Linux/Ubuntu - Post Interest Here!

[SonicMan46]

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference - an e-book that you can download free of cost. 

Oh, and I also just discovered ( ) that Linus runs a blog.

Opus - thanks for those links above - book is less than $10 on Amazon v.s. a free PDF download!   

[Opus106]

In a few hours, the (Unix) time will be 1234567890.

To find out when this occurs in your time-zone, open up a terminal in your Linux box and paste the following command. [This assumes that Perl is installed in your computer. Most modern distros come with it.]

Code Select Expand

perl -e 'print scalar localtime(1234567890),"\n";'

And a little more info and links.

[mahler10th]

I downloaded Ubuntu a couple of days ago.  It fits on a single CD.  I have never used anything other than MS Windows, so the open source stuff is completely new.  I went to download another Linux flavour (Debian), but the download was 3 dvd's, so I steered clear.
Ubuntu only 600 odd mb.  If I get rid of Vista and install Ubuntu, what risk is there of everything going pear shaped?  Drivers, etc?  How difficult is it to have everything working through Ubuntu?  Can I use windows apps or does it ALL have to be Linux?  Or am I just old fashioned, as the last time I tried to install a Linux OS (2000) it was just plain unacceptably rubbish!  But I do like the Ubuntu idea, I even downloaded the manual stated below, I just need a little reassurance!

[Opus106]

I downloaded Ubuntu a couple of days ago.

Nice.

If I get rid of Vista and install Ubuntu, what risk is there of everything going pear shaped?  Drivers, etc?  How difficult is it to have everything working through Ubuntu?  Can I use windows apps or does it ALL have to be Linux?

You can use (some) Windows apps. in Linux using another program called Wine. Some like it, some don't. I have a some programs under Wine, but I rarely use them. But for the most basic tasks, you have a great, if not better, counterpart application in Linux. Or you could go the VMWare way and control your Windows desktop from inside Linux, or the Linux desktop from Windows. (Which I haven't tried it.) Or you could play safe and have a dual-boot system.

Re:hardware, Ubuntu (and Linux distros, in general) is becoming pretty good at identifying devices connected to the computer out of the box. I've had iPods, external hard-drives, printers, modems, etc. detected immediately. And reviews state, that even Bluetooth-enabled phones are not a big deal.

If you downloaded the LiveCD, you can boot from it to see if things like peripheral devices and your internet connection are detected.

Or am I just old fashioned, as the last time I tried to install a Linux OS (2000) it was just plain unacceptably rubbish!  But I do like the Ubuntu idea, I even downloaded the manual stated below, I just need a little reassurance!

Oh, it's come a loong way since then. Just make sure you have a back-up of all your important files before installation. (This is just a general tip, rather than something to be told to only to new users of Linux. )

[mahler10th]

Nice.

You can use (some) Windows apps. in Linux using another program called Wine. Some like it, some don't. I have a some programs under Wine, but I rarely use them. But for the most basic tasks, you have a great, if not better, counterpart application in Linux. Or you could go the VMWare way and control your Windows desktop from inside Linux, or the Linux desktop from Windows. (Which I haven't tried it.) Or you could play safe and have a dual-boot system.

Re:hardware, Ubuntu (and Linux distros, in general) is becoming pretty good at identifying devices connected to the computer out of the box. I've had iPods, external hard-drives, printers, modems, etc. detected immediately. And reviews state, that even Bluetooth-enabled phones are not a big deal.

If you downloaded the LiveCD, you can boot from it to see if things like peripheral devices and your internet connection are detected.

Oh, it's come a loong way since then. Just make sure you have a back-up of all your important files before installation. (This is just a general tip, rather than something to be told to only to new users of Linux. )

Great, thank you very much indeed for that.  That was all the reassurance I needed.  I will now be offline for a day or two ( )whilst I give this a shot.  I used VMware in the past to test Vista from XP, but it's too klunky, so I'll be doing a peoper job.  I'm looking forward to this now, freedom from a plethora Licenses and serial numbers..

[Opus106]

I will now be offline for a day or two ( )whilst I give this a shot.  I used VMware in the past to test Vista from XP, but it's too klunky, so I'll be doing a peoper job.  I'm looking forward to this now, freedom from a plethora Licenses and serial numbers..

Super! Good luck and good riddance (to proprietary licences and serial numbers and blue screens and... )

[mahler10th]

From Ubuntu Website:

"Need more software? Simply choose from thousands of software packages in the Ubuntu catalogue, all available to download and install at the click of a button. And it's all completely free!"

