Linpus Lite is a big FAIL on the desktop

I had bought an Acer AspireOne around 6 months back. I've used it for less than 3 months and the network drivers have been deleted like twice. And both the times the reason was a Live-Update. I went online and checked that the only way to bring back the thing to life was to reinstall everything. I want to believe that I know a thing or two about Linux, my first distro was Slackware in 1998. Its been a while and won't consider myself to be a linux noob. Given the fact that I know a thing of two about Linux and I was still frustrated. I could have spent 2-3 hours and somehow got the whole thing to life again, but I am just thinking about people who don't know thing about Linux.

For them its just an OS that runs and they don't even have to bother about it. But when you laptop stops working what do you do? This is a laptop without a CDROM drive and the only way to reinstall is to use the recovery DVD. I am just thinking about all the people who got the update around two days ago and who know the last thing about Linux. If I could get frustrated with it, I am so sure they will think twice before buying a laptop with Linux. Some people could argue that its not a more known brand of Linux. But given the fact that this is what this laptop came with for most people its not really a choice. And given a fact that how easy its to install an OS, almost as easy as getting a root canal done. Linux on the desktop is a big FAIL for me.

I use UBUNTU every now and then, I just installed portable UBUNTU but now all of a sudden all the files have gone missing. Its the second Linux FAIL for me.

UPDATE: I finally got Portable Ubuntu running and I have to say its amazing to say the least. Probably this is the only way I would ever use Ubuntu. Its like getting the best of both worlds.

Comments

Naren Blogs said…
hi on reading your blog i dont accept the facts that have been said by you about linux. i have linux with dual boot in my desktop and laptop (opensuse & ubuntu) and never had a single problem after i installed. i dont think the files would have gone, may be someone deleted.
12:18 AM
VJ said…
I have updated the blog entry with links to the help forums. Its not always wise to blame the user. I use the netbook only for surfing and remote desktop. There is no way that I could have deleted any files, let alone move any files.

The main problem was the Live-Update that broke the network drivers. It happened in September and again in the April update.
9:00 AM
smalldog said…
I had installed linux on two desktop and two notebook(notebook+netbook). They are all running without problem. I install ubuntu on two machines - one desktop & one notebook, another desktop running gentoo, and my netbook is preinstall with linpus. I had using redhat, fedora, slackware, suse and etc. To my person point of view, Linpus is the worse distribution. It provides no support at all.
According to you mention disappear of files. Do you ever try search on your disk around. Is it possible move to another place or deleted accidentally? Good luck
12:41 PM
Unknown said…
this is a netbook. it has no cdrom drive. the operating system is in no way related to the use or function of a cdrom drive. so, stating that you'd have a hard time with linux without a cdrom seems a little dim. you'd have the same problem without a cdrom drive if you had windows. it breaks, too, and you'd still have no drive to assist you. granted, i choose to run windows xp on my netbook because it HAS to be compliant for my school work. i also bought an external USB cdrom drive so i can resinstall the OS if i have to. just saying.
2:27 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The best mobile development platform for hobbyist programmer

This is something I have been thinking for a while so here it goes. This is a list of platforms I know of and my choice of what makes sense for a hobbyist programmer like me. Let me first list down all the possible platforms and then list down the pros and cons that I feel are associated with each platform. Java ME (The platform formally known as J2ME) Windows Mobile Linux Palm Brew Symbian Blackberry iPhone iPhone Let me start with iPhone the darling of the media and blogger's till about a fortnight. I had real expectations from iPhone as a platform but the way its been going so far I would never bother developing for it. Officially there is no SDK with which one can build applications. What ever tools the community had built have been rendered useless with the iPhone 1.1.1 software upgrade . The community might be able to hack a version for 1.1.1 but without any support from almighty apple its just a cat and mouse game. With every minor release the applications ...
Read more

Using Voicemail with Airtel Prepaid Karnataka

Call  *321*671# to activate the service on your phone. It will ask you for permission if you want to enable it. To customize the account dial 52555 To disable voicemail dial *321*673# You can also activate it by sending out a SMS Send START VMS to 54321 for activation  Send STOP VMS to 54321 for de-activation  This post if for my own reference. If you have any questions leave a comment and if I know about it I will try and answer it.
Read more

And yet more invites for joost

UPDATE: I have given out all of them, if I get anymore I will send them across. I have more invitations for joost incase you are looking for one just leave a message on meebo or leave your email address in the comments and I will send you an invite. Incase you leave your email address in the comments please don't write it in plain text. Use this format xyz(at)emailprovider.com instead. Technorati Tags: joost , invite , tv
Read more