Why do they call it JoliCloud?
I had the some time to finally test JoliCloud, the Netbook OS that promises seamless integration between end-user and… Guess who? The Cloud.
Now.. Don’t get me wrong: JoliCloud is a decent attempt to void the space between desktop computing and online applications and it does it pretty efficiently despite some quirks (but I will speak later about this).
JoliCloud tries hard to build a sense of belonging by involving each user in the JoliCloud social network. One can link Twitter and Facebook accounts to the JoliCloud profile. I did not find so many friends there but I expect them to come (BTW: Kris is there, wonder if he has something to say about JoliCloud DNS settings).
Does this approach bring any considerable advantage to the user experience? I can’t judge because I did not see much, I just have the impression that Twitter is enough, we don’t need another social meeting place.
The fact is, by all the virtues this OS has, I am still asking myself where the Cloud’s angle is.
Let’s go with order:
1:JoliCloud is nice..
It’s an OS. No matter how they call it: it installs on your machine and is based on Ubuntu Linux.
Applications, however, are installed via JoliCloud’s Dashboard (see picture).
Most titles are just online services presented in a customized and simplified browsing environment (Mozilla’s Prism). The intent is laudable and the resulting user experience is properly implemented (provided you have decent connectivity). Prism is a neat artifact, as the Mozilla Wiki puts it:”Prism is based on a concept called Site Specific Browsers (SSB). An SSB is an application with an embedded browser designed to work exclusively with a single web application. It doesn’t have the menus, toolbars and accoutrements of a normal web browser.”
If there is one way to Linux to come to everybody’s desktop, this is it.
JoliCloud is aimed at Netbooks; during installation the user is given the option to repartition (Ike!!) her drive and install a dual-boot configuration. This works pretty well for most of the cases (most is not all, unfortunately) and the attention to detail is pushed up to the option to import native Windows “My Documents” folders in the newly JoliCloud environment.
Nevertheless, the original Windows volume is reachable from JoliCloud desktop, importing files seems less relevant…
Call me skeptical: I prefer an install on a removable USB Flash drive.
The user is proposed a neat desktop abstraction (loosely based on Ubuntu Remix), the likes of a smartphone on steroid. (see picture).
I like the concept and I think is the shape of things to come. If you are used to menu, forget them: in JoliCloud’s desktop menus are almost on the way to extiction, enter tab-based application switching and small icons instead. Developers called for desktop space optimization, in a screen and mouse challenged environment as a Netbook offers I support their decision.
Icons have a further status notification function, with many regards to the iPhone!
Everything works so far. On my Acer Aspire One 250D I have full support of very hardware features, from Bluetooth to graphics et al.
Still, I don’t get where the Cloud has something to do with it. Oohh!! Never mind.
2: JoliCloud is not so nice..
There are some quirks that affect JoliCloud that every non-expert user should be aware of.
1 – First off: as any dual-boot system using GRUB, it modifies your MBR record. When choosing to install JoliCloud on a drive other than the internal hard disk (Flash or external USB drive for example), it writes the boot files on the target disk. Disconnect it and you cannot boot.
2 – Power management is pretty basic; expect not so stellar performances in terms of autonomy. Even choosing XFS to avoid disk commits (they drag battery down even when the computer does nothing), and being limited to 1.33Ghz (see here under) I have around 60-70% of comparable battery life than with Windows.
3 – It’s not fast. But then I discovered why and it’s not JoliCloud’s own fault: on my Acer 250D the processor maxed at 1.33Ghz instead of 1.66Ghz. Why? It seems that the Bios reports a max speed of 1,33Ghz and Ubuntu acts consequently. Down here I show what to look for in your netbook to check if this issue is hitting you as well.
4 – Prism does a good job isolating the browser from the Web content but I’d like to have at least a “Back” and “Forward” buttons. Take LinkedIn for example: there is no navigation aids and I found myself using “ALT+Left Arrow” shortcuts. Not intuitive.
4 – I did not find an option (an easy one) to render the desktop for the visually impaired. My mother (76 years old and avid Internet user) could never read the screen of a netbook. Sure, we can modify the pixel density in the font section of the appearance menu if we choose… See what I mean?
3: Quirks and workarounds to enjoy your JoliCloud.
I refer to my configuration:
- Acer AspireOne 250D 2GB Ram, Atom N280
- Lexar 8GB Flash USB drive
- JoliCloud Pre-beta
Very quck install notes:
JoliCloud can be installed by downloading an exe file from its website. The exe will burn anUSB flash drive that can be used as the target of the installation. Once you booted the USB you can immediately choose to install JoliCloud on your hard-disk (by repartitioning it) or on a separate volume.
File-system and partition choices for an USB flash drive
In the installer choose the manual partitioner: it’s advisable to create working partitions in XFS or JFS and do not create a swap area. A flash drive has a limited life in terms of writes: Ext3 has autocommit operations that keep the drive being constantly written on the same blocks. No good. Same story for a Swap: you won’t need it if you have a decent RAM configuration.
It overwrites the MBR..
Per se it might not be an issue but in the case of the Flash drive installation you have a GRUB-written MBR that needs the Flash Drive for the configuration and menu files. It’s not desirable. Moreover you find yourself exposed when you change back the boot order of the device.
A dirty hack that works with an Acer or any other machine with an MSI BIOS is:
Install JoliCloud.
$ Sudo passwd root (change root password)
su (enter password)
fdisk –l (and check on which device where the Windows partitions are. Usually on /dev/sda)
Reboot with a Windows XP disk, enter console recovery and write back the MBR by doing:
Fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0 (where 0 corresponds o sda as from previous fdis’s output)
Reboot, Windows boots again, fine. Reboot once again.
At startup press F12 (keep it pressed) to enter the boot device menu (this is specific for the Acer BIOS, I cannot guarantee it’s the same for other machines). You can choose the USB drive and boot JoliCloud again.
Sidenote: Wndows XP versions previous than SP3 wont boot on the ACER 250D unless you don’t disable the AHCI option from the BIOS (set it to IDE). Don’t forget to set it back to the default value once the MBR is repaired otherwise you end up having the same disk performances of a Commodore 64.
Horrible isn’t it?
The speed issue
It’s true. It runs at 1.33Ghz.
The fact is that the kernel is getting the incorrect CPU speed from the BIOS ACPI tables. Try booting with the kernel boot option
acpi=off
If you get the full 1.66GHz with this option it means that your BIOS is reporting the wrong speed.
Check this bug report on the Ubuntu forums:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cpufreqd/+bug/422858
At the moment there is no BIOS update. Keep in mind that this problem plagues several netbook vendors: Lenovo, for example.
Conclusions
I like it. It’s not yet a consumer product but it’s very near to be a good one. It does need some user-friendly traits but it’s, by far, the most usable desktop on Linux I have ever seen. Perhaps because t’s not a desktop 
Building Web applications is less onerous than writing code for the desktop, the iPhone and Android platforms are a good example on how fast a vertical marketplace can be grown up by using the online app approach.
Would I use it? I do, actually, even if I still do not understand where is the Cloud here.
