gazelle professional review

[metalanguage]

I received mine on January 4th 2013. Since then I've had 2 minor problems:

1. Being forced into ubuntu (I do not like the recent trend of preinstalled amazon ads). When you do a little research, you find that if you don't run this machine with a modern linux kernel, you might get system crashes. Ever since I've been running ubuntu 12.10, though, I have experienced no crashes.

2. When placed on a flat surface, the laptop is uneven. One leg appears to be too short. I bring a few flashcards around. Oh well.

I carry this laptop around in my backpack all the time as I walk and bike. I tend to treat it well. As of this point I don't have any big complaints. It was a well priced machine which serves me as a portable workstation/desktop.



I want to respond to this guy's review:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...ssional+review

Body: You can see the design on their website. I've never been hurt by holding this computer.
Screen: I agree: the screen casing is a bit flimsy.
Touchpad, Cooling: I've never felt that any region of the computer has been too warm to the point that it has become uncomfortable. It is true that that region does get warmer than the rest of the computer though. You should know that 1) I don't use this computer for gaming and 2) the laptop maintains a steady temperature of ~55 degrees if you're not doing anything too intense. I mainly browse, read, and program.
Ubuntu: I also wish that I was given the option to partition the hard drive during the first system set up.

The Bad: It is true that the battery life is around 3 hours.

[cariboo]

I received mine on January 4th 2013. Since then I've had 2 minor problems:

1. Being forced into ubuntu (I do not like the recent trend of preinstalled amazon ads). When you do a little research, you find that if you don't run this machine with a modern linux kernel, you might get system crashes. Ever since I've been running ubuntu 12.10, though, I have experienced no crashes.

With about 2 minutes of searching, you can find out how to turn off the shopping lens. System Settings->Privacy.

There aren't any ads, it just shows the results of your search if you search for any type of media, be it a book, video or music. There is no direct contact with Amazon, until you click on the link. Canonical anonymizes your request, before it is passed on to Amazon during a normal search.

[metalanguage]

With about 2 minutes of searching, you can find out how to turn off the shopping lens. System Settings->Privacy.

There aren't any ads, it just shows the results of your search if you search for any type of media, be it a book, video or music. There is no direct contact with Amazon, until you click on the link. Canonical anonymizes your request, before it is passed on to Amazon during a normal search.

I already removed the relevant packages (unity-lens-shopping). I still don't want to support this kind of business though.

[cbtengr]

Why is running a "modern" linux kernel a problem?

You weren't forced into Ubuntu, another vendor offers a similar product with a choice of different Linux versions. You can replace Ubuntu with another distro if you don't like it (Mint?).

[metalanguage]

Why is running a "modern" linux kernel a problem?

I switched to Debian, had the system crash and found that others were having similar problem. The recommendation from users and some representatives (iirc) was to update the kernel to above a certain version.

You weren't forced into Ubuntu, another vendor offers a similar product with a choice of different Linux versions. You can replace Ubuntu with another distro if you don't like it (Mint?).

Yes: ubuntu or ubuntu derivatives. How many of those have reliable support? I either pick something which is supported (preferably even by the laptop manufacturer) or I put myself in a position where I have to debug the system every time something fails. I consider myself somewhat linux-savvy, but I still find that to be unpleasant.

[cbtengr]

I switched to Debian, had the system crash and found that others were having similar problem. The recommendation from users and some representatives (iirc) was to update the kernel to above a certain version.

But why is using an updated kernel a problem?


Yes: ubuntu or ubuntu derivatives. How many of those have reliable support? I either pick something which is supported (preferably even by the laptop manufacturer) or I put myself in a position where I have to debug the system every time something fails. I consider myself somewhat linux-savvy, but I still find that to be unpleasant.

These are issues common to all computers, whether Windows, Mac or Linux. If you felt you were being being "forced" to use Ubuntu, why did you make the purchase?

[metalanguage]

But why is using an updated kernel a problem?

Because it limits the distributions you can run, unless you have a desire to debug the operating system.

These are issues common to all computers, whether Windows, Mac or Linux. If you felt you were being being "forced" to use Ubuntu, why did you make the purchase?

What issues, in specific, are common to all computers and/or operating systems? You're being dishonest if you're trying to claim that the user has to deal with the same kind of problems on a Window or Mac.

I didn't realize the hardware would be so dependent on the kernel. How was I supposed to have known that ahead of time? If Ubuntu is the only operating system intended to be run on this machine, then yes, it's my fault. I had the impression that there was some general linux support.

[lolwtfhax]

All hardware support is either built into the kernel or compiled as a module for that kernel. That being said, the Gazelle Professional ships with Ubuntu 12.10 running kernel 3.5.0. Therefore, any distro that includes kernel 3.5.0 or newer should not have any problems.

These distros should work fine:
ubuntu (and derivatives), fedora, arch linux, mint, gentoo, and others...

That's not to say an older kernel wont work. It might. I haven't tried it.

[cbtengr]

Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by support.
Simply trying to help with your problem - calling me "dishonest" is not productive.

[Penguissimo]

What issues, in specific, are common to all computers and/or operating systems? You're being dishonest if you're trying to claim that the user has to deal with the same kind of problems on a Window or Mac.

If someone tried to install Windows XP or Mac OS 9 on a modern computer, they would certainly have system crashes. This is because that software was written long before today's hardware was built. The same is true for Linux; it's impossible to write software that is forward-compatible.

I didn't realize the hardware would be so dependent on the kernel. How was I supposed to have known that ahead of time? If Ubuntu is the only operating system intended to be run on this machine, then yes, it's my fault. I had the impression that there was some general linux support.

The kernel is the piece of software that handles communication between the hardware and higher-level software. By definition, hardware support depends upon the kernel.

And while S76 only offers active support for Ubuntu, many different distributions can be run on this machine. You just have to choose one that's modern enough to support your hardware. That rules out, say, Debian Potato, but you're hardly locked into Ubuntu; you'll just have to do the legwork to get anything else running on your own.

I'm also confused about the exact problem you're having. When people recommended updating your kernel in Debian...did you try that? If not, why not? Was there some other part of the distribution that wouldn't work with a newer kernel? Or do you have some other reason to not want to update your kernel? I promise that the requirement for a modern kernel isn't some kind of arbitrarily imposed evil, but a simple cause-and-effect scenario: kernel developers have no way of implementing support for hardware until that hardware exists.