I recently got to spend some time with MeeGo, an Intel-sponsored Linux distribution designed for netbooks and other mobile devices (such as Nokia’s extra-geeky N900 smartphone). I tested MeeGo on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook and I was extremely impressed.
Hi, does anyone knows if is possible to install Meego on nvidia chipsets now? I have a Macbook white with that 9400m, and was wondering if I can install it now..
http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/the-end-of-wimp-and-the-rise-of-…
the hardware support for this first version is limited to Intel-only hardware – no NVidia, ATI or GMA500 support for video for example
If your hardware is SUSE-compatible, yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeeGo#SUSE
I’m sorry to say, but I just can’t stand these ‘minimalistic’, childish interfaces that most of the netbook OSs seem to have.
I was the owner of Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and I bought only to have a smaller version of notebook with all of its normal features, like regular desktop and menus.
I didn’t buy it to use it as a calculator on the steroids … really.
Edited 2010-06-20 05:29 UTC
Actually, these interfaces (at least the meego one) expose more power than typical gnome desktop. What you are missing out on is moving windows around – and is that really something you want to do on a netbook?
You know, I would reply with the question: “would you accept this kind of UI on your regular PC or notebook?”
It might be the matter of taste only, but I also think that this UI is not a functional one. Huge buttons layout takes much of the netbook’s screen tiny space.
Anyways – I just prefer to have things organized in my way, and just like in any other PC I use – whether it’s notebook or netbook. For the same reason I can’t accept most palmtop’s UI’s, like iPhone, Android, etc.
Regards
Probably not, as having windows maximized would be overkill on my 24″ monitor. Probably the same on my 14″ laptop screen.
I also tend to have tons of xterms open for non-netbook stuff, so this paradigm wouldn’t fly well there. I hardly ever use terminals on my netbook though – only when apt-getting, basically.
Those autohide when you are using an application.
That’s what I thought.
Anyways – we seem to agree that this UI isn’t good only for some appliances and only for some specific demands. For a regular user it would be probobly just fine, but for someone [like me] who likes to use term on such devices … well, this UI seems to be a bad choice.
It’s good that we can always replace this OS with another one. I – for example – used to run OpenBSD and Arch Linux on top of Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and it was much better than any MeeGo, at least for me
Oh, I didn’t know that. Sounds cool.
Edited 2010-06-20 08:05 UTC
It depends. When autohide tries to use smooth animations to look more modern, their non-modifiable slowness can just makes you want to smash the computer on the wall (or, rather, to desactivate this behavior right away).
To create a workable “smaller version of notebook with all of its normal features, like regular desktop and menus” on a typical 1024×600 netbook screen, where vertical screen pixels are at a premium, I found that the best solution was to simply move the KDE4 panel to the left-hand edge of the screen.
like so:
http://ourlan.homelinux.net/qdig/?Qwd=./KDE4_desktop&Qif=kubuntu_lu…
That screenshot isn’t from a netbook, but I have set up my netbook in the same way as this.
With multiple desktops, right-click-on-desktop for menu, desktop cube, classic style for the menu button, present windows selected for window switching, and a quicklaunch set of icons set up in the panel, this desktop UI setup very quickly and easily brings a “smaller version of notebook with all of its normal features, like regular desktop and menus” to the netbook.
I believe the problem is not just the task bar but also the window title bars/borders. This is why I use awesome on my netbook and will probably try MeeGo when it works on Mandriva. Moving windows around with a touchpad on a 8.9′ 1024×600 display is like hitting nails with a broom. Awesome is awesome on the netbook. Just use the keyboard to move windows around and don’t waste space with window borders/titles.
It seems to have worked for Microsoft with XP
For this to have any chance to succeed, they need to change its Fisher Price name.
Really, this only sound childish in English speaking countries. In the rest of the world it is OK. webOS sounds like huevos in Spanish. I believe at the end of the day people don’t care that much about the name.
FYI, webos is extremely hillarious in Spanish. We Spanish-speakers use “huevos” or “cojones” in an absurd variety of situations.
For instance: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&l…
So, when nissan discover to the rest of the world their then new model “pajero” was swiftly rebaptised in Spain as “montero” officially, since pajero is an obsesive masturbator.
Therefore, “webos” as a SO name is a STRONG handicap in Spanish-Speaker countries
That reminds me about an advert I saw in Spain for condom. I think is was Durex, connecting people. Made me laugh. People will always find a way to make fun anyway. I don’t believe it affects the sales.
How will these two fit together? Maemo has traditionally been GTK but the Nokia-Qt combinations with the recently derived KDE4 netbook version has me wondering…anyone else?
Not sure if I get your question. Do you ask whether KDE’s future tablet GUI can be used under MeeGo? Do you ask if it’ll be possible to run KDE apps within MeeGo? Or the other way around: MeeGo apps under KDE Plasma Tablet?
To try to answer all possible questions somewhat:
MeeGo is a rather typical X11-based Linux distribution. Just as with any typical Linux distro GUIs can easily be switched. Therefore Plasma Tablet running under MeeGo will be possible (just as current Plasma Netbook already runs under MeeGo 1.0).
KDE apps should also run fine under MeeGo and the other way around. Likely a bit of tweaking will be required. For example it could be that MeeGo apps under Plasma Tablet don’t use the selected KDE theme. This is obviously pure guessing by me, because nobody outside the MeeGo dev team ever saw MeeGo Handset/Tablet Qt apps.
That said, companies like Kollab Systems make a living out of commercializing KDE software, esp. Kontact / KDE PIM.
The Kontact apps are currently being ported to handset Linux platforms (N900,…) with upcoming MeeGo Handset devices in mind. The new GUIs will fit into MeeGo’s GUI, because for the foreseeable future that’ll be the main target group of Kollab.
The newly written Kontact Handset GUI library can be used by other KDE apps as well.
Forgive my lack of clarification.
You nailed the answer to my question right on the head. How will the two interact? Will MeeGo and KDE4 based distros be able to compete? Merge together? With Nokia involved in both projects (one directly and the other indirectly but with a relatively tight relationship)where are the two platforms going to go?
I personally like the idea of being to put either on any device I buy, be it IT or Netbook just because I like to play. I also like the idea of different combinatiosn of features from one on the other.
I guess just as GNOME and Xfce: Same toolkit, but completely separate projects in the end.
MeeGo as provided by the Linux Foundation is more of a reference platform and only to a small degree an actual product.
Novell simply added MeeGo (formerly Moblin) as third officially supported desktop environment to SUSE Linux Enterprise (GNOME and KDE Plasma are the two environments for desktop PCs and Moblin/MeeGo for netbooks).
Mostly separate ways, though KDE software improves as a byproduct of Nokia’s increased support for Qt (therefore a similar relationship of Xfce to GNOME).
Will be possible, but don’t expect official support for KDE software by the netbook manufacturer if you buy a netbook with MeeGo.