Naturally Linux was the choice. I wanted to give either Elive or gOS Cloud a try but the former required an external usb CD drive and cloud computing just doesn’t suit a fourteen year old girl. Instead I turned to Eeebuntu NBR (Net Book Remix) and I’m thrilled I did.

Why Eeebuntu?

The primary reason I went with Eeebuntu is simple: It’s based on Ubuntu which is one of the most user-friendly distributions of Linux available. Add to that the fact that Eeebuntu would take an Eee PC and make it more like an actual computer (instead of a toy good for not much more than browsing the web) and you have the ingredients for a no-brainer solution. And, of course, we are a Linux family so Windows XP was not an option.

Eeebuntu really does feel like a full-blown Linux distribution. Why? Because it is. Upon installation you have Firefox, Evolution, OpenOffice, Skype, a terminal, and so much more – everything you need! And Eeebuntu uses an array kernel which was designed specifically for Eee PCs. This kernel has very specific modules that help to make everything on the Eee work – and work well. From wireless to webcams, when you install Eeebuntu everything will work out of the box.

Eeebuntu is also much more efficient and responsive than the original Xandros. This is definitely a plus for a fourteen year old who has the attention span of, well, a fourteen year old. But it also allows much better use of the multi-tasking nature of Linux. You can have both Evolution (mail client) open and Firefox and not see a drop in speed.

How To Install

I would love to have to draw up all of these complicated steps for the installation of Eeebuntu (just to pat my own nerdy back). Unfortunately the installation of Eeebuntu is quite easy. Here are the steps:

1. Download the Eeebuntu image.
2. Download Unetbootin.
3. Plug in a >= 1 Gig Usb flash drive to your computer.
4. Open up Unetbootin.
5. Select Disk Image and then search for the Eeebuntu image you downloaded.
6. Click OK and Unetbootin will install Eeebuntu onto the flash drive.
7. Close Unetbootin when complete.
8. Remove the USB drive.
9. Plug the USB drive into your Eee PC.
10. Turn on your Eee PC and hit the Esc key a couple of times.
11. Select to boot from your flash drive.
12. Install Eeebuntu as you would install Ubuntu.

Done. Now you can enjoy your Eee PC as if it were a real laptop.

Final Thoughts

If you own an Eee PC and you’re either struggling with the pre-install OS or you just want more from your hardware, install Eeebuntu and free your Eee.

Related posts

• Which Ubuntu Derivative Is Right For You? (16)
• Install Linux on a USB drive with UNetbootin (21)
• With Ubuntu 9.10 Arrives Wubi 9.10 (2)
• Why you should switch your parents pc to ubuntu (20)
• What makes Ubuntu so user friendly? (47)

There are many reasons why you should give this distribution a try. One of the reasons is that even when using the Live CD you can get the full benefit of what this distribution is all about. Even using a three year old machine I didn’t feel like I was using a Live CD. It’s that well put together.

How Did They Do It?

It’s been known for a while that Compiz and Enlightenment wouldn’t work together. The developers have been asked over and over to roll Compiz support into Enlightenment. It wasn’t until Elive developer Thanatermesis put in the necessary time to develop a special version of Ecomorph which consists of a special version of Compiz and a special version of E17 that are able to work together. As of now the developers claim this is nothing more than a “hack” and in pre-alpha stages. What I have seen, however, is pretty stable. That doesn’t mean you should be putting this version of Elive on your production machines. This version should be going on a machine that can be wiped clean whenever you choose. But you should definitely put it on something…it’s that cool.

What It Contains

Upon first glance of this distribution you would think you using E17 with maybe a few extra applets on the desktop. That is not the case. The minute you hit Ctrl-Alt with a left mouse click you will see that famous 3D cube brought to the desktop care of Compiz. A little more digging and you will find some rather interesting (and very alpha released) video applications as well as some spiffy configuration tools.

There was one effect with this desktop that really caught me by surprise. When you close a window the window folds into a paper airplane and flys away. Useful? Not really. Impressive? Very.

Graphic Requirements

Obviously this is one of the first questions you will have to ask. On the site they highly recommend an NVidia card. I ran the LiveCD on an NVidia 6800 GT and it was smooth as silk.

