Hints dropped about Ubuntu Netbook Remix; Wishlists already created

Filed under: Hardware, News, Linux, Open Source, Canonical

Hints dropped about Ubuntu Netbook Remix; Wishlists already created

by Kristin Shoemaker May 23rd 2008

There is a subculture among the Download Squad bloggers (and you thought you couldn't get any further sub-anything) of ultraportable computer users. We love the little things. They're teeny, have the right amount of power to do their designated tasks well and with little fuss, and they're fairly inexpensive.

But sometimes we're not real enamored of the default operating systems. The Eee users among us love the machine, but the verdict is out on Xandros in either simple or advanced mode. We've used eeeXubuntu, and it works well, but it seems as though the project is stuck on the Gutsy release and has no plan to move forward.

In a Guardian interview, Mark Shuttleworth of Ubuntu dropped the intriguing news that there is a Netbook Remix version of Ubuntu in the pipeline. Details are scant, but it seems there is some work being done with Intel to support the custom chips it manufactures for this market (no word on whether this release could leave VIA-powered machines out of the loop). There is a Launchpad account up and running, but there's not too much to see there (yet).

Ubuntu is fairly easy to tailor to ultraportables, but we're expecting that the Netbook Remix project is going to offer a bit more than resized windows and applications altered to make the most of screen real estate.

Personally, we'd most like to see tweaks made to software to extend battery life, special repositories set up for applications optimized for ultraportables, and perhaps some utilities to better support those of us who use both the internal hard drive and a supplement memory card to house the operating system.

Fellow ultraportable users, what would be on your wishlist for Netbook Remix version of Ubuntu?

[The Guardian by way of Slashdot]

Tags: Eee, HP MiniNote, HpMininote, launchpad, Linux, MSI WInd, MsiWind, Netbook remix, NetbookRemix, Ubuntu, ultraportable

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

W. Graves said 4:51PM on 5-23-2008

Flawless network connectivity, most important thing in a laptop thats built to do its business fast, doesn't matter if it boots in 20 sec. if it takes 5 min to get on the inter-webs.

and yes, ubuntu net-book remix sounds amazing and would definitely push me over the edge to buy one of these guys, prolly the HP as it matches my MBP and has the nicer screen

headless said 12:39AM on 5-24-2008

If the EeeXubuntu project could just move along to Hardy,that would be enough for me.

A. Vavra said 3:14AM on 5-24-2008

Tablets supported to the point where you don't have to mess with a xorg.conf would be great!

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