Life with a Netbook & Ubuntu- a few months in..

I love my netbook. I have a Dell Mini 9, 1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, ubuntu Linux OS. I jumped on it as soon as they were announced and was on a 2 month back order. Very un-Dell-like, but worth the wait. As with everything, it is always good to wait until something matures, but in this case I was eager. Below is a screenshot of my desktop with twhirl opened so you can get a sense for the size.


I know some folks are in the market for a netbook and figured I'd give a list of some advice/experiences.

• I have the 16GB SSD drive, it was the biggest that they offered at the time. You can get way bigger now. I wanted to try life living in the clouds and so far so good. Majority of my files are in the clouds, only thing installed locally are applications. But, I'd go bigger if I had the choice today.
• I went with Linux as something I just wanted to do. ZERO regrets. I am very interested in Linux but was worried how I would interact with the world, ubuntu is truly amazing. It is a completely new way of thinking about Linux. I use it as much for work - office, online interaction.
  
• It came installed with ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) with the netbook remix interface. I have since upgraded to 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) without much issue and have skipped the remix interface.
• Fantastic support can be found here and here.
  
• Know what to expect. A netbook is just that. A computer primarily intended to be used as for web browsing, light office application work.
  
• Watching tv, movies. Works like a charm if downloaded, 70% of the time it works streaming, but sometimes delays etc. Boxee is not working, hulu most of the time.
• Expect to pay $400-500. The $200 being advertised, you will quickly find are very low end machines. Pay the extra cash, its worth it. Extra cash comes with large storage, more memory, integrated camera and bluetooth.
  
• I am getting used to blogging now, but it wasnt ideal initially. I was lost without SnagIt (linux issue, not netbook). Also the tiny keyboard takes some getting used to. I still fat finger it alot.
• Really think about how you will access work, other files. I have settled on box.net, but still not perfect. There are a whole list out there.
• Google docs is a fantastic tool. I couldn't use it all the time, but its awesome. Great tool for netbook users. Collaboration is nice. Downside is if another collaborator doesn't have a google account. They claim otherwise, but that's been my experience. Also, no "review" tools.
  
• BIGGEST disappointment is the lack of 3G integration with the mini9, no excuses at all. It should be a requirement if you have a netbook. Live and learn for me.
• Most netbooks do not come with a CD/DVD drive, I purchased an external one and it was a total waste of money. I used it once to watch a movie.
• I have the Timbuk2 bag, really nice but it fits exactly the netbook and power cord, no room for a pen even.
• Battery life is pretty solid-- I get ~4hr with the larger Dell battery.
• I also bought speakers and a mouse. I would skip both next time. The creative speakers are nice, but they are now attached to my desktop. The mouse is still in the packaging.
  
• Web browsing takes some getting used to as the screen size is tiny. It is working ok for me, but I'd also take a look at the soon to be released mini10.

Here is a shot of the CFdesign home page in Firefox. Should give you an idea of the aspect ratio. I have both the netbook and the iphone. I couldn't imagine life without either. I know there is a trend that smaller is better and everything is going toward the handheld. I agree up to a point, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the netbook, no question.

Weekend Project: Ubuntu Linux

I have written in the past about my interest in Linux. I have recently downloaded and installed Ubuntu. Certain surveys show that Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distributions, approximately 30%. Dell even offers it on certain machines.

The main reason I like this distribution is that it focuses on ease of use and installation. Other Linux distributions are probably just as powerful but can be difficult to use or difficult to install. I downloaded ubuntu and installed on an old machine with no issues at all. I am still working on getting the wireless card to work but I think I have an old machine with an outdated driver.

I also recently took the plunge into the world of Vista. Check out the video above that highlights some of the differences between the two. I still don't believe that Linux will be accepted by mainstream users. But, then again, not sure if that is the targeted market?

Upfront CAE & Linux: Does a Future Exist?

The Linux OS has been around for about 17 years. It has grown in popularity and functionality, but really still has a "cult" following. Check out the above Wikipedia link for the details on its origin etc. Pretty sure most people reading this have a general feel for what it is about.

I am the first to admit that in the early/mid 90s I was really hooked on the entire idea. I had a standard windows machine and also had a "second" machine to tinker with Linux. I was introduced to it by some computer geek friends. It was intriguing to think that we were all very into the "alternative" way of doing things. Once out of school, I was working with some pretty high end CAE software packages and we were running UNIX/Linux etc, so I continued to tinker. I was always partial to SUSE/Linux (before big, bad Novell bought them) I still have it installed on an old laptop and when I really want to geek it out, I fire that bad boy up.

The fact is Linux is becoming mainstream, but not in the conventional way that you may think. It is being used in mobile phones, kiosks, game systems and a whole slew of other industries. The fact is most people are using Linux everyday and probably are not aware of it. But will it become mainstream and be leveraged by the multi-tasking engineer that is running Upfront CAE tools? The same question can be posed to the engineers that are driving MCAD today? The quick and simple answer is-- probably not anytime soon.

You will certainly have the renegades out there, those that just can't bring themselves to using Windows. Bold move, but power to them. My gut is that Windows is here to stay for awhile. It's known, it's legacy is overwhelming and let's face it - we all know it pretty well. As a user that is, not in an IT kind of way. I am sure you can pitch it from a security standpoint. I am suggesting from strictly a user's perspective and whether or not large organizations would take the plunge.

I think Linux is being adopted by the analysis community and will continue on that trend. But I think the Upfront community is more mainstream, tends to go with the flow (no pun intended) and these guys are typically windows users.

I think it is a toss up which direction the Upfront community will go; Linux or Mac?