Vladivostok Gives Free GNU/Linux Netbooks

I've written before about the increasing uptake of, and innovation around, free software in Russia. Here's another fascinating experiment, involving the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services, which is giving students netbooks running the Mandriva distro:

Интересный эксперимент решили провести во Владивостокском государственном университете экономики и сервиса — вместо традиционных бумажных конспектов и ведомостей учета посещений вся работа вуза переведена в электронную форму. А преподаватели и студенты (все без исключения) в настоящее время бесплатно получают нетбуки Asus Eee PC 900 для работы с электронными ресурсами вуза как в учебных аудиториях, так и дома. Всего до 4 декабря только учащимся будет передано 997 нетбуков.

[Via Google Translate: An interesting experiment decided to meet in Vladivostok State University of Economics and services - instead of traditional paper notes and account statements visits all the work of high school is available in electronic form. And teachers and students (without exception) are currently free netbuki Asus Eee PC 900 to work with electronic resources in university classrooms or at home. Total until December 4, only 997 students will be transferred netbukov.]

This use of netbooks has had a knock-on effect on the university's coursework, which is now freely available for download (although bizarrely, many of the 400 courses are in Microsoft Office formats).

Paying the Price of Windows

I've written variously about the implications of the arrival of the ultraportable sector (at greatest length here), notably that as the price of systems fall, so the chasm between Windows and GNU/Linux pricing deepens - at least relatively (can you have a relative chasm?). Against that background, this is interesting:

However, our source told us that there would be two new SKUs, the Eee PC 900 Win and Eee PC 900, with the former featuring Windows XP pre-installed, 1GB RAM and a 12GB SSD for just £329 inc. VAT. More intriguing, though, was the latter new Linux edition, which we were told would house 20GB of storage and retail for the same price as the XP version.

See what they've done? Rather selling the GNU/Linux version for less than the one running Windows XP, Asus has upped the spec for the former, and kept the price the same. That doesn't seem very logical: after all, GNU/Linux actually needs *less* memory than XP, so it would have been more sensible to keep the memory the same, and cut the price.

The cynic in me can't help feeling that Asus has been leant on here by Microsoft, and "persuaded" not to sell the GNU/Linux system for less than that of Windows XP. The assumption being that most users won't care about the difference in RAM, and will just go ahead and stick with familiar old XP when given the choice between what seem to be similar systems.

Elonex One Sighted

So now there's a Web site with some details.

Also worth taking a look at is this BBC video. One thing I noticed was the little stand to prop the macine up: this doesn't surprise me, since it looks slightly top heavy with its big screen and thin keyboard.

It's obviously slightly underpowered compared to the Asus Eee PC, but may well be "good enough", especially for the education market. I hope it does well, not least because it's innovative.

Vista's Problem: Microsoft Does Not Scale

It is deeply ironic that once upon a time Linux - and Linus - was taxed with an inability to scale. Today, though, when Linux is running everything from most of the world's supercomputers to the new class of sub-laptops like the Asus EEE PC and increasing numbers of mobile phones, it is Microsoft that finds itself unable to scale its development methodology to handle this range. Indeed, it can't even produce a decent desktop system, as the whole Vista fiasco demonstrates.

But the issue of scaling goes much deeper, as this short but insightful post indicates:

The world has been scaling radically since the Web first came on the scene. But the success of large, open-ended collaborations -- a robust operating system, a comprehensive encyclopedia, some "crowd-sourced" investigative journalism projects -- now is not only undeniable, but is beginning to shape expectations. This year, managers are going to have to pay attention.

Moreover, it points out exactly why scaling is important - and it turns out to be precisely the same reason that open source works so well (surprise, surprise):

The scaling is due to the basic elements in the Web equation: Lots of people, bazillions of pieces of information, and gigabazillions of links among them all. As more of the market, more of the supply chain, and more of the employees spend more of their time online, the scaled world of the Web begins to set the agenda for the little ol' real world.

Eee, Look: A Useful E-petition Response

Even though I keep signing the wretched things, e-petitions have not generated much action from the UK government. Which makes the following case rather interesting.

The following e-petition:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ask the Communities Secretary to require that all software produced by councils under the Timely Information to Citizens project be released under an open source licence.”