Have a Look

There is a great video on Youtube that shows off the Elive Compize release. Take a look here. In this video you will notice Elive Compiz running on an Eee PC. You can use the fantastic UNetBootin tool to install Elive Compiz onto a USB drive and get it working on an Eee PC.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a Debian-based distribution that takes the PC desktop to heights you have never experienced, Elive Compize is the Live CD for you. Just remember, while this is in such early stages, to not run this on a production machine.

Related posts

• Installing and Configuring Enlightenment E16 (10)
• Get to know Linux: Enlightenment E17 (8)
• Add transparent windows with transset (2)
• Manage your E17 menus (5)
• Make KDE 4 More User-Friendly by Changing Window Behavior (7)

UNetbootin can be used on either Linux or Windows. In this article, we’ll be illustrating the Linux side of things (naturally).

Note of warning: Not all usb installations will work on all machines. This can be an issue with your Bios or your USB drive. If you install an OS that doesn’t work, try another. But after all that work, you might wind up with a machine that simply won’t boot from a USB drive. You have been warned.

Now, on with the installation.

Getting and using UNetbootin

The first thing to do is download a copy of UNetbootin. For our purposes we’ll download the Linux universal install binary (named unetbootin-linux-299). Once that has finished you will need to issue the command chmod u+x unetbootin-linux299 in order to make the file executable. Once the file is executable, su to the root user and issue the command (from the same directory unetbootin-linx-299 is stored) ./unetbootin-linux-299 to see the application running. But you’re not ready just yet.

Depending upon your distribution, you might come across an error involving p7zip-full. This might be in your distribution’s repositories. If you use Mandriva you can install p7zip but you will not have the full package. If you use Unbuntu you can get p7zip-full with the command apt-get install p7zip-full.

Before you run the application you will need to insert and mount your usb drive. Stick in your usb drive and then issue dmesg to find out where your usb drive is located. Mount that and then issue, as root, ./unetbootin-linux-299. When yo issue the command you will see the UNetbootin window.

UNetbootin Main Window

Once this window is up and running you are almost there.

If you have very specific needs for your distribution you will most likely have an image file downloaded to use. If you do not you can select your distribution from the drop down list. First you select the distribution and then you select the version (or release). NOTE: Unless you have a very large USB drive you will most likely want to use a netinstall  version of your distribution.If you do happen to have a large USB drive you can go ahead with a full distribution. If this usb drive is for rescue purposes, or just to have a version of Linux with you at all times, a distribution like PCLinuxOS Minime is a greate choice.

Once the process is done you will have two buttons to click, Reboot and Exit. Don’t bother with the Reboot button. Click the Exit button and UNetbootin will close. You can now unmount your drive and reboot your machine to see if the installation works.

When your machine boots you will need to make sure it first boots from the usb device.

If you’re interested to see what PCLinuxOS Minime looks like, take a look.

PCLinuxOS Minime

And that’s it.

Related posts

• Let Eeebuntu Free your Eee PC (10)
• With Ubuntu 9.10 Arrives Wubi 9.10 (2)
• Why you should switch your parents pc to ubuntu (20)
• Which Ubuntu Derivative Is Right For You? (16)
• What makes Ubuntu so user friendly? (47)

The process itself was designed with ease of use in mind. The user begins by picking a distribution and version from the top pull down menu, roughly 20 Linux Distributions are available currently ranging from Damn Small Linux to Open Suse and Ubuntu.

A homepage link and a short description of the selected Linux operating system is displayed below the selection. Inexperienced users will have troubles selecting a distribution and need to investigate them by going to their websites.

It’s great for users who know which Linux Distribution they want or who want to try different distributions in short time.

The last step of this process is the selection of a hard drive or USB device to install the Linux operating system to.

UNetbootin comes with a few additional features. Instead of picking a distribution from top the user can select an ISO image from his hard drive and install that. There is even a custom option to load kernels / Initrd.

The software program works on all Windows versions from Windows 2000 to Windows Vista and on Linux.

Related posts

• With Ubuntu 9.10 Arrives Wubi 9.10 (2)
• Ubuntu 8 makes it even easier to try out Linux (6)
• Ubuntu 8 is out (7)
• Run Linux Live CDs In Windows (4)
• Portable Ubuntu For Windows (36)