Comparison of netbook-oriented Linux distributions

Netbooks are small laptops, with screen sizes between approximately 7 and 12 inches and low power consumption. They use either an SSD (solid state disk) or a HDD (hard disk drive) for storage, have up to 2 gigabytes of RAM (but often less), lack an optical disk drive, and usually have USB, Ethernet, WiFi and often Bluetooth connectivity. The name emphasizes their use as portable Internet appliances.

Netbook distributions

There are special Linux distributions, called netbook distributions, for these machines. All such distributions are (supposedly) optimized for use with small, low-resolution displays. They tend to include a broad mix of VOIP and web-focused tools, including proprietary applications rarely seen installed by default by mainstream desktop distributions. For instance, Nokia Maemo and Asus' customized Xandros both ship with Skype and Adobe Flash installed, and Ubuntu's Netbook Edition offers the option to do the same to OEMs.^[1]

Comparison

Features

Distribution	Working State	Aim	Creator	Producer	Base Distribution	Installed Size (MB)	Initial Release Date	Interface	Linux Kernel	Default File System	Architecture Support	Approximate Number of Pre-compiled Packages	Default Package Management Tools	Default Installer
Aurora	2009 Last Release	ASUS Eee PC optimized	Eeebuntu community		Debian		2009-05-15	Gnome or Gnome + Netbook Remix	Array kernel (modified kernel)[2]				APT
CrunchBang Linux 11-20130119	2015-02-06 Development Stopped	Limited hardware machines	Philip Newborough		Debian		2013-01-19	Openbox	3.2.35		x86 + x86_64		APT
Debian Eee PC		Asus Eee PC			Debian
Debian Wheezy					Written from scratch						i386, AMD64, PowerPC, SPARC, ARM, MIPS, S390, armhf, s390x. Loongson[3]
EasyPeasy 1.6	2012 Last Release	All netbooks	EasyPeasy Community	Jon Ramvi	Ubuntu		2010-04-24	Gnome + Netbook Remix	2.6.32	ext4	x86		APT	Ubiquity
Firefly Linux 1.0 Beta 1	2009 Last Release		Firefly Linux community		Arch Linux			LXDE	2.6.29.4		x86		Pacman
Fuduntu	2013-04-14 Last Release	All netbooks[4]	Andrew Wyatt "Fewt"	Fuduntu.org[4]	None (Originally based on Fedora 14)		2012-10-01	Gnome	3.6.9	ext4	x86[5] + x86_64[6]		RPM + YUM
Eeedora[7]		ASUS Eee PC 701	Martin Andrews		Fedora			Xfce					RPM
gNewSense		Free software	Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley	Sam Geeraerts with sponsorship from the FSF	Debian				Linux-libre 2.6.32		Loongson, x86, X86-64		APT	Ubiquity (software)
Joli OS 1.2 (formerly named Jolicloud)	2013-11-22 Last Release	All netbooks[8]	Joli OS	Joli OS	Ubuntu		2011-03-09	HTML5 + Gnome	2.6.35.10	ext4	x86		APT
Distribution	Working State	Aim	Creator	Producer	Base Distribution	Installed Size (MB)	Release Date	Interface	Linux Kernel	Default File System	Architecture Support	Approximate Number of Pre-compiled Packages	Default Package Management Tools	Default Installer
Kuki Linux 2.0	2009 Last Release	Aspire One optimized	Kuki Linux community		Ubuntu			Xfce
Linux4One 1.5		Aspire One optimized	Linux4One community		Ubuntu			Gnome or LXDE
Lubuntu 15.10	2015-10-22 Active Development	Limited hardware machines	Lubuntu Community and LXDE Foundation		Ubuntu		2011-10-13	LXDE					Synaptic
Midinux		All netbooks	Red Flag Linux				2007			ext3	x86
MeeGo 1.2	2012 Last Release	Intel Atom processor netbooks, Nokia ARM smartphones	Intel, Nokia, Maemo community	Intel, Nokia, Linux Foundation	None (it is a distribution developed out of Maemo and Moblin)		2010-10-28	"Netbook User Experience" (based on Clutter)	2.6.35	btrfs	x86 with SSSE3 support		RPM
Moblin 2.1	2009-04 Last Release	All Intel Atom processor netbooks and MID	Intel	Intel/Linux Foundation	None (borrows components for various distributions[9])		2009-11-04	Clutter					RPM (may change[9])
OpenGeeeU 8.10	2012-08 Last Release		Luca De Marini		Easy Peasy[10]		2009-03-23	Enlightenment plus Gnome	2.6.27	ext3	x86	26000	APT	Ubiquity
Puppeee Linux 4.3X		ASUS Eee PCs with Intel Chipsets	Jemimah Ruhala		Puppy Linux 4.3.1	200MB		Choice of IceWM / OpenBox / Flwm with ROX-Filer / PcManFM / LxLauncher	2.6.33	AUFS + SquashFS + EXT2	Atom / CeleronM		Pet	PetGet
Trisquel Mini	2014-11 Last Release	Limited hardware machines					2010-09
Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10	2010-10 Last Release	Intel Atom processor netbooks[11]	Canonical Ltd.	Canonical Ltd.	Ubuntu		2010-10-10	Unity	2.6.32		x86	32000	APT

Specific Features

Distribution	Target Boot Time	Whole OS Loads to RAM (Default)	LIVE Medium	Target Users	SSD Write Optimization (SSD degradation, I/O optimization, etc.)	Specific Supported Hardware
Aurora 3.0
EasyPeasy 1.6			LIVE Medium	Beginner, highly mobile netbook users.
Eeedora[7]
Firefly Linux 1.0 Beta 1
Joli OS 1.2
Kuki Linux 2.0
Linux4One 1.5	40 seconds[12]
Moblin 2.0	5 seconds[13][14]
OpenGeeeU 8.10
Puppeee Linux 4.3X	30s	Loads to RAM			Layered filesystem - caches writes in RAM	Lightweight kernel compiled for EeePCs only
Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10

Google Trends

While no public numbers measuring the install-base of these operating systems are available, Google Trends data on a handful of them indicate their relative popularity:

References

1. Ubuntu 10.4 UNE
2. Array kernel site
3. https://wiki.debian.org/DebianYeeloong
4. "Fuduntu Website".
5. "Fuduntu i386".
6. "Fuduntu x86_64".
7. Eeedora project at google code
8. "Jolicloud Compatible Devices".
9. Moblin FAQ Archived May 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
10. Archived May 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
11. Canonical | About the company
12. Features of Light version of Linux4One
13. Fast boot in Moblin page Archived January 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
14. Youtube video showing Moblin 2.0 prerelease booting in 5 seconds.

See also

• Android
• List of Linux distributions that run from RAM
• List of tools to create Live USB systems