The Future of Portable Linux Distros

i_want_you_to_throw_ sends in a Tech Radar piece about the various portable Linux distributions, focusing on operating systems like Android, Chrome OS, and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The article compares the distributions designed for similar purposes and discusses where they will likely go in the future. "As UNR is built on Ubuntu, it's highly likely that we'll see almost as many UNR respins as we have for the parent distribution. We've already seen one example in Jolicloud, and we'd put money on many community distributions, such as Linux Mint or Crunchbang offering a UNR overhaul alongside their standard desktop installations. It's also likely that Canonical will be able to forge stronger relationships with companies like Dell, which is already shipping a specific version of UNR on its Mini 9 platform. As Windows XP is phased out and the cost of bundling Windows 7 rises, manufacturers will be looking for a cheap and easily maintainable netbook OS, and UNR fits the bill admirably."

Comments

Diversity

[clarkn0va]

Long live diversity. Arguably, one of MS's greatest weaknesses right now is its lack of diversity (ARM et al). The fact that they have conceded to continue selling xp on netbooks is the major reason they haven't been shut out of the growing netbook segment entirely.

Linux, meanwhile, is in every growing market, and although I may run only 2 or three distros personally, these benefit from the work done in dozens of other distros. The fears of a Linux monoculture are misinformed FUD, as long as Red Hat competes with Ubuntu competes with Suse, and so on.

Re:Diversity

[clarkn0va]

My assertion holds true for Linux proper. Every major distro (heck, even countless end-users) makes its own customizations to the kernel, and many of these are adopted upstream. What Ubuntu has done for the desktop, for example, Red Hat has done for the kernel. And so forth. Even collaboration between legions of MS kernel developers can't equal this effect, because they're all mandated by the same corporate directors. Linux distros, by contrast each have their own nuanced goals and methods, hence true diversity.

Re:Diversity

[Rogerborg]

You know that whenever you say "diversity", a tech support fairy dies, right?

Missing ones

[gmuslera]

If well aren't so focused on netbooks, Maemo should be included. Nokia N900 looks more like a subnotebook than a cellphone.

Some tiny, but damn fast linux mini-distros like i.e. SliTaz could be interesting to put on the mix.

Re:Missing ones

[R_Dorothy]

Maemo and the N900 are on page four of TFA.

Cloud Computing needs to go.

[Anonymous Coward]

The biggest hindrance so far has been Cloud Computing. Device manufacturers, rather than focusing on making their portables more powerful and useful on their own, have been banking on Cloud Computing to make their devices usable by offloading any strenuous processing.

As we've seen so far, Cloud Computing is a failure in virtually all cases, especially when semi-connected portable devices are involved. The service is spotty, connectivity proves to be a major issue, and the services implemented so far have been far, far, far inferior to more traditional approaches.

What people want is basically their desktop system, with the ability to run arbitrary applications and store the data locally, but compacted down into a portable device that can be used on the go. They don't want to host their data on some third-party servers, they don't want to use web-based applications, and they don't want to have their application selection limited by a single vendor or network operator.

Re:Cloud Computing needs to go.

[Abcd1234]

As we've seen so far, Cloud Computing is a failure in virtually all cases

It has, has it! Huh... funny, Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and god knows how many other services would tend to disagree with you.

But you're right, web-based applications are a failure "in virtually all cases".

Re:Cloud Computing needs to go.

[thenextstevejobs]

sometimes there are just new words for old things.

i don't think many of us are upset about having our email 'in the cloud' for example, but what we like is being able to sync it to our phones and computers. but this universally accepted and successful(?) 'cloud' model is near universal.

i'd say the same about my other documents. i don't mind a 'repository' of my music, documents, etc., which I access over the net, but I do want to have local copies.

sometimes it seems to me like internet companies are trying to stockpile data so that they "can't" go away, get propped up by governments, necessity of access to information. doesn't really seem healthy.

makes me think of highly encrypted shared clouds done on a bittorrent/TOR like model, decentralize the thing...

Re:Cloud Computing needs to go.

[jellomizer]

As we've seen so far, Cloud Computing is a failure in virtually all cases

Details I need details... That is just a wild accusation.

I have seen Cloud Computing succeeding far more then it fails. As well it has opened up the gates so people on different environments can run the same application.

