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Showing posts with label netbooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label netbooks. Show all posts

Sunday, 12 January 2014

Introduction

A short while ago I wrote an article called 12 great linux operating systems for netbooks. That article has been a huge success.

Time has moved on and some of those operating systems are now defunct and I have had a chance to test a few more.

The key to a good netbook operating system is that it needs to fully utilise its resources. Memory usage has to be kept to a minimum when running idle. The screen is smaller so you need to have a very intuitive navigation system that doesn’t clutter the screen.

So here is a list of another 6 great Linux operating systems for Netbooks.

AntiX


AntiX uses the iceWM window manager which will help to keep the initial memory footprint low.

Whilst it may not look as stylish as a Ubuntu, Mint or Elementary it is fully functional. Basically what you lose in beauty you gain in performance.

For navigation purposes you have a taskbar at the bottom and icons on the desktop which has been fairly standard across operating systems for a large number of years.

The menu however can be pulled up by clicking anywhere on the screen which means you can get to your application of choice quite quickly.

There are 4 virtual desktops available which helps with the utilisation of space because you can have different applications open on different workspaces.

AntiX comes with a lot of applications and perhaps there are some of them that won’t necessarily fit well with a netbook. The one place I would recommend Abiword and Gnumeric over LibreOffice is on a netbook and that is purely for performance.

Most of the applications are lightweight such as IceWeasel for web browsing and the Claws Email Client.

Click here for a full review of AntiX

SparkyLinux


The version of SparkyLinux I tried had the Razor-Qt desktop environment and as with AntiX’s iceWM window manager the intention is clearly substance over style.

The look and feel of Razor-Qt is very traditional with a panel along the bottom and a menu in the bottom left corner.

SparkyLinux comes with a whole host of applications with almost too many too mention. Again the developers have plumped for the LibreOffice suite over the lighter Abiword and Gnumeric tools. GIMP is also installed for image editing which will eat up the memory.

Click here for a full review of SparkyLinux

Lubuntu


In the original article I listed Xubuntu as a great operating system for netbooks but it’s LXDE based cousin, Lubuntu, is possibly even better.

The LXDE desktop is incredibly light and almost as easy to customise as Xubuntu.

The desktop is again a fairly familiar affair with a panel at the bottom with a menu and system tray icons.

You can however customise Lubuntu to look the way you want it to and so you can have multiple panels if you so wish.

The applications are very well suited to a netbook with the Sylpheed email client, the Firefox web browser as well as Abiword and Gnumeric.

The audio application is Audacious which is lightweight but functional and for watching movies MPlayer is installed.

Click here for a full review of Lubuntu

OS4 OpenLinux


OS4 is based on Xubuntu so in reality you are getting a fairly stock version of Xubuntu with a few tweaks in the choice of applications.

OS4 therefore uses the XFCE desktop which is great for customising and can work any way you want it to.

XFCE is also a lightweight desktop environment and so performs very well on a netbook.

With Xubuntu you will have to install the restricted extras package to get Flash videos and MP3s to play but with OS4 these things work straight away.

The office tools for OS4 include Abiword and Gnumeric. The browser is Chromium and Claws is the email client.

OS4 also comes with a Commodore Amiga Emulator installed so if you like to retro game on your netbook this is definitely an option.

Click here for a full review of OS4

Point Linux


Point Linux is unique in this list because it is the only one that uses the MATE desktop.

The MATE desktop was initially forked from Gnome 2 but has grown to be a really good desktop environment in its own right.

Point Linux therefore looks very stylish. The menus look great and the performance on my netbook was really good.

As with the LXDE and XFCE desktops, MATE is highly customisable and so you can make it work for you the way you want it to. (Maximise display usage).

Point Linux has 4 virtual workspaces by default (can be increased) and so you can use these again to maximise the usage of your netbook so that you are limited by memory and processor power over display issues.

Point Linux has more powerful tools installed such as the VLC Media Player, the full LibreOffice suite, Thunderbird Email Client and Firefox for web browsing. I have tried this out on my Acer Aspire One D255 and they all work fairly well but you wouldn’t want too many of them open at one go.

Click here for a full review of Point Linux

Elementary OS


If you want to try something really stylish on your netbook then look no further than Elementary OS.

The developers of Elementary have clearly spent a lot of time on design and it looks great.

I wasn’t sure whether to add Elementary OS to this list or not because when I tried it on my netbook it was a little sluggish compared to the other operating systems. This might have to do with the initial RAM usage when sitting idle.

Note that there isn’t an office suite when you first install Elementary but this means you can pick and choose the tools you want to use which I think is a good thing.

For web browsing there is Midori and the email client is Geary. Totem is installed for watching movies and the audio application is a nice little tool called Noise.


Click here for a full review of Elementary OS



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.


6 More Great Linux Operating Systems For Netbooks

Introduction

A short while ago I wrote an article called 12 great linux operating systems for netbooks. That article has been a huge success.

Time has moved on and some of those operating systems are now defunct and I have had a chance to test a few more.

The key to a good netbook operating system is that it needs to fully utilise its resources. Memory usage has to be kept to a minimum when running idle. The screen is smaller so you need to have a very intuitive navigation system that doesn’t clutter the screen.

So here is a list of another 6 great Linux operating systems for Netbooks.

AntiX


AntiX uses the iceWM window manager which will help to keep the initial memory footprint low.

Whilst it may not look as stylish as a Ubuntu, Mint or Elementary it is fully functional. Basically what you lose in beauty you gain in performance.

For navigation purposes you have a taskbar at the bottom and icons on the desktop which has been fairly standard across operating systems for a large number of years.

The menu however can be pulled up by clicking anywhere on the screen which means you can get to your application of choice quite quickly.

There are 4 virtual desktops available which helps with the utilisation of space because you can have different applications open on different workspaces.

AntiX comes with a lot of applications and perhaps there are some of them that won’t necessarily fit well with a netbook. The one place I would recommend Abiword and Gnumeric over LibreOffice is on a netbook and that is purely for performance.

Most of the applications are lightweight such as IceWeasel for web browsing and the Claws Email Client.

Click here for a full review of AntiX

SparkyLinux


The version of SparkyLinux I tried had the Razor-Qt desktop environment and as with AntiX’s iceWM window manager the intention is clearly substance over style.

The look and feel of Razor-Qt is very traditional with a panel along the bottom and a menu in the bottom left corner.

SparkyLinux comes with a whole host of applications with almost too many too mention. Again the developers have plumped for the LibreOffice suite over the lighter Abiword and Gnumeric tools. GIMP is also installed for image editing which will eat up the memory.

Click here for a full review of SparkyLinux

Lubuntu


In the original article I listed Xubuntu as a great operating system for netbooks but it’s LXDE based cousin, Lubuntu, is possibly even better.

The LXDE desktop is incredibly light and almost as easy to customise as Xubuntu.

The desktop is again a fairly familiar affair with a panel at the bottom with a menu and system tray icons.

You can however customise Lubuntu to look the way you want it to and so you can have multiple panels if you so wish.

The applications are very well suited to a netbook with the Sylpheed email client, the Firefox web browser as well as Abiword and Gnumeric.

The audio application is Audacious which is lightweight but functional and for watching movies MPlayer is installed.

Click here for a full review of Lubuntu

OS4 OpenLinux


OS4 is based on Xubuntu so in reality you are getting a fairly stock version of Xubuntu with a few tweaks in the choice of applications.

OS4 therefore uses the XFCE desktop which is great for customising and can work any way you want it to.

XFCE is also a lightweight desktop environment and so performs very well on a netbook.

With Xubuntu you will have to install the restricted extras package to get Flash videos and MP3s to play but with OS4 these things work straight away.

The office tools for OS4 include Abiword and Gnumeric. The browser is Chromium and Claws is the email client.

OS4 also comes with a Commodore Amiga Emulator installed so if you like to retro game on your netbook this is definitely an option.

