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How Classsmate PC Stacks Up Against OLPC
lisah writes "While the One Laptop Per Child project pulled itself together and shipped its first Beta machines, Intel was busy developing its own version, the Classmate PC. Inevitable comparisons will be made between the two (especially since OLPC's chairman Nicholas Negroponte called Intel's move "predatory"), so Linux.com's Tina Gasperson and her kids took a Classmate PC for a test run to see how it does in the real world. The upshot? Good battery life, easy to use, and great with ketchup. 'The Classmate is so adorably cozy it make you want to snuggle up on a comfy couch or lean back on some pillows on the floor while you surf. Good thing wireless is built right in. Too bad the typical Linux foibles apply. The first snag was having to log in as root to check the system configuration because the Classmate wouldn't log on to the network. Something tells me most elementary and high school teachers with nothing but Windows experience aren't going to get that.'" Linux.com and Slashdot are both owned by OSTG.
I run Ubuntu Linux on my Toshiba laptop. I had to install two proprietary drivers to get accelerated video and support for the wifi. Ubuntu does not install these by default. If I were a complete novice I'd have no idea that this would solve my problem nor would I know how to do it.
The next thing that I consider a shortcoming to using Wifi on Linux is that if I don't have the Wifi radio switched on when I boot the machine Linux does not detect this and allow me to network automatically. I still don't know the solution but whatever it is on Windows and Mac OS X this is a simple no brainer operation. It should be completely automatic and transparent.
I have been trying Linux off and on for many years and still see areas where if it were "just a little better" I could replace my Windows with it. I'm looking forward to that day.