Eee PC, distro choice, power mgmt

[Mark Komarinski]

I've installed UNR and Intrepid (8.10) with the UNR packages on my Mini 
9, so here's a few random thoughts...

On 02/06/2009 10:14 AM, Alan Johnson wrote:
> I'll start by confirming what others have said already: it should be 
> sufficient for a full distro.  I have run full Ubuntu 8.04 on lesser 
> hardware very happily.  I have played with Xubuntu on a few machines 
> and have not noticed a huge difference between it and Ubuntu, but I 
> think it is more about the apps it uses, and maybe the hardware I've 
> tried isn't quite old enough for Xubuntu to stand out.
>
> However, if you really want to strip it down and build up piece by 
> piece to keep it as lean as possible, you might consider Ubuntu Server 
> over DebianEeePC.  The minimal install is only a few packages more 
> than I remember seeing on a minimal Debian install, and I have managed 
> to get FVWM running fairly easily from there.  I think I found guide 
> in the wiki.
I'd really go with one of the lpia (Low Power Intel Architecture) ports, 
since it's designed to work with the Atom.
> Be warned that this could take quite a bit of work digging around the 
> wikis and forums to find out what the packages you want to install 
> are, particularly for power management and such, but I don't really 
> know.  For me, it would not be worth the effort, but to each his own.  
> If it were me, being and Ubuntu fan boy, I'd look up the Ubuntu 
> 'netbook-remix' that Jarod mentioned.  Probably I'd get annoyed by 
> some tiny difference I was not used to and then install full Ubuntu.
UNR is Ubuntu ported to lpia with a few changes to make it auto-install 
on a netbook and change the desktop.  If you want to have the same 
desktop experience on a netbook, you can just install the 8.04 or 8.10 
lpia port and be done with it.  If you want the desktop that's a bit 
more optimized for the smaller screen of the netbook, look at installing 
UNR or UNR packages for 8.10.  For what I've been using it for, I 
haven't found any packages that are missing that would make me want to 
install the i386 port.
>   I'd spend a little more money on RAM if I had to before fighting 
> with a leaner distro, or is 1GB the max on these?  I am pretty sure 
> RAM is all I would need beyond the specs you listed, but it would only 
> come in handy when I have 20 tabs/windows open in Firefox, Evolution, 
> and 2 Open Office apps going at once.  I get the feeling that this is 
> not your intended use for this machine since you are looking for FVWM 
> + xterm as your GUI. =)
My mini 9 has 1GB RAM and no swap space (and 16GB SSD).  I've run 
Firefox with multiple tabs, a few terminal windows, and Thunderbird to 
fetch my e-mail at the same time and didn't notice any performance or 
memory issues.  Ben, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how good the 
performance is even without using FVWM/TWM.

Just based on the form factor I would *not* recommend it for long-term 
use.  For the "I'm at Martha's Exchange and want to read my e-mail", 
it's great.  I wouldn't look to replace a desktop or primary laptop with 
it though.
>
> Oh, and Ubuntu is very usable at 1024x768.  800x600 starts to get 
> annoying without some signifcant customization.  What is the res on 
> this thing anyway?
I think they're all 1024x600.  There's a few Ubuntu configuration 
windows that are 650+ pixels high, so it makes it tough to click "OK".

-Mark