#  >  > Computers Can Be Fun >  >  > Computer News >  >  Dabbling with Linux. The good, the bad and the tuxy

## melvbot

As Ive started to use Linux on a desktop Ive bought and a few people rumbled about a Linux thread but didnt start one  :mid: , here it is, a(nother) Linux thread. 

The desktop Im running it on is a Dell Optiplex small looking thingy with a 2.6ghz Intel P4 processor and not very much RAM, an ideal candidate for experimenting with Linux. 

 So, what to expect from this thread? Ive got a few favourite apps on my Macbook which Ive found/will be looking for on Linux and as Im sort of a new Linux user all the good and bad stuff I come across will get stuffed in here if I remember to keep it going.

 To start I ran whats called a Live CD which is a fully working version of Linux but doesnt actually get installed on the hard disk, its a great way of trying out a version of Linux or distro  as theyre known without installing it over or next to your Windows/Mac system and getting in a mess. Distro is short for distribution as there are 100s of different variations of Linux, Ubuntu being the most popular one at the mo.

I used the latest version of Ubuntu which you can find here Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu but there are loads of different variations you can try by having a quick look at DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. which lists all the popular ones with links to the sites and plenty of info. 

There are Live CD versions of most distros but I used a program here Universal USB Installer  Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive Linux which will make a bootable version of Ubuntu/whatever and install it on a USB flash drive for you to play around with. You can just burn the Live CD to a CD/DVD as well if you dont have a flash drive or if you still live in the 1980's  :Smile:  Most of the downloads will fit onto a 700mb CD. Nice and simple lemon squeezy and Ill try and explain the whole process in a few posts time.

 It can seem quite daunting to start as theres some geeky sounding terms that come with using Linux but Ill try and explain them as simply and as clearly as possible, once you get your head round a few new terms and words youll find things a lot easier. Anyway, heres a few screenshots of what Ubuntu looks like to see if it takes your fancy before getting down to the nitty gritty of Live CDs and installing it.







 As you can see its pretty similar to the Windows Start menu where you navigate with the mouse by rolling over the menu and you get more options, better illustrated by this video with possibly the worst music for a demo of a computer system I've ever come across. I may be a bit of a geek but I pride myself on having  a half decent taste in music.

----------


## Gerbil

Still not ready for the desktop then I see.

----------


## melvbot

> Still not ready for the desktop then I see.


Ummm, not sure what you mean by that.

----------


## Butterfly

it's actually quite ready for the desktop IMO, but not for the majority of idiot users out there who don't seem to think outside MS or Apple,

Ubuntu has a nice version that can be installed on the top of your Windows NTFS partition, basically it's disk file being used for a boot. It's great, clean, and you won't fuck up any of your disk partition. It's also very easy to remove if you are fed up with Ubuntu and want to return to your reliable and usable WinXP

----------


## harrybarracuda

It's very easy, and it's called WUBI.

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows

Perhaps you should try it Gerbil? It might make you look less of a troll.

----------


## harrybarracuda

Oh, and if you have a Netbook, this is an excellent, and fast distro:

Netbook OS | Internet Operating System for Netbooks - EasyPeasy

----------


## melvbot

> It's very easy, and it's called WUBI.
> 
> Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows
> 
> Perhaps you should try it Gerbil? It might make you look less of a troll.


Cool, an easier way to try it out. I'll still waffle on about how to use the Live CD way for anyone who's interested

----------


## Butterfly

> Netbook OS | Internet Operating System for Netbooks - EasyPeasy


yes, nice link very useful. This is what computing should be about for the majority of users. An appliance.




> Cool, an easier way to try it out. I'll still waffle on about how to use the Live CD way for anyone who's interested


I have it on my laptop, it's very fast. Earlier version had a few bugs that will make impossible to use, I suspect a bad NTFS driver. As for LIVE CD, they are nice, but it's more useful as a Rescue than anything else. The WUBI is absolutely fantastic.

----------


## harrybarracuda

No worries Melvbot, it's an excellent thread. I've been using Linux alongside Windows for a long time, so am more than willing to chip in.

