Jamie's Random Musings
Various thoughts and adventures, including but not limited to Video IM, Linux, Windows XP and Widows Vista, and various bits of hardware new and old.
Wednesday 10 June 2009, 8:43 PM
Fair is Fair - Ubuntu Netbook Remix
So, I have downloaded the latest UNR 9.04 .img file, and copied it to a USB thumb drive. I then booted the nettop from that drive. The first thing that is really obvious is that the performance is much more "normal", so it appears that my assumption about it being slow on the VIA chips was correct.
I don't want to say a lot more before I have a chance to look at both distributions at least a bit more carefully. But here is an extremely superficial "off the cuff" first impression...
Moblin drives me crazy, because I can't find any of the things that I am used to working with, and I can't find anything that I am accustomed to doing as a system administrator. UNR looks much more "Linux-Like" to me, I recognize what everything is and where it came from, and I can find my way around and work with it without too much trouble.
BUT... is that the point? Is what I consider a disadvantage of Moblin really an advantage, and what I consider to be an advantage of UNR a disadvantage? What I mean by that is, if you are trying to create something for an "ordinary user", who doesn't give a hoot about Linux, maybe Moblin has got it right, abandon the Linux desktop heritage and create something that is more "obvious". Maybe UNR really is too complicated or at least too cluttered looking. It looks to me as if what they have done is tried to retain the majority of the "standard" Ubuntu desktop and menus, but to organize and present them in a different (and presumably simpler / more obvious) way. I certainly have written before that even I, as an experienced Unix/Linux user, found the desktop to be intimidatingly cluttered, and it took me a while to figure out what all the stuff scattered about was, and why it was there. Is a casual user going to be scared off by that desktop?
Comments are welcome, please... I think this has the potential to be one of the more interesting things to watch develop that has come along in a while.
jw 10/6/2009
PreviousComments on this post
Concur
Moblin is probably not for anyone reading this website - if you care about things like installing new operating systems, then Moblin's certainly not for you ;-)
Mobiln is however for all those people who have only just mastered how to use their mobile phone for functions beyond calling people up ;-)
Thanks for trying Moblin. I am a happy HP 2133 user but the fact that I can't try Moblin and ubuntu NBR is driving me crazy, so I am trying to sell my 2133 in favor of an Asus 1000H or a Samsung NC10.
I think you have to keep in mind what the target of Intel is while creating Moblin. I think they want to create an easy to use OS for things most people will likely do on a netbook, and that is browsing the net, reading their messages, stay connected with friends via Skype/MSN/etc. and maybe viewing pictures or video's. And the target audience is still using windows. For example, I think my parents will be very happy with Moblin.
Fanatic Ubuntu / other distro users will probably stick with their own OS, but their market share is around 1%, so not much to win for intel. I think I prefer Ubuntu NBR or EEEbuntu, and not Moblin. But because it is so different and looks so promising, I will give Moblin certainly a try.
What is the startup time of Moblin. Does it really boot fast?
Knakworst - I suspect that you are correct about the difference in the intended audience - it will be interesting to see if they are right in the way they are approaching them. I suspect that they might be, but it is so different from what I am used to, I just can't adjust to it well enough to decide if it is really "good" or not, at least yet.
Have you considered the HP 2140 as a replacement for your 2133? It looks almost identical, but with a 10" screen and Intel guts. I should run Moblin and UNR just fine. I've been watching for the price to go down so I could get one, but then got distracted by my nettop.
Boot times - this is my typical "quick and dirty" timing, I don't really care about differences of a few seconds that could be introduced by human error (i.e. me).
Ubuntu 9.04 boots to the "Login" screen in 30 seconds
Moblin 2.0 Beta boots to the desktop in 25 seconds
Mandriva 2009 Spring boots to the desktop in 45 seconds
jw
Update:
Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) 9.04 boots to the desktop in 35 seconds
Knakworst, before you spend yet more money, I suggest you check out Xubuntu 9.04. On my wife's HP2133 the Live version "works out of the box" and is 'way faster than the installed SUSE - and that's from the USB stick. I intend to install properly over the weekend, but anticipate few problems the way the live version works.
Well I was more than happy to boot XP off my Acer One and replace it with Ubuntu NBR.
A little tidying of the front page (favourites) so it displays office as well as firefox and other frequently used apps and the novice user will be in fairly familiar territory.
There is a long way to go but people do seem to be getting the idea of "save as word.doc" in open office.
Now thanks to people such as yourself and Jake, I can really take a steep learning curve and pass on the knowledge.
Lets keep spreading the word!
