Which Distro For an Eee PC?

An anonymous reader writes "I've got an Eee PC 1000HD, and frankly, I can't stand XP. I know it's odd, because I actually like Vista, but XP is such a giant piece of crap on here that I struggle to use it day-by-day. Anyway, my question is this: which Linux distro should I run on it? Plain Ubuntu just doesn't have driver support. I tried Ubuntu-eee, which, to put it bluntly, does not work for me at all (slow, terrible battery life, even worse interface). I've heard that Jaunty Jackalope is going to have better netbook support, but that's all the way in April! Is there a distro out now that will free me from XP's terribleness without being terrible itself?" Getting wireless working on an Eee PC (though in my experience imperfectly) with stock Ubuntu is possible; for me it took some googling, though I've been told with great enthusiasm that it actually works "out of the box." What distros are you running on your netbook, and what problems do you find?

Re:don't want to sound elitist

[agrounds]

I think I speak for all of slashdot when I say this.

No, you really don't. You just speak for judgmental, obnoxious pricks that believe the world should operate only according to their narrow-minded rules. People like you are the reason linux only enjoys a 1.2% marketshare.

A lot of us actually would like to see better market penetration and a system that is universally accessible and enjoyed by users of all proficiency levels. This is a requirement for the big software houses to want to port their products to *nix.

ArchLinux?

[lwsimon]

I'm planning on using ArchLinux when I get mine. They seem to have good community support, and it doesn't come with any fluff you don't need.

It is a bit more difficult to install, though.

Arch Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

Arch works well for my Eee PC 1000. If you choose another distro, the Arch wiki still makes for a decent guide.

Re:Wait

[greg_barton]

What's it like in your parallel universe?

In his universe Spock has no beard.

How fucked up is that?

Re:ArchLinux?

[killeena]

I installed Arch on my 701, and I have been really happy with it so far. I only have what I need installed on it, and the thing boots in like 20 seconds. There is actually a good article in the works on the Arch wiki on how to set it up on the eee. There are custom kernels that are ready to go and everything. If you know your way around linux good enough, I would recommend giving it a try.

Re:ArchLinux?

[Kadoo]

The latest archlinux ftp install worked without custom kernel on my 701, wifi and all. The img file makes it easy to install on the cd-less computer.

Re:XandrOS or EeeOS?

[kimvette]

They're just small enough to throw off touch typing.

Re:XandrOS or EeeOS?

[Brian Gordon]

If he wants Jaunty so much why doesn't he just use it? It's not officially released yet but obviously it exists. There are daily builds [ubuntu.com] available for download.

Re:don't want to sound elitist

[tprime]

Why did you feed the troll??

I am a beginner to intermediate level desktop user of Linux who is getting ready to buy a Samsung NC10 netbook and plan on dual booting it with ubuntu. I am COUNTING on the linux community to help me along the way. From what I have seen, it isn't assholes like the AC who keep linux from getting any traction, it is the overwhelming amount of information out there about the 'alternative' free OS. The linux user community and their willingness to help others is the reason that it is UP to 1.2%

These cheap netbooks will keep the % going up.

Re:Easy Peasy

[mollymoo]

Bootup time is a concern for the Celeron based Eees because sleep sucks so much power, but for anything else (including the Atom-based Eees) I just can't see any need to boot regularly enough for 30 seconds to matter. Just use sleep. I've never heard of a distribution which can boot to any desktop on any machine faster than Ubuntu wakes from sleep on my Eee (6 seconds, which feels glacial if your last laptop was a Mac).