My favourite distro was actually DreamLinux, but they seem to be a bit short of developers at the moment so it's stalled. I'm using PCLinuxOS2010.1 at the moment, dual booting with Win 7 on an ASUS eee.

Anyway, this area of the board is called "Computers can be Fun", so:

Linux: Install a million games in one click!

----------


## slackula

> heres a few screenshots of what Ubuntu looks like


Technically that is what the Ubuntu implementation of the Gnome desktop environment looks like.

----------


## harrybarracuda

Good point Slack, but it's worth telling the newbie that you can start off with a conventional looking desktop and then once you've lost your training wheels you can customise Linux anyway you like (and that includes making it look like a Mac or Vista if that rocks your boat - can't really see the point!).

----------


## Cenovis

Yes, Linux works fine till you want to connect to something exotic like your Nokia Mobile phone and then you are screwed. As long as its not fully plug and play like Windows I will not touch it. Why bother with it when you can buy Windows 7 for 400 baht.

----------


## Marmite the Dog

> Oh, and if you have a Netbook, this is an excellent, and fast distro:
> 
> Netbook OS | Internet Operating System for Netbooks - EasyPeasy


Is it worth trying on an old laptop? I fear the wireless card isn't supported though.

----------


## slackula

> I fear the wireless card isn't supported though.


Post the details of the wireless card.

----------


## Fuzzy Bob

I tried Ubnutu but there are too many glitches - sound & video problems for example which are left unresolved, no decent media player, you can download vlc amongst others but it's no KMPlayer

----------


## Marmite the Dog

Smc 2632w V2

----------


## slackula

> Smc 2632w V2


What distro and kernel version do you want to use this antique on?

----------


## melvbot

> No worries Melvbot, it's an excellent thread. I've been using Linux alongside Windows for a long time, so am more than willing to chip in.


That might be handy as Im not dual booting and dont have much experience doing so with Linux/Windows.

----------


## melvbot

Lets assume you've got your Linux distro on your flash drive. What do you do with it now? Just plug it in and it just works? 

Nope, it does need to be plugged into a USB port but you need to change the order that your computer looks where to boot from. You might have to watch your computer start a few times and look for the key to press on the black screen, its usually one of the keys like "press F2 to enter BIOS setup" but it can be different depending on which computer you're using.

 There isnt a standard setup screen thats on every computer so you'll have to look for text relating to boot order, boot sequence etc.

How to change the boot sequence in the BIOS

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD



Might want to skip to about the 13 min mark to get to the part about BIOS

 If its booted properly you should then have a prompt screen with a few options such as "try Ubuntu without any change to your computer" and others like "install to hard drive" select the run without changing anything and sit back.......

----------


## Marmite the Dog

> Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> Smc 2632w V2
> 
> 
> What distro and kernel version do you want to use this antique on?


EasyPeasy 1.6

----------


## slackula

I didn't know netbooks had a PCMCIA slot.

What does dmesg say when you plug it in?

----------


## Butterfly

> Smc 2632w V2


the older the device, the more likely it will be supported

the dev lib in most distro is huge, it will literally install on everything

try that with MacOS or Win7  :Razz:

----------


## harrybarracuda

> Yes, Linux works fine till you want to connect to something exotic like  your Nokia Mobile phone and then you are screwed. As long as its not  fully plug and play like Windows I will not touch it. Why bother with it  when you can buy Windows 7 for 400 baht.


Funny that.

Apart from

TuxMobil: Linux Applications for NOKIA Mobile (Cell) Phones

Nokia have their own Linux called Maemo.

Next?



> I tried Ubnutu but there are too many glitches - sound & video  problems for example which are left unresolved, no decent media player,  you can download vlc amongst others but it's no KMPlayer


That is one downside of a free OS - support is sparse for old or obscure hardware. But if you post your sound and video card details we can take a look - generally the generic settings should work.

SMC fall into the category of old and obscure, I bought an SMC PCMCIA card and Vista simply didn't want to know about it.

----------


## Marmite the Dog

> I didn't know netbooks had a PCMCIA slot.


I don't suppose they do. As I said before; I want to try it on an old laptop.