Click here for a full review of OS4

Point Linux


Point Linux is unique in this list because it is the only one that uses the MATE desktop.

The MATE desktop was initially forked from Gnome 2 but has grown to be a really good desktop environment in its own right.

Point Linux therefore looks very stylish. The menus look great and the performance on my netbook was really good.

As with the LXDE and XFCE desktops, MATE is highly customisable and so you can make it work for you the way you want it to. (Maximise display usage).

Point Linux has 4 virtual workspaces by default (can be increased) and so you can use these again to maximise the usage of your netbook so that you are limited by memory and processor power over display issues.

Point Linux has more powerful tools installed such as the VLC Media Player, the full LibreOffice suite, Thunderbird Email Client and Firefox for web browsing. I have tried this out on my Acer Aspire One D255 and they all work fairly well but you wouldn’t want too many of them open at one go.

Click here for a full review of Point Linux

Elementary OS


If you want to try something really stylish on your netbook then look no further than Elementary OS.

The developers of Elementary have clearly spent a lot of time on design and it looks great.

I wasn’t sure whether to add Elementary OS to this list or not because when I tried it on my netbook it was a little sluggish compared to the other operating systems. This might have to do with the initial RAM usage when sitting idle.

Note that there isn’t an office suite when you first install Elementary but this means you can pick and choose the tools you want to use which I think is a good thing.

For web browsing there is Midori and the email client is Geary. Totem is installed for watching movies and the audio application is a nice little tool called Noise.


Click here for a full review of Elementary OS



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.


84 comments
Posted at 10:05 |  by Gary Newell

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Introduction



Over the past week there has been somewhat of a frenzy in the Linux blogosphere.

I wrote an article highlighting the many articles that appeared due to the release of Ubuntu 13.10.

In that article I mentioned that I would be looking at Lubuntu 13.10 as it is a distribution that I haven't yet reviewed.

Lubuntu is supposed to be a lightweight Linux distribution and therefore it should be more than suitable for my Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook boasting an Intel Atom Processor (1.66 ghz) and 1 GB memory.

So how did it fare? read on to find out.

Downloading Lubuntu 13.10

You can download Lubuntu 13.10 from http://lubuntu.net/blog/lubuntu-1310-saucy-salamander-released.

By clicking the above link you can also read about the purpose of Lubuntu, the features of Lubuntu and changes that have been made specifically for Lubuntu 13.10.

Lubuntu is available as a 32-bit download or a 64-bit download.

How to buy a copy of Lubuntu 13.10

If you have a poor internet connection or a download limit then you may wish to on DVD or a USB drive.

System Requirements

To run Lubuntu 13.10 you will need an Intel Pentium Pro or above. Basically your computer needs to have a CPU with Physical Address Extensions (PAE).

If you are running a computer without PAE incorporated then it is still possible to run Lubuntu but you need to install version 12.04.

In the comments below I have been informed that you can use Lubuntu 13.10 with or without PAE but it has to be the 32-bit version. The information I have given in my review comes from http://www.lubuntu.net/.

I guess the best advice is therefore to give Lubuntu 13.10 a go and if it works then great but if not falling back to a previous version should work.

The minimum requirements state that you need just 128 mb of RAM. To be honest you need more than this. The Lubuntu website is a bit vague in regards to the recommended requirements. I would suggest 1gb of RAM nowadays is a minimum.

Installation

If you are downloading Lubuntu then the first thing you need to do is either burn Lubuntu to a DVD or write it to a USB drive.

If you are using Windows go to http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ and download the Windows version of Unetbootin. If you are using Ubuntu then you can download Unetbootin from the software centre. For all other versions of Linux check the repositories using the appropriate package manager to see if Unetbootin is available.
Insert a blank USB drive and run Unetbootin. Select the Lubuntu 13.10 that you downloaded and then the drive that depicts your USB device.

When Unetbootin has finished writing Lubuntu to the USB drive remove the  drive and insert it into the computer that you wish to install Lubuntu on and boot it up.

From the menu select default and this will load up a live version of Lubuntu. Click the install icon on the desktop.

Installing Lubuntu is fairly easy and if you have ever installed any other version of Ubuntu then it should be straight forward.

Basically the steps are:

1. Select where you are on a map
2. Create a user and password
3. Partition your drive

Now the partitioning is the bit that most people find the trickiest especially if you are installing side by side.

There are options for replacing the current operating system, installing side by side or something else. On a netbook I think it is fine to use either replace (if you don't need what is there already) or side by side. There is no need to get too technical with the partitioning on what is usually a fairly small hard drive.

For a full Lubuntu 13.10 install guide click here.

First Impressions








Lubuntu 13.10 will look and feel quite familiar for those of you who have used any version of Windows in the past 20 years (Windows 8 excluded).

There is a taskbar at the bottom which consists of a menu, quick launch icons and a system tray.

Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop environment.

The components of LXDE include lightweight panels, menus, the Openbox window manager, file managers, text editors and terminal emulators.

The menu is a throwback to the Windows XP classic menu.


The system tray contains icons for audio settings, language settings, network settings, a clock and an icon for logging off.

Connecting to the internet

As Lubuntu is based on Ubuntu it is very easy to connect to the internet.

Simply click on the network icon and choose the wireless network (or indeed wired network) that you wish to connect to.

You will be prompted for your password and then you will be asked for the security key to the network.

The browser included with Lubuntu is Firefox (version 24).

Applications

Lubuntu doesn't come with a lot of applications but for a netbook there is more than enough to get you started and certainly enough for browsing the web and staying connected.

Accessories

Archive Manager, Disk Management Utility, File Manager (PCManFM), Calculator, Image Viewer (GPicView), Text Editor (Leafpad), Terminal.

Games 

Penguin Canfield, Freecell, Golf, Mastermind, Merlin, Minesweeper, Pegged, Solitaire, Spider, Taipei, Thornq.

Graphics

Document Viewer, mtPaint Graphic Editor, Simple Scan.

Internet

Web Browser (Firefox), Messenger (Pidgin), Email Client (Sylpheed), Bittorrent Client (Transmission)

Office

Word Processor (Abiword), Spreadsheet (Gnumeric)

Sound and Video

Audio (Audacious), Media Player (MPlayer), Webcam (GUVCView), Disc Burning (XFBurn).

System Tools

Lubuntu Software Centre, Package Manager (GDebi, Synaptic), Startup disk creator.

Installing Applications

There are various ways to install applications using Lubuntu. I would imagine the intended preferred method would be the Lubuntu Software Centre.





You can find the software you are looking for using the software centre by clicking on the various categories to browse, or by searching using the search box in the top right corner.

I had an issue on the netbook whilst using the search function and I traced it to this bug report (https://bugs.launchpad.net/lubuntu-software-center/+bug/1043595).

The search function starts searching after just 300 milliseconds of typing. So if you haven't finished typing your search term in that time then you have to wait for the search to complete before you can enter the rest of the search term.

On top of this I regularly received the following error message when using the Lubuntu Software Centre.

The first few times I thought the software centre had stopped responding but by clicking wait eventually it came back with some results. This isn't ideal.

However all is not lost because Synaptic is installed and I think this is a better tool for installing software anyway.

Simply type a keyword or the name of an application into the search box and a list of relevant programs will appear.

To install the applications, mark them for installation and when you have chosen all the items you need press the apply button to install them.

You will need to use the program installer if you harbour any hopes of watching Flash videos, playing Flash games or listening to your music collection (assuming your music is in MP3 format).

Flash and MP3

To be able to play Flash or to listen to MP3s you will need to install the Lubuntu-restricted-extras package.

Either load Synaptic and search for Lubuntu-restricted-extras or open a terminal and use "Apt".

To use "Apt" first of all run "sudo apt-get update" and then run "sudo apt-get install lubuntu-restricted-extras".





















As you can see by installing the restricted extras package I was then able to see Jack Wilshere's brilliant goal from last weekend.

