Linux guide for beginners/Best distro for AA1?

I've done a search and can't find anything - just wondering if anyone could recommend a really good guide for Linux noobs, preferably written with the idiot in mind. Well, I'm not a complete eejit but some stuff I've read uses terms I'm not familiar with.

Also wondering if you all think Linpus is the best distro for the AA1? I briefly had Ubuntu on my last laptop right before it died but I was starting to like it. From what I read here you need to tweak Ubuntu a lot of the AA1 and some things still don't work. Basically I'm better off sticking with Linpus, yes?

 

You can try Mandriva 2009.1, everything is working out of the box. My daughter is using it on her aspire110.
You can put the iso easly on a usb-stick and run it as a live-cd and install it from there.

 

Thanks, Willie. I'll give it a go!

 

The most important question is the one about the nature of the harddisk in your AA1.
Is it 'solid state' or is it a traditional spinning harddisk ?
In the SSD nothing is spinning, it is just another form of memory.

All operating systems are developed on the basis of spinning harddisks, so with a 'real' harddisk in your AA1 anything goes without much problem.

The problems are in the models with the SSD-drives: writing to these drives is a very different process, and basically: slow.
Linpus has solved these problems for you.
With other OS's you have to look very carefully what you are doing.

HTH, --Japser.

 

Thanks for replying Jasper, I'm afraid I haven't a clue about the hard disk. It's SATA, I think? It's the A150 model.

 

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_Aspire_One
it appears you have a real, ordinary spinning harddrive.
SSD's are typically 8 or 16 GB in size.

--Japser.

 

Everything (I tried) worked out of the box for me with Fedora, but if you've tried Mandriva and it seems tto work for you, go for it. .

 

I've downloaded Mandriva but not installed it yet (I am at this moment looking at how to install things!).

Why do you prefer Fedora to Linpus? As I said, I'm new to Linux and trying to understand how they all differ.

 

Why I prefer Fedora to Linpus:
1. Fedora is a mainstream, actively-maintained distro. It's current
Linpus is based on Fedora 8, which is more than 6 months past end-of-life
2. Personally, I despise the Linpus interface. I know others like it - the choice is personal
With Fedora, I have a lot more control over the user interface

Think of the various modern, up-to-date Linux distributions as siblings. They share a lot of the same DNA, but each has its own unique features. The trick is to find one that works well for you. Unless you just like to explore different Linux distros, there's no reason to be running a new distro every week.

 

RockDoctor,

I noticed that you have tried MANY distros. So do you think Fedora 11 is really the best? I have no opinion because I only know Linpus.

I am looking into switching to a new OS, and I am thinking about Fedora 11, Kuki, and Sidux.

I want one that works with ALL the basic hardware like the two card readers, web cam, suspend, etc...

It seems nobody can get all the hardare to work out of the box.

 

I don't use suspend, so I can't comment on it. Also, I've never tried Sidux. All I can say is that Fedora 11 is one of the best I've tried. Kuki isn't bad, I'm just more familiar with the Fedora way of doing things.

 

I've tried out a number of different distros on my AA1. My favorite so far is the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Everything (card readers, suspend, webcams) works perfectly "out of the box" and it has a much nicer interface than Linpus (which I didn't care for AT ALL). It's also a very popular and actively developed distro, so updates and improvements are frequent.

 

Did you try Fedora 11? I liked the interface but there was a load of stuff I couldn't get working at all - mostly installing things like Flash Player, Snes emulator, another games thing mentioned in these boards...

 

Eeebuntu runs really well, even on my slow SSD, works damn close to out of the box, the only thing that comes to mind was a problem with hotplugging on the RH SD slot, the fix and many other tweaks can be found on the Acer Aspire One Ubuntu wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne

(I installed the Base version for liteness, but they also have NBR and standard versions)

 

I've just installed Ubuntu Netbook remix and so far I'm very happy with it as I managed to install Flash player with a couple of clicks. What was the problem on Fedora 11?

I don't like the desktop design but I can live with it.

 

I'm using Debian Squeeze. The wifi took a lot of fiddling but it is working now. The camera is good. I haven't tried any of the card readers. I have a multi-card to USB adapter that I use instead.

So Ubuntu, Fedora and Mandriva work out of the box? Especially the wifi? That is good! That's what I have had the most trouble with on all my laptops and this netbook.

 

How do the different distros affect battery life?

 

Currently using Ubuntu NBR on a 9 cell and it lasts 8 hours. The original battery lasted 2 hours.

 

i recently installed mint 7 gloria, which is ubuntu 9.04 based. it is working pretty well out of the box. it has some additional features which makes it easy for newbees unfamiliar with terminal commands to use

also they have their forum site which is very helpful so you can get answers to any issues you may face there

suggest you try it out

nals

 

I have been using kuki and am very impressed. Everything works including the LED which flashes when data is being transferred. Card readers work too. Only failing is system volume which is quiet comared to other distros I have tried through speakers. Other than that all seems good.