----------


## slackula

> As I said before; I want to try it on an old laptop


Sorry, I didn't see that before.

EasyPeasy is designed specifically for Asus (?) netbooks so you'd probably be better off with a more general purpose distro for your laptop.

----------


## harrybarracuda

EasyPeasy is partilcarly good for the ASUS, as it supports ASUS hotkeys and the like, but it should be fine on any Netbook.

Out of interest, if anyone wants to try playing around with Linux but doesn't want to risk buggering up their PC, then download VirtualBox (free) from:

VirtualBox

And then you can pick from this list of ready to run "appliances" and try it out in a virtual PC:
VirtualBox Virtual Appliances | VirtualBoxImages.com

----------


## Butterfly

^ I didn't know that one, awesome

----------


## harrybarracuda

Never actually occurred to me to try it, but as I'm travelling today and stuck in the airport, I fired up PCLinuxOS and tried Skype to the UK.

Works very well.

----------


## baldrick

> Perhaps you should try it Gerbil? It might make you look less of a troll.


I saw it as humor rather than trolling

----------


## Wallalai

> Yes, Linux works fine till you want to connect to something exotic like your Nokia Mobile phone and then you are screwed. As long as its not fully plug and play like Windows I will not touch it. Why bother with it when you can buy Windows 7 for 400 baht.



By your avatar I thought you were a BSD fan.  :Smile:

----------


## Wallalai

> try that with MacOS


It install fine on Macs, and is not intended to be installed on anything else than a Mac.  Troll !

----------


## Wallalai

> Never actually occurred to me to try it, but as I'm travelling today and stuck in the airport, I fired up PCLinuxOS and tried Skype to the UK.
> 
> Works very well.


PCLinuxOS is a great distro, I run 2010 Gnome version in a virtual machine on my Macs with Parallels. I've tried the KDE version but don't like KDE 4.



[Phoronix] Benchmarks: Mandriva 2010.1, PCLinuxOS 2010, Ubuntu 10.04, openSUSE 11.3

----------


## melvbot

Ubuntu comes with plenty of applications as standard such as a music player called RhythmBox, office apps, games etc but theres plenty of software available and its my favourite price, free!

 If you click on the applications text on the top bar and go down to Ubuntu Software Centre it will open up with a nice easy to view layout of stuff like fonts, accessories, games and plenty more to play around with. its a nice easy way to get stuff before moving on to going to a site and downloading apps as some have a quirky way of being installed.

 I switched to Linux mainly for finding stuff for teaching my kids like Tux Paint and a few other educational things that have gone down really well. My youngest kid is coming up to 3 years old and has gone from random scribbles with the mouse to learning things like click, double click, drag and drop along with new words as his first language is Thai. I find Linux far more useful for kids than Win?mac as theres a good set of programs aimed aqt them where as the others dont seem to cater for young kids or its some ridiculously priced bit of software they wont end up using much.

----------


## forreachingme

Countdown to switch back to Windows ticks...In June i abandon Ubuntu, even they just released a new version, same problems with sound on skype...

What i will miss most is the double desktop screen, is that as well existing on windows xp ? or a newer windows?

----------


## baldrick

> What i will miss most is the double desktop screen, is that as well existing on windows xp ? or a newer windows?


try virtuawin
VirtuaWin - Virtual Desktops for Windows

or Deskman from windows powertoys download page
Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP


virtuawin is my preferred app for this

----------


## harrybarracuda

> Countdown to switch back to Windows ticks...In June i abandon Ubuntu, even they just released a new version, same problems with sound on skype...


Generally speaking, if you had sounds problems on Skype, then you probably had sound problems.

Try the latest Ubuntu and describe the problem (did you go through the Skype sound setup/test procedure?). Then maybe we can help you.

Like I said, I used Skype on PCLinuxOS with no problem, so it may be the hardware as described earlier.

----------


## melvbot

Whenever I can I try and use keyboard shortcuts like ctrl+c for copy and ctrl-v for paste, you can still use this in Linux but theres another way. All you have to do is highlight the text you want to copy with the mouse then click the mouse middle button/scrollwheel and it pastes! Nice. The neat trick with this is that they dont interfere with each other so the text you ctrl-c can be used with ctrl-v and the highlighted text with the middle mouse button, double power paste!