I was also able to listen to Chas and Dave in MP3 format.

Everybody now... "I don't care, I don't care, I don't care if he comes round 'ere, I got my beer in the sideboard here, let mother sort it out if he comes round 'ere".




Customising Lubuntu

Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop.

I found that the default layout looked very uninspiring with just a panel at the bottom and a blue desktop.

LXDE like Xfce is highly customisable and it takes the minimal of effort to turn it into something like this.






















I am not going to go heavily into how you customise the LXDE desktop in this article. (I will save that for a later one).

Changing the background is simple a case of right clicking on the desktop and choosing "desktop preferences".

There are a number of decent images included by default with Lubuntu including the one shown above.

You can of course download your own images from the internet and use them instead.

It is possible to create multiple panels and you can place them on all 4 sides of the screen.



Panels can be used in the traditional sense with the menu, launch icons and system tray or you can add an application launcher and add icons for all your favourite applications (similar to the bottom panel in the desktop image above).





Other login options






















As well as the standard Lubuntu desktop there are a few other options including Lubuntu Netbook, Lubuntu Games and Openbox.

The above desktop shows the netbook option. It looks like an afterthought as far as I am concerned and not really that appealing and that brings us onto the next section.

Issues

Lubuntu 13.10 wasn't completely free of issues I'm afraid to say.

I have already mentioned the issue with the Lubuntu Software Centre but I have also had a couple of crashes when booting up as shown below.






Other problems I found were to do with the other desktop options including games and openbox. Neither would load beyond a blank screen with a mouse cursor.

Summary

Despite the problems that I have come across in Lubuntu 13.10 I would still highly recommend it for a netbook.

The performance is brilliant (except for the software centre) and with the minimal effort it can look good and be functional.

The software centre issue was a bit disappointing because Lubuntu is supposed to work on older machines and to have search ahead turned on seems counter productive.

The choice of software is adequate because on a netbook you aren't going to be doing a huge amount of work on it.

I tend to use my netbook for getting online quickly and maybe playing the odd game or watching a video or two. Lubuntu is perfect for my needs.

So Lubuntu or Xubuntu? Well that question will be answered in a forthcoming article.

Customising Lubuntu

Click here to read about customising Lubuntu

Other articles that you might like:


Have you tried Lubuntu 13.10? Did you encounter the same problems as I did? How did you find the experience? Let me know using the comments box below.

Thankyou for reading.



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.

Lubuntu 13.10 - Perfect for netbooks?

Introduction



Over the past week there has been somewhat of a frenzy in the Linux blogosphere.

I wrote an article highlighting the many articles that appeared due to the release of Ubuntu 13.10.

In that article I mentioned that I would be looking at Lubuntu 13.10 as it is a distribution that I haven't yet reviewed.

Lubuntu is supposed to be a lightweight Linux distribution and therefore it should be more than suitable for my Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook boasting an Intel Atom Processor (1.66 ghz) and 1 GB memory.

So how did it fare? read on to find out.

Downloading Lubuntu 13.10

You can download Lubuntu 13.10 from http://lubuntu.net/blog/lubuntu-1310-saucy-salamander-released.

By clicking the above link you can also read about the purpose of Lubuntu, the features of Lubuntu and changes that have been made specifically for Lubuntu 13.10.

Lubuntu is available as a 32-bit download or a 64-bit download.

How to buy a copy of Lubuntu 13.10

If you have a poor internet connection or a download limit then you may wish to on DVD or a USB drive.

System Requirements

To run Lubuntu 13.10 you will need an Intel Pentium Pro or above. Basically your computer needs to have a CPU with Physical Address Extensions (PAE).

If you are running a computer without PAE incorporated then it is still possible to run Lubuntu but you need to install version 12.04.

In the comments below I have been informed that you can use Lubuntu 13.10 with or without PAE but it has to be the 32-bit version. The information I have given in my review comes from http://www.lubuntu.net/.

I guess the best advice is therefore to give Lubuntu 13.10 a go and if it works then great but if not falling back to a previous version should work.

The minimum requirements state that you need just 128 mb of RAM. To be honest you need more than this. The Lubuntu website is a bit vague in regards to the recommended requirements. I would suggest 1gb of RAM nowadays is a minimum.

Installation

If you are downloading Lubuntu then the first thing you need to do is either burn Lubuntu to a DVD or write it to a USB drive.

If you are using Windows go to http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ and download the Windows version of Unetbootin. If you are using Ubuntu then you can download Unetbootin from the software centre. For all other versions of Linux check the repositories using the appropriate package manager to see if Unetbootin is available.
Insert a blank USB drive and run Unetbootin. Select the Lubuntu 13.10 that you downloaded and then the drive that depicts your USB device.

When Unetbootin has finished writing Lubuntu to the USB drive remove the  drive and insert it into the computer that you wish to install Lubuntu on and boot it up.

From the menu select default and this will load up a live version of Lubuntu. Click the install icon on the desktop.

Installing Lubuntu is fairly easy and if you have ever installed any other version of Ubuntu then it should be straight forward.

Basically the steps are:

1. Select where you are on a map
2. Create a user and password
3. Partition your drive

Now the partitioning is the bit that most people find the trickiest especially if you are installing side by side.

There are options for replacing the current operating system, installing side by side or something else. On a netbook I think it is fine to use either replace (if you don't need what is there already) or side by side. There is no need to get too technical with the partitioning on what is usually a fairly small hard drive.

For a full Lubuntu 13.10 install guide click here.

First Impressions








Lubuntu 13.10 will look and feel quite familiar for those of you who have used any version of Windows in the past 20 years (Windows 8 excluded).

There is a taskbar at the bottom which consists of a menu, quick launch icons and a system tray.

Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop environment.

The components of LXDE include lightweight panels, menus, the Openbox window manager, file managers, text editors and terminal emulators.

The menu is a throwback to the Windows XP classic menu.


The system tray contains icons for audio settings, language settings, network settings, a clock and an icon for logging off.

Connecting to the internet

As Lubuntu is based on Ubuntu it is very easy to connect to the internet.

Simply click on the network icon and choose the wireless network (or indeed wired network) that you wish to connect to.

You will be prompted for your password and then you will be asked for the security key to the network.

The browser included with Lubuntu is Firefox (version 24).

Applications

Lubuntu doesn't come with a lot of applications but for a netbook there is more than enough to get you started and certainly enough for browsing the web and staying connected.

Accessories

Archive Manager, Disk Management Utility, File Manager (PCManFM), Calculator, Image Viewer (GPicView), Text Editor (Leafpad), Terminal.

Games 

Penguin Canfield, Freecell, Golf, Mastermind, Merlin, Minesweeper, Pegged, Solitaire, Spider, Taipei, Thornq.

Graphics

Document Viewer, mtPaint Graphic Editor, Simple Scan.

Internet

Web Browser (Firefox), Messenger (Pidgin), Email Client (Sylpheed), Bittorrent Client (Transmission)

Office

Word Processor (Abiword), Spreadsheet (Gnumeric)

Sound and Video

Audio (Audacious), Media Player (MPlayer), Webcam (GUVCView), Disc Burning (XFBurn).

System Tools

Lubuntu Software Centre, Package Manager (GDebi, Synaptic), Startup disk creator.

Installing Applications

There are various ways to install applications using Lubuntu. I would imagine the intended preferred method would be the Lubuntu Software Centre.





You can find the software you are looking for using the software centre by clicking on the various categories to browse, or by searching using the search box in the top right corner.

I had an issue on the netbook whilst using the search function and I traced it to this bug report (https://bugs.launchpad.net/lubuntu-software-center/+bug/1043595).

The search function starts searching after just 300 milliseconds of typing. So if you haven't finished typing your search term in that time then you have to wait for the search to complete before you can enter the rest of the search term.

On top of this I regularly received the following error message when using the Lubuntu Software Centre.

