Looking for a netbook, what makes System 76 better than...

[kh1116]

What makes me want to purchase a System76 machine as opposed to the Dell Mini 10/10v, the Acer netbooks, and the one available from ZaReason. Hearing about not being able to upgrade to Karmic kind of put me off from System76. I'd much rather prefer a more updated system. So...

1. How will I know that things like this will not happen in the future?

2. Will the System76 netbook be fully compatible with Lucid?

3. If so, will I be able to successfully upgrade to Lucid by just clicking a button, without workarounds?

[squaregoldfish]

The questions you ask are, unfortunately, impossible to answer. With any OS upgrade on any hardware, it's possible that there will be problems - whether the problems will affect your particular hardware is a matter of chance.

There is no way to know whether any system will be 100% compatible with software to be released in the future, and that will remain the case until someone invents time travel.

Steve.

[thomasaaron]

As for the 9.10 upgrade on the Starling, we are very close. Within days, I think. It's rare for upgrades to be incompatible with hardware, but the Ubuntu developers do the best they can. All in all, they do a very good job.

Things happen. And when they do, we do all we can to get them fixed. Sometimes it's tough. But we do listen to our customers.

As for Lucid. It probably will work fine. We start testing before it is released and create a System76 driver version to apply any necessary patches to existing systems.

[jml]

To answer the op's question: Why purchase System 76 hardware rather than a Dell or an Acer product?

There are several reasons actually:

1. System 76 is a company dedicated to selling and supporting hardware that runs Ubuntu Linux with everything working out of the box. Ubuntu is only a small part of either Dell's or Acer's business. I have to admit that I like the Acer Aspire One, but it is getting more and more difficult to get one with Linux installed from the factory. I would rather not have to pay the MS tax if I did not have to.

2. The hardware they sell is very well made. I have purchased three computers from them (a Daru1, Daru3, and a Starling.) All were solidly built and all are still working reliably.

3. Their support after a purchase is superb. Tom is very tenacious when he is faced with a technical problem and keeps working until its solved.

4. They support a System 76 subforum as an additional way to help their customers. Tom keeps a close eye on the posts and answers very quickly.

5. The driver/kernal issue plaguing the Starling is not a hardware problem, but rather an issue with Ubuntu 9.10 itself. I actually pulled 9.10 off of both my Daru1, and Daru3 because of problems I was having with it. If you look at other sub-forums here you will see that the problems with 9.10 are plaguing many users of many different brands of computers. 9.04 runs very well on all three of my systems. I am hoping that when 10.04 LTS comes out, that it will be a bit less cutting edge, and more reliable.

6. I like the idea of supporting a company that supports Linux.

Hope this answer is of use to you.

Joe

[Lee_Machine]

Well said Joe. When I do make another computer purchase it will be from System76.

I've gone through many computers over the years, and none so far has been as reliable as my Pangolin.

I have had the laptop for a year and some months and nothing has broken. In just the last month two of my computers at home broke.

One Mac, one custom...

[kh1116]

As long as the compatibility with updates is there, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna chose System76. Thanks everyone

[vajorie]

Your primary/exclusive issue appears to be OS upgrades

My experience is that no computer manufacturer really provides any valid OS upgrade support once they sell you the computer...

A few years ago, I bought an HP laptop with Windows XP installed. HP never bothered to inform me how to upgrade to Vista, 7, or Ubuntu. Hell, you probably know what happens when you call them for support (I don't mean being forwarded to India)...

I also bought an Asus EEE 701 with Xandros preinstalled. Asus stopped serving updates to it (let alone info on OS upgrades) a few months after I bought it. At all...

I recently bought an Acer Aspire One with Android + XP. Acer's support people have no idea about OS upgrades *and* updates to Android, even though it is extremely unstable. They also are not upgrading their Bios, even though it has known problems with cpu scaling... Or rather, they deny to acknowledge having problems at all.

I've been watching the system76 ubuntuforums.org sections for a while. It is simply unbelievable. They help people to *update* **and** *upgrade* versions of the same OS as well as *different* OSs (eg Mint).

Compared to any end-user oriented computer manufacturer that I am familiar with, system76 is simply *the* best in providing support for OS upgrades and updates.

The problems they seem to be having with OS upgrades is pretty common: when you upgrade your kernel (eg 2.6.31->2.6.32) or certain other system software (both of which happens in ubuntu when you upgrade from one version of ubuntu to the next), you risk breakage[1]. When breakage occurs, you downgrade and wait[2] for a version that doesn't break stuff

[1] Examples: here (I use that one).
[2] Unless you know how to fix or you know how to help others fix it...

[Teasdale]

I've been watching the system76 ubuntuforums.org sections for a while. It is simply unbelievable. They help people to *update* **and** *upgrade* versions of the same OS as well as *different* OSs (eg Mint).

Compared to any end-user oriented computer manufacturer that I am familiar with, system76 is simply *the* best in providing support for OS upgrades and updates.

And that's why all three of the computers I have in my home are from System 76.

[tc101]

Compared to any end-user oriented computer manufacturer that I am familiar with, system76 is simply *the* best in providing support for OS upgrades and updates.

I think that is great. I am probably going to order a system 76 netbook next week.

However, if it works fine with 10.04, why upgrade? If I am just using it for web access, and word processing, why would I want to upgrade?

I have a desktop running ubuntu that I haven't upgraded in over 2 years. I mostly use it to access financial accounts since I know it is more secure than the windows box I use for work. If I upgrade, I gain nothing, and have the possibility of time consuming problems.

I am no expert. Tell me if I am missing something.

[isantop]

If a piece of software is serving you fine in it's current version, then there is no reason to upgrade. You are right, you risk time consuming problems and incompatibilities.

Keep in mind that most versions of Ubuntu or supported for only 18 months after release. You will need to upgrade or live with no more security updates, which can leave your system vulnerable.

Also, new versions of software, especially OS's, typically fix incompatibilities rather than create them. Obviously, no system is perfect, but each version is supposed to be better than and build upon the previous version.

Also, new features available in the latest version are usually not backported to older versions, especially with free OS's. Why spend time writing code for old systems when your users can upgrade for free?

Hope this clears up some questions. If you have any others, go ahead and ask.