Running Ubuntu on an Acer Aspire Netbook

The Acer Aspire D255 is a cute little laptop, and pretty functional. Of course, you don't expect top-of-the line in netbooks, and it's not. But it is upper-middle-of-the-road for this class.

I bought this one for my son some time ago, and it's worked pretty well, until it didn't. Windows 7 decided one day that it didn't want to run any more, and followed the Pope into retirement. Every attempt to restore to factory defaults was unsuccessful. This was inexplicable, since my other twin has an identical netbook that was successfully re-set following a Windows 7 mental meltdown.

Rather than go through the trouble of finding a USB optical drive and installing from disk, I decided to simply give Ubuntu Linux a go on this device.  Before I describe that process, let's take a quick look at the device specs:

Model: Acer Aspire ONE D255

• Intel Atom N450 (1.66GHz, 512KB cache) Processor
• 1GB RAM
• 10.1" TFT video display (1024 x 600)
• Internal microphone
• Internal Acer Crystal Eye webcam (1280 x 1024)
• Internal stereo speakers
• Multi-gesture touchpad

Storage:

• 160 GB hard drive
• Multi-function memory card port (SD/MMC slot)

Ports:

• 3 USB Ports
• Headphone/Speakers/Line out
• External Microphone
• 10/100 wired Ethernet

Radios:

• 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN

Preparing an install device:

As you may have noticed, there's no removable storage device, as is normal for netbooks, and as I don't have a USB optical drive, I chose to install from a flash drive.

To prepare one using an existing Linux machine is simple using UNETBOOTIN. There are ports for Linux, Windows, and Mac OSX, so whatever you're on, this is the right solution.

You simply select the distribution and release that you want to install, and it will do EVERYTHING ELSE. Note that this allows you to create bootable drives for other tools, such as CloneZilla or the NT Offline Password Reset utility, so GET THIS TOOL.  If you'd rather make an flash installer from an ISO image or CD ROM you've already got, you can do that, instead. It takes a few minutes to create the bootable flash drive, during which you won't get any feedback, so be patient.

Installing Ubuntu

Now what's left is to put the flash drive in one of the netbook's USB ports and turn on the netbook. I had to press F2 during boot to enter the BIOS and set the first boot device to the flash drive. If you're not computer savvy, this is a little easier to do with the flash drive already in the USB port, since the BIOS will identify it by name. Pressing F10 saves the change and re-boots into Ubuntu.

One glitch I found was that the touch pad doesn't work if you're booting directly from the flash drive, so have a mouse handy. You won't need it after you've installed.

Then it's just a matter of running the installer from the desktop and telling Ubuntu where you live so it can pick the right locale settings. Take the defaults for everything else. You can save yourself an update later on if you tell it to download and install updates as it's doing the installation.

Does it work?

Yes. Everything works, including the Fn key shortcuts, camera, network, and SDRam slot, though I had to tweak the microphone (more about that below). I've found nothing on this box that doesn't function in Ubuntu 12.04.  That said, there are a few things little annoyances.

With only 600 vertical pixels, some programs display dialog boxes that are too large. This isn't a problem with the machine, it's a problem with the programmer. Actually, it's an issue with some games as well. You just have to be aware of the requirements of the program before you install it. Other than that, I'm very impressed with this screen. I used it in daylight (not direct sunlight... I was in the car) yesterday and it was perfectly readable.

Getting Skype to work was annoying. Bear with me, because this is going to take a little explaining. The external microphone port works exactly as you'd expect, so if you're using a headset Skype works right out of the box. However, the built-in microphone presents itself as a stereo device even though it's actually monophonic. The solution is to turn one of the channels off. You can do this one of several ways:

• Install pavucontrol from the Software Center, go to input devices, unlock the channels, and drop the left channel of the "Capture" device to 0.
• Run alsamixer from a console, and do the same adjustment there.
• Run this from a terminal: amixer set Capture,0 0%,75% unmute

The last method is easiest if you just put the command in a script to be executed on the desktop.

#! /bin/bash
amixer set Capture,0 0%,75% unmute

The reason that this is "easiest" is that Skype is goofy... it will attempt to re-set the volume every time you make a call even if you tell it not to in Options. That steps on this configuration.... so even after you've applied the "fix", Skype automatically "unfixes" it every time you make a call. The only work-around I have for it at the present time is to just put that script on the desktop and run it immediately after placing a Skype call (you can do it while the phone is ringing).

There is no Bluetooth on this netbook, but you can easily add a USB bluetooth adapter, and it works just fine.

Gambas

Click to visit the Gambas
documentation site.

