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Cara Canellas

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Aug 2, 2024, 4:11:41 AM8/2/24

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The old laptop in an MSI Wind U100, part of a family of netbook devices intended to be best at browsing and cloud tasks and distinctly not intended to be a desktop replacement. It has a dual core Intel Atom and 1 GB of SDRAM, along with 160 GB of not so fast spinning disk drive. There is an empty SDRAM SODIMM slot inside the case, with room for a second GB should this work out well.

The biggest issue I had was with getting the USB device to boot at all. The F11 key was not being heard reliably by the BIOS at power on, but DEL was and entered setup. The BIOS setup allows the boot order of attached devices to be set so that the USB drive would be checked ahead of the internal hard disk.

Because I already had everything that mattered to me backed up, I chose to wipe all traces of XP off the disk and let Lubuntu have the whole disk for its own use. That allowed the installer to choose the partition sizes, and gave me the largest possible space for the system and my files.

I have this problem. There is a suggestion that a BIOS update might fix it, I have not pursued that option. Noticing that the problem is with the power management daemon, I found that I could work around it by telling the power manager to never fuss with screen brightness. The problem has not recurred.

Before committing to it, I tried browsing in FF and let a software update apply, both of which worked without complaint. Also, iptables -L -v shows that the filter rules are being applied; although oddly there are some packets being dropped that I may want to investigate later.

The laptop was originally shipped with just 1 GB installed, and room for a SODIMM containing up to 1 GB more. All available documentation on the motherboard indicates that 2 GB is the limit for that motherboard. The very complete database at Crucial agrees, and they have a compatible 1 GB SODIMM for about $18. That seemed like a sensible upgrade and at a price not worth fussing over.

The SODIMM can only snap in to the connector one way. The connector is between the hard disk and the cooling fan, the on-board memory is hidden under a plastic insulator. Snap and screw the bottom back on, power it up, and watch it be so much happier.

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However, Linux-on-a-stick distros, including the Puppy Linux species, have a serious weakness. They can not update the rapidly changing Web browsers and other packages. Simplicity Linux does not escape this problem.

Puppy Linux has a broad ecosystem and active community, but Simplicity Linux lacks a cadre of contributors to provide updated packages of essential software. So users who keep current with each updated release may soon be confronted with out-of-date versions of key software.

For example, The latest Simplicity release has Google Chrome version 40.0.2214.115 preinstalled. However, the current Chrome version available on my Ubuntu and Linux Mint distros already is updated to Version 42.0.2311.135 through the package manager.

One advantage to the Simplicity Linux line is its remix mentality. Much of the software bloat found in Puppy Linux is missing. Also gone are the overly lightweight Puppy-specific applications that run in the Open Box environment.

You have the option to create either an encrypted or nonencrypted partition to save configuration settings and application changes. You can do this on the hard drive, a rewritable CD/DVD or USB drive. You also can install Simplicity Linux to a bootable USB drive.

That is the ideal release schedule, anyway. The sole developer makes no assurances in his blogs that he will always meet that schedule, with alpha and beta releases preceding any rigid release schedule. Of course, this is a user concern if new releases outpace the gap in new package releases.

The Simplicity Netbook release is a more cloud-based Linux distro. It includes the TOR and Chrome browsers. It comes with shortcuts to Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Google Docs, Dropbox and Grooveshark, as well as a virtual assistant application. Overall, the Netbook version has a smaller system resource footprint, and most things are cloud-based.

The Simplicity Desktop release is a more heavyweight OS edition. It comes with the TOR browser, the desktop version of Dropbox, Chrome and the full LibreOffice suite. The Desktop edition has a bigger footprint caused by including more applications and larger packages.

Both versions of Simplicity Linux come preinstalled with a well-configured version of WINE and a Windows version of the OnLive client. The WINE installation works well and is a good attraction for users transitioning from Windows to Linux.

Double-clicking on a Windows .exe file from within the PCMAN FM file explorer runs the Windows program on Linux. But WINE has limitations and does not work well with every Windows program. So expect trial-and-error to be the standard operating procedure. (within the limitations of what WINE supports).

Simplicity Linux has a single taskbar across the top of the screen. This has the typical panel bar functionality for holding notification icons on the right side, and icons for running programs on the left side.

At the far left of the panel are the main menu icon, launcher icons for file manager and Google Chrome, and a virtual workspace pager. A trait of the LX desktop, only two virtual desktops are accessible.

You can run Simplicity unchanged from the CD/DVD, much like any live-session Linux distro. Once booted, a first-run settings panel opens with various options like the keyboard layout and screen resolution.

A better option for continually using Simplicity Linux is to create a personal save file and set up a frugal installation on either the hard drive or a bootable CD/DVD/USB installation. To do this, use the Puppy Universal Installer.

Another option is to run the Bootflash installer found in the Setup menu to put a bootable copy of Simplicity Linux on a USB drive. However, some legacy computers will not support booting from a USB drive.

In that case, you will have to boot from the CD/DVD and create a personal storage file on either the hard drive or a USB drive. This option is presented each time you shut down a live session unless you have selected the option to boot Simplicity in a no-save session.

Simplicity Linux is very usable whether you use it as-is each time you boot up from the CD/DVD or do a frugal installation on the hard drive or USB drive. The LXDE desktop consumes few system resources. It loads into system memory when possible to run fast and furious without having to read from the CD/DVD or USB storage.

The complete installation needs less than 2 GB of disk space. You can tailor the size of the personal storage file to fit the available capacity. The preinstalled software provides all you will need in most use-cases. The package manager lets you add packages from both the Slackware and Puppy repositories.

The installer lacks any built-in tools for hard drive partitioning, so you will have to manually do that with gParted and a boot manager if you want to share the hard drive space with an existing operating system. That really is not necessary, though. The purpose of portable Linux distros like this is to boot from a CD/DVD and access stored files from a USB or cloud drive. Hard drive installation is not required.

Overall, Simplicity Linux is easy to use and runs fast. It runs well on legacy hardware. It has a gentle learning curve for users already familiar with the Linux OS. Users transitioning from Windows will find Simplicity Linux easy to use.

Jack M. Germain has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the PC. He still has his original IBM PC-Jr and a few other legacy DOS and Windows boxes. He left shareware programs behind for the open source world of the Linux desktop. He runs several versions of Windows and Linux OSes and often cannot decide whether to grab his tablet, netbook or Android smartphone instead of using his desktop or laptop gear. You can connect with him onGoogle+.

I tried Ubuntu 15.4 My wi-fi Did not work, but ethernet worked perfectly. I did not understand that it would take maybe 6 weeks for the downloads to fix everything. I asked to go back one version, so they gave me 14.1, I did not notice the difference, After 6 weeks everything got better by upgrades. I am happy with 14.1, yet 15.4 is Probably More updated to the internet, 14.1 works just as good on my computer. I created or downloaded spreadsheets to replace MS programs, I found a simple Bible called, Wide Margin, It is KJV, it is simple, very fast & as good as the best. I love the Artha Dictionary. I am very happy that Linux was there when I needed them & I plan to stay. I feel much safer with Linux too.