People don't care if it is their desktop system. They want to run what they want and when... They really don't care if it on a server or on their computer. They want the data they are looking for, and the program to run quick enough.

Why does cloud computing limit people to a single vender or network operator? I can use Bing Maps and Gmail...

Oddly enough your data is safer in the cloud then in most peoples hands. Sure you can get the geeky with their own raid and offsite backups... However that isn't the real case. The cloud allows you to put your data in a place where it will have some real infrastructure behind it. And not just one drop away from being lost, and easily stolen.

Even for me the Cloud has saved my butt more then once, The times the Cloud has failed on me was a minor inconvenience...

Just because RMS makes a Rant about the Evil cloud. It doesn't make him right, He just likes to rant about stuff and be overall negitive about anything he didn't think of himself.

Re:Cloud Computing needs to go.

[farble1670]

"They don't want to host their data on some third-party servers,"

yes, the average person *loves* to manage their own backups.

i have an android phone. my pictures, music, calendar, mail, videos, and contacts are all in the cloud. it all works quite well for me.

it's not as simple as connected or not. intelligent client apps cache data locally and sync it when there's a connection.

Re:crazy moon man language

[clarkn0va]

UNR--Ubuntu Netbook Remix. This is straight from the summary, bless your illiterate soul.
XP--Nobody actually knows what this stands for, but you can call it Windows 5.1 if that makes you feel better.
OS--Operating System.

You're welcome.

Re:crazy moon man language

[Kjella]

XP--Nobody actually knows what this stands for, but you can call it Windows 5.1 if that makes you feel better.

Straight from the horse's mouth found via Wikipedia:
The XP name is short for "experience," symbolizing the rich and extended user experiences Windows and Office can offer by embracing Web services that span a broad range of devices.

Re:crazy moon man language

[Anonymous Coward]

I always associated it with the emoticon "XP." Thus, Windows XP means they're making fun of you for using it.

The dream lives on

[westlake]

As Windows XP is phased out and the cost of bundling Windows 7 rises, manufacturers will be looking for a cheap and easily maintainable netbook OS

Walmart.com currently stocks 125 Win 7 laptops. Fifty Win 7 desktops.*

The retailer is looking for sales.

Which Windows and Win 7 have proven they can deliver. Top Operating System Share Trend

This isn't rocket science.

The buyer sees the Win 7 Atom netbook on sale with a 10' screen and a 250 GB hard drive.

What to fill it with?

He has tons of Windows software at home which will load and run without a problem.

Software he knows.

Software he uses. Software he likes.
_____

* But only two netbooks in stores. That's a fast fade-out even by Walmart standards.

Re:The dream lives on

[Anonymous Coward]

That's quite a netbook to have a 10-foot screen. Most of the netbooks I've seen top out at about 11".

Re:The dream lives on

[LWATCDR]

What software?
The only software that I buy these days is stuff that will not run on a netbook at all.
Games like FSX and TurboCAD.
Most home users tend to use web stuff, Quicken, maybe games, maybe Office but more and more people I know are going to OpenOffice because it is free.
I am not saying that there isn't a market for Windows 7 netbooks but I think you are missing just how much software developers would love a new platform.
Let's say that we start to see ARM+Linux netbooks start to take off. Adobe will offer an inexpensive update to Phototshop Elements for those people and make some money.
Quicken will offer a new version of QuickBooks for those people.

I think the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Android have shown users that they don't have to use windows and their old software anymore. Going to a new platform can give them new tools. It has show developers that they can charge very little for a program but make good money.
Add in that an ARM+Linux netbook could cost less than a Windows machine and run longer and do more and you may have enough motivation to get people to change.
The problem is that everybody seems to be stuck thinking that Computer==Windows. Maybe smartbooks or tablets well be different enough that they will not make that leap.
A big help would be an app store. Hey since they don't have optical drives it will be the way that most people will put software on them.

Re:The dream lives on

[langelgjm]

He has tons of Windows software at home which will load and run without a problem. Software he knows. Software he uses. Software he likes.

What Windows-only software lacks a reasonable open-source or Linux equivalent and would also be useful on a netbook?

