Although the Eee is my favorite laptop for traveling, its Xandros-based Linux distribution is getting crufty and beginning to show its age. I was unable to install Firefox 3 on it, for instance, because it lacks a current version of the GTK+ toolkit. In preparation for OSCON, I decided to infuse my Eee with new life by installing Ubuntu 8.04. I used a community-driven derivative called Ubuntu Eee that is designed specifically for Eee laptops. It has nearly full hardware compatibility right out of the box, including support for suspend/resume, sound, and the built-in webcam.

If only it were so easy to install any Linux distro on hardware intended to run a Linux distro... Ubiquitous Ubuntu is actually not a straight-forward affair, and it's always nice to have help, even if it's so few steps.

I still like the Mini Note better. When are we gonna get some dual-core nettops? I'm just not willing to jump on the bandwagon until then, it seems. I have this desire to not wait, give up, and go get more coffee while the machine resizes a picture for the news. Maybe that's wrong of me; I also like my coffee cold. Bizarre.