Linpus Light multi-boot???

[irlandes]

I had a chance to use Linpus on an Acer Aspire One, a friend here in Mexico bought for 3000 pesos. I actually liked it,and asked her to pick me up one, but in the meantime they raised the price to 4000 pesos, which means for another 75 dollars I can buy a Dell bottom line laptop, no thanks.

Anyway, though I am not a Blackbelt changing almost daily, it seems, I do like to look at distros.

Has anyone installed Linpus light as multi-boot?

I don't want another horrid experience like Studio Ubuntu, which had a horrid installer. IF I can pop Linpus light on an empty partition, I'd like to but don't want to wipe out my system.

[LewRockwell]

I had a chance to use Linpus on an Acer Aspire One, a friend here in Mexico bought for 3000 pesos. I actually liked it,and asked her to pick me up one, but in the meantime they raised the price to 4000 pesos, which means for another 75 dollars I can buy a Dell bottom line laptop, no thanks.

Anyway, though I am not a Blackbelt changing almost daily, it seems, I do like to look at distros.

Has anyone installed Linpus light as multi-boot?

I don't want another horrid experience like Studio Ubuntu, which had a horrid installer. IF I can pop Linpus light on an empty partition, I'd like to but don't want to wipe out my system.

Walmart is currently selling the 10.1 inch screened Acer Aspire One for $298.00 and that's with XP. Two laptops down in the display line-up they are selling a full-size Toshiba with all the bells and whistles for $348.00 and those have Vista Home Basic.

Still, folks are advertising their old machines on Craigslist and asking ridiculous amounts. When they are offered wholesale and scrap prices for their old equipment they sure do get nasty. We're only paying $100.00 for the Acer Aspire One and not much more for the full-size laptops and desktops that we make offers on. Needless to say, we're not doing much actual trading but we are helping to drive the used market prices downward where they are much more reasonable and sane.

To address your Linpus question, we've installed it just once on an Acer Aspire One and we were not impressed at all. It wouldn't even recognize the wifi card and we cannot in good faith recommend it to others who would be even less inclined to install when faced with those types of difficulties.

We do have that same Acer Aspire One with the 120GB hard drive successfully running in multi-boot with the following operating systems installed:

XP - came on machine and fully functional although the wifi was dodgy at first
Ubuntu - installed via external CD drive and fully functional from the start
Puppy Linux - installed via external CD drive and fully functional with a minor amount of effort
Moblin beta - installed via bootable thumb drive image and in testing(not very impressed to be honest...it's almost a crime not to have wifi support out-of-the-box)
EasyLFS - just goofing around with this(not recommended for the faint-at-heart)
Mandriva - installed via external CD drive and fully functional from the start
GoBoLinux - just goofing around with this(no LAN connectivity out-of-box)

For further reference: Puppy Linux LiveCD was initially utilized to perform the Gparted partitioning on the netbook. It should be noted that the partitioning process is fairly involved if one does not wish to lose their currently installed operating system(in this case XP). We defrag multiple times, shrink the original partition by a percentage, then reboot XP so checkdisk can correct things, then defrag again, then shrink the partition further, and repeat this process until the desired results are obtained.

AT NO TIME SHOULD YOU BE WITHOUT CURRENT CLONES AND/OR BACK-UPS TO EACH AND EVERY BIT AND BYTE OF YOUR VALUABLE DATA!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED(more than once we are sure!)

Hey, we thought you might want to know...

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[irlandes]

Thank you for the detailed answer. But, my viewpoint is somewhat different, because I had a couple hours with the Acer Aspire One with Linpus Light, pre-installed, and it actually worked very well.

It worked so well I asked her to buy me one, but the raise in price in two weeks time was too much.

The little slide button to auto-connect to wireless even worked fine once you get the code key typed in.

One of the things we have tried to communicate over the years is, people are comparing Windows pre-installed, with Linux being installed by people of limited experience on a machine which was not certified for Linux.

The only problem I found was the microphone did not work well. Since Acer has admittedly known about it for a very long time, and those who don't immediately turn them back in for XP learn that it is actually an easy thing to fix, and nothing has been fed out in the update system, one must wonder if this is not a deliberate crippling to get people to buy XP. Maybe I am cynical but I have watched MS convictions for monopolistic practices for a long time.

I can believe wireless is hard to install if you buy an Aspire One XP machine and install it yourself. That is the case on many distros. Some have even had problems with Kubuntu 9.04. But, I sure wouldn't pay $298 and have to install the system myself and I have no intention of using XP.

