Acer to join the Moblin Linux bandwagon
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted June 3rd 2009 1:41PM
posted June 3rd 2009 1:41PM
Moblin -- the Intel lovin' Linux flavor we've heard so much about recently -- just got some major support from Acer, who plans on slapping it on laptops, desktop PCs, and its Aspire One nettops. According to PC World, a press conference held today saw a wide range of Moblin versions (including Suse, Xandros, Linpus, Red Flag, and Ubuntu Moblin) installed on netbooks from companies that included HP, Asustek, MSI, and Hasee Computer; MIDs by the likes of BenQ and Compal; and even an Eee Keyboard. Not too bad for an OS that wasn't even an OS when we first laid eyes on it, eh? We'll keep our eyes peeled for those machines from Acer. In the mean time, how about that Tony Hawk Ride? Man, that looks sweet.
Good, more choice for us
Yup, definitely a good thing. Android is a bit limited for Netbooks, though I guess we'll see how it evolves. I'm not sure that Moblin yet has the functionality of Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but the UI is really impressive.
Now that Intel has signed over control of Moblin to the Linux Foundation, hopefully we'll see a port of Moblin to the ARM platform :-)
Will there be an upgrade path for current Acer Aspire One users?
Nice to see linux getting a major backer on something. Can't wait till the computer holy wars gets upgraded to a 3 way fight instead of a my mac is better thing
I have no faith in these OS like Moblin and Android. Who wants to fork over $300-500 for a netbook, to then install a dumbed-down OS on it? It's rather stupid, especially if you want to run familiar software on your netbooks like VLC, Bitcomet, Office 2007 and others.
Ehem, you can run anything while using Moblin. You can use OpenOffice 3, VLC or whatever you want...
Although Moblin may seem like a "dumbed-down" OS, it is anything but. There are multiple packages already available for the operating system, with thousands more almost ready. If you have ever used a Linux OS (which I assume you have not, since you do not know that VLC has been available on multiple distros for years) you would know about all of the packages available, and the replacements for all of the MS programs. What Moblin really has going for it is the fact that it has one of the best user interfaces I have ever experienced, making basic customization simple and easy. Along with that, the almost instant boot is a complete contrast to XP's 1 minute and 30 second boot on the AAO (boot time includes the time to actually open the first program, not how long it takes to show the desktop).
PS. Oh, there is one thing that XP has over Moblin and Android: XP has 100 time the number of anti virus programs..... oh wait, that is not a good thing.
Yeah VLC and many other programs have been available to multiple platforms for years. You can even use WINE to run Office if you want. But why would you want to if OpenOffice its also available? Nevertheless, this is great news for the Linux community. Oh yeah, Homeboy before you open your trap and make a horse's_ass out yourself, do some research. Dumbass.
1min 30 seconds to load XP, how? I hardly ever shut down my laptops. All I do is hibernate and voila, it only takes 10-15 seconds for my computer to boot up. Yes I'm aware that there is a linux version of VLC and I have tried Open Office and it works alright but it's not exactly the same as Office. Alternatives are great but sometimes you want to deal with the exact same software you are used to. We've seem these types of "simple" OS in the past but none of them have managed to even gain a fraction of a percentage in market share for the sole reason of compatibility with Windows applications, heck some Mac owners even own a PC or run XP on their Mac for the sake of being able to use Windows only application.
You might think I'm all cynical but the fact is that normal consumers don't have the patience of dealing with dumbed down open source software that don't support games and software people are used to run on their main machines, especially the non-technical crowd who are not keen on change. If reality was the opposite than your average pretty blond sitting at Starbucks would be rocking Linux. The initiative is good though but market potential is negligible. And off course, open source pundits like Atom117 are too naive to look beyond his glasshouse of customs skins to realise the power of the position held by MS and Apple.
And, ignorant assholes like Homeboy are too stupid to realize that linux != dumbed down. Open Office is gaining momentum. You're right a majority of business, etc. use Office, but Moblin isn't aimed at being your corporate desktop. It is aimed at a portable handheld that can do a lot of things from office productivity to media well. This means it competes with things like the iPhone OS, Blakcberry OS, WinMo, and Symbian, NOT XP. Is PocketOffice on your Blackberry or WinMo phone any better? No, so stop complaining because you've already made that sacrafice in the name of mobility. That is unless you throw your laptop into your pants pocket and drag it along with you everywhere you go.
