Tuesday, January 29th, 2008...6:36 pm
RM ASUS MiniBook- Some More Thoughts.
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I have now had a chance to explore the RM ASUS MiniBook further. We have five of these machines in East Lothian. These are being trialled by a number of teaching staff. In addition to my recent post, here are a few more of my thoughts.
Here are a few of my notes- bearing in mind I am reflecting as a Secondary Practitioner.
- The key pad is very small. It is however, very easy to use. This is something that I doubt will hinder pupils (it didn’t hinder Karen and her nails!). The Screen is also very small. However, the font size wasn’t problematic and I could clearly read every thing on the screen without having to get close; something that I am willling to accept as I want an economical, light and compact device- I am not complaining!
- The Machine uses the Linux operating system. The browser is Firefox Morzilla. Microsoft office documents can be opened and edited using Open Office. For me this is not ideal, but sufficient enough.
- I browsed websites including EduBuzz, Google, the Glow approval portal and Outlook-Web-Access. All were accessed easily and fully. Outlook required a bit of scrolling from left to right.
- The Microphone and audio are both excellent. I used Skype to communicate with colleagues; David Noble and Tom Barrett (though this can only be done from home). I didn’t managed to get the webcam working during the session- I am not sure why; any ideas?
- The Battery lasted around three hours of constant use on the web, using audio and analysing with the built in camera (more than my Nokia N95 could do on a good day!).
I will be very interested to hear how my colleagues get on with their own trials. The MiniBook is a super little machine, but I can help feeling it will come into its ‘forte’ when we trial it with Windows XP as its operating system.
You can see a few of my photos on my flickr set here.
25 Comments
January 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Nice photos. I particularly enjoyed to one of a bash shell session running ‘top’ - brought a smile to my face
I wonder why you think it will be better running XP than Linux. I love Linux, and love the fact that a huge range of open source software is available for free. I shall endeavour to win you over in the coming weeks.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I don’t think that Skype for Linux supported the use of webcams until after the MiniBook came out. Might be worth checking for a newer version of Skype.
January 30th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I use Linux on two computers at home (and am awaiting the arrival of a Minibook for my school-age son), so I don’t share your enthusiasm for the arrival of a Windows version. Life can be lived without MS.
Elaine is right, Skype for Linux doesn’t support webcams. I think there is now a beta version that does, but this won’t have found its way into the mainstream distributions yet.
Have you tried Glowmeet on the Minibook yet?
January 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Well I think we demonstrated that one tonight. I updated Skype on the ASUS minibook and was then able to Skype Tess, complete with video using the minibook’s webcam.
We then went on to have a four way conference call with Jonsieboy, Elizabeth, Tess and myself. Jonsieboy and I were using the ASUS minibook - no webcams in conference of course.
I got lots of screen shots and uploaded them to Flickr using the ASUS. I think they are visible on ASUS_Glowing. I’m still composing the post about it. I’m a slow blogger
Neil
Again screen shots of this are amongst the upload. Enjoy!
I tried Glow Meet. It worked fine apart from the fact I couldn’t link in the built-in webcam
January 31st, 2008 at 9:42 am
Dave Skype-called me last night using the ASUS. We used the cameras too. This was followed by a second Skype call by Robert Jones. He too was able to use the camera on the ASUS. We finished the evening with a group conference. I was quite impressed!. I am looking forward to hearing how Jonsie gets on playing with Linux.
@Neil- The reason I would tend to lean towards using XP is that it will integrate into our exsisiting school networks with ease. Linux is generally not favoured by IT departments.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Linux isn’t favoured really because of what it can do…
These wee machines look good, but unfortunately anyone can install anything on them as they aren’t locked down like we do with the XP machines.
There are loads of programs written to work on Linux that can be used for hacking, hopefully (fingers very very crossed) these aren’t used for anything like that …
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Terry,
Thanks for your comment.
Tess
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Linux is a secure, high quality operating system used in mission critical applications and wide scale desktop deployments across the world. It simply isn’t tenable to claim that Linux is somehow less secure than windows - the eee pc could be bolted down just as tight as a school xp machine. And is Terry suggesting that there are no hacking tools available for windows?