Mouthwatering.  What am I doing with all these licenses?  Putting them in the bin, thats what.  Ubuntu's one small step for freedom; one giant leap for freedomkind!

Here goes...

[DavidW]

I downloaded Ubuntu a couple of days ago.  It fits on a single CD.  I have never used anything other than MS Windows, so the open source stuff is completely new.  I went to download another Linux flavour (Debian), but the download was 3 dvd's, so I steered clear.
Ubuntu only 600 odd mb.  If I get rid of Vista and install Ubuntu, what risk is there of everything going pear shaped?  Drivers, etc?  How difficult is it to have everything working through Ubuntu?  Can I use windows apps or does it ALL have to be Linux?  Or am I just old fashioned, as the last time I tried to install a Linux OS (2000) it was just plain unacceptably rubbish!  But I do like the Ubuntu idea, I even downloaded the manual stated below, I just need a little reassurance!

You're wrong about Debian, they have cd images as well as dvd images.

You should get this straight about wine-- it works well for some apps, okay with some bugs with others, and not at all for other apps.  

This might come too late, but you're going about this completely the wrong way.  You should use the live cd to make sure that all of your hardware works correctly before you install.  You can also install software, drivers etc from live (it's wiped out when you reboot)... so you can at least figure out how to make everything work right before you install.  That way if you can't figure out something vital, you know before you make the mistake of installing the OS.  It doesn't make much sense to figure out all of that *after* you've done the install.

Since you have almost no prior linux experience, you really should take it much slower than you are.

[Opus106]

Ubuntu's one small step for freedom; one giant leap for freedomkind!

The puritan would prefer GNU/Linux, but if it's Ubuntu that's helping make Linux a popular desktop choice, then meh...

[DavidW]

The puritan would prefer GNU/Linux, but if it's Ubuntu that's helping make Linux a popular desktop choice, then meh...

Well Ubuntu is the most popular Linux flavor, but it's not making Linux popular for the desktop, Linux as always remains ridiculously unpopular.  I'm surprised to even see Linux and popular in the same sentence!

[SonicMan46]

I downloaded Ubuntu a couple of days ago.  It fits on a single CD.  I have never used anything other than MS Windows, so the open source stuff is completely new......................

Hi John - big Ubuntu fan here; if you've looked at some of the previous posts, I went to 8.04 LTS at the end of October (as 8.10 was coming out).  Of course, there are plenty of configuration options, such as 'dual booting' w/ Windows, but I had my previous 7.10 version installed on an old IBM laptop (using right now, in fact!).  Check out the 'free' PDF guide mentioned by Opus by Keir Thomas; I actually bought the book from Amazon (only $10) and started to read it last night; concise and a great beginner's guide w/ plenty of discussion on the installation options.

Concerning hardware issues, when I loaded 7.10 on this machine at the end of '07, all of my hardware was recognized by the Ubuntu drivers which had been loaded (I have no proprietary drivers on the machine); the program recognized all of the IBM hardware, connected to my 'wireless' router w/o a problem (8.10 is suppose to be even much better w/ 'wireless' issues), detected all of my USB sticks, recognized my older external hard drive, Iomega CD burner (also external), Brother Laser printer, & HP scanner - I was rather flabbergasted (which is a frame of mind that I'm rarely in!); only hope the experience goes as easy for you.

Ubuntu comes w/ a plethora of 'free' software, including Open Office, graphics programs (GIMP is there more advanced imaging editing program), sound & audio options, plenty of games, and the option to download a bunch of other software.  Now if you really need specific 'high-powered' Windows programs (which I don't for this laptop), then that might be a problem, e.g. some of the Windows Office features, Photo Shop, etc.  But again I was amazed at what came w/ this Ubuntu package.

Now, there are plenty of other Linux distros, but I really like Ubuntu, and my wife uses this computer 'on the road' - I travel w/ it (just no virus, firewall, or other malware issues), so I needed a GUI that was like Windows - she has had no major issues.  As to running Windows programs under Linux, there are a number of options, including WINE as already discussed (mixed reviews from my readings), but I've not given them a try.  Good luck - Dave

[Opus106]

Well Ubuntu is the most popular Linux flavor, but it's not making Linux popular for the desktop, Linux as always remains ridiculously unpopular.  I'm surprised to even see Linux and popular in the same sentence!

