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HP Releases New Netbook GUI For Ubuntu
dan of the north writes to tell us that a new custom version of Ubuntu aimed at netbooks and based on 8.04 Hardy Heron has been released by HP. Targeted to the HP Mini 1000 Mi, the netbook customization comes complete with OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Pidgin, and a few others. "Overall, HP has created one of the best thought out Linux interfaces for netbooks. The software is designed so that users who have never used Linux should have no trouble performing basic tasks. But experienced Linux users can always fire up a terminal window by hitting Alt+F2 and entering 'gnome-terminal.'"
HP has taken a solid product improved it and is using it to improve the value of it's own product.
Everybody involved benefits (except microsoft...).
The Register reports that this version will not be available in the UK. The Limeys have to run Billyware only.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I almost got the HP Mini 1000 but decided on a different netbook due to the proprietary VGA cable needed to connect the HP to a larger screen. I went with the Samsung NC10 instead, and I am not disappointed in the least. The first thing I did was to install Ubuntu on the Samsung, and it works just fine for the most part (the function keys to control brightness being the only thing I had to work around). I got a 2GB stick of RAM for it, and honestly don't find it underpowered in the least. I think it's a great machine to bring on the road to get some coding done; I don't think it's limited to simply web browsing and email.
Netbooks can play a huge role in unseating the Windows monopoly. Just as Linux has "snuck in the backdoor" as the leading OS on embedded devices, it is also the most obvious and best answer for netbooks. As we move away from expensive "generalist" computers into the realm of truly commodity hardware, Windows just can't compete. Hopefully wide-scale netbook adoption of Linux can get a big enough base of ordinary users that Linux can grow to adapt to their needs. :)
Frankly, it makes sense that a computer system company (HP, Dell, etc) would actively pursue releasing a linux distro that works well/specifically designed to work well with their specific hardware, etc. (I presume this is going to include drivers for all of the included hardware in the mini), and is "easy" to use and looks good...
I'm surprised more companies haven't done this, actually.
This is precisely what we want to see. Hardware manufacturers using the openness and customizability of Linux and free software to ensure not only that their software and their hardware play nice but to give the device a look and feel that is distinct and tailored to the device. I think we can all agree that Apple owes at least part of its success to a relatively seamless and user-friendly interface between hardware and software. Linux and open source software should allow the same thing but any hardware manufacturer could do it rather than just Apple. If they had put windows on it, this netbook would act more or less like every other windows laptop out there, just less powerful. Instead, they have something that is actually exciting.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
Just guessing, but 8.04 is a Long-Term-Support release.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
It won't even come bundled with toolbars, trials, demos, etc that their Windows computers come bundled with.
This is excellent to see.
From an ergonomic standpoint, "ALT+F2" is easier to press in almost all scenarios than "Windows Key+R"
If you hunt-and-peck:
- ALT+F2: Thumb on alt, Index finger on F2. One does not need to bend their wrists upwards
- WIN+R: Thumb on Win, index on R. One has to rotate wrist, elbow, and shoulder.
If you use home row:
- ALT+F2: Same as the hunt-and-peck
- WIN+R: Bending either the left or right thumb inwards, extending index finger to the R key.
If you have a DVORAK layout:
- ALT+F2: No fucking clue, I don't use DVORAK keyboards because the name reminds me of John Dvorak.
- WIN+R: Same as above
8.04 has become the equivalent of Debian stable. It works for the vast majority of people and if there are specific apps you want to upgrade, you can find newer versions that integrate perfectly with your system. My machine has about 3000 packages installed on it. I only care about 15-20. I just hand upgrade those packages and let the reset sit at their stable state.
I *think* this was posted on Lifehacker yesterday, that you could download and install the theme that this uses. Here's the link:
http://lifehacker.com/5147379/get-hps-dark+themed-mini-look-on-your-ubuntu-desktop
I tried it last night, on 8.10, and didn't have much luck. I'd really like a dark theme, but none of the ones I find seem to work well. Sure, I'll grant that the theme *did* look good. But it screwed up the controls so that iGoogle looked like crap and I couldn't read half the HTML elements. I like the window border of the theme, but if I only use that I lose the all-black task bar. All in all, I thought Firefox looked pretty bad under this.
Also, I still didn't like the icons. Why do 99% of the gnome icon themes suck? They all have this ugly volume control, and ugly 4 bars for the wireless connection. I've found some nice minimalist OSX-like icons themes, but they are always black and don't work well with the dark interfaces!
I did like the mini-style of the theme. Changing back to some of my others I realized how much space is wasted on some of the menus and the bars. Just my $.02.
For almost 25 years Microsoft has been dictating the OS and hardware for personal computers. Both consumers and producers alike have suffered.
Better systems not supported by Microsoft languished.
Companies with really good ideas run bankrupt when Microsoft copies them and incorporates their knock-off into DOS/Windows.
Before Microsoft, system companies competed on features and support. These days everything is about price and with "windows" being the price point, the HPs and Dells of the world have to play ball with Microsoft.
If, however, the Windows stranglehold can be weakened in that people accept that they don't NEED windows, then that opens opportunity for Linux and other systems.
It is about time the OEMs started flexing their muscle. Once they free themselves, they opportunities will grow!! Economic growth for sure!
all the niggardly little details
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
Ubuntu is simply the sane thing to put on a desktop machine these days, especially for users who may not already be familiar with Linux.
It was always really frustrating to me in the past to see hardware companies selling machines with Linux preinstalled, but with some crappy version of Linux that was bound to create a bad impression of Linux in general.
Back when Fry's was selling Great Quality boxes for as low as $180, I bought several of them. They had something called ThizLinux on them, which was apparently a distro that GQ created themselves. No documentation for ThizLinux came with the machine, and googling for ThizLinux turned up a Chinese-language web site with no English translation. The printed docs that came with the machines were actually 90% information on how to wipe ThizLinux off your hard disk and install Windows. The impression any user would get from this was probably that Linux was crap, and nobody really wanted it.
Same deal with the Everex gPC, which I reviewed a while back. This may be a little unfair, because what I bought from them was a beta of their gOS distro, and now they have a newer version out, but basically it sucked, and I very quickly decided to replace it with Ubuntu. IMO it was just foolish of Everex to put out their own distro. I think they were imagining that by making it look slick (and a lot like MacOS) they would attract users. But in reality it worked so poorly that I think they were shooting themselves in the foot.
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The root of that word is not ignorant person but "Negro", referring to the race of people with Black Ancestry. Negro itself comes from the Latin word 'niger' - which means 'black'. The usage of the word to mean ignorant person is but the start of the racist connotations it has acquired in the US.
WRONG. Here's a summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggardly for you. You might be particularly amused by the item on the Economist magazine. The "racist connotations" to which you refer are nonexistent, except perhaps for a few (mostly Americans, apparently) whose grasp of English is as poor as yours.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire