaps a little oversimplified, but it is very user friendly.
The 'Advanced Desktop' is bad though. It is essentially an obsolete KDE3 version with most of its configurability disabled. We hates it, preciouss..

[acelin]

Guys - this article says they are working together. There is nothing official about them dropping Xandros yet. Antone know of any articles other than this one?

[Johnsie]

I'm not switching until Ubuntu gets a 15 second boot time like Xandros does. That's the veiw held by most Xandros users over on the eeeuser forums.

Also, there needs to be an easier way to install ubuntu to a usb/sd memory stick. With Xandros you can just pop a cd in and click one button.

[michaelpagz]

Hi, guys. Just thought I'd chime in on this since I just got my eee pc 1000hd a week ago and I don't post very often. I enjoyed some parts of the xandros custom os. The boot time was awesome. I liked the idea of having some integration between websites and the desktop but ultimately its just a new browser window and that is what bookmarks are for. The tab idea is great for the small screen, but I'm using Ubuntu-eee right now and netbook remix has much better organization and while the boot time is slower, the overall speed of the desktop and browser seem to be way faster.
To me, this xandros os was meant for people who don't know or care about the full potential of what can be done with linux. I felt like every time I wanted to update something it was going to ruin the whole os. Also, they don't really update enough. Xandros just doesn't seem to be on top of things.
There are a few different distros that are in development that will eventually be awesome for the eee pc but aren't there yet (puppeee, ripple, eeedora, eeebuntu 8.10, ubuntu-eee 8.10, and eeeOS all seem potentially cool for customized distros). The key might be to have a distro with sole purpose of being the best netbook desktop ever (including updates), instead of a haphazard attempt to cram a full size desktop onto a netbook. From my research, I haven't seen an os that realizes the full potential of the netbook just yet.
They shouldn't move away from xandros until they have something really solid in its place. I've also heard that Windows 7 is going to have a netbook version and will be in on the action. I hope they don't strong arm linux out of the picture again.
One great thing about the eee pc is that it has taught me alot about linux as I can feel free to mess with xandros and other os'. Its like a practice computer because it was so cheap!

Okay, I had to get all of that off my chest. Thanks for your time, everyone!

[cmay]

i just ran belenix from a usb stick on it. its great. other than belenix which is a solaris distro cant find the keyboard at all so i had to use a usb keyboard to get somewhere i think it would be a very atractive alternative to linux variants. but in the end i would wish they replace xandros with ubunutu or debian as teh preinstalled choice. ubuntu would be good for newcomers to linux. once you know how that works you can surely figure out how to install debian or open-solaris in it if you want that :)

[m33600]

I am using Debian for eeepc right now. everything working fine for three weeks, it came alive ot of the box with eth0,1, camera, etc. No complaints at all. Lovely, practical as a desktop now, debian repos ok, all there, all working, no crash... stable, stable, stable... Yet tried compiz, it rolled the cube! ( but slow overall with compiz, due to celeron)... and the best for a 4GB macchine: 1.2GB free space after installing about 50 programs ( no oppenOffice, I use Gapps google). Xandros, after updates left me only 300 MB free space. Strongly recommend Debian. I use Ubuntu intrepid on another notebook. I guess it will not fit as well on eeepc due to its luxurious resources.

[BigSilly]

Using EeeBuntu (http://www.eeebuntu.org/) on our Eee 701 4Gb, and have to say it is absolutely fantastic. A perfect match for the Eee. It's based on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix I believe. Incredibly stable, feature rich and accomplished. I would recommend it to any Eee user regardless of ability.

Asus, for God's sake go with this!

[init1]

I also agree that they should go with Ubuntu. Debian doesn't offer anything that doesn't fit their guidelines of free, like flash and sun java (and probably mplayer and vlc), and also doesn't have nearly the ammount of support Ubuntu does, thus it isn't as good as Ubuntu.
Just because Debian doesn't have Flash in the repos doesn't mean that Asus couldn't add it in. The main thing that Debian has that Ubuntu doesn't is stabilty. I know it's imposilbe to remove all bugs, but Debian Stable has far fewer than Ubuntu. That being said, I use Ubuntu because of the newer apps and wireless support.
Last I checked, Debian still has VLC and mplayer.