{"id":12049,"date":"2009-12-10T13:08:58","date_gmt":"2009-12-10T11:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/?p=12049"},"modified":"2009-12-10T13:08:58","modified_gmt":"2009-12-10T11:08:58","slug":"linux-on-netbooks-distribution-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/10\/linux-on-netbooks-distribution-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux on netbooks : distribution question"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- google_ad_section_start -->\n<p>Linux on netbooks is becoming a hot subject recently. \u00a0There are more and more netbooks sold, and more and more of them are coming with Linux. \u00a0Or are being used to try Linux out. \u00a0Netbooks are small and often cheap devices which makes them affordable and even &#8230; expendable. \u00a0So a lot of people are getting them just to play around. \u00a0And those of them who want to try Linux out often end up asking the question: <strong><em>Which distribution should I chose?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This question has been asked many times before. \u00a0Everyone who tried using Linux asks this question sooner or later. \u00a0And the answer is &#8211; <strong>it&#8217;s pretty much doesn&#8217;t matter<\/strong>. \u00a0The truth is no matter which distribution you will chose, you&#8217;ll have a whole lot of questions. \u00a0Which applications to use, how to configure things, how to do specific things that you are used to doing in your current operating system, etc. \u00a0With all these questions you&#8217;ll go to Google, forums, and other people. \u00a0So, choose the distribution which you can find the answers for easier. \u00a0If someone is introducing you into the world of Linux, choose the same distribution that person is using. \u00a0That simple.<\/p>\n<p>But aren&#8217;t netbooks different?, you might ask. \u00a0Yes and no. \u00a0Netbooks are in the class of their own because it&#8217;s very easy to classify them. \u00a0They are smaller than laptops, often cheaper than laptops, and often have weaker hardware (less powerful CPU and less RAM specifically). \u00a0But they are still as normal a computer as any other desktop or laptop. \u00a0And while there are quite a few<a href=\"http:\/\/www.junauza.com\/2009\/12\/10-netbook-oriented-linux-distributions.html\"> Linux distributions for netbooks<\/a>, you can still use practically any desktop-oriented or generic Linux distribution on the netbook.<\/p>\n<p>How come? \u00a0Well, the differences between Linux distributions are in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>how the kernel is compiled<\/li>\n<li>which software is packaged<\/li>\n<li>default configuration options<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All three of these items are quite easy to change. \u00a0You can compile your own kernel. \u00a0You can remove installed software and install additional software. \u00a0You can change configuration options. \u00a0Involving yourself in any of these activities is not something I&#8217;d recommend to a novice user, but the important bit is that it can be done.<\/p>\n<p>Consider for example, a recent example in my blog post about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/29\/fedora-12-and-intellibook-rtl8187se\/\">Fedora 12 installation on my netbook<\/a>. \u00a0It went like a charm and the only issue I came across with was that wireless wasn&#8217;t working. \u00a0Which could be fixed either by installing an additional package or re-compiling the kernel and enabling the device driver.<\/p>\n<p>What I am trying to say is that trying different distributions is fun, but you shouldn&#8217;t be basing your choice of the distribution just on the fact that you are using a netbook. \u00a0Consider the purpose of the distribution, software that you will be using, and people that you will be consulting with before choosing the Linux distribution for your netbook.<\/p>\n<!-- google_ad_section_end -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!-- google_ad_section_start -->\n<p>Linux on netbooks is becoming a hot subject recently. \u00a0There are more and more netbooks sold, and more and more of them are coming with Linux. \u00a0Or are being used to try Linux out. \u00a0Netbooks are small and often cheap devices which makes them affordable and even &#8230; expendable. \u00a0So a lot of people are &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/10\/linux-on-netbooks-distribution-question\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Linux on netbooks : distribution question<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<!-- google_ad_section_end -->\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,6,62],"tags":[2351],"keyring_services":[],"class_list":["post-12049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-linux","category-technology","tag-fedora-linux"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13118,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2010\/08\/05\/where-did-all-the-linux-netbooks-go\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":0},"title":"Where did all the Linux netbooks go?","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"August 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Adam Williamson asks the question after doing a bit of research across several major vendors and online shops. where the hell did all the Linux netbooks go? In 2007 you couldn\u2019t buy a netbook with Windows; in 2008 to 2009 you could still walk into a big box store just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16508,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/17\/valve-launches-the-linux-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":1},"title":"Valve launches the Linux blog","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"July 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Valve, a well-known game development company, has launched the Linux blog. \u00a0Apparently, there are quite a few efforts taken to port games to Linux. The Valve Linux Team Our mission is to strengthen the gaming scene on Linux, both for players and developers. This includes Linux ports of Steam and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24368,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2015\/06\/16\/clearos-it-infrastructure-linux-distribution\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":2},"title":"ClearOS &#8211; IT infrastructure Linux distribution","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"June 16, 2015","format":"link","excerpt":"ClearOS - IT infrastructure Linux distribution.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"laptop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/laptop-500x278.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26303,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2016\/08\/03\/kali-tools-linux-distribution-for-penetration-testing\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":3},"title":"Kali Tools &#8211; Linux distribution for penetration testing","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"August 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Kali Tools - a special purpose Linux distribution for performing penetration testing. \u00a0A long list of tools is split into the following categories: Information gathering Vulnerability analysis Wireless attacks Web applications Exploitation tools Forensic tools Stress testing Sniffing & spoofing Password attacks Maintaining access Reverse engineering Hardware hacking Reporting tools","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"kali tools logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/kali-tools-logo.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16478,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/14\/linux-distributions-screenshot-museum\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":4},"title":"Linux distributions screenshot museum","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"July 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Chris Haney has put together a simple application that allows one to browse through numerous Linux screenshots. \u00a0More than 400 different Linux distributions are presented, with many of them featuring screenshots from different releases. \u00a0This is interesting both in terms of how much a distribution has changed over time, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Fedora-Core-6-500x375.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24806,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2015\/10\/05\/microsoft-has-developed-its-own-linux\/","url_meta":{"origin":12049,"position":5},"title":"Microsoft has developed its own Linux","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"October 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The rumor of Microsoft working on its own Linux distribution has been going around for a while. \u00a0Now it's confirmed by Microsoft themselves: The Azure Cloud Switch (ACS) is our foray into building our own software for running network devices like switches. It is a cross-platform modular operating system for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12049"},{"taxonomy":"keyring_services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyring_services?post=12049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}