Produced this response:

The Government supports the principle that, where new software is being developed by the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, this should wherever possible be released under open source licence and available for use by other local authorities.

For many of the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, the focus is not on new software, but on how existing tools and techniques can be used to bring information together and present it in more useful and accessible ways. Several of the projects will utilise existing open source software to create new information sources and channels, and will share their experiences of doing so with other authorities.

Where the pilots will result in new software tools, ownership and intellectual property rights will usually remain with the individual local authorities. However, most of the authorities concerned have already made a commitment to make these tools available as open source software, or for use by their partner organisations, and we are working to secure the commitment of the remaining.

What impresses me is (a) the reasonableness of the response and (b) the fact that the release of government-developed software should be released as open source "in principle". I do believe we're getting there....

Jisus - It's the Loongson Chip

Aside from its rather curious name, the Jisus ultraportable seems at first sight pretty standard:

* Monitor: 8.9” LCD screen (800×480 pixels), LED backlight, VGA port
* Processor: 1 GHz, 64-Bit Loongson 2F
* Graphics: SM712
* Memory: 512 MB DDR2-667
* RAM: 4GB Nand flash
* Operating system: Ubuntu, others possible

But closer inspection reveals something unusual: the use of the Loongson chip. As I've noted before, what makes this notable is that it's produced in China, using a non-standard architecture. Although there are claims that Windows CE has been ported to it, it's mainly used to run GNU/Linux. All of which makes it perfect for ultraportables. It will be interesting to see whether it turns up elsewhere. (Via Eee Site.)

Asus Eeek PC?

I'm a big fan of the Asus Eee PC, but it seems that someone was a smidge careless with the software that runs by default:

Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to root.

Microsoft Backtracks Further on Windows XP

This is getting truly hilarious:

Microsoft has further extended the life of Windows XP so that computer makers can include the operating system on low-cost desktop PCs, the company announced at the Computex trade show on Tuesday.

Microsoft has been under pressure from computer makers to provide a version of its OS for an emerging class of very low-cost laptops and desktops. Its new Windows Vista OS is widely seen as too resource-hungry for those machines.

In April Microsoft extended its deadline for selling Windows XP licenses for low-cost laptops like the Asus Eee PC. It had originally planned to stop selling most XP licenses on June 30.

At Computex on Tuesday it said it has now also extended the deadline for low-cost desktops. PC makers can now include Windows XP in those systems until 2010, the same as the deadline for low-cost laptops, said Rob Young, a senior director with Microsoft's OEM group.

What's the betting that in a few months time Microsoft will extend this to yet more PCs? Because if it doesn't, I can see a jolly interesting black market developing: "Psst: wanna buy some hot XP discs?"

The Sun Shines on Asus

What struck me about this article in the Sun about Asus was how it took its readership's acquaintance with GNU/Linux for granted:

Interestingly, it runs Windows XP as an operating system to keep the costs down rather than Vista and a Linux version is on the way.

If that is laid out in menu terms like the Linux EEE laptops, then it's well worth a punt on one as a second PC in a bedroom.

Signs of the times....

CherryPal Cloud-Ripe?

The Asus Eee PC was a precursor of this idea:

The C100 runs an embedded customized version of the Debian Linux operating system, but the machine's makers say its main operating system is the Firefox Internet browser.

"The operating system is not exposed to the user. So the user experience is, you turn it on, fire it up and then you see the log-in screen, user ID and password. The next thing you see is the mandatory landing page -- the Firefox browser," Seybold told TechNewsWorld.

All system-related commands are accessed through the browser, and all applications are loaded via the browser, he continued. "The operating system itself is not exposed. That's for two reasons. One is that people don't like the idea of Linux because it has a geek reputation, the other reason is that it [allowed us] to reduce the overall footprint of the OS, and that has a direct impact on the overall performance and the perceived user experience," Seybold explained.

I'm sure we'll be seeing many more such systems.

Old Fogies Grok Openness, OK?

The Telegraph is a bastion of, er, right-thinking people; it also has an age profile that is similarly to the right. So I was astonished to read this review of the dinky little Asus Eee PC (I want one, I want one), which says things like this:

Asus has kept the cost down by using open-source software – it runs a Linux operating system rather than Windows, although future versions will be available with Windows; uses OpenOffice (oppenoffice.org) for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations; and has the excellent Firefox web browser for surfing the internet.