People seem to use netbooks to... browse the web. Maybe listen to music. Work on documents. I suppose you could argue Microsoft Office, etc. I've seen someone using Word 2007 on a netbook. It was pathetic - the ribbon takes up way too much screen real estate on a netbook. Also, I guess people are pirating Office to run on their netbooks - who in their right mind is going to spend $250 to $300 on the netbook, then turn around and throw down another $100 to $300 for Office? I guess you can get it pre-installed for less.

Games, maybe. But any serious game isn't going to fun on a netbook, and probably won't run well anyway.

Actually the average netbook buyer can't load their "home" software onto their netbook, because their netbook doesn't have a CD drive. They have to download it, which either means pirating Windows apps or downloading free Windows apps. And free Windows apps likely have a free Linux equivalent that is easily downloadable (or better yet installable via a package manager).

I just wish there were some decent ARM offerings on the market - beating the Intel Atoms on battery life and price. Anyway, my point is that I really doubt the average netbook user has a bunch of Windows-only apps that are forcing them to remain with Win 7. I've installed two Win 7 machines so far, and the screen dimming every 30 seconds is enough to keep it away from my desk for good.

Re:The dream lives on

[langelgjm]

The geek quotes list for Office and forgets every other legitimate distribution channel known to man.

Not really, I mentioned you can get it pre-installed. I've been a beneficiary of MSDN-AA inter alia in the past, too. But your point was this hypothetical user has a bunch of software at home they can just load up on their netbook, not that they have to go out and buy again.

Chances are if they have Word on their home desktop or other laptop, it's an OEM copy that came will their Dell or whatever. Not easy to load on the netbook, and the licensing is questionable. Besides, netbooks are supposed to be cheap. What's the point of spending $250 then spending another 20% of that to repurchase Windows programs you already own? I don't think people actually do this.

iTunes. Games.

If you use iTunes for play music, there are plenty of alternatives. There are also plenty of alternatives that allow for iPod syncing with the majority of iPods in the wild. If you have an iPhone or Touch, maybe you're right, I don't know what the status of those is. Of course if you aleady have one, it's probably already synced to your primary machine, in which case it's not an issue.

I mentioned games, and pointed out that any serious Windows-only game probably wouldn't be fun to play on a netbook. Any FPS on a 10" screen would suck. Do people really purchase netbooks to carry around and play old games available on Steam? Seems unlikely. I see them playing Flash games.

H.264 hardware-accelerated video.

You're probably right, for now - though I don't know how many current Atom-based netbooks actually have this. Also, pretty much every recent ARM-based prototype sports this. Also, anyone know if Microsoft is lifting the hardware limits for Netbooks running Win 7? I believe for the OEM XP license most netbooks came with, manufacturers were limited to 1 GB RAM among other things. I wonder if a Win 7 OEM license for a machine with a decent graphics chip is more expensive to the manufacturer...

Re:Waiting...

[0123456]

UNR works better than a default install on a netbook with a small screen; the biggest issue I've found so far is that it forces dialog boxes to full screen and they often don't like it... they're still usable but look really ugly.

Re:Do we really need these

[malignant_minded]

So you're complaining that UNR, Moblin & all exist and that you have to choose which distro to install?

ahh no that isn't at all what i said. what i mean is, is there really any difference between UNR and Ubuntu besides like one or two packages and a hotkey mapping. Couldn't that just be included as a prompt after the nic works to install the NBR package and the hotkey mappings based on your model that can be found using dmidecode. If i change a splash screen and add a game should i really call it another name than the distro it is? Is there really that much change in the NBR is what I am getting at?

Re:Waiting...

[WeatherGod]

This problem has been getting better with each release. Software developers are rethinking their assumptions when designing their GUIs, which has lead to improved GUIs for everyone. Diversity exposes assumptions which leads to more robust software.

What I do wish is to somehow teach all users the "Alt-drag" trick to deal with dialogue boxes that are too large. While it is fairly common knowledge among many users, it is non-obvious to the uninitiated.

Re:crazy moon man language

[Again]

XP--Nobody actually knows what this stands for, but you can call it Windows 5.1 if that makes you feel better.

Straight from the horse's mouth found via Wikipedia: The XP name is short for "experience," symbolizing the rich and extended user experiences Windows and Office can offer by embracing Web services that span a broad range of devices.

In that case I am not moving to Windows 7! I want a rich experience and according to my research, only XP can provide that.