Review of NetRunner 2014.04

Once Apple made the decision not to support my MacBook 2,1 with the latest version of their operating system, I decided to remove OS X and use an Open Source alternative. I've been looking for a Linux distro for my elderly MacBook for some time, and have played with Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Gnome, Lubuntu, Xubuntu and others. The problem I ran into, was that the more fully featured versions of Ubuntu ran slowly on the MacBook's 2Gb of RAM, while the ones that ran quickly lacked the polish and cutting edge features that I have come to expect from Linux desktops these days.

However, I now believe that my search is over and that I have finally found a fully featured, beautifully presented and responsive OS for my MacBook: Netrunner 2014.04 with the KDE desktop environment. Netrunner can be downloaded from here and is free.

It is important to note that while I am using Netrunner on a MacBook, it will work with PC based hardware as well. Give that ageing laptop a new lease of life!

Netrunner comes in two variants: the one I have installed is based on Kubuntu. There is also a 'rolling' distro based on Arch. I chose the one based on Kubuntu, because I am familiar with Ubuntu-based configuration tools and the multitude of powerful and easily installable software available in the Ubuntu repositories. I also use Kubuntu on my more modern 8 core desktop machine, so I am familiar with KDE.

I booted my MacBook from the Netrunner DVD, as the creation of a bootable USB key for Mac hardware requires you to jump through many hoops, and have access to a working version of OS X, long formatted out of existence on my machine. Booting from the DVD brings up a live Netrunner environment which allows you to play with the OS, check that your hardware is working, and gives you a feel for the distro before you decide to commit to an installation. The installer is well designed and makes things like disk partitioning very easy for the novice to Linux.

As Apple have decided to make the firmware for the iSight camera (the webcam installed on the MacBook) proprietary, this is the only hardware that does not work 'out of the box' under Linux. This is easily fixed once you have installed the OS to the hard drive and have connected to the internet: simply follow the instructions here to install and load the firmware, and 5 minutes later your webcam will work in Skype and other applications.

Intel based MacBooks use EFI rather than BIOS which slows the boot time in Linux considerably, so here is a tip: If your Macbook spends 30 seconds with "white screen" before GRUB loads the OS, try booting from your Mac OS X install disc, select language, then click Utilities->Terminal, and enter:

bless --device /dev/disk0s1 --setBoot --legacy

(this assumes that the bootloader is on sda1, otherwise /dev/disk0s2 if it's on sda2, etc.)

This will speed up your boot time considerably.

The Netrunner desktop, at first glance, looks like a conventional KDE desktop. KDE has some similarity in terms of desktop layout as pre-Windows 8 versions of the infamous Microsoft operating system, so Windows users making the move to Linux will feel at home here quite quickly. There are some differences to a conventional KDE desktop however. Firstly, the KDE start button and start menu has been replaced by a widget called Homerun Kicker. I was so impressed with the speed and sensible layout of this system, that I immediately installed it on my Kubuntu desktop system as well.

In Netrunner, pressing the 'meta' key (otherwise known as the 'Windows' key or the 'Apple' key on MacBooks) launches the start menu. This a great timesaver, as you can simply start typing to find a document, file or application. This can be configured in Kubuntu as well, but not as easily, because the meta key can only be used in conjunction with other keys in shortcuts. This attention to detail and ease of use is something that sets Netrunner apart.

I use the terminal a lot. I prefer to use it to quickly install software, edit configuration files and generally manage files and data. Netrunner comes with a nifty terminal application called Yakuake. It drops down from the top of the screen like the terminal in 'Quake' when it is summoned using the F12 key. Very nifty, very handy for power users. Again, I have installed it on my Kubuntu desktop as it is extremely useful.

Software pre-installed includes KDE Dream Desktop, which allows animated video wallpapers, Steam (gamers will love this), Firefox (features an 'instant start' on machines with 2Gb or more of RAM), LibreOffice office suite, Thunderbird email client, VirtualBox (computer emulation), VLC video player, Clementine music player, Krita pixel paint and Karbon a vector image creation program and many others. Full details can be found on the Netrunner site.

I had previously installed Kubuntu on the MacBook. It ran OK, but was a bit slow at times. Netrunner flies in comparison. I can heartily recommend this distro to anyone who wants a sleek, fast and functional replacement for OS X or Windows.

Savaged by the Goblins of Redmond

Windows has always had a horrifying and peculiar fascination for me. Version 3 crashed a lot, 3.1 was little better. I used OS2, with it's built in version of Windows 3.1 for work that required the dreaded Microsoft operating system. OS2 was rock solid, and I found myself using Windows less and less. Then Windows 95 was released – lauded as a proper 32 bit operating system, it was a bit of a cheat, built on 16 bits and ported up. It was better, but still suffered from blue screens of death, rebooting after practically every software install, random freezes and crashes.

It was about this time that I first became interested in Linux. I installed RedHat, tinkered with it for a while, before settling down with Mandrake and the KDE desktop. Ubuntu, when it arrived, was a revelation to me: for the first time I could see Linux going main-stream – a complete desktop operating system, powerful, easy to use and rock solid.

I still installed the new versions of Windows that came out – after all, I had to keep up with technology and many of my clients were trapped in the usual cycles of Windows despair: upgrade hells, driver problems, virus and malware attacks. So I installed and played with Windows 98, Windows Millenium, XP, Vista and Windows 7. While there were eye-candy tweaks and stability improvements, Windows never impressed me. Vulnerable to attack, prone to crash, multiple reboots required.

