Well, I’ve decided to wipe the default operating system and, like Fr. Chris had intimated, add a specially-adapted version of Xubuntu (a version of Ubuntu with a lighter interface) in its place.
The deciding factor was a little caution in the user guide:
Removing the pre-installed software is not allowed.
Really? Even though I have no interest in the games, yet they take up a good chunk of the relatively-tiny flash drive?
The transformation will be a bit more challenging than a usual installation because there is no CD-ROM or DVD drive: the installation will have to go in through a USB port or (more likely) a SD flash memory card. That makes me worry for novice and skiddish users. I’ll tell you how that goes tomorrow.
But let’s consider who this little computer would be good for.
- Frequent travelers, including some business travelers
- Home and office users who will be browsing more than typing (blog entries, OK; writing your masterpiece, perhaps not)
- Small-framed persons who would rather not manage something more than a couple of pounds
Among clergy and church-intensive users, in addition to the above, I think it would be useful for
- people in churches that rent meeting space, especially if the leadership works before or after worship
- people in churches with a very limited technology budget. (Don’t laugh: yes, I wrote technology budget)
- those who attend district (or like) meetings and national conventions
- those who exhibit at local fairs and denominational meetings and need to capture information or demonstrate media
Now let me work on that operating system installation.
With this post, the category Small church growth becomes Small churches.
I think Asus went a little overboard on their warnings and then stepped back from them. There are also stickers over the door to the memory that say opening it up voids the warranty — they have since clarified that adding more RAM does *not* void the warranty.
In addition to the uses you mention, it’s a nice machine to tinker with, in part because it’s so cheap. A 2g surf would be a nice gift for a teen with basic soldering skills and an interest in computer engineering. People have added all kinds of stuff to their Eees — GPS chips, extra USB ports, Bluetooth adapters, etc. It’s really fueling a growing culture of tinkering and hardware hacking, which is nice to see.
All of which is true and exciting, if not necessarily relevant for the bulk of my readers. I might even take a soldering iron to it, if the 2G drive begins to pinch.
But I was thinking more about the operating system. All my machines — even the one at work! — run Ubuntu Linux, so I’m keen to use what I know and like.