The first few times I thought the software centre had stopped responding but by clicking wait eventually it came back with some results. This isn't ideal.

However all is not lost because Synaptic is installed and I think this is a better tool for installing software anyway.

Simply type a keyword or the name of an application into the search box and a list of relevant programs will appear.

To install the applications, mark them for installation and when you have chosen all the items you need press the apply button to install them.

You will need to use the program installer if you harbour any hopes of watching Flash videos, playing Flash games or listening to your music collection (assuming your music is in MP3 format).

Flash and MP3

To be able to play Flash or to listen to MP3s you will need to install the Lubuntu-restricted-extras package.

Either load Synaptic and search for Lubuntu-restricted-extras or open a terminal and use "Apt".

To use "Apt" first of all run "sudo apt-get update" and then run "sudo apt-get install lubuntu-restricted-extras".





















As you can see by installing the restricted extras package I was then able to see Jack Wilshere's brilliant goal from last weekend.

I was also able to listen to Chas and Dave in MP3 format.

Everybody now... "I don't care, I don't care, I don't care if he comes round 'ere, I got my beer in the sideboard here, let mother sort it out if he comes round 'ere".




Customising Lubuntu

Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop.

I found that the default layout looked very uninspiring with just a panel at the bottom and a blue desktop.

LXDE like Xfce is highly customisable and it takes the minimal of effort to turn it into something like this.






















I am not going to go heavily into how you customise the LXDE desktop in this article. (I will save that for a later one).

Changing the background is simple a case of right clicking on the desktop and choosing "desktop preferences".

There are a number of decent images included by default with Lubuntu including the one shown above.

You can of course download your own images from the internet and use them instead.

It is possible to create multiple panels and you can place them on all 4 sides of the screen.



Panels can be used in the traditional sense with the menu, launch icons and system tray or you can add an application launcher and add icons for all your favourite applications (similar to the bottom panel in the desktop image above).





Other login options






















As well as the standard Lubuntu desktop there are a few other options including Lubuntu Netbook, Lubuntu Games and Openbox.

The above desktop shows the netbook option. It looks like an afterthought as far as I am concerned and not really that appealing and that brings us onto the next section.

Issues

Lubuntu 13.10 wasn't completely free of issues I'm afraid to say.

I have already mentioned the issue with the Lubuntu Software Centre but I have also had a couple of crashes when booting up as shown below.






Other problems I found were to do with the other desktop options including games and openbox. Neither would load beyond a blank screen with a mouse cursor.

Summary

Despite the problems that I have come across in Lubuntu 13.10 I would still highly recommend it for a netbook.

The performance is brilliant (except for the software centre) and with the minimal effort it can look good and be functional.

The software centre issue was a bit disappointing because Lubuntu is supposed to work on older machines and to have search ahead turned on seems counter productive.

The choice of software is adequate because on a netbook you aren't going to be doing a huge amount of work on it.

I tend to use my netbook for getting online quickly and maybe playing the odd game or watching a video or two. Lubuntu is perfect for my needs.

So Lubuntu or Xubuntu? Well that question will be answered in a forthcoming article.

Customising Lubuntu

Click here to read about customising Lubuntu

Other articles that you might like:


Have you tried Lubuntu 13.10? Did you encounter the same problems as I did? How did you find the experience? Let me know using the comments box below.

Thankyou for reading.



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.

39 comments
Posted at 20:30 |  by Gary Newell

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Introduction

One of the most common questions asked on the Linux based sub-reddits at Reddit.com is "Which Linux distribution would be the best for a netbook?".

The truth is that what works for one person may not work for another. I have however reviewed a large number of Linux distributions and many of these reviews have been conducted using  an Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook.

The Acer Aspire One has a 1,6 ghz Atom processor, just 1gb of RAM and a small 160 gb hard drive. The netbook comes pre-installed with Windows 7 starter, dual booting with an old version of Android. To be honest it runs like a hog.

With Linux installed the Acer Aspire One is actually a very nice little netbook but it does rely on you being sensible about what you are installing.

The following distributions have either been installed on the Acer Aspire One or I believe would run perfectly well on an Acer Aspire One. I have included links to the original reviews so that you can see any issues that I found.

Bodhi Linux





















I reviewed Bodhi Linux last year when it was version 2.1. The latest version is 2.4.

Bodhi uses the e17 desktop environment and it looks very stylish. The installation is quick taking between 5 and 10 minutes.

Connecting to the internet was simply a case of clicking on the network icon on the top shelf and choosing the appropriate wireless connection.

Flash doesn't work out of the box but it is easy enough to install.

There aren't many applications installed by default but Bodhi provides applications in bundles that can be installed via the Midori browser. You can also install applications by using the familiar Synaptic application.

There were a couple of minor issues (which may have been fixed now) but Bodhi is easy to use and very responsive on the netbook.


Crunchbang


I tried Crunchbang earlier on this year and although I didn't try it on the netbook I did try it on a computer with fairly low specifications.

Crunchbang perhaps isn't for people who like their bells and whistles. You will be amazed however at the performance Crunchbang gives you.

Connecting to the internet is simply a case of selecting the appropriate wireless network by clicking the network icon from the toolbar at the top.

Crunchbang comes pre-installed with GIMP for image editing, VLC media player, Abiword and Gnumeric.

There isn't an audio player installed by default but you can use Synaptic for downloading and installing applications.

Flash works straight away but to play MP3s you have to install the GStreamer Ugly Plugin.


Linux Lite


If you are a Windows user then you will find that Linux Lite looks quite familiar especially if you are used to using Windows XP.

You can connect to the internet by clicking on the network icon in the system tray. Linux Lite uses the WiCD application for connecting to wireless networks. It is fairly obvious what you have to do. Pick a network and enter the relevant security details.

To install software in Linux Lite you can either use Synaptic or to install common applications use the "Install Additional Software" menu item. The latter option makes it easy to install WINE, Virtualbox and the Restricted Extras package (which then gives you Flash, the ability to play MP3s, Java and truetype fonts).

Applications included by default include GIMP for image editing, LibreOffice, Mumble voice chat, Steam, and VLC.

Linux Lite is very stable, responsive and comes with a good set of applications.


LXPup


LXPup is a variation of Puppy Linux that uses the LXDE desktop. 

Puppy Linux comes with a great range of small applications that just do the job required without too many bells and whistles.

For instance to connect to the internet you can use the simple network setup tool. There are dozens of programs installed by default including Abiword and Gnumeric.

LXPup includes CD rippers, media converters, video players and the excellent PMusic player.

Flash isn't installed but there is a menu option that makes it easy enough to get it.

Puppy Linux is great fun to use and you get so much installed by default and it is incredibly responsive. 


MacPUP 


MacPup is another version of Puppy Linux but this time it is set up to look more like a Mac desktop.

MacPup is excellent and is my favourite version of Puppy Linux. It comes with the usual number of applications that you expect with Puppy Linux and there is also the Quickpet application which makes it easy to install programs such as GIMP and Audacity.

Connecting to the internet is as simple as using the simple network setup tool. Flash isn't installed by default but can easily be installed via the package manager.


Manjaro


I didn't actually try Manjaro on the netbook but I did try it on a computer with fairly low specifications and as the version I reviewed was the Openbox edition then it should be perfect for a netbook.

The first thing you will notice is the ultra quick boot time. The performance of Manjaro overall is also very impressive.

Connecting to the internet is as easy as selecting the network icon and then choosing the appropriate wireless network.

Navigating around Manjaro requires right clicking on the desktop and navigating to the chosen application.

There aren't many applications installed by default but you can use Pacman to install applications.

Flash worked but getting music to play via the default XNoise application was a little tricky.

I would say that Manjaro is for the more experienced user and might not be the first port of call for people who are new to Linux but for people who don't mind experimenting and who have the skills to find their way around Linux it is ideal.


Linux Mint 15 XFCE


Most distributions running XFCE will be great for a Linux netbook. Linux MINT provides a standard interface whether you are using a laptop, desktop or netbook.