As far as multi-boot, I have been running dual boot since 1999, and multi-boot for a very long time as well.

I have 2.5 machines now (the 0.5 is one that got hit by lightning and much of it doesn't work) with a variety of distros. At least 2, perhaps 3 Mandrivas; 4 or 5 of Kubuntu; Gos; Freespire; um, I think that's it right now. I tried an earlier version of debian and frankly I was alienated both by an install procedure that could not find any other way to install my NIC driver except by floppy, years after floppies stopped being installed on most computers, and also the insults I got when I asked on the forum for a solution. But, I was able to install the non-working system without harm to the existing installations.

I have yet to bust a system during multi-boot install, which is why I wondered if anyone has any experience with Linpus Light to know if it has a decent installer, or is totally stupid like the installer in Studio Ubuntu.

[retsaw]

I wouldn't bother with Linpus Lite (at least not the version that comes on the 8.9" Aspire One), they took Fedora 8 hacked it about to make it appear to boot quickly and in the process made it less secure and removed functionality. Although it appears to boot in 17 seconds it takes another 20 for it to finish booting and get Network Manager loaded. They have set up the boot scripts such that they require passwordless sudo to function, that may not be too difficult to fix for an advanced user, but it is a bad default. They also failed to set X not to listen on TCP, which is inadvisable unless you are behind a firewall on a trusted network. They removed useful kernel modules for no good reason (they don't take up that much space), like bluetooth (<sarcasm>I mean no-one will want to plug in a USB bluetooth dongle will they</sarcasm>) and USB joystick/gamepad modules and lots of others. They used some custom packages which makes installing some software from the Fedora repos problematic (not to mention that they are a bit dated now anyway). Oh, and I'm pretty sure there isn't a legal download available for it, perhaps someone has stripped out all the stuff that isn't freely distributable and uploaded it somewhere, but I doubt it. All this can be fixed, and I did for my copy and used it for several months, but it's a pain and there are distros which don't have to be hacked to customize it the way I want, I'm now happily using Ubuntu 9.04 on my Aspire One.

That said, if you just want to use it for the basic tasks it's set up for, it's okay to use.

[retsaw]

I have yet to bust a system during multi-boot install, which is why I wondered if anyone has any experience with Linpus Light to know if it has a decent installer, or is totally stupid like the installer in Studio Ubuntu.The version shipped with my Aspire One doesn't have an intelligent installer, it is designed to restore your netbook back to the way you got it. How I believe it works is it partitions the drive, extracts a gzipped tarball to the drive and installs the bootloader, all without user input. So if you do want to install it as multi-boot, do it to a blank drive (you might want to make sure its the only one in the machine) or use a virtual machine, then copy it to where you want.

[irlandes]

Actually all the stuff is available for download, including recovery CD's.

http://www.linpus.com/download.php

That is why I wondered. But, frankly, based on your description, it sounds as if it is not a good idea to install, which was indeed my question. One reason I have so many multi-installs with no problems is I am cautious, and if it looks like a stupid installer, such as on Studio Ubuntu, I toss it out.

I do have DSL here in the Third World part of Mexico, but it is at times very slow, so I didn't want to try to download it without input from someone with experience. Thus, I appreciate the help.

Note that Linpus has other versions, including full-blown desktop version. However, there are so many darned good distros out there that I did not really want to try Linpus Grande, heh, heh, just the one they use on the netbook.

Well, another question down the tube. Now to see if I can mark this one SOLVED. Thanks a million or billion or whatever is correct.

[irlandes]

Oops, I guess this URL doesn't let you edit title, so can't mark SOLVED.

[retsaw]

The pictures with that download look totally different from what's on my netbook, I don't really know if Acer have put a newer Linpus on the 10" netbooks they are now selling, but that download is not the same as what's on the 8.9" models. So it may be worth trying, but considering the quality of what they did with the Aspire One version, I wouldn't expect too much. I would expect they would at least have done a proper installer, since they didn't need (and likely not want either) one for the Aspire One's recovery DVD.

[irlandes]

Based on what you have told me, which made all the sense in the world, I am going to assume the installer is not what I would call safe, and won't bother with the download.

Look at this posting as sort of a "call the store before driving 20 miles to town", and I really doubt they changed a stupid installer to a high quality one. If I ever hear differently, I will give it a try.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the detailed answer.

[LewRockwell]

Thank you for the detailed answer. But, my viewpoint is somewhat different, because I had a couple hours with the Acer Aspire One with Linpus Light, pre-installed, and it actually worked very well.