----------


## Spin

I'm dabbling with linux now, Ubuntu, I need to set up a web, file and print server for a customers small LAN and also try and incorporate cctv application called zonemonitor.

It ain't as easy as xp, that[s for sure  :Sad:

----------


## baldrick

^I hope you are not using one of those horrible generic BT878 4 channel cards for some analog cams - they are a pain in the arse.

getting zoneminder set up is not such an easy task , especially the sql database.

I am guessing you have been to the zoneminder forums - they do have some full install CD's based on a few different linux distributions.

----------


## Spin

> I hope you are not using one of those horrible generic BT878 4 channel cards for some analog cams - they are a pain in the arse


Noted, and I think not, fairly decent budget for this project, so we can afford decent kit.






> etting zoneminder set up is not such an easy task , especially the sql database.


It's got me proper baffled up until now, maybe tomorrow things will become more apparent!

----------


## baldrick

> fairly decent budget for this project, so we can afford decent kit.


if they are not trying to be supercheap - use IP cams instead of analog to a card or DVR

----------


## harrybarracuda

> I'm dabbling with linux now, Ubuntu, I need to set up a web, file and  print server for a customers small LAN and also try and incorporate cctv  application called zonemonitor.
> 
> It ain't as easy as xp, that[s for sure


You can download distros that are already set up to be Web, File & Print, even Mail and PBX servers.

Just a quick scan found these:

DistroWatch.com: eBox Platform

DistroWatch.com: SLAMPP Live

SoL - Server optimized Linux 25.00 - The sun is rising!

DistroWatch.com: StartCom Linux

----------


## baldrick

I am usinng freeNAS on a CF card now - but when openmediavault is released , I will switch

----------


## harrybarracuda

Linux Mint 9 ("Isadora") was released recently. This is a very user friendly, good looking release, and again you can download the .iso image from this link and burn it to a DVD using IMGBURN or the like:

DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

And to lighten up the thread a bit, do you like free games? (i.e. the ones you don't need to crack?).

This is an excellent build containing a load of free games:

Ultimate Edition Gamers | Ultimate Edition

It's big because some of the games are big, shoot 'em ups, and so on.

It wouldn't fit on an 8Gb partition on my netbook, so be warned  :Smile:

----------


## Spin

> if they are not trying to be supercheap - use IP cams instead of analog to a card or DVR


This is my plan, as the cards are crap like you say. Wireless IP cameras probably cost just a little bit more than analogue cameras, cabling and capture cards. It makes sense to upgrade.

For now, I configured my laptop to dual boot xp/ubuntu. I managed to get zoneminder working with my usb webcam. It took a long while to configure, just like you said.

Have to say I like Linux, everything configured itself on install, wireless connection, display driver, LAN connection. XP never did that.

The more I use Ubuntu, the more I consider formatting the xp partition

----------


## baldrick

> Wireless IP cameras


they don't have to be wireless - can be just LAN , can also be Power over ethernet with a PoE injector or PoE switch.

I would not go with wireless unless you have to because of cabling reasons.

radio is a black art , and so many things can affect a radio signal that unless you have some serious skill and knowledge with antennas it is not worth the bother if you can easily run a LAN cable.

I am talking from experience as I have 100 wifi IP cameras under my control now and some of them are absolute cnuts even at 10 meters range. Your AP needs to be able to be seriously tweaked for wifi , else everyman and his dog with a 2.4GHz device will cause you no end of problems.

----------


## harrybarracuda

> I am talking from experience as I have 100 wifi IP cameras under my  control now and some of them are absolute cnuts even at 10 meters range.


I grew up in a neighbourhood like that. We had Jehovah's Bystanders.

