netbook + Linux: please help
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From: ray on 4 Dec 2009 16:25 On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:02:33 +0000, Jerry Peters wrote: > Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote: >> On Thu, 3 Dec 2009, Jerry Peters wrote: >> >> >>> Similiar situation only with an Acer Aspire 1. The preinstalled Linpus >>> was a PITA so I installed my custom laptop Slackware on it. Had to >>> rebuild the kernel to set some special settings for the AA1 but >>> everything works nicely. >>> I did add 1GB of ram to the measly 512MB that came with the machine. >>> >> I've wondered why the netbook companies have chosen those oddball Linux >> distributions. There doesn't seem to be an advantage other than >> obscurity, but they lose by not having a familiar distribution. >> >> What I found odd about the Aspire One was that some games are included, >> but they are actually crippled "testware", ie if you really want to >> play the games to the full outcome, you have to pay the developer. I'm >> not sure why they tossed those in, the good distributions include >> things like Mah Jong so it seems silly to put on a version that can't >> be played fully. >> >> And I was surprised by how much space was used up by the install. >> Surprised because there wasn't a full sleight of programs, and yet the >> default install for the Aspire One used up more permanent storage than >> when I installed Slackware 12 on my main computer (well, minus the >> server packages). I'm not sure where the space went when they don't >> include things like lynx or pine. >> >> Michael > > I suspect they're after an easy to use distribution with a small > footprint, especially for the AA1's with SSD, like this one. > > Before I tossed Linpus I found that deleting all of the fonts that came > with it that I didn't need freed up a significant amount of space. > > Jerry I suspect it has more to do with using a dumbed down interface so folks will get the idea it is a toy whereas they need a 'real' laptop to do anything very serious.
From: John Thompson on 4 Dec 2009 19:23 On 2009-12-03, Monica Borg <monicaborg79(a)googlemail.com> wrote: > I am contemplating purchasing a relatively cheap netbook > that I can carry around with me. I have been contemplating > the following models: > > Asus 1005HA 10-inch Netbook > £269.99 > > Sony VAIO W12S1EW 10.1-inch Netbook > £379.39 > > HP Mini 110-1115SA Black Swirl 10.1-inch > £278.97 > > I would like to know which one of these would be best for > running a dual system with Linux. I know the Sony has > a better screen quality which is why it is somewhat more > expensive I think. The Asus and the HP are about the > same (lower screen quality than the sony vaio) but the > asus has no blutooth while the HP does (but for whatever > reason I found no rating on amazon for the HP). I just bought an Acer Aspire One (10" screen, 160GB HD, built-in wired/wireless ethernet), upgraded it from 1GB RAM to 2GB and installed Xubuntu on it. Everything works fine, including the web camera. It came with XP and now dual boots XP and linux. -- -John (john(a)os2.dhs.org)
From: Michael Black on 4 Dec 2009 22:19 On Fri, 4 Dec 2009, Jerry Peters wrote: > Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote: >> On Thu, 3 Dec 2009, Jerry Peters wrote: >> >> >>> Similiar situation only with an Acer Aspire 1. The preinstalled Linpus >>> was a PITA so I installed my custom laptop Slackware on it. Had to >>> rebuild the kernel to set some special settings for the AA1 but >>> everything works nicely. >>> I did add 1GB of ram to the measly 512MB that came with the machine. >>> >> I've wondered why the netbook companies have chosen those oddball >> Linux distributions. There doesn't seem to be an advantage other >> than obscurity, but they lose by not having a familiar distribution. >> >> What I found odd about the Aspire One was that some games are included, >> but they are actually crippled "testware", ie if you really want to play >> the games to the full outcome, you have to pay the developer. I'm not >> sure why they tossed those in, the good distributions include things >> like Mah Jong so it seems silly to put on a version that can't be >> played fully. >> >> And I was surprised by how much space was used up by the install. >> Surprised because there wasn't a full sleight of programs, and yet >> the default install for the Aspire One used up more permanent >> storage than when I installed Slackware 12 on my main computer (well, >> minus the server packages). I'm not sure where the space went >> when they don't include things like lynx or pine. >> >> Michael > > I suspect they're after an easy to use distribution with a small > footprint, especially for the