Do any netbooks come with Linux installed?

English Hardware
#1

I’d like to buy my daughter a netbook but everything I’ve seen has Windoze 7.

Does any manufacturer put Linux on their netbooks instead of Windoze 7?

If yes, can you please provide info so I can look it up.

If no, do any of the netbooks run well with Linux and, if yes, how does one put Linux or any other software on these units when they don’t have DVD drives? Must one buy an external DVD and connect via USB?

Your experienced guidance and comments on the above are appreciated.
Thx. :wink:
socref

#2

Some Acer models come with Linpus; not sure which ones will be available in your neck of the woods. The reports I have had suggest that Linpus is fine for someone who doesn’t want the whole Linux desktop ecosystem. Equally people don’t seem to have too much difficulty replacing it with an alternative if they prefer that.

#3

Thanks for reply, John. I am concerned about replacing the operating system, especially given that there is no DVD drive.
socref

#4

Dell and HP too!!

#5

Maybe in Brazil, but not in the US.

I spoke with HP sales just now. According to their representative HP does not offer any netbooks with Linux.

I also spoke with Dell today. Dell does offer one netbook with Ubuntu (Inspiron mini 10N). However, Dell does not seem to be interested in selling this unit with Linux. I wanted to upgrade the 160 GB H/D to a 250 GB drive and was told that it cannot be done by Dell! They will sell me a 250 GB drive in addition to the drive that’s in the pooter, and I can install it myself, but they won’t upgrade the drive at Dell and charge me just the incremental difference for the larger drive. Is that stupid or is that stupid?

So I continue searching for a netbook company that supports Linux.

Frustrating!

socref

#6

socref Inscribed thus:

>
> alexdbars;2238754 Wrote:
>> Dell and HP too!!
>
> Maybe in Brazil, but not in the US.
>
> I spoke with HP sales just now. According to their representative HP
> does not offer any netbooks with Linux.
>
> I also spoke with Dell today. Dell does offer one netbook with Ubuntu
> (Inspiron mini 10N). However, Dell does not seem to be interested in
> selling this unit with Linux. I wanted to upgrade the 160 GB H/D to a
> 250 GB drive and was told that it cannot be done by Dell! They will
> sell me a 250 GB drive in addition to the drive that’s in the pooter,
> and I can install it myself, but they won’t upgrade the drive at Dell
> and charge me just the incremental difference for the larger drive. Is
> that stupid or is that stupid?
>
> So I continue searching for a netbook company that supports Linux.
>
> Frustrating!
>
> socref

FWIW I have an “Acer One” that came with “Linpus” installed. I
installed “Moblin” from a USB stick and set it up to dual boot.
Whilst I do have both a USB CD/DVD and Floppy drive available, I have
yet to use either.

–
Best Regards:
Baron.

#7

Good Luck…in America Latina and Europe seems have more Linux-based Net/Notebooks!!

#8

Do not use Linpus - I have seen many many threads which show that it was created in a very careless way, furthermore it is based on a Fedora version from 2008 (and has not been updated since). I usually do not flame against other distributions, but Linpus is just the worst.

You do not need a CD-drive to install another distribution; →UNetbootin allows you to run the install media from a USB-stick. It’s very simple.

#9

Thank you for this reply. I read through the website you shared (Unetbootin), but I have a few questions. Hopefully these are not ridiculous, but…

  1. As I understand it Unetbootin allows installation from a memory stick, correct? This bypasses the need for an external (optical) CD/DVD drive.

  2. I can install any software that otherwise would require a CD/DVD drive – for example Microsoft Office onto a Windows partition or into a Linux partition if using Crossover Office?

  3. How large a memory stick is advisable?

  4. Sorry, if this one is really stupid, but let’s say I wanted to install Microsoft Office onto the netbook. Do I copy the Microsoft Office disk onto the memory stick and then install from the stick? Is that it?

Many thanks.
socref

#10

ad 1): correct. I hardly ever use a CD or DVD anymore
ad 2): Don’t know for Windows software. Installing software in openSUSE can be done from the CD/DVD, better is to use repositories ( softwarepackage warehouses with smart management) through the Software Installer. You could write an image file of an Office CD to USB-disk, mount the image file under linux, then install (using wine or crossover)
ad 3): 1GB is a minimum for a CD-image.
ad 4): No question is stupid. I would not install M Office, OpenOffice.org does the job just as good. Mind, don’t copy the content of the M$ disk to some folder on USB. You’d have to create an ISO image, copy the ISO to USB-disk, then mount the ISO on a linux system.

You’re welcome, have fun.

#11

Thanks. Very helpful, especially the reminder about making an iso of the M$ disk first and then putting that onto the memory stick. :o)
socref

#12

Hi, I have acer aspire one (AOA110), 512mb, w/o optical drive, and installed opensuse 11.3 from USB stick 2GB without problems. I only needed to use “do it the hard way” from opensuse wiki, the easy way did not work for me. But IMHO the hard way was the same easy as the described “easy way”, just don’t fear the terminal window :wink: