Notebookcheck
30.10.09 02:05 Age: 23 days

Linux, Ubuntu, and Leeenux - A look at all three

Category: other notebook news

By: Raghav Kapoor

Leeenux looks quite promising

Leeenux works best with netbooks of screen sizes 7-inches

Leeenux works best with netbooks of screen sizes 7-inches

About Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel.

Linux, predominantly known for its use in servers, can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, embedded devices and even some watches to supercomputers. Linux distributions, installed on both desktop and laptop computers, have become increasingly commonplace partly owing to the popular Ubuntu distribution and the emergence of netbooks.

About Ubuntu

Talking of Ubuntu, it was released on October 20, 2004 and is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution. It is distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the South African ethical ideology Ubuntu.

Ubuntu provides an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease of installation.

The users of Ubuntu are free to run, distribute, copy, change, develop, study and improve the software. It is sponsored by the UK based company Canonical Ltd. which is owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.

The current version of Ubuntu, 9.10, was released on October 29, 2009.

About Leeenux

As said earlier that Ubuntu is for the average user, so it simply means that low end notebooks can use it as their OS without any issues. A few days back, a custom Linux distribution called the Leeenux, was launched for netbooks based on Ubuntu. It is a perfect bet for those guys who have an older netbook like an Asus Eee PC 701 with a 7 inch display and 8GB or less of disk space.

Once installed, Leeenux only takes up about 1.4GB of disk space. The user interface which is based on Ubuntu Netbook Remix, is designed to work well with smaller, 7 inch displays. Another useful feature of Leeenux is that it uses eee-control, a power management tool for Asus Eee PC netbooks which helps prolong battery life.

The OS comes with a number of pre loaded applications namely Totem Movie Player Firefox 3.5, Gnumeric spreadsheet app, AbiWord and Evolution email client. Leeenux is based on Ubuntu 8.04 so the updates available in Ubuntu 9.10 won’t feature on it but no regrets becuase Leeenux plans to launch a new version based on Ubuntu 10.04 in May, 2010.

 

Author: Notebookcheck, 2005-09-20 (Update: 2009-11-20)