For more powerful machines the Cinnamon desktop would be the desktop of choice, however the look and feel is the same with the XFCE version but without the glamour. Substance over style.

With Linux Mint you get everything working out of the box. Connecting to the internet is as easy as clicking the network icon and choosing the appropriate wireless network.

Flash works without having to install anything and MP3s play without installing extra codecs.

Linux Mint 15 comes with LibreOffice and GIMP installed by default.


Peppermint OS


I reviewed Peppermint 3 but the latest version is now Peppermint 4. 

Peppermint utilises the concept of cloud computing.

Basically you use web applications for all your needs and using the concept of a site specific browser you turn the web application into a desktop application.

If you don't like that concept then you can use Peppermint Linux in the same was as Lubuntu. Peppermint uses the LXDE desktop and comes with Synaptic for installing desktop applications.


SolusOS


SolusOS uses the Consort desktop environment which is the Phoenix out of the ashes of Gnome 2.

The layout will again be familiar for Windows users and the menu system looks very similar to the Windows 7 menu.

Flash and MP3s work straight away and connecting to the internet is as simple as choosing the appropriate wireless connection after clicking on the network icon.

SolusOS comes with PlayOnLinux installed, Dropbox, Firefox, LibreOffice, Rhythmbox and VLC player.

I used SolusOS for a number of months on the Acer Aspire one and I can vouch that it works really well.


SolydX


SolydX uses the XFCE desktop. It is based on Debian and is very crisp and clean looking.

SolydX uses the WiCD network manager for connecting to the internet and comes with Flash and MP3 codecs installed by default.

There is a good range of fairly lightweight applications including Firefox, Exaile (Audio), VLC player, Abiword and Gnumeric.

SolydX provides a great blend between functionality and performance.


Xubuntu


If you want to go more mainstream then Xubuntu is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop.

For me Xubuntu provides the best method of navigation around the XFCE desktop by providing the panel at the top and a panel of icons at the bottom.

Using Flash and playing MP3s requires the installation of Xubuntu restricted extras. 

There aren't many applications installed by default but you can use the software centre to install anything you require.


Zorin OS Lite


Zorin is now at version 7. My review was written back at version 6. 

Basically Zorin OS is made to emulate the look and feel of other operating systems. You can choose to make the desktop look like Windows 2000 or Mac OSX within Zorin Lite.

For users used to Windows it really does provide a familiar look and feel.

Connecting to the internet is as easy as choosing the wireless connection by clicking on the network icon in the system tray.

You can choose the browser that you wish to use using the browser manager.

Flash and MP3s were supported straight away and Zorin OS Lite comes with Audacious as the music player which is a good choice.

There aren't many applications installed by default but there is Abiword for editing documents, a PDF viewer, a messenger, a personal organiser, calculator and mail client.

You can install extra software by using the Software Centre, Synaptic or the Zorin Extra Software tool. The Zorin Extra Software tool includes WINE and VLC.

Update!!! Here are another 6

Summary

When choosing an operating system for a netbook you need to go for a more lightweight distribution but that doesn't mean you have to compromise on functionality.

You can have a stylish looking desktop and all the applications you would normally use.

Thankyou for reading.



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.







12 great Linux operating systems for netbooks

Introduction

One of the most common questions asked on the Linux based sub-reddits at Reddit.com is "Which Linux distribution would be the best for a netbook?".

The truth is that what works for one person may not work for another. I have however reviewed a large number of Linux distributions and many of these reviews have been conducted using  an Acer Aspire One D255 Netbook.

The Acer Aspire One has a 1,6 ghz Atom processor, just 1gb of RAM and a small 160 gb hard drive. The netbook comes pre-installed with Windows 7 starter, dual booting with an old version of Android. To be honest it runs like a hog.

With Linux installed the Acer Aspire One is actually a very nice little netbook but it does rely on you being sensible about what you are installing.

The following distributions have either been installed on the Acer Aspire One or I believe would run perfectly well on an Acer Aspire One. I have included links to the original reviews so that you can see any issues that I found.

Bodhi Linux





















I reviewed Bodhi Linux last year when it was version 2.1. The latest version is 2.4.

Bodhi uses the e17 desktop environment and it looks very stylish. The installation is quick taking between 5 and 10 minutes.

Connecting to the internet was simply a case of clicking on the network icon on the top shelf and choosing the appropriate wireless connection.

Flash doesn't work out of the box but it is easy enough to install.

There aren't many applications installed by default but Bodhi provides applications in bundles that can be installed via the Midori browser. You can also install applications by using the familiar Synaptic application.

There were a couple of minor issues (which may have been fixed now) but Bodhi is easy to use and very responsive on the netbook.


Crunchbang


I tried Crunchbang earlier on this year and although I didn't try it on the netbook I did try it on a computer with fairly low specifications.

Crunchbang perhaps isn't for people who like their bells and whistles. You will be amazed however at the performance Crunchbang gives you.

Connecting to the internet is simply a case of selecting the appropriate wireless network by clicking the network icon from the toolbar at the top.

Crunchbang comes pre-installed with GIMP for image editing, VLC media player, Abiword and Gnumeric.

There isn't an audio player installed by default but you can use Synaptic for downloading and installing applications.

Flash works straight away but to play MP3s you have to install the GStreamer Ugly Plugin.


Linux Lite


If you are a Windows user then you will find that Linux Lite looks quite familiar especially if you are used to using Windows XP.

You can connect to the internet by clicking on the network icon in the system tray. Linux Lite uses the WiCD application for connecting to wireless networks. It is fairly obvious what you have to do. Pick a network and enter the relevant security details.

To install software in Linux Lite you can either use Synaptic or to install common applications use the "Install Additional Software" menu item. The latter option makes it easy to install WINE, Virtualbox and the Restricted Extras package (which then gives you Flash, the ability to play MP3s, Java and truetype fonts).

Applications included by default include GIMP for image editing, LibreOffice, Mumble voice chat, Steam, and VLC.

Linux Lite is very stable, responsive and comes with a good set of applications.


LXPup


LXPup is a variation of Puppy Linux that uses the LXDE desktop. 

Puppy Linux comes with a great range of small applications that just do the job required without too many bells and whistles.

For instance to connect to the internet you can use the simple network setup tool. There are dozens of programs installed by default including Abiword and Gnumeric.

LXPup includes CD rippers, media converters, video players and the excellent PMusic player.

Flash isn't installed but there is a menu option that makes it easy enough to get it.

Puppy Linux is great fun to use and you get so much installed by default and it is incredibly responsive. 


MacPUP 


MacPup is another version of Puppy Linux but this time it is set up to look more like a Mac desktop.

MacPup is excellent and is my favourite version of Puppy Linux. It comes with the usual number of applications that you expect with Puppy Linux and there is also the Quickpet application which makes it easy to install programs such as GIMP and Audacity.

Connecting to the internet is as simple as using the simple network setup tool. Flash isn't installed by default but can easily be installed via the package manager.


Manjaro


I didn't actually try Manjaro on the netbook but I did try it on a computer with fairly low specifications and as the version I reviewed was the Openbox edition then it should be perfect for a netbook.

The first thing you will notice is the ultra quick boot time. The performance of Manjaro overall is also very impressive.

Connecting to the internet is as easy as selecting the network icon and then choosing the appropriate wireless network.

Navigating around Manjaro requires right clicking on the desktop and navigating to the chosen application.

There aren't many applications installed by default but you can use Pacman to install applications.

Flash worked but getting music to play via the default XNoise application was a little tricky.

I would say that Manjaro is for the more experienced user and might not be the first port of call for people who are new to Linux but for people who don't mind experimenting and who have the skills to find their way around Linux it is ideal.


Linux Mint 15 XFCE


Most distributions running XFCE will be great for a Linux netbook. Linux MINT provides a standard interface whether you are using a laptop, desktop or netbook.

