What's wrong with Linpus? Why change?

I'm using a 512MB SSD One. So far it Linpus has impressed me as fast and reliable - the only issue I've had is a freezing file manager. Oh, and I hate only having a limited selection of Man pages. But Limpus boots fast and lets me have lots of apps open without getting into trouble. So why do people replace it? Tempt me - please!

 

I switched because for me the look was not acceptable and it required too much CLI (Command Line Interface) to make changes, also I felt it was too restricting meaning it was too hard to customize with the programs I like again too much CLI. When I did get it running the programs I wanted the it got somewhat sluggish and slowed down then when updates came out things quit working and needed CLI again to fix. I don't have theses problems with Mandriva 2009 Spring.

 

I switched to Ubuntu 9.04 after trying different distros before (became a sort of hobby ) mainly because of the limited software choice. Linpus Linux is based on Fedora 8 and thus outdated. And Linpus Linux is quite locked, you're not even able to have automated security updates for Firefox, for example. I'm happy now with a fully functional and actual desktop system. My Aspire One feels twice as productive than before and I'm discovering new applications every day. And you know what? My little netbook is fit enough for most of the applications, no reason to run such a limited, locked thing like Linpus or any NBR.

 

???

I'm using alternate repositories via yum on the rare occasion I can't find what I want and occasionally wget. If you do this, choice seems unlimited, although I understand it might be too command-line-ish for some people.

It branched from an early Fedora than the current one, bug hasn't it had its own updates since then? Are there any substantial issues - measurable improvements - you can point to? Looking at the release summaries there don't seem to be many - or any - improvements that would have altered the part of the code base that made it into Linpus . At first I thought the new boot manager would be nice, but the Acer has a non-standard obviously custom boot.

Twice as productive because you don't have to manually update the browser? I'm sorry, I'm not getting this. How is Linpus "locked" once you've it into advanced mode and know how to use sudo? How does this affect using normal applications? I'm running emacs in Org mode - probably the most advanced information manger and research tool on the open market - I have gimp and VLC, pdf reading is fast - what benefits, using these tools, would I get from another OS?

 

Keeping apps working across updates without hassle is good. Otoh - if you're using a Mandriva only a couple of months old are you sure that you won't have this problem when you've used it long enough for it to update?

And could you give me an idea of which programs you found sluggish?

 

You are correct I should have added that I first switched to Mandriva 2009 Gnome about 6 months ago and I have had many updates to Mandriva Spring and none of them have broken anything but they have improved a few things.

 

Just a question !

Can OpenOffice 3, Evolution, Amarok, Kaffeine, Vlc, Opera Web Browser, all be installed easily under Linpus?

 

I don't mean to be flippant but hat really depends on what you call easy. For me using CLI for anything but extremely simple copy and paste code is not easy.

 

No worries mate its just that those applications are must have for me, if they are easily installed then I will switch back to Linpus, but for my main machine ( I have 2) I will stick to sidux its simply fantastic

 

First, I stayed on Linpus(unhappily), because it fits AA1 most, later, seems that the updates from Acer is decreasing, and seems that they will drop the support! So I switched to Mandriva, I think it is the best distro. on AA1, 2009.0 works, except the card readers, they both work after tweaks. 2009.1 is even better!

What makes the difference is that Mandriva 2009 is a fully working distro. , however, Linpus is a very closed system. Installing a software will mass up with the packages, and the whole system will brake down. How can you use a system that can not install any other software? And seems that Acer is frightened by Microsoft(most user LOVE TO PAY for windows, and don't even want to try it, Well, that isn't all their fault, given the tweaked Linux included in those Netbooks!) You no longer sees netbooks pre-loaded with Linux!

 

Well in answer to my own question thus

Yes they can as I have just installed all the above with some help from the Macles blog site

So for my half a gig solid drive ssd acer its running Linpus fine with all the necessary stuff I need and this is the netbook that will go out with me on my travels. My other 150 aa1 is loaded with vista and sidux kde4.2 and is great for indoor.

sorted

 

I've been using Linux since 2001, so I've been around a bit, there are others with more experience and time than me,but |I'm no novice. Here's my take on Linpus Lite.

