Blog Updates: Kernels, OSes, and Finals, Oh My!

I've been gone for a while, but trust that my tinkering with Cloudbook, or community involvement has not stopped.

I've gotten the distro to be pretty happy with what I want, but, with any peice of computer hardware that's been linux-ed, you always HAVE to tinker. Yesterday I successfully compiled a linux kernel for the first time, to test with the cloudbook's gOS. Hopefully everything goes to plan...if so, then I might start to tweak on systems from now on.

Speaking of which, though I've given it a try, right now it stands that other operating systems(OS) work better on the cloudbook than gOS. This is one of the reasons I actually bought the cloud, as I wanted to try different systems on a computer that was a little bit smaller and lightweight than my 5lbs broken Compaq. For the people that have Cloudbook, but are having a hard time the OS, fear not! Like any computer system, and especially with this small beauty, a new OS might be your answer.

Within the community of Cloudbooker.com, many users have changed their OS to something more to their liking. Some of the Users have installed Windows XP and used the drivers provided through Everex with plenty success and more options. Others have just stuck with the linux vibe, and I'm happy to say some have found great results with other distros. One user found that a copy of the Xubuntu Alpha(the latest test-release for Xubuntu 8.04 coming out in April) runs smoothly and even corrects the wireless problems found in gOS. Another user is finding OpenSuse is running smoothly(with the exception of the sound...but he's not a quitter, so he's finding a way to make it work).

Then, after all those, there's me. This week or the next, I hope to finally get an external drive, and do some installs later on of some linux flavors that you may not have heard of:

Foresight Linux

I got turned on by this system by a friend, who saw that I have a liking for Gnome. Not only having the latest Gnome, it also has everything else, including plugins and java(fyi, what everybody wants for the internet). The distro is based off rPath Linux, which uses a packaging system, called Conary, that I think is pretty nifty. One best features I feel the option to rollback package changes in their packaging system(great when something breaks!). I've used it before on my dearly departed laptop, and currently have it running on my dual-boot desktop as well.

Ubuntu Mobile

Now this one I got turned onto just last night, but think it's very promising for those who want something a little more intuitive and fitting for your UMPC. Geared towards small screens and systems, Ubuntu Mobile has a very nice interface from what's seen in the screenshots, and is backed by a very well-rounded Ubuntu core. I hope to try this and see how it fares, especially for those who have a case of buyer's regret because of software woes.

EDIT: Just read that it's still in development.....currently slated for the future release after 8.04.


BackTrack

Being a security enthusiast, this is a must for any to try, especially on something so lightweight. A Penetration OS all it's own, it allows Security minded users to take a peek at how good their system might be. Though it won't be a full install, the liveCD should be fun. I've also used this distro before in Version 2, but I've heard version 3 has a little more cowbell.


Anyways, thats whats up today in the Cloudbook blogosphere...now, back to finals!

-Jam