For more powerful machines the Cinnamon desktop would be the desktop of choice, however the look and feel is the same with the XFCE version but without the glamour. Substance over style.

With Linux Mint you get everything working out of the box. Connecting to the internet is as easy as clicking the network icon and choosing the appropriate wireless network.

Flash works without having to install anything and MP3s play without installing extra codecs.

Linux Mint 15 comes with LibreOffice and GIMP installed by default.


Peppermint OS


I reviewed Peppermint 3 but the latest version is now Peppermint 4. 

Peppermint utilises the concept of cloud computing.

Basically you use web applications for all your needs and using the concept of a site specific browser you turn the web application into a desktop application.

If you don't like that concept then you can use Peppermint Linux in the same was as Lubuntu. Peppermint uses the LXDE desktop and comes with Synaptic for installing desktop applications.


SolusOS


SolusOS uses the Consort desktop environment which is the Phoenix out of the ashes of Gnome 2.

The layout will again be familiar for Windows users and the menu system looks very similar to the Windows 7 menu.

Flash and MP3s work straight away and connecting to the internet is as simple as choosing the appropriate wireless connection after clicking on the network icon.

SolusOS comes with PlayOnLinux installed, Dropbox, Firefox, LibreOffice, Rhythmbox and VLC player.

I used SolusOS for a number of months on the Acer Aspire one and I can vouch that it works really well.


SolydX


SolydX uses the XFCE desktop. It is based on Debian and is very crisp and clean looking.

SolydX uses the WiCD network manager for connecting to the internet and comes with Flash and MP3 codecs installed by default.

There is a good range of fairly lightweight applications including Firefox, Exaile (Audio), VLC player, Abiword and Gnumeric.

SolydX provides a great blend between functionality and performance.


Xubuntu


If you want to go more mainstream then Xubuntu is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop.

For me Xubuntu provides the best method of navigation around the XFCE desktop by providing the panel at the top and a panel of icons at the bottom.

Using Flash and playing MP3s requires the installation of Xubuntu restricted extras. 

There aren't many applications installed by default but you can use the software centre to install anything you require.


Zorin OS Lite


Zorin is now at version 7. My review was written back at version 6. 

Basically Zorin OS is made to emulate the look and feel of other operating systems. You can choose to make the desktop look like Windows 2000 or Mac OSX within Zorin Lite.

For users used to Windows it really does provide a familiar look and feel.

Connecting to the internet is as easy as choosing the wireless connection by clicking on the network icon in the system tray.

You can choose the browser that you wish to use using the browser manager.

Flash and MP3s were supported straight away and Zorin OS Lite comes with Audacious as the music player which is a good choice.

There aren't many applications installed by default but there is Abiword for editing documents, a PDF viewer, a messenger, a personal organiser, calculator and mail client.

You can install extra software by using the Software Centre, Synaptic or the Zorin Extra Software tool. The Zorin Extra Software tool includes WINE and VLC.

Update!!! Here are another 6

Summary

When choosing an operating system for a netbook you need to go for a more lightweight distribution but that doesn't mean you have to compromise on functionality.

You can have a stylish looking desktop and all the applications you would normally use.

Thankyou for reading.



To make it easier for everyone who wants to read my Ubuntu based articles and tutorials I have formatted them, rewritten them and added extra content which has resulted in the eBook "From Windows To Ubuntu".

The book isn't massive like a SAMS guide so it isn't going to take you forever to read it but there is certainly a lot of content.







58 comments
Posted at 20:12 |  by Gary Newell

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Introduction

Earlier on in the year I wrote a review about Slacko Puppy . A new version of Slacko Puppy is now available (version 5.4).

You can download the latest version of Slacko Puppy from http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm.

The point of this article is to highlight improvements that have been made and to make people aware of Slacko Puppy who perhaps did not read the first article.

Last time I tested Slacko Puppy I did so on my Samsung R20 laptop which is a few years old but a decent enough machine for running most versions of Linux.

This time I have decided to try Slacko on a netbook (Acer Aspire One D255). It has a 1.66 Intel Atom Processor with 1 gb of ram and a 160gb hard drive.

First boot

Other versions of Linux provide live versions of their operating systems in order to enable you to try out the features. You can usually use the versions of Linux in their entirety. The live experience though is usually a taster to the true experience you would get by installing the full system.

With Puppy Linux it is different. Puppy works perfectly from a USB drive and at no point is installing Puppy to a hard drive considered to be a better option than installing to a hard drive.

Therefore when you boot Slacko Puppy for the first time you are seeing the full operating system. All the software is lightweight as Puppy is designed to run from memory. 


When you first boot into Slacko you are provided with a welcome screen which lets you define initial settings such as your location, timezone, keyboard layout and screen resolution.

After entering these details and clicking ok it is a good idea to reboot your computer as this gives you the opportunity to create a save file.

A save file (with extension .sfs) is a file that is created on your hard drive (which can be within a Windows partition, Ubuntu partition or anywhere you choose). You define how much space you want to give to the save file and all your documents, music and other files created within Slacko will be saved to this file.

The next time you boot into Slacko the save file will be loaded. The save file will not affect your existing operating system and merely exists as a file.

Connecting to the internet


When you boot up for the second time (after the save file has been created) you will be presented with the above screen which gives you the option to use the internet connection wizard, enter the settings screen or get help.

The internet connection wizard might be confusing if you see it for the first time as there are just so many options. 

Generally I find the Simple Network Setup wizard works very well if you want  to connect to a wireless network.





The simple network setup wizard shows a list of interfaces such as ethernet (eth0) or wireless (wlan0).

As you can see I have one wireless interface available.

Clicking on the wlan0 button provides a list of available networks.




As I am sat on a train I used my mobile phone and set the internet connection sharing on.

If I had my mobile broadband with me I could have connected to this as well but the theory is the same.

Choose the connection and enter the key. 



The desktop

Puppy Linux places a lot of icons on the desktop and although I normally like the minimalist desktop it really works well with Puppy Linux.

The reason icons work so well becomes clear when you realise just how many applications are installed by default. Having icons makes it much easier to do the more common things.

The layout of the icons is well laid out as well. There are five basic rows of icons on the left hand side, a row of drive icons just above the taskbar panel and on the right hand side a few special icons.

The rows of icons are defined as follows:

  1. File, help, mount, install, setup, edit and console. These icons are useful for administering the system by providing access to the file manager, giving the ability to mount drives, install applications and access the terminal.
  2. Write, calc, paint and draw. These icons are more application based giving you the ability to write documents with Abiword and create spreadsheets with Gnumeric.
  3. Browse, email and chat. These icons are for online connectivity. Browse the web, send and read emails and chat using IRC chat.
  4. Plan and Play. This row is a bit more eclectic. The plan icon provides a calendar for creating appointments and play provides access to the media play.
  5. Connect. Just one icon which provides access to the internet connection wizard.
As mentioned before all your mounted drives are shown just above the task bar. You should be careful when accessing the drive of your main operating system and you should not delete files as this can cause corruption.

On the right hand side of the screen are icons for zipping files, the recycle bin and an icon to lock the screen.

At the bottom of the screen is a familiar task bar. There is a menu which pulls up a list of categories. There are quick launch icons for showing the desktop, browsing the web and opening a terminal. Next to the quick launch bar is an icon showing 4 virtual desktops. On the right side there is a system tray with icons for showing the network connections, battery life, audio and of course the clock.

Changing the background

To change the desktop background click  menu -> desktop -> settings -> Nathan Wallpaper setter.

You can choose from a pre-defined set of backgrounds or find one of your own.

it is also possible to change the icons used on the desktop.

To do this select menu -> desktop -> settings -> Desktop templates for desk items or Desktop drive icon manager.

Applications

There are far too many applications included by Slacko Puppy to list in a review. 

For word processing there is Abiword and for spreadsheets there is Gnumeric.

