Installing Ubuntu Linux on the Samsung N120 Netbook

Over the past two months or so I've watched my old HP Pavillion laptop slowly fall apart. I was missing several keys (I broke them while trying to clean underneath) and the screen was starting to tear off from having been picked up by the corner one too many times. Needless to say, it was time for an upgrade.

Since the main undoing of my laptop was its weight (and the fact that I manhandled it) I figured the most important factor for me would be size. I naturally gravitated toward netbooks and spent a few weeks reading Consumer Reports and combing through reviews on CNET.

I finally settled on the Samsung N120 primarily due to its keyboard size, which is (to my knowledge) the biggest available for a netbook. It also packs a gigabyte of DDR2 RAM and a 160 GB hard drive, which is more than my two-year old HP Pavillion that cost twice as much. Its battery can last up to 8 hours during modest use or, according to the editors at CNET, 5 hours and 14 minutes during video playback. Oh, and it weighs in at just under three pounds.

For the past year or so I've been using Fedora Linux on my HP laptop. It's a great distribution but I often found myself envious of the Ubuntu community for the amount of support available. When I bought the Samsung N120 and the time came to fix it (i.e., install Linux) I found the Fedora+N120 reviews to be less than stellar.

I instead opted for the Ubuntu Netbook Remix which, according to the Ubuntu Wiki, was pretty compatible. The only issue it mentioned was Wireless LAN: apparently it has problems detecting the N120's Atheros card.

I can't speak for anyone else's experiences, but for me it installed like a dream. I imaged it onto a flash drive, booted into the Ubuntu installer (which did require switching the boot order in the BIOS), and partitioned it alongside Windows XP. It took about 40 minutes total and has no bugs that I've found. Ubuntu Netbook Remix detected my wireless LAN (a WPA network) within seconds and has had no connectivity issues. Sound works, function keys work, hibernate works, and internet works: what else do you need? I haven't had any luck with my cube yet, but all in good time.

Now for anyone considering Linux for the first time, let me tell you that you really just can't go wrong with this combination. Ubuntu is very user friendly and comes preinstalled with Firefox, Pidgin (for instant messaging), Evolution (for email) and OpenOffice (for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations). Your Windows files wil port right in, and you can even remap your Ubuntu bookmarks to point to your Windows documents/pictures/music if you want to work with the same files from either operating system.

I used Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks) o port over my Firefox bookmarks and passwords, which also worked like a charm. Whether you are switching from another Firefox installation, Safari, or even Internet Explorer, Xmarks makes it incredibly easy to keep things in sync. My biggest fear about this sort of software has always been the server doing something stupid and overwriting my uploaded data with local (empty) data on a fresh install: this is not a problem at all with Xmarks as it clearly offers initial options of server --> local download, local --> server upload, or two-way synchronization. The Xmarks add-on is free, though I sent over a little donation as a token of my appreciation for saving me a whole lot of time: when I first moved from Windows to Linux (Fedora) after Google Browser Sync was discontinued and before Xmarks existed, it was no easy task (perhaps due to my n00bery at the time) getting my passwords and such ported over.

Evolution is pretty slick as well: porting over your Outlook mail is a little more challenging as you will need to convert your .pst Outlook files to .mbox before Evolution will import them. There are several walkthroughs on Google to help accomplish this.

Ultimately I say it's all worth it for the freedom of not being a slave to Microsoft. I'm no Microsoft hater - I do use their insecure and overpriced products on occasion - but I do value privacy and convenience (of which they deprive their users at every opportunity).

On a more serious note, though, it really is great to know that your system is stable and secure and that people around the world are constantly working and collaborating to make it even better. Windows is good for some things (albeit certainly not those), but at the end of the day, that's really what open source software like Linux is about.