This evening I've been playing around with Gambas, a BASIC IDE for Linux. I really expected this to either be a crappy clone of VB, or to simply suck like every other BASIC attempt I've seen in *nix. I'm happy to report that Gambas not only doesn't suck, but is pretty damned impressive for what it is... and that is a tool to build quick-n-dirty apps fast, fast, fast. 


Although it occupies the same sort of conceptual space as VB6, it's not a clone. The designers seem to have simply taken BASIC and implemented it as best they can, without being the slightest bit shy about their improvements, and without feeling the need for backward compatibility. GOOD CHOICE. This allowed them to borrow conceptually from Delphi, and Java, and anything else that makes sense.


For instance, a Gambas "project" is a directory on the filesystem, plain and simple. Each class, form, or module is a separate text file in that directory. If it's not a class, form, or module, it's "data", which can be literally anything. A Gambas program is interpreted, not compiled, but that shouldn't concern you, because that's true of any of the wildly popular scripting languages, as well as Java and DotNet programs. And Gambas is a sight easier to code in than most of those.


Programming in Gambas "feels" like programming in Delphi, or Visual FoxPro, with VB-like syntax. I'm not familiar enough with it yet to give a final verdict, but thus far I've seen little to dislike and a lot to like. Just one example: It's not necessary to see if a string is empty by using Len(). Instead, an empty string evaluates to FALSE, and a string with a value evaluates to TRUE. So you can simply say "If myString then...". Smart.


It's very PC to hate BASIC, but don't let blind prejudice get the better of you. There's  a place in the world for environments like this where you want something useful done fast.

Ubuntu Precise Pangolin, GNOME, and Extensions

Life just keeps getting better. Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" is a big step up from the mishegoss that preceded it. The Unity desktop was promoted to Ubuntu's default before its time, but has seen steady improvement since. There are folks who will love the Launcher and the Global "Mac-style" Menus... I just don't happen to be one of them. To give you a fair look at it, though, check out this on-line tour of the Unity interface. Try to ignore that the default wallpaper looks as though someone painted the screen with melted Skittles.

GNOME-shell

MUCH better for me is GNOME-shell, which is easily installed from the Ubuntu Software Center.

Like Unity, GNOME-shell has depreciated menus in favor of Search. You just bang your mouse cursor against the upper-left corner of the screen or tap the System key (Luddites know it as the "Windows" key). All of your running applications will be revealed in the overview, spread out so nothing's hidden, you'll see the following:

• The application dock (the "dash") at the left. This contains the icons of favorites and running programs. Additional favorites are added to the dash by launching the program. Then just right-click on the icon on the dash and pin it there 
• additional workspaces will be exposed on the right. As has long been the case, Linux provides multiple workspaces so you can compartmentalize your work. GNOME makes this easy... just drag one of the apps onto the empty workspace at the right. The app will be moved there, and a new empty workspace will be created automatically. There are no more static limits to the number of workspaces.
• At the top of the overview there's an indicator that the screen is displaying either Windows or Applications.
• your text cursor will be placed in a search box.

This is smoothly animated, and against my expectations it's very natural. It's become my default method of switching between full-screen apps.

If you start typing, then your search results will be displayed immediately. Here I've typed "scr" and GNOME's responded with a number of likely items. You'll notice that here it's categorized the results into "Applications", "Settings" and "Contacts".

Also note that the settings that are returned are things that have to do with screen settings, but don't necessarily have "scr" in the name. And what's "Caffeine" doing there?  Well, it's an app that prevents your screensaver from activating while you're watching a movie. As you can see, the search feature presents results based on your likely intentions. It also works around spelling mistakes.

The menus aren't displayed in drop-down lists as they used to be, but that doesn't mean they're exactly gone. Clicking on Applications at the top of the screen reveals the menus as a grid of oversized icons. By default all items are displayed, but you can click on one of the categories at the right to narrow your view. These exactly correspond to the old GNOME menu categories, so everything's familiar.

Also, when the Software Center installs a new program, you're told exactly where it went in the menu structure. That's kind of moot though, because it's faster to type a few letters of the program name or action you want to take and it's faster than looking through the menus. For instance, if I want to use a spreadsheet, I tap the System key and start typing "S-P-R" and by that time I'm presented with LibreOffice Calc and Calligra Sheets.

Unlike Windows 8, which gives you the finger instead of the mouse, GNOME can be navigated easily from keyboard, mouse, or touch. Here's a nice cheatsheet for common keystrokes. (Keyboard navigation doesn't work between Windows while the overview is displayed, but for now it's easy enough to tap the System key and use Alt-Tab to switch between them.)

Extensions

Now, GNOME-shell is very cool, but even better than that is GNOME-shell plus extensions, which can be had from https://extensions.gnome.org/; which, incidentally, has one of the finest designs I've ever seen for a website of its kind. You visit a page and click a toggle to install or deactivate an extension. It's just that easy.

