So you thought Linux was the key to the Eee PC's success? Not so, according to ASUS. "The bulk of the requests and requirements we see in the marketplace are for the model with Windows rather than Linux," says Henry Lee, Acer's senior product manager. "It's a give and take between simplicity of usage for the masses versus full customisation. The Linux version is really only to use exactly what is provided, and someone in the know can easily remove what's been installed. But consumers are accustomed to the Windows environment, and the Windows version will be a stronger player eventually." Editor's Note: More broadly, this piece examines whether the popularity of the Eee and its Linux-bearing cousins will be sustained, or if they will ultimately get beaten out in the netbook space by Windows-based versions. What do you think?
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Member since:2007-02-17
I love this device, and I agree that the Xandros distro that's been preinstalled cripples it too much. Still, I've reverted to it because none of the other distro's could get everything to work.
Will keep trying with every new release of:
-Arch
-Debian
-Ubuntu
-Fedora
-FreeBSD
Mandriva 2008.1 works perfectly with an EEEPC.
http://eeepc.net/mandriva-20081-works-with-eee-pcs/
Member since:2008-02-05
I tried it, and found it extremely slow and heavy. That, and no, the hardware didn't work 100% (though it was a little better than other distro's). By the way, they only say that they support the 700 series out-of-the-box. There's definitely some work to be done for the 900 series.
I had far better results with Debian and Arch, (I'd prefer to use one of those two), but then I couldn't get all the hardware to function 100% properly.
I'll just give those two some time to mature into the direction of these ulpc's, and will get rid of Xandros at that time...
But indeed (to a poster below somewhere), it looks like the Xandros distro was just slapped onto the device without much thought. The ICEWM ui isn't the worst, but why install an OS without a repository worth that name on a device like this? Hell, even a lightweight version of Ubuntu would be loads better.
Member since:2005-11-12
Still, I've reverted to it because none of the other distro's could get everything to work.
I tried a lot of what you listed. eeeUbuntu worked best for me. It recognized the camera, wifi, etc. The only drawback is that when the kernel updates I have to manually compile madwifi drivers. It is easy to do. You just navigate to /opt/eee.../madwifi and run make clean, make, make install and you are back in business.
Member since:
2008-02-05
(posting from my eee 900)
I love this device, and I agree that the Xandros distro that's been preinstalled cripples it too much. Still, I've reverted to it because none of the other distro's could get everything to work.
Will keep trying with every new release of:
-Arch
-Debian
-Ubuntu
-Fedora
-FreeBSD
to see if all features are supported well enough, but at this moment I choose to keep the (fairly awful) Xandros (easy mode) in favour of all those nice and shiny other distro's with decent repositories, but bad hardware compatibility.
I'm not enough of a linux user (yet) to be able to keep my distro working properly with too much hardware that isn't working out of the box.
EDIT: by the way, wifi wasn't the worst thing to get working. The webcam, acpi and function keys are far worse.
Edited 2008-07-14 12:48 UTC