It does what it is designed to do, although not perfectly. It's not locked down like an embedded device, but not open enough either. They have some clever ideas but it feels like they rushed the product to market. Having said that, I can still install statically linked binaries,or compile my own software from source if it's not in the repository. I've also been able to do a bit of wardriving with it, as well. The hardware is good and quite capable given the right scenario. Heck, ten years ago, I'd have given my eye teeth for a system with this kind of spec.

My wife loves it. It is simple to use, doesn't need tweaking, and gives her a pleasant computing experience. With other computers,her main complaint was that the desktop changed so often, I would try out a new distro regularly,and would regularly switch from Gnome to KDE to IceWM to XFCE, Enlightenment, etc.Drove her nuts. Not with this.

When I get a craving for something different, I have an external HDD that I can boot off of. It's currently got a standard Kubuntu on it. I think I'll give Windows 7 a go next.

 

Yep. The fedora 8 repositories do not get updated anymore. Newer versions of software will not come complete with fedora 8 rpms in many cases - meaning you will have to hope the later rpms work or compile the program yourself. Not something that truly improves "ease of use".

 

i find Linpus simple to use the basic features, though if you want advance features you really need to work for them. I have tried a number of OS's on it so far, i cant seem to get Ubuntu on completely (issues with drivers). I will try and try again until i find something i like - either Windows 7 or Ubuntu. I am no expert in Linux, yet still love Ubuntu all day long

 

I'd agree. I have a suspicion that a lot of people have put another version of Linux on to do things that they could have done on Linpus, sometimes because they didn't know Advanced Mode was there (does it appear in the docs?) and sometimes because of problems caused the bodging together of Linpus around Firefox 2 and what have you, so that installing a new OS can be the best way of getting a new browser.

The hardware is excellent. The "user experience" especially for intermediate users could have been much better. I would have made Add/Remove programs an icon and added an easy editor for the desktop, a less freeze prone file manager, ballistic scrolling, made sure that Messenger etc were easy to remove (where the hell is it in A/R), shipped a decent photo viewer and movie player, and provided some "macro" install and uninstall options - eg strip the machine of all apps in a category with one click, add photo editing apps. And a funkier but Netbook friendly (big icons for low precision clicking) would have been nice.

 

That's very definite and informative. Thank you.

 

I'm new to Linux and still using Linpus. I like the fact that it boots very quickly but I do have a few issues with it. The fact that I can't simply install Firefox 3 without going through a CL procedure seems rather backward, and I have installed Opera, which I like, but yesterday got a message saying it had been updated and would Ilike to download the updates. I clicked 'yes' went to the downloads page and then couldn't find a version for Linpus. I still haven't added VLC because the procedures referred to in other threads just seem too confusing when a simple 'install program' click can get it for other versions of Linux and also Windows.

Another problem I have with it is the inablility to 'personalise' the desktop. It would be nice if you could, straightforwardly, do this.

Until I find that someone has a version of Linux that 'Works out of the box' with the Acer I will stick with Linpus and stay slightly disappointed with it.

Edit: Also, it appears to be a nightmare to get it to connect with the rest of my XP network at home as well as my Wifi printer.

 

Hopefully items 6 & 8 on this list should help you out with both of those:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/05 ... page3.html

 

I coundn't stand Linpus because...
1. It's crippled to make it user friendly. It is perfectly fine if you want to use the netbook as it but you can't tweak it easily.
2. Software. Installing software is iffy at best. If there is a Fedora version it might or might not work well.
3. Ongoing support. Ubuntu is far better supported and more active. You are totally stuck with the software on it, as is. Install a new version and you don't know what it might break.
4. Multi media. I couldn't get some of them to play (DIVX). Yes, there are pages on how to tweak Linpus, but I would rather devote the time needed to tweak to installing a more modern operating system with better support.

I am in the midst of going to Ubuntu and with 9.04 and the net remix, it's been pretty easy so far and I like it a lot better.

I think Acer made a big mistake with the Linpus approach.

As far as windows goes, Microsoft is committed to having a low cost, low overhead OP for netbooks. The vast majority of users will take that option and they probably should.

 

Linpus wasn't a big mistake. A big mistake would have been a more locked down Linux, even embedded, with binary blob drivers for hardware with no kernel support whatsoever, or even Windows CE.

Microsoft, for netbooks is committed to nothing other than vendor lock-in. Win7 RC1 doesn't run acceptably on the A110L when compared to XP and even Linpus.