Oh, I didn't mean 75%-market-share popular! But certainly more people - and not just geeks alone - are aware of and use Linux on the desktop today (of course, thanks largely due to Ubuntu) than any time since 1991.

[DavidW]

Concerning hardware issues, when I loaded 7.10 on this machine at the end of '07, all of my hardware was recognized by the Ubuntu drivers which had been loaded (I have no proprietary drivers on the machine); the program recognized all of the IBM hardware, connected to my 'wireless' router w/o a problem (8.10 is suppose to be even much better w/ 'wireless' issues), detected all of my USB sticks, recognized my older external hard drive, Iomega CD burner (also external), Brother Laser printer, & HP scanner - I was rather flabbergasted (which is a frame of mind that I'm rarely in!); only hope the experience goes as easy for you.

All of that hardware excepting the wireless are easily compiled as kernel modules, which is why I bet you'd find them working in any major distro.  But the wireless issue is always tricky, because some of them require proprietary drivers, or tricky workarounds and then it's mostly an issue of did the devs decide it was important enough to conquer that issue for that specific bit of hardware?  This issue also rears it's heads with video cards.

Anyhoo... the awesome approach is just to figure out exactly how to diy.  The lazy approach (my favorite) is to simply try distros until you find the os that magically makes the tricky hardware work!  

[DavidW]

Oh, I didn't mean 75%-market-share popular! But certainly more people - and not just geeks alone - are aware of and use Linux on the desktop today (of course, thanks largely due to Ubuntu) than any time since 1991.

That's not even largely due to Ubuntu. 

Innovation (firsties): Easy to use installer was done by Slackware.  The live cd was around way before Ubuntu existed, can't recall who was first on that.  The easy breesy package installer-- that's Debian.  Did Ubuntu make gnome?  Nope.  XFCE?  Nope.  KDE?  Nope.  Open Office?  Nope.  Anything?  Scratches head.

First popular Linux: Nope.  That's Mandrake, Suse and Red Hat.  I especially remember Mandrake, because it marketed itself the same way that Ubuntu does now-- as an easy to use, take you bye the hand Linux OS.  And it sure did, it rocked! 

Don't put too much on the shoulders of what is merely a Debian branch.  It's the most popular Linux flavor now, but it had almost nothing to do with the success of Linux.

[Opus106]

The lazy approach (my favorite) is to simply try distros until you find the os that magically makes the tricky hardware work!  

Really, is that your idea of being lazy? Downloading, checking, burning (at 4x!), verifying, rebooting... ugh, and if it doesn't come with an Live CD, then installing!!! Of course, if checking out distros, like classical music fans do recordings, is your thing, then that's probably a good way to while away time.

As for me, Google is my friend. 0:)

[Dr. Dread]

NERDS!!!

[Opus106]

CAUTIONARY

http://xkcd.com/456/

[mahler10th]

This proves I'm onto a good thing.  From the Ubuntu CD, there's an option to boot the disk and run the OS without installing it, just to try it.  I have sound, vision, and I am connected.  All from a CD.  Now I'm going to install it. 
I'll be back on this post when it's done.

[DavidW]

Really, is that your idea of being lazy? Downloading, checking, burning (at 4x!), verifying, rebooting... ugh, and if it doesn't come with an Live CD, then installing!!! Of course, if checking out distros, like classical music fans do recordings, is your thing, then that's probably a good way to while away time.

As for me, Google is my friend. 0:)

That is my idea of being lazy.  It took me a weekend to get a winmodem working right with linux.  I didn't jump around I just made it work on what I had at the time (that was either Red Hat 7 or 8, I don't recall now).  In the past, I've had to recompile kernels, edit conf files and do all sorts of things to debug hardware issues in the past.  Figuring out a hardware issue and fixing it can take much longer than hopping around.

Seriously, if you're so lazy that checking out a few distros seems like too much time, then you really shouldn't be using linux anyway, no matter how glamorous it appears now, it's still a diy os.

[mahler10th]

Yep, installed, updated, etc. 
Hmm.  My initial excitement may be premature.  I had to run cock-a-hoop through a terminal to install ATI drivers using a 'superuser' command string.  
I'm Microsoft Certified Professional, know all that stuff inside out and back to front, nothing alien in it at all.  But I knew this OS  would be a whole new ballgame which would probably get one hell of a lot of getting used to.  But I'll stick with it.  
I go to websites and they say such and such software runs under...unix, KD*, etc, and I only know what I have is Linux.  Does it matter?   I think I'll have to wave goodbye to Pro Evolution Soccer too!