...

Asus assures me that most peripherals, such as printers and iPods, will work fine, as long as you download the necessary Linux driver.

...

At just over £200, people may be weighing it up against other options, such as an entry-level "normal" laptop, compromising an element of portability for additional computing functionality. Dell's laptops, for example, start at around £329 if you opt for one running the Linux Ubuntu operating system, or £399 for one running Windows.

In other words, it treats GNU/Linux, OpenOffice.org, Firefox and open source as, well, normal. If this kind of stuff is appearing in the Telegraph - and the retired colonels aren't choking on the kedgeree when they read it - we're truly making progress.

The Ultimate Ultraportable List

I've written a number of times about wannabe Asus EEE PCs, but there are now so many popping up hither and thither (a *very* good sign) that it's getting hard to keep them all straight. Happily, Laptop Magazine has put together a handy cheatsheet that saves us all the effort.

Eee – That's Clever

On Open Enterprise blog.

Opening the Floodgates

One thing I've never understood is why more low-cost PC manufacturers don't routinely include free software with their offerings. After all, it's the perfect way to provide all the capabilities most users need without increasing the price, or, indeed, taking away the possibility of adding certain other non-free software later.

Perhaps it's simply that PCs haven't been cheap enough for it to matter so much given Microsoft's deep discounts for hardware companies. That's another great thing about the ultraportables: they really do take down prices to new levels.

Against that background, maybe this interesting news will finally signal the opening of the floodgates: a German review of the new Asus Eee PC 900, running Windows XP, that comes not only with the utterly useless Microsoft Works package, but also StarOffice, Sun's supported version of OpenOffice.org. (Via Erwin Tenhumberg.)

Microsoft's Pyrrhic Victory in the Netbook War

The rise of the netbook has been an extraordinary saga. When the Asus Eee PC was first launched at the end of 2007, it seemed to come from nowhere: there was no real precedent for such a low-cost, small machine, using solid state storage and running GNU/Linux. The brilliance of Asus's move was shown not just by the rapid uptake of this new form-factor, but also the high level of satisfaction – the only element viewed less positively was the small size of keyboard, an inevitable consequence of the design....

On Open Enterprise blog.

Codenamed "Cloudbook"

More evidence that GNU/Linux is carving out a new ultra-portable market sector:

Everex has confirmed plans to ship a UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) with a 7-inch screen, similar to competitor Asus's EEE PC. A source close to the company revealed that the device -- codenamed "Cloudbook" -- will ship with the Google Apps-oriented "gOS" Linux distribution early next year.

I rather like the name Cloudbook: let's hope they keep it.

Xandros: Good News, Bad News

The good news:

Xandros is known for its Windows-like Linux distribution, which has been dubbed by one DesktopLinux reviewer as "the best Linux desktop distro for Windows users." Currently in version 4, the distro is bundled with the popular Asus Eee mini-notebook. Now apparently, the company plans to go after the even smaller format netbooks and the coming onslaught of tablet-like MIDs based on the Intel Mobile Internet Device spec, which appears to blur the lines between desktop and embedded realms.

And the bad news:

Earlier this week, Xandros announced a beta of its Xandros BridgeWays Management Packs at the Microsoft Management Summit. The new product follows up on a broad collaborative agreement between Xandros and Microsoft in June of last year, which included a somewhat controversial intellectual property assurance, similar to one hatched between Redmond and Novell, under which Microsoft will provide patent covenants for Xandros customers.

Sigh.

Eee by Gum: Now That's What I Call (e)Music

This Ars Technica article makes a good point: that Apple's refusal to license its DRM system means that only non-DRM'd music can be sold by anyone other than Apple to iPod users, now the largest slice of the digital music sector. And that's just what eMusic has done with great success: it claims to be the world's number retailer of downloadable music.

What particularly interested me is that among its million tracks are many from the Naxos catalogue. Naxos is the biggest-selling classical label, and by no means just cheap and cheerful, even if it started out that way. It now has an enviably-wide collection that includes many rare and obscure masterpieces, with more being added all the time.

No DRM, reasonable prices (25 US cents or under per track) and an increasingly good classical catalogue: bravo, eMusic.