You can even manage your installed extensions from here. Those toggles on the webpage are functional. That said, I'm going to leave you with a list of my installed extensions, and links to them. I won't describe them; instead I'll let the site do that. You'll either appreciate the utility or you won't.

In general, they either restore the drop-down menus I've become accustomed to or give me more granular control over the system.

• Advanced Settings in Usermenu 
• Advanced Volume Mixer
• Alternative Status Menu
• Applications Menu
• Battery remaining time and percentage
• Favorites Menu Plus
• Frippery Shutdown Menu
• Network Connections Shortcut
• Panel-Docklet v13
• Places Status Indicator
• QuickLaunch
• Shell Restart User Menu Entry
• Touchpad Indicator

Google Drive... The Good, The Bad, the Hype

Stripping the news down to it's bare essentials:
Google Docs has been re-named to Google Drive. This is an upgraded version of Google Docs, with some enhancements. It's not a completely new service. The enhancements are as follows:
1. You now have 5GB of space "in the cloud".
2. You can store any kind of doc, not just the ones supported by Google Docs.
3. There's now client software for Windows, Mac, and Android, with iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Linux support coming soon. The client software makes the Google Drive look as though it's on the device.

Here's the introductory video by Google:


The Good
It's a good idea. Of course, it was a good idea when Linux hackers kludged up a virtual driver to treat Gmail as cloud storage many years ago. It was a good idea when companies like DropBox started offering similar services. I'll be mostly comparing it to DropBox, as I use that service.

It's nice that Google is offering 5GB of free storage. This is more than double what DropBox offers as an introduction.

It's nice that, as an upgrade path for Google Docs, you can access your documents and edit them through the Web interface. Of course, on-line editing is only available for file types  supported by Google Docs... basically word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation.

It's nice that you can share info with others, as you can with the other services. And when I say "share", it's quite a bit different from "making accessible"... I mean that you and people you invite can all work on the same doc at the same time, and changes are annotated with the name of the person making the change. I collaborate quite a bit, and I don't mind telling you that this is incredibly welcome when doing things like sharing a spreadsheet.

(Real-world example: You've got an ad-hoc list of tasks, bug-fixes, issues, what have you... and a team of people working on them. You put the list in a spreadsheet, share it, and people update the status as the issues are being worked on. There are trackers, etc. that can do such things, but Google allows you to do it right now, without planning, without setup. You just get the job done.)

It's nice that you can search through the contents your documents. Google Does Search... no surprise here.

The Bad
Although when using the desktop client, your files look as though they're on the local disk, clicking on one launches Chrome and opens the file for editing on the Web. This reveals the "file" to be little more than a link to the actual file on the Web. You can't just click on a .DOC file and edit it in Word, or LibreOffice, or whatever your preference is. That's a shame. When you click on a file type that's not supported by Google Docs, then you have to wait while the actual file is fetched from the Web... a real performance drag.

By comparison, DropBox actually synchronizes the file. It looks and acts like it's on your local drive because it is. It's snappy because of that, and synchronization is done in the background. It also means that you can never be cut off from your data because it's there, locally. Even if the Web is down, you're still productive with DropBox. Google Drive doesn't do that.

Sharing in Google Drive is the same as in Google Docs... in other words, clumsy. You go to the Web client, right-click on a doc, select Share, then Share (again), then select names from your contacts or type them in, yadda, yadda, yadda.

By comparison, DropBox allows you to create shared folders, but it also provides a Public folder that you simply drop files in to share them. You can right-click on your document right there in the desktop (no need to go to the Web interface) to retrieve the URL and send an email. IOW, Dropbox offers you to choose between security and easy access, and then makes the access really easy.

The Hype
This isn't new, or innovative, or earth-shatteringly important... or even terribly exciting, for that matter. As mentioned, there are plenty of offerings already out there. Google Drive mostly distinguishes itself by offering a lot of space, and by allowing multiple people to edit the same file simultaneously. What it gives with one hand (collaborative editing), it takes with the other (forcing you to edit supported filetypes on the Web).

Google is the King of Search, but here that's just not a really big deal... I'm already able to do everything that Google Drive offers in this regard using Recoll on Linux. Similar search engines (including Google Desktop) provide the same features on Windows, so document search is far from being the "killer feature" others gush about. It IS nice when you're searching through your docs on the Web, though.

My assessment...

Google Docs is a good thing... Google Drive is not really any different. And while I use it for collaboration (and there is where it shines), it's clumsy for most files, so I prefer Dropbox for synchronization. Although there's some overlap of functionality, Dropbox has the edge when it's the actual file and off-line access that I want. I don't plan on giving up either of them soon.

iSad

Steve Jobs

February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011