Modify Colors
How "Simplifying" Linux Just Made It Worse
Some time after Linux netbook started appearing, it became obvious that there was a problem. Every time a new manufacturer gets in to the business, they try to build a completely custom Linux system that is “easier.” It is impressive the number of times this has been attempted and how many times it has horribly and completely failed at the goal of making things “easier.”
I just finished reading an article about Windows 7 and Linux on netbooks. This paragraph is what bothers me:
So which is better suited for netbooks? For the mass consumer audience, there’s little doubt: Windows 7 is superior. Installing new software and updating existing software in Linux isn’t for the faint-hearted, and most people won’t be able to figure out how to do it. In addition, Windows 7 has eye candy and extra features that Linux lacks. Most people also won’t want to tackle the learning curve they’ll face when moving from Windows to Linux.
Let me be clear. I don’t think the author is wrong; I think the manufacturer who made whatever netbook he is using did something wrong.
Sitting in front of my full Ubuntu laptop, I can install an application more easily than I can get up a turn off the lights. You can’t miss it. Click on Applications and choose Add/Remove. It’s that simple. Yet somehow, in an attempt to “simplify” Linux, numerous manufacturers have managed to make it act like Linux from the 1990s. Yes, that’s right – you have to use the terminal to install an application on the Eee PC. What is this? Gentoo Netbook Remix?
Moving on to the second point, a five year old low-end computer can run better eyecandy than Vista on a modern PC and, from the looks of it, at least as much eyecandy as Windows 7 on a new computer. Once again, this seems to be a feature that fell victim to “simplification.” I am not even going to talk about features.
Anyone still making netbooks without the ability to easily install software and do ALL basic computing tasks without the terminal deserves a slap and a big FAIL banner.
If you own a netbook that came with Linux, I invite you to share the process for installing applications.
Related posts:
- Ubuntu Launches 9.04, Get's Serious About Netbooks As usual, Ubuntu’s home page advertises both Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope...
- Is Windows 7 Really A Linux Killer? A recent ComputerWorld article titled “Windows 7: The Linux Killer”...
- Android Adapts, Shows It's Open-Sourceness Even if Google’s Android has been having some issues on...
- Ubuntu Netbook Remix Continues to Succeed Back in September, I examined the first reviews of Ubuntu...
- RealPlayer Licensed for Linux Netbooks It looks like a version of RealPlayer is being licensed...
You’re absolutely right. Bought my Eee 1000 that came with the Xandros remix. First thing I did was remove it. It’s horrible. But its also what all the reviewer will write reviews based on.
The Jolicloud looks like it will be a decent Netbook OS. But it really pains me whenever people do say things like effects or installing software is anything but more complicated on “Linux” when we all know how dead simple Ubuntu + Gnome has made it after 4 years.
I bought an EeePC 901 with Linux. The easiest way to install applications is by moving openSUSE onto an SD card and overwriting the preinstalled Xandros.
My EeePC 701 came with that awful Xandros… I just popped in eeeXubuntu and ran with it. I agree. These custom builds are like murder.
Under the pretense of “ease-of-use”, vendors have sought to use an Open Source operating system to create proprietary lock-in. Generally, the execution is as flawed as the fundamental concept, the user being forced into a one-size-fits-no-one scenario.
Of course, the fast boot times offered by the proprietary configurations are lost when a decent OS is installed. It is, nevertheless, well worth it in the enhanced productivity a full-featured OS with up-to-date software packages affords.
So you can install applications easily on Ubuntu. Then how about a dist-upgrade? And another one? Two years, four upgrades, don’t tell me you haven’t seen a borked dist-upgrade
But you’re right a common, user-friendly distribution is needed indeed, only future can tell what the netbook makers will decide.
Okay, I’ve got a Toshiba NB100, which came with Ubuntu Netbook Remix (Hardy) pre-installed. Installing an application is as simple as clicking Administration then Add/Remove… or Synaptic Package Manager.
Where the FAIL lies is that:
1) Ubuntu is slow at backports. For instance, OOo 3.0 still isn’t in the repositories. And I’d heard good things about the Midori browser, but version 0.0.17 is nowhere near the current 0.1.2 (the version in the repos even lacks Flash support). Of course, you can play the PPA game to get around this.
1a) Why oh why oh why did Ubuntu slavishly follow Debian in removing XMMS from its repos? More PPAs…
2) Sometimes the PPA game fails. My pet hate is that Inkscape 0.46 fails to maximize on the 1024×600 screen because of the inadequate vertical resolution. This has been fixed in the development builds of 0.47, but this requires a more recent version of GTK than seems installable on Hardy.
3) The worst FAIL therefore is that, thanks to the funky lpia architecture, it seems like there’s no easy way to upgrade to Intrepid.
But having said all that, this is very close to getting the netbook right*. This is no crippled version of Linux, but something I feel right at home with. Okay, I’ve never been a great fan of dumping junk all over my desktop (I use a directory called ~/Junk and set up a shortcut key to it), so it’s probably natural that I find the UNR interface an efficient, easily customizable use of screen real estate**. I especially love the Favourites submenu, which I had initially missed the point of.
I can essentially do everything on my netbook that I can on my Ubuntu desktop computer. If anything, I slightly prefer the netbook interface. And in terms of UI design alone, I prefer both to Windows.
* I say very close because I have a couple of minor irritations with the keyboard layout: the location of the backtick key misaligns all the number and function keys against one’s expectations, and the hash key is in the wrong place, making the enter key wide rather than tall and breaking the logical sequence of AltGr+; +’ +# (followed by a vowel — áâà).
** But then again, I preferred the Windows 3.1 UI to that of Windows 95.
This is why HP changed and now includes ubuntu on their netbooks. You can’t go wrong with it, i think the others will eventually follow.