Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

cb474 · 2009-06-05 09:55:15

Have people seen this?

I just stumbled across it. Looks interesting. I don't have a netbook, but I'm glad that people are loving Arch enough to create distros based on it.

scio · 2009-06-05 13:29:37

I like the idea as well but

If your computer has a CD drive, simply burn the ISO you downloaded, pop it in the CD drive, and reboot. However, not many netbooks have CD drives. You'll need to download UNetbootin, a tool for burning ISOs to a USB stick. You'll need a 1GB stick (technically, a 560MB stick should do). Select "Disk Image" and point to your downloaded ISO file. When booting, select "Start Firefly Linux," NOT "Default."

just cracked me up. I don't know what goes into making a .img, but I would think that would be ideal for a netbook distro...

Might take a look at this over the weekend. Still hoping that someone (since I have no free time) ports the moblin UI etc so I can have an Arch based moblin netbook.

jerryluc · 2009-06-05 13:46:55

I kinda liked the screenshots, nice and simple(haven't used LXDE before though, so could be this is very vanilla).

Does it use it's own repo's?

schivmeister · 2009-06-05 16:25:42

Hahah..I like the "559 MB Download" gimmick, in particular:

You'll need a 1GB stick (technically, a 560MB stick should do).

Sakurina · 2009-06-05 18:58:12

Running it off a USB drive right now on my Mini 9. Works pretty much as you'd expect it would. Only problem in my case is that it doesn't come with the broadcom-wl driver, so no wireless out of the box, but otherwise pretty great job!

miggy · 2009-06-06 01:52:35

I bet this is the only netbook spin that can claim to be heavier than its parent distribution.

scio · 2009-06-06 15:00:36

miggy wrote:

I bet this is the only netbook spin that can claim to be heavier than its parent distribution.

Haha, very true.

Google gadgets seems like a strange add to me since every cycle not running at a lower clock speed and disk access means less battery life.

Ranguvar · 2009-06-06 17:21:16

Thread seems a tad negative so far, but I don't think it's that bad an idea/distro There are plenty of people who want a fast, lean (relatively) distro that is still flexible, but don't want to customize as extensively as Arch pretty much forces you to do. Amirite?

I do question a few of the decisions (OpenOffice 3 installed by default? I'd go with Abiword, Gnumeric, etc. for a netbook target, at least as the default), but each to his own.

mianka · 2009-06-06 17:26:17

Has someone installed it on a HD Acer One?
Here it does not work,tried about 4 or 5 times, goes bananas every time, the errors are inconsistent.
The solution on the forum did not help either.

Finally installed, works very well , install doc may be clearer. I was able to install trough the wet finger method.

Last edited by mianka (2009-06-08 22:43:16)

cb474 · 2009-06-07 00:47:24

miggy wrote:

I bet this is the only netbook spin that can claim to be heavier than its parent distribution.

The comparison doesn't really seem fair. This is a distribution that comes with a desktop and apps installed, so of course that's going to be bigger than the base Arch install that doesn't include any of these things. By the time any of us install a desktop and apps, we all have something that's bigger than the base Arch install and for most of us probably (much) bigger than Firefly.

I just think it's cool that someone decided Arch was a good basis for building a netbook distro and I think it benefits the Arch community in general to have people take this sort of interest in Arch.

Last edited by cb474 (2009-06-07 00:48:47)

miggy · 2009-06-07 02:52:29

Of course, I meant it as a an interesting musing rather than a criticism. Naturally, a user installing Arch and a user installing Firefly have different objectives. Furthermore, anything made from Arch sounds like a good idea to me. Henceforth, I will put disclaimers on my interesting musings.

glass · 2009-06-08 21:01:03

This seems like a pretty cool idea. I'd rather a more stable version though, and I really like the customizibility (not a word) of Arch, so Ima stick with arch for the time being

chessboxing · 2009-11-21 21:26:54

The website isn't anymore. Does someone know more about this? Did he ended development? Distrowatch says anyway that its discontinued...

Gen2ly · 2009-11-21 23:37:57

Yeah, Firefly has been discontinued. There's a wiki page here about Arch based distros.

Last edited by Gen2ly (2009-11-21 23:38:17)

nixpunk · 2009-11-23 14:13:55

Too bad. Looked like a cool project.

apaige · 2009-11-23 14:46:18

I think forking a whole distro for niche hardware is overkill. Don't get me wrong, I own two netbooks, and I like the idea of optimized software for them (performance and usability), but I think meta-packages (groups?) would work just fine.

mianka · 2009-11-23 20:48:45

I can agree with that, especially since for both main desktop environments (KDE/Gnome) there are netbook facilities (in the making).

mivo · 2009-11-24 19:33:05

It was a good idea, but Arch itself is already very lightweight, especially if you set it up with this being the goal. None of the "specially for netbook" distros have been really lighter on my netbook than the "regular" distros that they were a spin-off of. Arch is still the best choice (for me anyway). But I never tried Firefly. It did have a cool name.

RevAaron · 2009-11-25 17:45:31

mivo wrote:

It was a good idea, but Arch itself is already very lightweight, especially if you set it up with this being the goal. None of the "specially for netbook" distros have been really lighter on my netbook than the "regular" distros that they were a spin-off of. Arch is still the best choice (for me anyway). But I never tried Firefly. It did have a cool name.

I've tried a few netbook-tageted distros for my Eee PC 900A. None of them have been any lighter than the distros on which their based, but that's not really the point. It's more a matter of having the drivers, configuration, UI, and applications that most netbook users would want and need.

On my Eee PC, the netbook distros/editions/remixes had the drivers I needed, and it all worked out of the box: ethernet, WLAN, sound and function keys. On OpenBSD and Arch, the two OSes I've run on it for any length of time, needed configuration or serious driver hacking to get it all working. It took enough time that I made dd images of the installs once I had everything working just right. That said, the more recent install of Arch I did supported ethernet and wifi out of the box, which is great- didn't have to install the eee kernel or related.

I think it's phrased best on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix page:

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.
[...]
A remix is a 'respun' version of Ubuntu built for a specific purpose.

I think something build around package groups would make the most sense, as the source of a "netbook remix" of Arch. There's a lot of utility in having a USB image you just install onto your netbook that just works out of the box, at least for average users... which is why a netbook edition or remix makes a lot more sense for Ubuntu than for Arch!

killerturtle · 2010-11-19 21:10:14

Dead link?

jasonwryan · 2010-11-19 21:27:05

Please don't necro-bump https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … Bumping.27

Particularly where there is a link to the wiki page above...

Closing

Arch Linux

#1 2009-06-05 09:55:15

Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#2 2009-06-05 13:29:37

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#3 2009-06-05 13:46:55

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#4 2009-06-05 16:25:42

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#5 2009-06-05 18:58:12

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#6 2009-06-06 01:52:35

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#7 2009-06-06 15:00:36

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#8 2009-06-06 17:21:16

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#9 2009-06-06 17:26:17

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#10 2009-06-07 00:47:24

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#11 2009-06-07 02:52:29

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#12 2009-06-08 21:01:03

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#13 2009-11-21 21:26:54

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#14 2009-11-21 23:37:57

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#15 2009-11-23 14:13:55

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#16 2009-11-23 14:46:18

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#17 2009-11-23 20:48:45

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#18 2009-11-24 19:33:05

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#19 2009-11-25 17:45:31

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#20 2010-11-19 21:10:14

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

#21 2010-11-19 21:27:05

Re: Firefly Linux (Arch based distro for netbooks)

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