Now Asus have given us something special from that same netbook, it’s secrets. Yes, Asus have now published the Linux source code and shows us just what makes the Eee PC 1008HA tick. Could this be a hint that Asus might be releasing a version of the 1008HA that will come default with Moblin Linux instead of Windows?

If you select Linux as the operating system at the above link, there are five different files available to download. These five files are actually five parts to a larger download which comes to about 2.25GB.

So if you are brave and know all about compiling or just want to see what the Eee PC 1008HA source code looks like, take a look and see what you can find. It should be interesting at the very least.

Tiny Core Linux boots entirely into RAM, which is very quick and easy considering it is only 10MB in size, and presents a basic interface to users, from which they can access anything they need to. At such a small size, it really is a Do-It-Yourself system, providing just the basics and allowing the user to build upon the foundations in any way that they want.

After just a few simple changes (basically installing a few software modules) taking mere minutes to complete, you can be running with full wireless support and be running Firefox at great speed. Of course, there are many other software configurations available and a wide selection of software is available in the software repository.

Tiny Core Linux is entirely free and open source, and is derived from the basic concepts of the Damn Small Linux base. Whether it is simply to set up a browser-only operating system, or a fully configured desktop, the tools are right here. Many Eee Users are finding that it works very well on the Eee PC netbooks. Maybe you will be too.

Of the netbook distributions which were tested, three were optimised for the Asus Eee PCs, while the remaining is targeted for netbooks in general, but comes with the Everet netbook. The distributions in question are Xandros, which comes default with the Eee PC, EeeXubuntu, Pupee and last but not least, gOS.

The results are interesting and will be a worthy read for any Eee PC enthusiast wanting to know more about various operating system options for their Eee PC.

Occasionally, these secrets of faster processing are revealed for the common mortal to take advantage of. These tips, tricks and special tweaks usually wield faster performance, quicker response and sometimes even save a few dollars.

A favourite technique for improving lifespan and performance on the netbooks, more commonly the Eee PC, is tweaking the Eee’s use of the solid state drives and making more applications run from RAM instead of writing to the drive. Four well known ones will give a great start to the optimisation process, as well as several others on the user forums. So give them a try and see for yourself. It is amazing how much more power the Eee can give when we want to push it.

EDIT: Where gedit is referred to in the linked articles, it is recommended to use kwrite as that is more readily available under a normal default install.

The hack is accomplished by staring a vnc server and opening a scaled client. As a result, you may have a few issues with it. However, it’s still a brilliant and easy way to get a little more reading space on your Linux Eee PC (especially if you’ve been jealous of the Windows XP hack!)

Nice job, Jaffa!

You can read the full thread here.

It appears as though the pre-installed version of Samba (that is enabled by default) can be exploited to facilitate root access to the machine.

You can read more at the links below:

[RISE Security via Engadget]