Rox is used as a file manager, Geany is installed as an editor (bit of an understatement that. Geany is a brilliant editor and is great for editing XML, PHP, PERL, C++ and other files).

With this release of Slacko you could choose when downloading the ISO whether to  download an image with Firefox or Opera installed by default so the browser installed is dependant on the version of the Slacko ISO that was downloaded.

There are tools for downloading websites, ftp clients, capturing screenshots, resizing images, connecting to remote desktops, torrent clients, cd rippers and music converters.

The highlight for me out of all the applications is PMusic.

I recently wrote an article called 4 of the best music players for Linux.

I should have included PMusic but it has to be said this is a great music application.



With the ability to add 1000s of radio stations and then rip the audio from any of those stations to MP3 files whilst omitting all adverts and parts of songs makes it a great resource.

I can't wait for a version of Puppy for the Raspberry PI. PMusic would be great on the Raspberry PI.

Installing Applications

My favourite web browser is Chromium but this was not one of the ISOs available. I suspect the reason for this is that Puppy Linux runs as the root user and Chromium doesn't like to be run as a root user.

There are two ways to install applications in Slacko. The first is to use the Puppy Package Manager which within Slacko provides access to a number of Slackware repositories.

Puppy packages are called PETS. To find a PET enter a package name in the find box and click Go. You can choose to search just one repository or all of them.

As you can see from the image above Chromium is within the repositories and can be installed simply by clicking on it.

The second way to install packages is to load an SFS file which is a save file which has the software installed within it. 

A great feature in Slacko is the ability to load and unload SFS files on the fly. If you therefore have the need to run GIMP then you will know that this is a resource hungry beast of an image editor. You can choose to load GIMP as an SFS file. Once you have finished editing your images you can unload the SFS file. 

The problem with Chromium

The trouble with running Chromium in Slacko or indeed Puppy Linux in general is that Chromium doesn't like to be run as a root user.

To get around this you need to add --user-data-dir to the command that runs Chromium. 

I found 2 ways around the error. The first is to go to /usr/share/applications within the file manager and edit the file Chromium.desktop. Find the line that says exec= and add the --user-data-dir after chromium. Save the file and drag it to the desktop. Now rename the icon by right clicking on it and clicking edit item. Now when you click this icon Chromium will work.

The other way was to click the settings button and find the default app manager under the Utility tab. Change the browser to Chromium. Now on the desktop right click the browse icon and select edit item. Now in the arguments box enter --user-data-dir.

Now when you click the browse icon Chromium will run.

If anyone has a better method please feel free to add it to the comments section below.

Flash


Normally when I write a review I start off with testing Flash and MP3s. Well I can tell you that both work out of the box within Slacko as the above image testifies for Flash and the PMusic application testifies for MP3s.

Virtual Desktops

I kind of stumbled across this by accident and scared me the first time it happened but by shifting an application up the screen it moves it to another desktop. If you move it to the right it moves to another desktop. You can move the applications in all 4 directions and it will shift between the virtual desktops available.

Summary

Slacko works great. If you come from a Slackware background then you might prefer to use this over Precise Puppy. If you are from a Ubuntu background then you might still prefer Precise Puppy or MacPup. In reality there is very little between them as they are all very good. 

Puppy Linux is brilliant. It is the sheer number of cool little tools and gadgets that makes it brilliant. It is the fact that the programs are named so simply ("Barry's Simple Network Setup", "Nathan's Wallpaper Setter"). Puppy Linux does exactly what it says on the tin.

Thankyou for reading.

Slacko Puppy 5.4 on a netbook

Introduction

Earlier on in the year I wrote a review about Slacko Puppy . A new version of Slacko Puppy is now available (version 5.4).

You can download the latest version of Slacko Puppy from http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20Latest%20Release.htm.

The point of this article is to highlight improvements that have been made and to make people aware of Slacko Puppy who perhaps did not read the first article.

Last time I tested Slacko Puppy I did so on my Samsung R20 laptop which is a few years old but a decent enough machine for running most versions of Linux.

This time I have decided to try Slacko on a netbook (Acer Aspire One D255). It has a 1.66 Intel Atom Processor with 1 gb of ram and a 160gb hard drive.

First boot

Other versions of Linux provide live versions of their operating systems in order to enable you to try out the features. You can usually use the versions of Linux in their entirety. The live experience though is usually a taster to the true experience you would get by installing the full system.

With Puppy Linux it is different. Puppy works perfectly from a USB drive and at no point is installing Puppy to a hard drive considered to be a better option than installing to a hard drive.

Therefore when you boot Slacko Puppy for the first time you are seeing the full operating system. All the software is lightweight as Puppy is designed to run from memory. 


When you first boot into Slacko you are provided with a welcome screen which lets you define initial settings such as your location, timezone, keyboard layout and screen resolution.

After entering these details and clicking ok it is a good idea to reboot your computer as this gives you the opportunity to create a save file.

A save file (with extension .sfs) is a file that is created on your hard drive (which can be within a Windows partition, Ubuntu partition or anywhere you choose). You define how much space you want to give to the save file and all your documents, music and other files created within Slacko will be saved to this file.

The next time you boot into Slacko the save file will be loaded. The save file will not affect your existing operating system and merely exists as a file.

Connecting to the internet


When you boot up for the second time (after the save file has been created) you will be presented with the above screen which gives you the option to use the internet connection wizard, enter the settings screen or get help.

The internet connection wizard might be confusing if you see it for the first time as there are just so many options. 

Generally I find the Simple Network Setup wizard works very well if you want  to connect to a wireless network.





The simple network setup wizard shows a list of interfaces such as ethernet (eth0) or wireless (wlan0).

As you can see I have one wireless interface available.

Clicking on the wlan0 button provides a list of available networks.




As I am sat on a train I used my mobile phone and set the internet connection sharing on.

If I had my mobile broadband with me I could have connected to this as well but the theory is the same.

Choose the connection and enter the key. 



The desktop

Puppy Linux places a lot of icons on the desktop and although I normally like the minimalist desktop it really works well with Puppy Linux.

The reason icons work so well becomes clear when you realise just how many applications are installed by default. Having icons makes it much easier to do the more common things.

The layout of the icons is well laid out as well. There are five basic rows of icons on the left hand side, a row of drive icons just above the taskbar panel and on the right hand side a few special icons.

The rows of icons are defined as follows:

  1. File, help, mount, install, setup, edit and console. These icons are useful for administering the system by providing access to the file manager, giving the ability to mount drives, install applications and access the terminal.
  2. Write, calc, paint and draw. These icons are more application based giving you the ability to write documents with Abiword and create spreadsheets with Gnumeric.
  3. Browse, email and chat. These icons are for online connectivity. Browse the web, send and read emails and chat using IRC chat.
  4. Plan and Play. This row is a bit more eclectic. The plan icon provides a calendar for creating appointments and play provides access to the media play.
  5. Connect. Just one icon which provides access to the internet connection wizard.
As mentioned before all your mounted drives are shown just above the task bar. You should be careful when accessing the drive of your main operating system and you should not delete files as this can cause corruption.

On the right hand side of the screen are icons for zipping files, the recycle bin and an icon to lock the screen.

At the bottom of the screen is a familiar task bar. There is a menu which pulls up a list of categories. There are quick launch icons for showing the desktop, browsing the web and opening a terminal. Next to the quick launch bar is an icon showing 4 virtual desktops. On the right side there is a system tray with icons for showing the network connections, battery life, audio and of course the clock.

Changing the background

To change the desktop background click  menu -> desktop -> settings -> Nathan Wallpaper setter.

You can choose from a pre-defined set of backgrounds or find one of your own.

it is also possible to change the icons used on the desktop.

To do this select menu -> desktop -> settings -> Desktop templates for desk items or Desktop drive icon manager.

Applications

There are far too many applications included by Slacko Puppy to list in a review. 

For word processing there is Abiword and for spreadsheets there is Gnumeric.