AA1's with SSD, like this one. > But there isn't anything magical about the oddball distributions that come standard. One argument "in favor" of Windows is that so many have experience with it. Yet, the netbook companies turn around and put a distribution that isn't common on their netbooks? Might as well start with a distribution that is already common. As for "footprint", I can put Slackware 12.0 in 4gigs, the only thing I left out was the server packages. That's the whole shebang, all the browsers, Emacs, whatever editors are included, Gimp, everything. If I'd wanted to do a selective install, put just the things I actually use, it would come out much smaller. While I can't remember how much space is used by the oddball distribution on the Aspire One, I sure was shocked to find that there is so little in there but it takes up so much space. I'm sure as much as 4gigs. So unless you're right and they for some odd reason devote much of the space to fonts (I don't see the point of that, it's a limited computer for limited useage), I really do wonder where the space gets used. Michael > Before I tossed Linpus I found that deleting all of the fonts that > came with it that I didn't need freed up a significant amount of > space. > > Jerry >
From: Jerry Peters on 5 Dec 2009 16:08
Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote: > On Fri, 4 Dec 2009, Jerry Peters wrote: > >> Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote: >>> On Thu, 3 Dec 2009, Jerry Peters wrote: >>> >>> >>>> Similiar situation only with an Acer Aspire 1. The preinstalled Linpus >>>> was a PITA so I installed my custom laptop Slackware on it. Had to >>>> rebuild the kernel to set some special settings for the AA1 but >>>> everything works nicely. >>>> I did add 1GB of ram to the measly 512MB that came with the machine. >>>> >>> I've wondered why the netbook companies have chosen those oddball >>> Linux distributions. There doesn't seem to be an advantage other >>> than obscurity, but they lose by not having a familiar distribution. >>> >>> What I found odd about the Aspire One was that some games are included, >>> but they are actually crippled "testware", ie if you really want to play >>> the games to the full outcome, you have to pay the developer. I'm not >>> sure why they tossed those in, the good distributions include things >>> like Mah Jong so it seems silly to put on a version that can't be >>> played fully. >>> >>> And I was surprised by how much space was used up by the install. >>> Surprised because there wasn't a full sleight of programs, and yet >>> the default install for the Aspire One used up more permanent >>> storage than when I installed Slackware 12 on my main computer (well, >>> minus the server packages). I'm not sure where the space went >>> when they don't include things like lynx or pine. >>> >>> Michael >> >> I suspect they're after an easy to use distribution with a small >> footprint, especially for the AA1's with SSD, like this one. >> > But there isn't anything magical about the oddball distributions > that come standard. One argument "in favor" of Windows is that so > many have experience with it. Yet, the netbook companies turn > around and put a distribution that isn't common on their netbooks? > Might as well start with a distribution that is already common. > > As for "footprint", I can put Slackware 12.0 in 4gigs, the only thing > I left out was the server packages. That's the whole shebang, all the > browsers, Emacs, whatever editors are included, Gimp, everything. If > I'd wanted to do a selective install, put just the things I actually > use, it would come out much smaller. > > While I can't remember how much space is used by the oddball distribution > on the Aspire One, I sure was shocked to find that there is so little > in there but it takes up so much space. I'm sure as much as 4gigs. So > unless you're right and they for some odd reason devote much of the > space to fonts (I don't see the point of that, it's a limited computer > for limited useage), I really do wonder where the space gets used. > > Michael Slack 12.1, sda1 is the 8GB SSD and has everything but but /home and /var/log, which are on the SDHC card. /tmp is tmpfs. I don't use KDE so there is a significant space savings there. Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/sda1 6.9G 2.3G 4.3G 35% / /dev/mmcblk0p1 3.8G 2.0G 1.7G 55% /home /tmp 256M 12K 256M 1% /tmp There were a lot of fonts, especially for various Asian languages. I think somewhere around 1GB or so of fonts, but that was almost a year ago, so I could be mistaken. Jerry > > >> Before I tossed Linpus I found that deleting all of the fonts that >> came with it that I didn't need freed up a significant amount of >> space. >> >> Jerry >> |