A couple of people have emailed me to ask about my current setup on the EEE, so, here goes:
- I have enabled the KDE desktop (“full desktop” mode), so that I can get a proper PC experience. It still boots into Easy Mode first, though, so a few edits there were in order…
- I have edited the Easy Mode tabs to show what I want- in particular, I have created a tab with my own most-used applications. This is done by editing the text file responsible for the interface, simpleui.rc,
- Using the Synaptic Packet Manager, in conjunction with adept (“apt-get” at bash), I’ve removed the applications which I do not need- in particular, I’ve stripped out the Chinese language packs, along with Acrobat Reader (acroread) as this takes up a huge amount of space for it’s size, especially as there’s another application which will do the same job.
- I’ve updated Skype to v2.0 beta, to allow video calling – this works very well indeed, and the sound quality from the integrated speakers is actually quite impressive!
- I’ve added my usual complement of add-ons to FireFox (AdBlock Plud, TabMixPlus), but, also, something called AutoHide, which conceals the toolbars when running FireFox in full screen mode, which is preferable to make the most of the screen space.
It’s all gone very well, and the EEE is a joy to use. I still have plans for some other tweaks, but, overall, considering I’ve had the machine for about 30 hours, I am very pleased with it indeed, and it is working like a proper laptop for me! (Having said that, it generates not insignificant heat, so, I avoid actually using it on my lap!)
Neil
November 25, 2007 at 9:28 am |
I can live with the heat Neil because I already have 2 children and don’t need any more:)
November 25, 2007 at 12:21 pm |
Unionfs!!!
Hi Neil,
Removing apps won’t give you any more memory… infact as the EeePC is configured when shipped, it will give you less.
The standard EeePC Xandros OS partition is installed to be mounted using unionFS with a second ‘changes’ partition. Any changes you make simply add files to this second partition (or add flags indicating other changes like deletes, moves or updates). Every change you make, even if it’s a delete will simply add to the space taken up on this second partition.
The only way top fix this is to re-image the Eee with a new partition scheme, either with your revised setup in the read only partition, and UnionFS again, or with a vanilla single partition install.
Regards,
Mike
January 5, 2008 at 6:45 am |
Hi Neil
“I’ve stripped out the Chinese language packs, along with Acrobat Reader (acroread) as this takes up a huge amount of space for it’s size, especially as there’s another application which will do the same job.”
Which application are you referring to? Is there another app that readers pdfs?
Thx
Neil
January 5, 2008 at 11:51 am |
Neil – the application is a PostScript viewer called KGhostView
March 27, 2008 at 12:27 am |
Hi Neil,
As a Linux newbee would you be able to point me in the right direction to learn how to do the:
“I have edited the Easy Mode tabs to show what I want- in particular, I have created a tab with my own most-used applications. This is done by editing the text file responsible for the interface, simpleui.rc,”
bit you’ve written about????
Thanking you in advance
Kevin
March 28, 2008 at 6:19 pm |
I’d probably suggest that you don’t bother editing the text file by hand- some excellent tools have been released by the community to simply this: http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:beginners_guide