Rox is used as a file manager, Geany is installed as an editor (bit of an understatement that. Geany is a brilliant editor and is great for editing XML, PHP, PERL, C++ and other files).

With this release of Slacko you could choose when downloading the ISO whether to  download an image with Firefox or Opera installed by default so the browser installed is dependant on the version of the Slacko ISO that was downloaded.

There are tools for downloading websites, ftp clients, capturing screenshots, resizing images, connecting to remote desktops, torrent clients, cd rippers and music converters.

The highlight for me out of all the applications is PMusic.

I recently wrote an article called 4 of the best music players for Linux.

I should have included PMusic but it has to be said this is a great music application.



With the ability to add 1000s of radio stations and then rip the audio from any of those stations to MP3 files whilst omitting all adverts and parts of songs makes it a great resource.

I can't wait for a version of Puppy for the Raspberry PI. PMusic would be great on the Raspberry PI.

Installing Applications

My favourite web browser is Chromium but this was not one of the ISOs available. I suspect the reason for this is that Puppy Linux runs as the root user and Chromium doesn't like to be run as a root user.

There are two ways to install applications in Slacko. The first is to use the Puppy Package Manager which within Slacko provides access to a number of Slackware repositories.

Puppy packages are called PETS. To find a PET enter a package name in the find box and click Go. You can choose to search just one repository or all of them.

As you can see from the image above Chromium is within the repositories and can be installed simply by clicking on it.

The second way to install packages is to load an SFS file which is a save file which has the software installed within it. 

A great feature in Slacko is the ability to load and unload SFS files on the fly. If you therefore have the need to run GIMP then you will know that this is a resource hungry beast of an image editor. You can choose to load GIMP as an SFS file. Once you have finished editing your images you can unload the SFS file. 

The problem with Chromium

The trouble with running Chromium in Slacko or indeed Puppy Linux in general is that Chromium doesn't like to be run as a root user.

To get around this you need to add --user-data-dir to the command that runs Chromium. 

I found 2 ways around the error. The first is to go to /usr/share/applications within the file manager and edit the file Chromium.desktop. Find the line that says exec= and add the --user-data-dir after chromium. Save the file and drag it to the desktop. Now rename the icon by right clicking on it and clicking edit item. Now when you click this icon Chromium will work.

The other way was to click the settings button and find the default app manager under the Utility tab. Change the browser to Chromium. Now on the desktop right click the browse icon and select edit item. Now in the arguments box enter --user-data-dir.

Now when you click the browse icon Chromium will run.

If anyone has a better method please feel free to add it to the comments section below.

Flash


Normally when I write a review I start off with testing Flash and MP3s. Well I can tell you that both work out of the box within Slacko as the above image testifies for Flash and the PMusic application testifies for MP3s.

Virtual Desktops

I kind of stumbled across this by accident and scared me the first time it happened but by shifting an application up the screen it moves it to another desktop. If you move it to the right it moves to another desktop. You can move the applications in all 4 directions and it will shift between the virtual desktops available.

Summary

Slacko works great. If you come from a Slackware background then you might prefer to use this over Precise Puppy. If you are from a Ubuntu background then you might still prefer Precise Puppy or MacPup. In reality there is very little between them as they are all very good. 

Puppy Linux is brilliant. It is the sheer number of cool little tools and gadgets that makes it brilliant. It is the fact that the programs are named so simply ("Barry's Simple Network Setup", "Nathan's Wallpaper Setter"). Puppy Linux does exactly what it says on the tin.

Thankyou for reading.

3 comments
Posted at 00:39 |  by Gary Newell

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Introduction

I have an Acer Aspire One netbook which came pre-installed with Windows 7 starter and an Android partition.

Within a few days of having the netbook I decided to get rid of both and via a bit of distro hopping which included Ubuntu and Fedora I ended up with the brilliant Bodhi Linux which for me is the perfect distribution for running on netbooks due to it being lightweight and flexible.

There are occasions when it would be handy to have Android running on the netbook however and so I found myself scouring forums working out how to get a version of Android back on the netbook.

There are two or three reasons why having Android available is useful.
  1. There are Android apps that are either useful or quite fun that are not available elsewhere. 
  2. Android is incredibly lightweight and loads very quickly making it possible to get online very quickly.
  3. Battery life lasts forever.
There are also reasons why Android is painful on a netbook such as the lack of scroll bars. This is because Android has been built for tablets and mobile phones with touch screens.

There is also an issue that some apps cause the screen to rotate and if you didn't realise this before turning off the auto rotate option then it is awkward finding the way to rotate the screen back to normal and to also turn off that option. The mouse ends up working the opposite way to how you would like it.

Another problem is that the web pages tend to want to load the mobile versions as opposed to the full versions of sites. Again this is because Android is developed for mobile computing.

All in all I have come to the conclusion that my original decision was the right one and that removing Android from the hard drive was worthwhile.

There are apps that I want to run however that are specific to Android so I have installed it to a pen drive which I can boot as and when I need it.


Initially I tried writing this article using Android but it was very problematic. The scrolling was a nightmare and then the browser kept typing all my commands into the search bar rather than the editor.

So Android for a netbook. Good idea? Not really, unless you have a touch screen one and a really good reason to do so.

There are numerous sites that show you how to install Android on a netbook or to a bootable pen drive. Just Google either of those terms. (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-android-netbook/ or http://www.itechcode.com/2012/03/09/how-to-install-android-or-run-as-live-cd-on-pc-or-netbook/)

The following link will help turn off screen rotation however this can be done by clicking the clock and clicking the off switch next to auto rotate (Android 4.0)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/26715/how-to-make-your-android-phone-stop-rotating-the-screen-when-you%E2%80%99re-reading-sideways/


Android on a netbook

Introduction

I have an Acer Aspire One netbook which came pre-installed with Windows 7 starter and an Android partition.

Within a few days of having the netbook I decided to get rid of both and via a bit of distro hopping which included Ubuntu and Fedora I ended up with the brilliant Bodhi Linux which for me is the perfect distribution for running on netbooks due to it being lightweight and flexible.

There are occasions when it would be handy to have Android running on the netbook however and so I found myself scouring forums working out how to get a version of Android back on the netbook.

There are two or three reasons why having Android available is useful.
  1. There are Android apps that are either useful or quite fun that are not available elsewhere. 
  2. Android is incredibly lightweight and loads very quickly making it possible to get online very quickly.
  3. Battery life lasts forever.
There are also reasons why Android is painful on a netbook such as the lack of scroll bars. This is because Android has been built for tablets and mobile phones with touch screens.

There is also an issue that some apps cause the screen to rotate and if you didn't realise this before turning off the auto rotate option then it is awkward finding the way to rotate the screen back to normal and to also turn off that option. The mouse ends up working the opposite way to how you would like it.

Another problem is that the web pages tend to want to load the mobile versions as opposed to the full versions of sites. Again this is because Android is developed for mobile computing.

All in all I have come to the conclusion that my original decision was the right one and that removing Android from the hard drive was worthwhile.

There are apps that I want to run however that are specific to Android so I have installed it to a pen drive which I can boot as and when I need it.


Initially I tried writing this article using Android but it was very problematic. The scrolling was a nightmare and then the browser kept typing all my commands into the search bar rather than the editor.

So Android for a netbook. Good idea? Not really, unless you have a touch screen one and a really good reason to do so.

There are numerous sites that show you how to install Android on a netbook or to a bootable pen drive. Just Google either of those terms. (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-android-netbook/ or http://www.itechcode.com/2012/03/09/how-to-install-android-or-run-as-live-cd-on-pc-or-netbook/)

The following link will help turn off screen rotation however this can be done by clicking the clock and clicking the off switch next to auto rotate (Android 4.0)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/26715/how-to-make-your-android-phone-stop-rotating-the-screen-when-you%E2%80%99re-reading-sideways/


5 comments
Posted at 19:02 |  by Gary Newell
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