Linux preinstalled?
I looked all over on this website and forum for discussions whether Linux is preinstalled, if so what version and what Linux can be booted with a SDcard. I use Fedora but am open to Debian if there is no Fedora release for a XBurst.
After researching more, I found a tutorial on installing Debian at http://www.mostlymaths.net/2011/01/installing-debian-on-my-ben-nanonote.html which had a link to http://en.qi-hardware.com/wiki/Debian. I recommend updating your website to make it easier to find your software references. The two tutorials on installing Debian are much more complicated than simply downloading an ISO and burning it to a DVD. I would buy the Ben if either Debian or Fedora were preinstalled or if a bootable SD card with Debian or Fedoa were available for purchase. Would any of you be willing to make a bootable SDcard and sell it? Thanks.
How much do you think it would be worth to you? It really should not be that hard to do, but I am not even sure if you have a Nanonote at this point.
I have not purchased the Ben NanoNote yet. To answer your question how much it is worth to me, I will first give prices of other board's Linux preinstalled on a SD card:
Ubuntu preinstalled on a micro SD card for BeagleBoard xM $15 at https://specialcomp.com/beagleboard/xm.htm
rswww.com sells SD cards with Linux for raspberry pi but their prices are in British pounds and I don't know how to convert into US dollars.
I would pay twice as much as specialcomp charges for a SD card with graphical Debian on it. $30.
Many ARM devices come preinstalled with Fedora, Debian or Ubuntu. This is included in the price:
Raspberry pi is preinstalled with Fedora from rswww.com. CuBox is preinstalled with Ubuntu. Lemote Yeeloong netbook is preinstalled with Debian. Hercules netbook and Genesi Ekiga netbook are preinstalled with UBuntu. NewIt sells SheevaPlug, GuruPlug and DreamPlug preinstalled with Debian.
More people would buy the Ben NanoNote if it either was preinstalled with an user friendly graphical Linux such as Fedora, Debian or Ubuntu or if a SDcard preinstalled with Linux was available.
Would you be willing to sell me a SD card with graphical Debian Wheezy GNOME or at sell it on Amazon so I can buy the NanoNote and SDcard at the same time?
I must tell you that no one I know of has GNOME running on their Ben, and if they do, it has got to be really SLOW! The Qi-OpenWRT that the guys have worked so hard on is probably the best graphical option right now in terms of usability. This device is WELL below even the barest system requirements to run such a huge GUI as GNOME or even LXDE for that matter. Perhaps you are not the intendet audience for the Ben as it is mainly for developers. Maybe we would sell more Ben's if such and such were true, but for those of us that are drawn to it, it is already all that we want. We are not trying to be appl3, and make a mass-market device, but dreamers with a lot of experience and no fear to dive in and be technical. It is no problem if you are not one of these people! (But if you feel like you want to BECOME one, feel free to hang out here and see what you can learn.) If you have really simple needs, like wanting to pluck out a few text files and save them, I think you might use your 100+ dollars better, so send me an email (janeandreas@gmx.com) or get in touch some other way.
If you feel like you really want to get a Nanonote, I can tell you the best graphical environment that will run reasonably with Debian is probably Icewm. In fact, here is a video of Abiword running under Icewm (but the underlying OS is JLime):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhCoCciVicY
The video is some 2 years old now.
If you want a simple, small mobile device to have around, I have been experimenting with all kinds since '07. Again, shoot me a mail if you are interested because if you do not plan to develop or do serious programming, then the Nanonote is way overpriced for your needs. Hope that helps and you find a device suitable for you.