 :mid:

----------


## baldrick

if you are just recording from wifi cameras it is normally ok , as any short hicccups with the 802.11 connection are not noticed because the camera has a small amount of buffer and when you view the recording later it is normally ok.

if you are watching them live , you will see them stutter regularly , and if you watch a trend of the data it will be all over the place like a mad woman shitting.

with so much using the 2.4 GHz section , it is just better to run a LAN if you can - imagine living next door to butterfly and having his bluetooth remote buttplug continually interfereing with your wifi  :Very Happy:

----------


## Butterfly

> with so much using the 2.4 GHz section , it is just better to run a LAN if you can - imagine living next door to butterfly and having his bluetooth remote buttplug continually interfereing with your wifi


or worse a fat baldrick jerking off to online porn chat on his webcam  :Smile:

----------


## Butterfly

> they don't have to be wireless - can be just LAN , can also be Power over ethernet with a PoE injector or PoE switch.


a good place to buy those ? how much are they now ? 

they used to retail for 100 EUROS here if I remember correctly, but that was 2 or 3 years ago

----------


## Wallalai

> Linux Mint 9 ("Isadora") was released recently. This is a very user friendly, good looking release, and again you can download the .iso image from this link and burn it to a DVD


I've downloaded  and installed the basic Gnome version that fits on a CD in my Parallels virtual machine. Nice distro.


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

----------


## El Gibbon

In a nutshell, and lots of busted nuts actually...  lol

I have an older Toshiba Satellite (5yrs old??) that I am trying to load Ubuntu on.

Machine is fine with the exception of the DVD CD drive is kaput.  

I have tried to load using WUBI and going to the third option of not having a drive etc.

All seems ok up to a certain point where its looking for the drive, I am using a USB drive to run the disc, but the machine looks for the original drive....  

The boot sequence only allows booting from HDD, FDD or CD.  Otherwise my thumbdrive would suffice. No option to boot from that.

I am NOT interested in a dual boot system, intended to use the machine soley as a Linux station.

Any help would be appreciated.

E. G.

PS am a total fu  wit with operating systems etc.

----------


## El Gibbon

No sooner than posting the last item, the damn machine rebooted and gave me the option of windows or Ubuntu... selected  and was finishing the install stuff and got the following msg...

unable to find a medium containing a live file system

looks like it still wants to use the original drive instead of the USB drive the disc is loaded on.

E. G.


EDIT:  is there a way to force the machine to look at the USB drive??

----------


## slackula

> unable to find a medium containing a live file system


You could try the Damn Small Linux boot floppy with USB support.

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...floppy-usb.img

You could also try completely disabling the CD/DVD drive in the BIOS and trying wubi again.

----------


## El Gibbon

erm.... disabling cd/dvd in bios....  how to?

Like I mentioned previously... am an idjiot at bios and such

E, G,

----------


## slackula

> erm.... disabling cd/dvd in bios.... how to?  
> 
> Like I mentioned previously... am an idjiot at bios and such


When the machine is starting you hit a key (normally F1 or Esc) and it will bring up a screen where various basic settings can be changed. Normally you use the arrow keys to navigate around and the F9 or F10 to save and exit or exit without saving.

If you are not sure what you are doing then be very, very careful because it is quite easy to make it a paperweight by fiddling with BIOS settings.

If you change something and you think you have made a mistake then exit WITHOUT SAVING and start all over again.

There should be an option somewhere to completely disable the CD/DVD.

Have you tried using wubi without the usb drive attached? I thought wubi had the option to download and install ubuntu by itself?

----------


## El Gibbon

> Originally Posted by El Gibbon
> 
> erm.... disabling cd/dvd in bios.... how to?  
> 
> Like I mentioned previously... am an idjiot at bios and such
> 
> 
> When the machine is starting you hit a key (normally F1 or Esc) and it will bring up a screen where various basic settings can be changed. Normally you use the arrow keys to navigate around and the F9 or F10 to save and exit or exit without saving.
> 
> ...


WUBI was with a cd (ISO) 

Don't know about downloading and installing by itsedlf. Will go and have a gander.

What I need I think is a method of downloading and installing without any other device other than the HDD.  Maybe wrong but can't see much else.

The ISO disc I burned goes right to the WUBI which I've tried many times.

E. G.

----------


## slackula

> Don't know about downloading and installing by itsedlf. Will go and have a gander.


