Submitted by Gary Richmond at Freesoftware Magazine looks at Acer’s Aspire One, the latest ultra portable laptop computer to feature GNU/Linux. It runs Linpus Linux Lite, a hacked version of Fedora 8. At last we have a version of Linux not tainted with the kernel source code issues and GPL violations that characterised Xandros on the Asus EeePC.
I’m holding out, probably until about September, to assess my best option to get one of these cheap Linux mini-notebooks.
Currently, the Acer Aspire One, with its decent price and reasonable choice of Linux distribution, is the front runner. Still … I want to see what the Dell E specifications, Linux distribution and price is before I choose.
Or … I might even go a bit more up-market and sexy, and get a Gigabyte M912.
http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/05/gigabyte-m912-high-end-low-price/
Disappointingly, Gigabyte seem to be trying to shoehorn Vista Basic onto this machine so it will not really be as attractive and “lightweight” (and certainly not as cheap) as other options. But I must admit the form factor does have appeal.
Going only by the link you supplied, but the spec’s do say Linux is an option
[edit – typo]
Edited 2008-07-08 13:21 UTC
And I think the author is too. He’s preaching the evils of proprietary software, saying:
If you navigate to /etc/system-release you will discover that Linpus is based on a fork of Fedora 8 (Werewolf). That’s better. Much better. Fedora has managed to avoid shabby deals with Microsoft and playing fast and loose with Kernel source code and the GPL. At last, a version of GNU/Linux on an ultra portable you can use with a clear conscience.
But then, in the very same paragraph, he says
On the plus side though, Linpus comes bundled with MP3, WMV and Flash support and plugins.
So he doesn’t mind proprietary stuff being used, as long as the vendor hasn’t made any “shabby deals” to do so legally?
I was wondering the exact same thing – how could he be happy about that? I mean, I would, but I’m not someone from the FSM 😉
I guess you don’t know what the deal was about… MS is saying that Linux infringes some of its patents, nobody knows what they are…
that kind of deal and licencing some plugins/codecs are completely different things…
Edited 2008-07-08 19:19 UTC
There are good free and open source implementations of MP3, WMV etc in ffmpeg and other codecs. There are patent encumbered in some regions but that does not make them proprietary.
The article doesn’t seem to say much about the actual laptop.