It worked so well I asked her to buy me one, but the raise in price in two weeks time was too much.

The little slide button to auto-connect to wireless even worked fine once you get the code key typed in.

One of the things we have tried to communicate over the years is, people are comparing Windows pre-installed, with Linux being installed by people of limited experience on a machine which was not certified for Linux.

The only problem I found was the microphone did not work well. Since Acer has admittedly known about it for a very long time, and those who don't immediately turn them back in for XP learn that it is actually an easy thing to fix, and nothing has been fed out in the update system, one must wonder if this is not a deliberate crippling to get people to buy XP. Maybe I am cynical but I have watched MS convictions for monopolistic practices for a long time.

I can believe wireless is hard to install if you buy an Aspire One XP machine and install it yourself. That is the case on many distros. Some have even had problems with Kubuntu 9.04. But, I sure wouldn't pay $298 and have to install the system myself and I have no intention of using XP.

As far as multi-boot, I have been running dual boot since 1999, and multi-boot for a very long time as well.

I have 2.5 machines now (the 0.5 is one that got hit by lightning and much of it doesn't work) with a variety of distros. At least 2, perhaps 3 Mandrivas; 4 or 5 of Kubuntu; Gos; Freespire; um, I think that's it right now. I tried an earlier version of debian and frankly I was alienated both by an install procedure that could not find any other way to install my NIC driver except by floppy, years after floppies stopped being installed on most computers, and also the insults I got when I asked on the forum for a solution. But, I was able to install the non-working system without harm to the existing installations.

I have yet to bust a system during multi-boot install, which is why I wondered if anyone has any experience with Linpus Light to know if it has a decent installer, or is totally stupid like the installer in Studio Ubuntu.

We wanted to response to call attention to one comment made in the quote included with this post.

Please understand that we ALWAYS recommend to others, when they insist on purchasing new computers, that they buy a machine WITH Windows.

That recommendation is solely and wholly based on the added resale value that factory-installed Windows produces...since the vast majority of the secondary market "just want Windows."

Hey, we don't make the rules or drive the market...we're just responding to it in the most intelligent and profitable manner possible!

Also, it should be noted that when we partition/set-up machines for ourselves and others as well, we create the first primary partition at 30GB and it is "reserved for Windows." Again, this is purely from a marketability standpoint. Say we have ten laptops running some various flavors of *nix distro in the showroom. Guy walks in, loves the machine and the distro but needs Windows on the machine and wants us to install it(now it becomes readily apparent why that partition is pre-positioned). Maybe the guy will do the install himself but buys from us because we are so thoughtful about the value of his future time! Hey, it's all about using your common sense and business sense!

Again, everyone keep up the great work!

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[irlandes]

Thanks, Lew. What you say makes all the sense in the world, for a business in the presence of a Windows monopoly. That monopoly has to be dealt with, no matter what we Linux fans might think of it. And, any business which does not recognize the public attachment to Windows is doomed. IMO.

And, of course, as monopolies tend to do, this is a vicious circle. Nothing stocked. Nothing can be ordered. So, everyone has to fight to install Linux on a machine that wasn't built for Linux. And, then everyone whines, "Linux isn't ready for the Desktop."

When you do buy a pre-installed Linux machine, there is usually a premium price on it. And, as others have pointed out on other forums, there is usually something crippled on it, as if they are trying to force you back to Windows, like the bad mike on the One, which they have known for nearly a year is bad, but no fix supplied.

However, to extend that same advice to a private individual whose computers never leave his house again except feet first, and who prefers Linux, is not as appropriate.

As I said, for me to accept a Netbook with XP, it would have to be free or nearly so. Until Kubuntu 9.04, wireless was a lot of dinking around. A lot of newbs reinstall Windows when they see how much dinking around they have to do, and/or when people tell them what to do and it doesn't work on their machine, they bail. And, say, "Linux sucks." Linux isn't the problem; installing it on computers that were designed for something else is the problem.

At 3000 pesos, that netbook was a great little machine. At 4000, I wasn't interested. It did everything well that I wanted, except the mike, and I wanted it strictly as a play-toy. I expected to be able to fix the mike, but didn't really care much. What I did not want was to buy an XP version and hope against hope that I could install Linux and have it all work as well as the pre-installed Linpus.

Thanks for the answer.

[LewRockwell]

Thank you for your thoughtful and reasoned response.

Truly they are few and far between these days!

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