Eeebuntu is a popular Linux distribution designed to play well with netbooks. It’s optimized for laptops with small screens and Intel Atom processors. And as you can probably guess from the name, it was originally designed as a custom version of Ubuntu Linux for Asus Eee PC netbooks. Today the Eeebuntu team launched the first public beta of Eeebuntu 4.0, which drops the Ubuntu base for Debian Linux.

Unfortunately, the servers are getting hammered right now, so you might have to wait a little while to download Eeebuntu 4.0 Beta. Riccardo at Eee PC.it grabbed a screenshot (shown above) before the site went down, and it looks like Eeebuntu 4.0 ditches the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface for a desktop with a dock-style application launcher and a single panel at the top of the screen. Update: Users can also install the Netbook Remix interface from the Eeebuntu repositories. It may be available out of the box after Eeebuntu 4.0 leaves beta.

I can’t say for certain whether all the applications in the dock are included with Eeebuntu out of the box, but I spot icons for the Google Chrome and Firefox web browsers, Skype and Pidgin communication software, Thunderbird email client, GIMP image editor, VLC media player, and OpenOffice.org office software. There are a few icons I don’t recognize.

Anyone have a chance to download and try Eeebuntu 4.0 Beta yet? Let us know what you think in the comments.

thanks Bennett!

Eeebuntu is a custom Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that’s designed specifically for netbooks. It supports a the hardware found on most Asus Eee PC netbooks and a number of similar models from other companies, and it’s optimized for the Intel Atom processor and low resolution displays.

A few days ago one of the members of the Eeebuntu Linux development team threw up his hands in exasperation complaining that every time a new version of Ubuntu Linux came out, it broke compatibility with Eeebuntu. Now another member of the dev team has posted on the Eebuntu forum that the team has decided to move away from Ubuntu in its next release. Instead, Eeebuntu 4.0 will be based on Debian Unstable.

This means four things:

1. The developers will have more control over the project and more flexibility in the applications and updates added to the project
2. Instead of expecting new releases every 6 months or so, you should see releases when they’re ready (which could be either faster or slower than the current release cycle)
3. The team plans to add support for desktops, not just netbooks
4. The name “Eeebuntu” is going to start sounding a bit silly

The next version is scheduled for release in late December, but a lot can change between now and then. There will be beta versions available before that time though.

via Netbook Italia

The next full release of Debian Linux will include full support for early Asus Eee PC models including the Eee PC 701 and Eee PC 900. That means ethernet and wireless should work without any patches.

The DebianEeePC team has also been releasing patches for other Eee PC models like there’s no tomorrow. You can now find ethernet drivers for the Eee PC 901, 1000, and 1000H and wireless drivers should be available soon as well.

Debian isn’t the first Linux distro to add out of the box support for the Eee PC. You can also install the latest version of Mandriva on most older Eee PCs and expect everything to work without tweaking a thing.