Wubi is a tool to install Ubuntu from within windows. It is not supposed to be burned on a disk, it is an exe file so it should download to windows and then you click and run it.

----------


## baldrick

> a good place to buy those ? how much are they now ?


chin land - have a look on alibaba.com

CMOS is getting better , but not sure it is as good as CCD for fast motion yet

----------


## El Gibbon

> Originally Posted by El Gibbon
> 
> Don't know about downloading and installing by itsedlf. Will go and have a gander.
> 
> 
> Wubi is a tool to install Ubuntu from within windows. It is not supposed to be burned on a disk, it is an exe file so it should download to windows and then you click and run it.


Down loaded a fresh version of Wubi, ran it and it looked for the drive for some reason.......   locked up and stopped.

Checked my boot menu and there isn't a way to turn off access to the drive.... 

This is becoming a real pain in the ass.  Wanted to use this machine for linux but looks like I'm doomed without an "expert" to accomplish it.

E. G.

----------


## El Gibbon

Forgot to add that my Acer Aspire One dual boots just as advertised with my thumb drive.  

E. G.

----------


## harrybarracuda

Hard to see what's wrong here. Most Netbooks don't have optical drives, so a lot of distros will boot and even run off USB drives.

But if you are saying this box is so old it won't boot from a USB, then WUBI is your best solution.

Let me get this right - you can boot up windows on this box and connect it to the 'net?

If so, go to Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows and click the Download button. Don't even have your External optical Drive plugged in.

Wubi should download and execute (you might have to "run" it when it asks, I can't remember), and then it will download the other components it needs.

At no point should anything be "loaded on the USB Drive".


Ubuntu shouldn't "look for a drive", since it's installing in a safe area of your Windows drive.

So if something is looking for a drive, then it sounds like something in Windows is screwed (Office maybe - that often gets stuck looking for components on the original install disks?).

As for reinstalling, which would be one option, I can't really tell you how to do it without the original bootable optical drive.

The only thing I can think of is perhaps look at a BIOS upgrade to see if there is a later version that supports booting from USB devices.

If you can give us a model number we can have a look for you.

----------


## El Gibbon

OK seems I've buggered up this thread somewhat.

So to clarify things.

The Net book Aspire One is fine.
The issue is with the Toshiba Satellite (19 in) with the following numbers


M45-S351 system unit
model #PSN480U-01xxxxx

I down loaded a clean (new) Wubi and tried an install. ( I am not interested in a dual boot machine, this is to use Linux only and play with it.) Selection #2, it seems to work for a few minutes and then I can here the ODD try and spin up.. rattle rattle and I get the following msg.

EDIT: Permission denied

see log file: c:\docume~1\admin~\locals~1\temp\wubi-10.04-rev189.log


The machine's ODD is flocked, I looked at the BIOS (escp.... F1), it does not allow boot from USB nor is there a place to disable the ODD.

Now Wubi seems to work up to a certain point, then I hear the drive try and start and Wubi closes/locks

Hope this helps clarify my issues.


E. G.

----------


## melvbot

Deleted

----------


## El Gibbon

Well looks like problem solved. Ubuntu is up and running, who knows or cares how.  :Smile: 

Tried the Wubi again this AM, failed after about 2 hours. Tried again and it went through.

Have no idea what the problem was.  Maybe a communication problem with the web that caused hiccups and shut down the process.

No idea whatsoever why it was indicated by the ODD trying to start.

But success, 

Thanks for the suggestions.

The communication problem (if that is what it is) were the farthest from my mind as I was using my netbook all day yesterday and didn't notice any drops or inet failures...

E. G.

----------


## peterpan

> It's very easy, and it's called WUBI.
> 
> Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows
> 
> Perhaps you should try it Gerbil? It might make you look less of a troll.


Well flucked now, DL'd Wubi and on reboot the selected boot the Ubuntu option, it went thru the process of setting itself up. I just let it run until the end, and switched off and tried to reboot itself. All I have now is a no signal notice on the screen and a spinning HD. I would get marmite around to assist but I can't afford the beer to keep him running. HELP plse

----------


## lom

> I would get marmite around to assist but I can't afford the beer to keep him running. HELP plse


I ain't got the heart to take that job away from him  :Smile:

----------


## El Gibbon

I am no expert as validated by some of the posts above. I tried it many many times before I got it working.