Btw, There is not a single scientific cluster out there that runs Windows. They mostly run Linux. That's right, the so called dumbed-down OS is the base for everything from verifying that the Nuclear plant is safe to making the next velcro. Most internet backbones run linux or *bsd. Windows and OS X are consumer OSes, they don't compete when it comes to the realm of real computing power.
Shyam D: Please read the thread before starting to bark on things that has nothing to do with the discussion. I'm fully aware of the Linux for servers and other business machines. But we're talking about consumer machines such as Intel Atom based NETBOOLS which is what Moblin is aiming at, not just handhelds. So stop being an douche and spend 5min of your worthless life actually reading the content on Moblin's website.
And oh, talking about Linux's success in the business sector has little relevance as business and consumer market have complete different needs, especially when it comes to computers. What might be fabulous for business is sometimes rejected by consumers and vice versa.
A couple of comments:
1. The 10 - 15 seconds to wake up after hibernate (it takes 20 seconds to get it to hibernate by the way) is still more than the time to boot up Moblin.
2. The simple operating systems in the past were not as popular since restrictions were put on downloading packages along with people not be familiar with the programs. This is a common problem when transferring to Linux and OS X, where there are new programs the people are not used to, and therefore they try to find the exact programs for their OS. These people (who are not using professional programs) would greatly benefit from operating systems such as Moblin. With very little time, they will be able to figure out how to use their computer for everything they need (lets be honest, the majority of people only use an internet browser, a music player, and an office suite. Once a package manager is explained to them, it is much easier to use than finding programs (with possible viruses) on the internet.
With all of that in mind, having Moblin and XP on the same computer would be a great alternative for most people. Moblin for all of the basic tasks that need to be performed, and XP in case you use a program that you simply cannot find an alternative for (which in all honesty just means you did not try to look).
Homeboy is a status quo fanboy who does not know the inner works of an operating system. If he did, he would know that OSX is partly based on BSD (UNIX based) which is the foundation of many of the Unix distros out there, including OpenSolaris (another great OS). An OS is more than just user interface. And by the way even Windows 7 relies heavily on there older NT platform (yeah 90's NT). I wouldn't knock MS so much if they would make an entire operating system based on BSD or Linux. Apple did and they now have a great platform, but MS keeps insisting on an antiquated soup of convoluted code that is not efficient. What needs to happen is for the major Linux distros to come up with a standard that would guarantee full compatibility and portability. What works on KDE should work for Gnome or XFCE. But as it is right now, Linux is a house divided.
I run several KDE apps in Gnome on a regular basis...
Its getting better, but I would love to run Amarok or Konqueror on Gnome.
@Atom
I run Amarok on a daily basis in Gnome in Mint, Fedora, and Ubuntu. Is there something I'm missing?
Tried the latest Beta on my MSI Wind...
Could not get many of the normal functions (web browsing) to work right.
I must be used to Google and Microsoft "Beta" software.
It boots nice and looks really slick so far.
I completely agree with you. I have mentioned in multiple posts that it was wrong for them to call it a beta, since the OS is currently missing a lot of functionality, however it still has a lot of potential.
Linpus, bleurgh.
Agreed; what an awful sounding name.
Well, it is the kind of thing you'd expect to ooze out of the movement of open sores.
Moblin is looking quite promising, would be great if that interface was scalable (fonts, icons, and all) for use in an htpc environment.
Still can't use WiFi using Moblin on HP Mini 1000.
Moblin will be, eventually, a great little OS for netbooks and other MID's, but at the moment, having tested V2 beta for the last few days, it's lacking everywhere.
And what is with that browser? The netbook is, by its very namesake, made for the internet, so why strangle it with such a dreadful, slow and basic browser? You can't add anything to it. Personally, a modified version of firefox would be the way forward.
Skype? Where is it?
Open Office? Where is it?
Seems to me that it's all mouth and no trouser at the moment. Give it a few years and it will be good. If they can crowbar some functionality into the beautiful interface then it's a winner.
Until then... UNR for me thanks.
There's a patch for that WiFi issue...
oh hang on... that sounds like Windows talk.