Last week, I bought a Acer Inspire One netbook (a small laptop) with open-source software and the Linux operating system, as part of a move towards lowering the cost of my IT. Initial progress was excellent, and over the weekend, I started to set up my office. I plugged in my USB hub (just a simple 4-way plugboard), and attached my printer, full size keyboard, mouse and monitor (also widescreen like the netbook). Everything worked fine, without me having to do anything complicated like install software. In fact the printer took a lot less time to install than it did on my old Microsoft-driven laptop. It also runs a lot faster too.

I had wanted to try a wireless keyboard and mouse, but nothing for sale said anything about Linux being supported. I’ve subsequently learned from Logitech, which only supplies Windows drivers, that their gear should work with Linux without drivers, but some of the advanced functionality, eg. keyboard customisation, requires technical interventions. So why doesn’t their website and product packaging say that?

The internet connection works fine, as do connections to wireless routers and WiFi. Now for the next set of tasks:

• Upgrade web browser to Firefox 3. (The system comes with version 2, which has been superceded, and the automatic update service from Acer doesn’t seem to apply to Firefox).
• Install other software such as Skype. (Skype’s free, but Acer hasn’t provided it, I’ve learnt, because Skype requires payment if it’s pre-installed. Very odd).

Here I hit my first real barrier. Although the Acer comes with a live update module which keeps some things up to date, there’s no obvious way to do other software downloads and upgrades without technical knowledge of Linux.

I’ve been able to transfer files to and from my Fuji Finepix S1000fd camera and Nokia 6121 mobile phone, but I haven’t got any calendar/contact synchronisation tools (which may not be a problem if I can sync my phone with Google calendar and contacts - how, I have no idea).

Given how long it took me to figure out how to drive Windows, these may be simple to address, when I can find a source of information, but they are surprising challenges to meet today for such standard tasks. Neither Logitech nor Nokia seem to be on the game regarding interfacing their products to Linux; and Linux books are a nightmare, eg. The Idiot’s Guide to Linux is anything, but. The ICT industry should be able to do better than this.

Having said all that, I still think that for most people, this set-up would be fine (well, with a simple software install/upgrade/remove tool). However, I need a little help now - PLEASE!

UPDATE: I really need HELP.  Can a Wellington-based Linux pro please contact me ASAP?