A110 owner opinions

Quite a divergence of comments. Here's how I read it:

The people who find Linpus Linux the most frustrating are the users with some Linux experience but who are not really experts. They've used Ubuntu, and expect that Linpus works in the same "I-never-have-to-open-the-terminal" user friendly manner.

People who really know their way around Linux won't be especially put out, and people who just follow instructions to add a few new applications will also be OK.

But really, to have to customize an obscure "group-app.xml" file just to get a icon to appear on the desktop! Its easy to see how that's not going to sit will with the typical XP/Ubuntu power user. Ditto the risk of breaking the Acer customizations each and every time you update something.... and with the Acer update website STILL not on-line... the strikes just keep piling up.

If the XP version was $100 more expensive we could have another discussion, but with the current pricing the SSD version has to be considered "an aquired taste" aimed at the masochists among us.

 

Yes, you certainly have a point here. Although the chances of the home user suffering any issues on a ageing Linux system are few, especially if browsers and email clients are updated separately (as can be done with both FF and Opera), this will become a growing problem as time passes. Unless Acer delivers on security updates, I envisage wiping the AA1 and installing an alternative distro... but by the time I do this, many months from now, the latest distros will probably work out of the box on the One in a way which is simply not true at present.

This is indeed a pain, even for seasoned Linux users, let alone for people used to dragging or right clicking icon creation in Windows, although icon creation is much easier if you opt for the classic XFCE desktop. IME most new non-repo installations (GEarth, Opera) automatically put icons onto XFCE anyway. But yes your general point is right insofar as you need to apply yourself to getting what you want in a way that is not necessary in Windows, or even a stock Ubuntu or Fedora installation. Having said all that, once you've done it, it will go on and on without the performance degradations which affect XP over time, and with minimal "housekeeping". But tailoring any Linux system, Ubuntu included, is still not quite at a HomerSimpson accessibility level. Using one that has been set up for you emphaticallly IS Homer-friendly, arguably even more so than an XP setup. I guess that's the very idea of the Acer customization of Linpus/FC8.....