Me thinks that ANY corruption of the files downloading causes big problems. Finally got mine working today.  Worth a try anyway. Try running Wubi again.

E. G.

----------


## harrybarracuda

I'd echo that if Wubi fails, run it again. But it might be that it's had problems writing the boot records.

You should be able to easily repair Windows by booting from the Windows CD and following the simple repair procedure.

Out of interest, there's a new distribution release out that looks great for Netbooks. It combines Moblin (Intel's netbook linux) and Maemo (Nokia's platform for the N900).

It's quite web centric but has email client and media player, etc.

I'm downloading it now and I'll give it a try and report back.
MeeGo v1.0 Core Software Platform & Netbook User Experience project release | MeeGo

----------


## harrybarracuda

Very interesting!

It would seem Meego is aimed at Netbooks and Nokia tablet devices, presumably in competition with the iTampon.

It's rumoured to be coming on the Nokia 920 and Intel may start manufacturing phones and other devices.

It's got a real Moblin feel to it, and it's extremely responsive on the Atom processor.

I installed it over a dual boot PCLinuxOS/Windows 7 system, and it seamlessly replaced Linux and added Windows to the boot menu, so no problems there.

Looks a but sparse on the application front (well it is 1.0!), but it has Evolution express for email and an IM client that supports Yahoo, Facebook chat, MSN, Google Talk and lots of others. The default browser is Google Chrome.

Now I'm trying to work out what applications are available and how to get them downloaded. There's no obvious sign of an application repository, or something like Synaptic, but perhaps that's yet to come.

As I play around I'll post more.

Added:

OK I found that it has a Gadget Toolbar (wonder where they got that idea?) with 1000+ desktop widgets, which I'm ploughing through now. Has Facebook notifications, clocks, Battery meters, Wifi monitors, etc.

Added:

Impressive list of supporters:

http://forum.meego.com/showthread.php?t=46

Compatible devices:

http://wiki.meego.com/Compatible_devices_with_MeeGo

----------


## Butterfly

nice,

tablet PC ? does HP have one ?

----------


## harrybarracuda

They talked about the HP Slate in January, and at the time commented:




> It certainly seems that 2010 will be filled with entries in the  tablet PC market, though, providing users with a variety of options for  flat-panel, touch-screen, Web-enabled devices to replace more cumbersome  netbooks and notebooks.
>  		 	 		It remains to be seen if the Apple  "iSlate" or Microsoft "Courier" 		 		 will actually materialize, but HP, Dell, Lenovo, Fusion  Garage, and a plethora of other manufacturers are all lining up a  diverse array of tablet PC's to release this year.


I must admit, I like my Netbook, so I'm not rushing out to buy an iTampon clone from anyone.

 :smiley laughing:

----------


## harrybarracuda

And it has excellent Netbook support, and will sync with Android, iPhone and Blackberry.

More here:

Portal:11.3 - openSUSE

----------


## harrybarracuda

And there's a new release aimed at beginners which seems to have a good selection of software included. It's called NETRUNNER 2.

Features

----------


## harrybarracuda

Storming Norman, as he is jocularly known, is a long serving expat here in the sandpit, and has a seven year old NEC laptop the size of a couple of breeze blocks, which finally had the disk go tits up on him. He had it replaced here and they stuck on Win XP with the pestering Genuine Advantage crap, so he asked me to fix it.

I asked him what he did with it, and he said "Web surfing, Hotmail, cards".

So I stuck Lubuntu on it, with Google Chrome as the browser and a ton of free solitaire games, and this over 70-year old not particularly computer savvy geezer went on his way. Next time I saw him, he told me how much faster it was and how much he likes it.

That ought to convince people that Linux is nothing to be afraid of, if nothing else does.

And it found everything OOTB as well (except for the Wifi driver, because this thing is so old it doesn't have one - but the LAN adapter worked fine).

----------