I had some issues with Ubuntu too: the change from the Gnome 2 desktop to Unity was, in my opinion, a retrograde step. I played with Mint for a while before settling down with Kubuntu, and the KDE desktop.

Recently I had cause to return to the Windows experience, like a dog returning to it's own vomit. A client, running Windows 8 was having problems installing Skype. Could I sort it for her?

Windows 8 is one of those rare human creations: a total turkey. An abortion of an operating system. A septic carbuncle on the festering backside of computing. An operating system, built for everyone, pleasing no-one. Microsoft introduced 8 as a new computing paradigm, a quantum change from previous versions that would carry the Windows flag into a new digital age. The Age of Convergence. 8 was to be an operating system that unified a common interface to desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone platforms. A grand idea, let down by poor implementation, bad design, and a stunningly corporate lack of concern for the people who were going to be using it.

Windows 8 looks like it was designed by a modern artist paying a homage to Mondrian. It's all colourful boxes, without substance or usability. Like Unity, it requires users to adopt a totally new way of working – in Windows case, programs have been replaced by apps, which run full screen. One has to learn new techniques of working, replacing all those hard learned skills that previous versions of Windows had in common. Designed for the smartphone generation, kids with limited attention spans, 8 sinks down to the depths of the lowest common denominator. For those who have invested time, energy and money in learning to work Windows, 8 is nothing less than a catastrophic mistake.

My user had recognised the limitations of Windows 8 and had installed a shell extension which allowed her to go back to the classic Windows 7 look, with her programs, widgets and system tray information easily accessible. She had even told me that she was more than willing to pay money to downgrade to 7 which she felt more comfortable with. She handed me the laptop, and left me to it.

It was running like a dog. I didn't expect 8 to be a greyhound, but surely it wasn't an overweight pug? There must be something wrong. A quick look at Internet Explorer and the system tray pointed me in the right direction: multiple toolbars on the browser, garbage running in the system tray and a torrent of pop-ups  which offered to fix non-existent errors, update my drivers and allow me to play extremely poor quality arcade games.

I sighed, and reached for Malwarebytes. The quick scan found over 500 separate nasty bits, even though Windows 8 has Microsoft Security Essentials built in (I was told this when I tried to install it), and AVG was running, up-to-date and the latest version. After the first tranche of malware was removed, I ran a full scan and found a further 80 odd problems. I then started to uninstall all the rubbish toolbars that did have an uninstall option, along with seven or eight other programs that can only charitably be described as excremental detritus of the very worst quality.

After several reboots the laptop was running a lot quicker and the pop-ups had been consigned to the severest levels of digital hell, hopefully to spend the rest of eternity alongside their creators. I fixed a problem with my clients Microsoft ID, installed Skype and was informed by the App Store that a free upgrade to 8.1 was available. Never one to miss an opportunity to be astounded, humiliated and confounded by the Goblins of Redmond, I clicked on the install button.

3 hours  and 4 reboots later, I was presented with a brand new login screen which asked me all the questions I had already entered into Windows 8. I had to re-enter my client's Microsoft ID, click on a button to verify her email address (this had already been done) before it would allow me into the new version of the Start screen. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss... as The Who once sang. It all looked jolly familiar, except that the  Skype, Mail, Contacts and Calendar tabs had no icons, just colourful squares with little crosses on them. Clicking on them resulted in a blue flickering screen and a swift return to the Mondrianesque wonders of Metro.

Now I'm not a man who can be trifled with in this way, and I immediately brought the Great Guns of Google to bear on the problem. Well, well, well. Funnily enough, many thousands of other people have this problem following the upgrade, and not all of them have managed to solve it. Try uninstalling the apps and then re-installing them, suggested one happy chappy. It had worked for him. I gritted my teeth and did just that.

They un-installed fine, but re-installing them just brought up a helpful message saying that 'installation has failed: error code 0x80070005'. I let a helpful obscenity escape from my overheating mind – it fled through my neuronal pathways, down the corridors of my throat and came out through my pursed and narrowed lips. Bollocks. Well, there must be other things I could do to fix this. I would not be beaten – I would emulate Gandalf, standing in the path of dark, demonic hordes, shaking my staff and shouting, “They Shall Not Pass!”

Maybe a sacrificial visit to the Goblins of Redmond would help. I accessed the Microsoft Support website where I learned the following helpful information:

“The error code 0x80070005 is also described as "ACCESS DENIED." You may receive this error if you don't have the appropriate permissions to install a particular update. This can also happen if malware is on your computer.”

There were two recommended ways of fixing the problem. Firstly, log in as an administrator. I checked my client's account. Yes, she was an administrator and logged in. Secondly, check for malware. Hang on, I'd already done that. But I checked again and this time the scan came up clean. The Goblins were playing hard to get. Back to the Great Guns of Google.

I won't bore you with the various attempts I made over the next few hours trying to get this problem resolved, suffice it to say that I failed and the Goblins triumphed. Finally I placed my metaphorical tail firmly between my legs and in desperation I installed Yahoo mail on my client's machine, logged her into it (thankfully her email account is with Yahoo!) and then downloaded and installed the desktop version of Skype which she could use from her desktop panel. She is happy. I'm not quite so over the moon.

Windows 8 succeeds in removing the user from the experience of computing. When you are running Metro, you have no way of knowing if you are connected to the internet or not. So when a web page fails to load, multiple clicks of the mouse are required just to check your network connection. Because there is no system tray, you can't easily find out what is running on your machine. It's as if Microsoft have decided that users should be deprived of any technical information, obviously because we poor mortals are unable to understand that information must come from somewhere and arrive somehow. Perhaps the Goblins really want us to believe in magic?

Bollocks.