I’ve posted alink to this thread on the schoolforge group - this is a body of teachers and IT administrators dedicated to improving education through the use of open source software. Hopefully some of them will be able to contribute to the discussion.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Terry,
I think you are 10 years out of date. Everything on Linux can be locked down, it is just Asus haven’t done that, just like a fresh install of XP, except not as vulnerable to virus and trojans. What the EEE PC shows is how mature Linux is now. The EEE PC just works and runs faster than one with XP. Just because you are unfamiliar with Linux, don’t be premature in dismissing it. RM are talking about selling 250,000 EEE PCs and that will make Linux adoption speed up considerably and we can start using the money currently wasted on XP/Vista/MS Office to better use. You can do anything with open source software and many companies are already benefiting from this and concentrating on being innovative instead of being restricted by what the dominant player tells them they can do. I only use Linux and open source applications and find them far more secure than MS equivalents. This gives me a competitive advantage.
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
And don’t forget EEEPC is just the first in what is likely to be a flood of low cost Linux based sub-notebooks. Ink-media produce an Ubuntu machine with a bigger screen for about the same price. My Ubuntu install here has a terminal server client installed as standard so if the Windows terminal server is set up securely it should be possible to run Windows apps from a server securely over the network. Of course the security of the client depends on how it is set up and who owns root.
February 4th, 2008 at 7:14 am
@Tessa: the use of Linux in schools is far more appropriate than its Windows or Mac counterpart, and has been for years. Several reasons for this, such as its inherent customisability is far easier to lockdown and make school (cohort) specific. The most important reason however is that of cost. The reduction in cost allows for pervasive computing for pupils in a way that Windows and associated pay-licence software can not; in particular in the inclusion aspect. Use of Linux can be ubiquitous at home and school regardless of household income; with the use of bootable USB keys a pupil can use it on a parental computer without ever touching the installed OS and applications.
@Terry: trust me, I’m a CIO… Linux can be locked down; pretty much always Linux has been able to be locked down; Windows is a git to truly lock-down without impairing its useability or through the use of complex and expensive management add-ons. And as to whether lockdown (rather than revert) is the best way to implement and manage computers in schools? A quick sample of basic computing ability in recent graduates suggests not…
@Tessa (2) IT departments tend never to favour those things they do not understand; this is inherent to a large portion of humanity. Send them on training; watch how fast they change tack!
February 4th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Ian and Chris.
Thanks very much for your comments. I am pretty in-experienced when it comes to using Linux (as you may have guessed!). You have provided a lot of really useful information here and I will discuss this with my team in due course.
Tess
February 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
@Terry
As started Linux can be locked down quite easily. You can set entire disk partitions to prevent execution of files on them. You statement also begs the question, why do you need to prevent the execution of programs? Linux’s security model is more advanced than Windows, any application I run is permitted only to do what I could do anyway. It can’t touch any files I don’t have privileges to access, it can not bind to privileged ports.
Security wise Linux is much more adaptable. File access can be controlled by combinations of Read/Write/Execute privileges (all 3 are independent) for User/Group/Other. Want more fine grained control? Linux supports File ACLs (Access Control Lists). There is even SELinux (Security Enhanced), no9t used it much myself but it adds some extra controls for you to lock even more down.
If you install Gnome you’ll find a whole host of further things to lock down, e.g. terminal access.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I think you are all forgetting about the cost of time and resources in moving your ICT department off of Microsoft and over to Linux. If you have a structured and managed network of PCs and servers in your schools then chances are there has been a huge amount of effort put into building them up to that and you would need to do this all over again to move to Linux. I would definately factor in the cost of the change to your ICT support service before stating how cheap Linux is to set up because ultimately these are the people who will be looking after your networks for you, not teachers.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Hi all,
This seems like quite an interesting debate on the use of Linux in education, Especially with projects like OLPC, Edubuntu and the Asus EEE on the go at the moment.
I’m personally a big fan of Linux, I run it on 3 out of the 4 machines I own (including and EEE) but I agree that it is not always the right solution for everyone.
