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.