Comments on: System76 Refreshes, Expands Ubuntu Netbook and Desktop Lineup

By: Jared Spurbeck

Jared Spurbeck — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:59:06 +0000

I still don’t like System76 a great deal. Their service responded quickly, but weren’t very knowledgeable about my problems, especially the well-documented Intel driver problems. They just kept telling me to turn down the graphics settings. I had to find the stickied workaround on the forums, which apparently they didn’t know about. And if I asked multiple questions in an email, they’d only ever answer the first one.

I’m also displeased about Ubuntu One. If our Free Software desktops are tied into a proprietary online service, what does that make them? I’m all for making money off of Ubuntu, but this sounds like the wrong way to go about doing it.

By: dca

dca — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:38:15 +0000

“US Big Box retailers (Best Buy, Staples, Target, etc.) have recently distanced themselves from Linux netbooks, increasingly offering Windows XP netbooks instead.”

…the interesting thing about Linux being pulled from big-box retailers has little to do w/ MS pushing the issue but everything to do w/ an eighteen year old clerk not knowing diddly about FOSS having grown up w/ an MS bib.

By: Leo

Leo — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:16:12 +0000

Thanks, Joe! This is a sweet netbook, configurable from inexpensive into ultra-portable road-warrior!

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:26:19 +0000

Leo: Another update. ZaReason CTO Earl Malmrose just sent me details about the company's new netbook. Here's the info.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:30:53 +0000

Leo: No comment – yet

As soon as I can confirm the netbook vendor and the product I will post a comment and a blog.

By: Leo

Leo — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:58:20 +0000

@grnich: yes, and I believe zareason is the vendor that Joe hinted at, as one with an imminent netbook release … (of course he might have information that he can’t make public, I don’t ).

By: grnich

grnich — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:19:56 +0000

Don’t forget to look at http://www.zareason.com/shop/home.php to comparison shop. THey offer a good selection of pre-loaded linuxes, including Ubuntu.

It’s good to see choice in the marketplace.

By: Marketing_Secret_Sauce

Marketing_Secret_Sauce — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:05:05 +0000

I like their netbook. $444 with a USB optical drive. 160 Gigs, webcam included.

Nice.

By: dragonbite

dragonbite — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:09:10 +0000

Thanks for correcting me on which vendor is offering which version of Ubuntu (Dell=8.04 LTS, System76=latest)

If I remember right, System76 does not include codecs while Dell does include Fluendo codecs.

To some degree this shows the issue of LTS, which is backporting things as time goes on which divides the developer resources some but may be an important detail.

By: Leo

Leo — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:09:55 +0000

@Jef: interesting question, and this goes hand in hand with the previous discussion here about updates policies.

In principle, regular users don’t what to fsck around with a massive software upgrade every six months (and the small but certain possibility of a non-working system as a result). So LTS seems the choice.

OTOH, the users can’t plug in their new photo camera and get it to work 2 years after the LTS release, because the kernel drivers will not be ready. A way around would be for the OEM to work with Canonical on QA and testing of certain backports to the LTS, such that the system remains essentially up to date, on top of an LTS.

Canonical, in turn, could enhance its own backport infraestructure, and have a special backport repo for the LTS release, where users can optionally cherry pick upgrades. The OEM’s would reuse that infraestructure, and validate it in their hardware (for instance, Dell may verify that the backported 2.6.31 kernel works ok in 8.04, in their Mini’s, so they would provide it as an “official” update.

BTW, besides our own entertainment, does anyone know if anyone from Canonical and or Ubuntu related vendors benefits from our discussions at all?