The EEEPC701 came with Xandros in 2007 but the Internet at the time was abuzz with various Linux distributions modified for the 701's modest screen and humble hardware. I remember wondering if Eeebuntu or a variant of Crunchbang would be the best if I ever ended up buying a netbook. The toughest part, I recall, was getting wireless chipsets to work for netbooks - the Atheros set was particularly troublesome back then. Desktop environments such as KDE and Gnome 2 also struggled and most applications didn't fit right in the cramped display of netbooks. Today, however, both are hardly an issue for a well-built Linux distribution.
My requirements for a Linux distribution for the 701 were pretty straightforward:
1. Perform most online tasks adequately, particularly education sites running on Adobe Flash and HTML5.
2. The distribution should work with the 701s hardware with webcams, SD card, audio and display working properly. A student can benefit greatly by understanding how hardware works just by working on the Terminal or popping open the board.
3. A "standard" and mainstream Linux distribution for learning basic Linux commands. Gentoo, Archlinux and Puppy Linux are great but I don't think it's a good idea to throw someone into the deep end of Linux on their first try.
With the 701's legacy components, I knew I wouldn't be able to run most of the Linux distributions designed for schools such as Edubuntu, Trisquel and openSUSE Edu L-i-f-e. Having recently created LiveUSBs for PCLinuxOS LXDE and Manjaro Linux for reviews, I tested them out first on the EEEPC701 along with my ever-dependable Knoppix LiveUSB. I also tested recent versions of Slax, Crunchbang Linux and Lubuntu. The 701 represents the lowest common denominator in terms of hardware I have available to tinker with at the moment so I was somewhat curious to which Linux distribution would win out. In summary, here are my observations:
1. Manjaro Linux on LiveUSB - The Manjaro website humbly states it wasn't designed for older hardware but the performance of Manjaro on the EEEPC701 blew me away with Arch-awesomeness. The 701 booted to the LiveUSB of Manjaro quickly and it was able to make use of the small display as best as it could (though not as well as Knoppix). There was the usual NumLock issues but in general Manjaro on the 701 was a surprise. Kudos also to the EEEPC701, which was able to open 6 instances of processor-heavy GIMP when I made a mistake and clicked several PNGs. Manjaro Linux was a real contender but its somewhat eccentric interface might be a problem for young students accustomed to the simplicity of smartphones and touch screens.
2. PCLinuxOS LXDE 2013 on LiveUSB - PCLinuxOS is a modern distribution so it's understandable that bootup and performance was very slow on the 701. Bootup and shutdown took forever and PCLinuxOS failed to detect the display properly (though unlike Manjaro, it was able to show full window applications). In retrospect, I should have used PCLinuxOS KDE MiniMe instead, which I actually preferred over the LXDE release in my review.
3. Knoppix 6.5 on LiveUSB - Knoppix, a distribution designed to run on a USB, predictably smoked Manjaro and PCLinuxOS. Display was perfect without further changes to X11 and the applications ran without issues. I was tempted to end my search for a proper distribution for the 701 then and there. I must admit to a bias towards Knoppix 6.5 which is several versions behind the current release and a version I've used for years. It includes a dated version of VirtualBox and runs kitschy Compiz effects. Still, Knoppix performed admirably on the old EEEPC, enabled wireless on default and included a stable crop of useful applications. One downside was that the version of IceWeasel was klunky and crashed with Javascript errors.
4. Slax on a 512MB SD card - I intend to write a more detailed review of Slax in the future but I must admit I have a certain fondness for Slax's simplicity. Installation is pure genius and I'm a huge fan of Slax's installation process and extensibility. Although Slax's KDE desktop struggled on the 701 compared to Knoppix's LXDE, Slax's bundled applications are the best for learners although the default setup does not include office programs.
Note: I used an old Canon 512MB SD card to run Slax on the 701, which I feel may have impacted performance. The rest of the distributions I tried on the 701 were on a USB. Perhaps Slax would have fared even better on USB or at least on a faster, newer type of SD card.
5. Lubuntu and Crunchbang on LiveUSB - The current versions of Lubuntu and Crunchbang Linux require PAE so both failed to boot on the 701.
It was fun trying out different distributions on the 701 and left me impressed with distros I hadn't checked out in years. It was a good reminder of how different each distribution is when installed on a legacy piece of hardware. Linux was once known as an operating system capable of running on really old hardware. This is still true to a certain extent, but you would have to choose carefully before settling on a distro.
Winner
To be honest, with the right amount of tinkering any Linux distribution would still work on the 701, but it would definitely require a little bit more time than a normal install. As powerful as the new mainstream Linux distributions are today, Linux is still definitely more flexible than Windows 7 or Windows 8 on a legacy machine. My personal choice?My personal choice? Knoppix 7.2 on LiveUSB and possibly a hard drive install. Why? Knoppix 6.5 worked like it was designed for the 701's Celeron processor and anemic RAM. Moreover, a HDD installation will actually fit on the 4GB SSD hard drive. After going through several distributions, I tried the latest release of Knoppix and though it actually booted slower than Knoppix 6.5, the same usable experience for students was there. Plus, better and more relevant applications were included though I recommend immediately installing Chromium over Ice Weasel. Knoppix 7.2's LXDE eschews the Compiz effects and is a great lightweight desktop with remote applications, server utilities (Samba, FTP client) and office. Knoppix is also Debian-based, which means applications that students get used to will always be available even if they switch over to any of the popular Debian-based distributions. Even better? The Knoppix team kept the voiceover "Initiating sequence" when booting up the system - kids love that sort of thing.
For more details on Knoppix 7.2, stay tuned for a more detailed review.
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