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Which Distro For an Eee PC?

Posted by timothy on from the pick-your-poison dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I've got an Eee PC 1000HD, and frankly, I can't stand XP. I know it's odd, because I actually like Vista, but XP is such a giant piece of crap on here that I struggle to use it day-by-day. Anyway, my question is this: which Linux distro should I run on it? Plain Ubuntu just doesn't have driver support. I tried Ubuntu-eee, which, to put it bluntly, does not work for me at all (slow, terrible battery life, even worse interface). I've heard that Jaunty Jackalope is going to have better netbook support, but that's all the way in April! Is there a distro out now that will free me from XP's terribleness without being terrible itself?" Getting wireless working on an Eee PC (though in my experience imperfectly) with stock Ubuntu is possible; for me it took some googling, though I've been told with great enthusiasm that it actually works "out of the box." What distros are you running on your netbook, and what problems do you find?

13 of 466 comments (clear)

  1. Ubuntu by DesertBlade · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ubuntu makes a nice EEE distro.

    But since you like Vista there may be nothing we can do.

    --
    Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
    1. Re:Ubuntu by onecheapgeek · · Score: 2, Funny

      Anyway, my question is this: which Linux distro should I run on it? Plain Ubuntu just doesn't have driver support. I tried Ubuntu-eee, which, to put it bluntly, does not work for me at all (slow, terrible battery life, even worse interface). I've heard that Jaunty Jackalope is going to have better netbook support, but that's all the way in April! Is there a distro out now that will free me from XP's terribleness without being terrible itself?

      Brilliant advice. Really, you are a model of reading comprehension.

  2. You're best bet by Dishwasha · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you're struggling to use Windows XP on a daily basis, perhaps you should try something like this laptop. I'm certain you will find yourself struggling just as much and see just as much bloat with any kind of GNU/Linux distribution, so this can really cut down on the learning curve and usability issues.

    1. Re:You're best bet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      this laptop [amazon.com]

      Pfft, I've installed BSD on one of those. It was easier than the toaster, as this at least has a keyboard.

      I was stumped by the dead badger though, but it is rumoured to be possible.

      I hear once you get BSD running on a badger you really have earned your stripes.

  3. Wait by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Funny

    You like Vista, but dislike XP?

    What's it like in your parallel universe? Can I visit?

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
    1. Re:Wait by LordEd · · Score: 5, Funny

      In his universe, objects in Soviet Russia don't actually do anything to you.

      Old people and young people use things in North Korea.

      Scientists have solved the ??? and have profited.

      The anti-spam solution checklist has (x) That's a great idea. You solved it!

  4. I'm sorry to the XP-hater by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't take seriously someone who claims he loves Vista AND considers XP to be crap.

    I can kinda, sorta understood someone liking Vista's pretty new interface, but I've been using XP for 7 years now, and it's far from being crap. It's the most stable OS I've ever used, second only to the Mac OS. Vista on the other hand..... I can't even get it to play video on cnn.com or foxnews.com. It's not the worst OS I've ever used (Windows 3 was worse), but it's still pretty sad.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    1. Re:I'm sorry to the XP-hater by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 5, Funny

      I can't take seriously someone who claims he loves Vista AND considers XP to be crap.

      I can kinda, sorta understood someone liking Vista's pretty new interface, but I've been using XP for 7 years now, and it's far from being crap. It's the most stable OS I've ever used, second only to the Mac OS. Vista on the other hand..... I can't even get it to play video on cnn.com or foxnews.com. It's not the worst OS I've ever used (Windows 3 was worse), but it's still pretty sad.

      The OP certainly has weird taste in somehow hating XP but liking Vista. They're not that different. XP is stable, and Vista is more stable. Vista is faster for most daily tasks (remember that our /. story showing 7 faster than XP in something like 19 of 22 tasks also showed Vista faster than XP in most tasks). Vista is slower for disk manipulation, which is baffling. They're equivalent for gaming - Vista is no longer any slower, but DX10 is still useless. Vista doesn't slow down over time like XP did, though this was never a problem for knowledgeable users anyway.

      There's no difference between the two in playing videos from cnn or that other place. The least computer literate people I know, people who can't understand what a pixel is, what a network connection is, or that there's a difference between a "computer" and "software" can do that with absolutely no problem.

      Your sig is stupid, btw.

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
  5. Re:I'm sorry to the reality-hater by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I can't take seriously someone who wants to watch videos on foxnews.com.

  6. Moon-ghost Linux? by UbuntuLinux · · Score: 0, Funny

    I have been worried for a number of weeks now, about what would happen where a powerful OS like Linux fall into the hands of the ghosts that haunt the moon. We all know that spaceships don't run Windows, so if a spaceship crashed on the moon, it would be likely that moon ghosts would find their way inside, and, due to their curious nature, tamper with the computers. If one of these computers had Linux on it, it would give the moon ghosts technology that they would not be able to comprehend or use responsibly (ghosts *cannot* use technology responsibly, this is scientific fact) which could have dire consequences for the human race.

    My idea is to write a Moon-ghost distribution of Linux (suggestions for names welcome!) that would be very cut down, so it had little power. This distribution would be installed on all planet-bound spacecraft. This way, if it they where to crash on the moon, the moon ghosts would not have such a powerful tool. My question to Slashdot is, what distro would be good to use for this? What sort of features could be removed? Wireless obviously has to stay in as the spaceships need to communicate with earth, and they would need webcam functionality to photograph stars and craters and things.

  7. Abandon all hope by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you truly prefer Vista to XP, then the only course of action I can recommend for you is euthanasia.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  8. Re:don't want to sound elitist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "You just speak for judgmental, obnoxious pricks that believe the world should operate only according to their narrow-minded rules."

    Like he said, he speaks for all of slashdot.

  9. Re:eeebuntu by Tetsujin · · Score: 4, Funny

    You may wish to try http://www.eeebuntu.org/ which is NOT the same as Ubuntu-eee.

    It has worked decently on my 1000HD.

    IMarv

    Ah... Not to be confused with The People's Front of Judea!

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.