For a setup like the one in East Lothian though it would not be hard to integrate a Linux machine into the network in a secure way. It could be used on a domain like any Windows machine and could be tied down to stop people messing with it.
A Linux machine is set up by default to only allow one person to install/remove/configure software. The only reason the EEE is not secured is because Asus wanted to make it open and accessible to as many people as possible, including those who aren’t familiar with Linux.
As for people installing anything they like on them, what are the chances really? I know it’s not a good approach to security but how many school kids do you think know how to install software on a Linux machine?
I would agree that compatibility could be an issue. Obviously a Linux machine doesn’t run Windows software but there are alternatives that tend to be pretty good, OpenOffice.org is near enough 100% compatible with MS Office.
Esther makes a good point about the cost of Linux. It’s not the OS itself that you pay for, it’s the support and set up that would cost a company money if they were to completely migrate to Linux but that is not what East Lothian is talking about doing. It wouldn’t cost a penny to get those EEEs on the domain and secure.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
“how many school kids do you think know how to install software on a Linux machine?”
Probably not many, but there are more than enough with the nous to have a shot at looking it up on google, then it’s just a case of following the instructions, and like accessing bebo it won’t take long for them to tell everyone else how to do it.
One of the major frustrations I have as a teacher is not being allowed to set up my school machine how I want it, if there are to be any serious moves towards one device per pupil then finding a solution to let pupils personalise their machines is a must.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I guess you’re right Stuart, a quick google and you’ve got all the info you need to install apps on a Linux machine. At least there’s nothing too dodgy to install. You’d have to go out of your way to find an app that could damage the machine or other machines on the network.
What sort of customisations would you be looking to do to a machine?
Even a locked down Windows machine should allow each user to configure the general look & feel of the interface and set up personal bookmarks, shortcuts etc.
*enter Linux advocate mode*
A Linux system takes this one step further by completely disassociating user level from system level operations. A user can completely change what graphical environment they use, from the shiny 3d beryl to plain and simple xfce. They can change what starts up when they log in, what each application looks like and how it acts.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
There are a few little bug bears that I have learned to live with but really wish weren’t there, it’s mainly a few little performance things I’d like to have a bit of control over. I like using Powertoys on my own machine, in particular tweakUI, but also every time I plug in my pen drive Adobe tries to download the images, every time I start the machine Adobe Reader launches….this wasn’t supposed to turn into a rant, but the things that annoy are just the tiny things that an admin could change in seconds but on their own don’t seem to warrant logging an IT request.
I’m already converted on the idea of Linux but I just haven’t had the time/pc to play with it enough yet.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
@ Stuart: a wee shot of the ASUS MiniBook?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Yes please!!
February 12th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I will be in touch….
February 15th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Even Stephen Fry likes the EEE ( which i always thought was ‘Electronic and Electrical Engineering’ )…
“Deliver us from Microsoft”
http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=39
February 16th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Actually you can run some Windows programs on Linux, have a look at: http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:wine. As for IT support not knowing about Linux, well all I can say is that if you sign up for a career in IT you accept that things change and you have to keep learning new skills. If we all stuck to things that people already know about we would still be using BBC-Bs!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Read with interest all the comments on the asus minibook and it looks potenially like a fantastic tool in the classroom, i am going to order one for our school to see how it works, but my one very basic question is can i get the linux version of the minibook to sit on our windows network and provide the shares to our home directories and shared folders like we get on our standard windows xp workstations.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I have an asus eee to evelauate. I am willing to do some extra work to make it work on our environment but I have been unsuccessful finding information on how.
I would like topurchase 50 asus PC’s for our elementary school. I have no problem with open office, infact I have convinced the administration to allow me to migrate off MS Office instead of upgrading to Office 2007. The problem is I am not linux knowledgeable and I need to make the asus eee sign onto the windows domain and run a startup script that maps their home drives to the asus. Student store all their files on their home drive. They also need to use the windows server security settings in the AD.
Point me to a couple sites where they help walk someone willing thru that and I can consider the asus running Linux, otherwise I will have to consider the asus running XP in a couple months when they are generally available.
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