Linux/Ubuntu - Post Interest Here!

[Josquin des Prez]

You can install Windows fonts rather easily:

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/29

In other news, FreeBSD 9.0 is finally out:

http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.0R/announce.html

This is actually big news in the world of open source operating systems. PC-BSD 9.0 should follow shortly as well, if anyone wants to try it.

[Josquin des Prez]

Haha, links for PC-BSD 9.0 RELEASE available at distrowatch:

http://distrowatch.com/

[Opus106]

Haha, links for PC-BSD 9.0 RELEASE available at distrowatch:

What's "haha" about that?

[Josquin des Prez]

Haha meaning:

1) Its finally here

2) Links are still not available on the mainsite (though they probably will within the next few hours)

[Josquin des Prez]

Nevermind, they updated the mainsite as well.

[Opus106]

EA Games Arrive in Ubuntu Software Centre

I'm not a gamer, but still it is nice to see a company like EA take at least a little interest in the Linux world. The latest offerings don't quite hold up to the expectations that were built up during the last week or so, ever since news of the company's participation in the Ubuntu Developer Summit was made public; yet, as had been made clear in the blog post, it is a start. One of the reasons why some people still maintain a dual-boot with 'Doze, is gaming. Perhaps, with enough support, if even one or two popular games are ported to the Linux environment, we could probably expect a slightly greater adoption of Linux-based OSs.

[DavidW]

I hate Ubuntu just for unity.  And gnome 3 shipping with Fedora and Mint is just as bad.  I recently revisited linux and found that Debian was the only major distro with a decent usable default desktop.  I wonder if the next release will embrace the steaming pile of gnome 3 or switch to xfce.

[Opus106]

I hate Ubuntu just for unity.  And gnome 3 shipping with Fedora and Mint is just as bad.  I recently revisited linux and found that Debian was the only major distro with a decent usable default desktop.  I wonder if the next release will embrace the steaming pile of gnome 3 or switch to xfce.

Yeah, the situation on the desktop is just bad when it comes to most of the major Gnome-based distros. But I'm considering to 'up'grade to 12.04 just for HUD... I probably don't need to bother with the Unity bar, if I could control things from the keyboard, which is something I prefer in any case. Have you tried Mint's own implementation of Gnome 2-ish features built over Shell?

[DavidW]

Have you tried Mint's own implementation of Gnome 2-ish features built over Shell?

Yeah but it still didn't do it for me.  We're building up to a serious dilemma, gnome is becoming too simplistic, xfce was never fully functional, and kde went down the style over substance route awhile ago.

Alot of the issues with unity and to a lesser extent new gnome (3.x) is that they are trying to develop a good ui for tablets and phones, and then subjecting desktop users to it.  An interface for a tablet doesn't work for a desktop and vica versa.  They should have just split the teams instead of taking a page from Windows 8.

I think I should just get a Mac and forget about all of this crap.

[Opus106]

Alot of the issues with unity and to a lesser extent new gnome (3.x) is that they are trying to develop a good ui for tablets and phones, and then subjecting desktop users to it.  An interface for a tablet doesn't work for a desktop and vica versa.  They should have just split the teams instead of taking a page from Windows 8.

Windows 8 was rather late into the game. Unity was developed and has been out in the wild, so to speak, a few releases ago, initially aimed at net-books long before Metro was made public. I haven't been following MS's development closely, but I'm curious about whether they're going to offer the same boxes of apps strewn across the screen to business users as well.

I think I should just get a Mac and forget about all of this crap.

Zen within the walled garden, eh? 0:)

[ibanezmonster]

So it looks like you have to be a near expert to even get Ubuntu online in the first place, but to become an expert on Linux you have to have internet with Linux.

I need to learn Linux...

[Daverz]

Quote from: DavidW on May 09, 2012, 07:05:55 AM

Alot of the issues with unity and to a lesser extent new gnome (3.x) is that they are trying to develop a good ui for tablets and phones, and then subjecting desktop users to it.  An interface for a tablet doesn't work for a desktop and vica versa.  They should have just split the teams instead of taking a page from Windows 8.

I recommend Cinnamon to everyone who finds Unity obnoxious like I do.

[Opus106]

So it looks like you have to be a near expert to even get Ubuntu online in the first place, but to become an expert on Linux you have to have internet with Linux.

I need to learn Linux...

Premise wrong. Conclusion wrong.

Thumb-up for seemingly unrelated statement.

[ibanezmonster]

Not sure what you're talking about... my router is unsupported by Linux, so I would have to install a driver, which involves extremely long tutorials that say it's difficult. Every step of the way when I tried it, there was an error I couldn't understand or look up properly because I don't know Linux, and I can't look it up anyways, because Linux can't go online.

So I'd have to buy a supported router, which I can't see happening because my mom needs the internet for work- unless there is a way around that, like having 2 routers.

[Opus106]

Not sure what you're talking about... my router is unsupported by Linux, so I would have to install a driver, which involves extremely long tutorials that say it's difficult. Every step of the way when I tried it, there was an error I couldn't understand or look up properly because I don't know Linux, and I can't look it up anyways, because Linux can't go online.

I installed Ubuntu first, having known nothing previously, and then started learning about what things were. That's a counter-argument to your statement that one needs to be an expert just to get things up and running. Not always at least. It's just that some are unfortunately stuck with proprietary hardware. (That's not to say I didn't have problems initially; but I now look back upon that time with a tinge of nostalgia -- things have been working all too well since then. ) If you still have a Windows box running and connected to the Web, I'd suggest you ask for help at the Ubuntu Forums or at the IRC (#ubuntu-beginners and #ubuntu) about the things which you don't understand. I'm willing to help if it's not too hardware-specific and is, of course, within my grasp. Or perhaps one of the other members who visit this thread might be able to, even if it is very specific.

(As an aside: since you have Ubuntu, you could have tested the Live CD first to check if things worked with your hardware.)

[ibanezmonster]

I installed Ubuntu first, having known nothing previously, and then started learning about what things were. That's a counter-argument to your statement that one needs to be an expert just to get things up and running. Not always at least. It's just that some are unfortunately stuck with proprietary hardware. (That's not to say I didn't have problems initially; but I now look back upon that time with a tinge of nostalgia -- things have been working all too well since then. ) If you still have a Windows box running and connected to the Web, I'd suggest you ask for help at the Ubuntu Forums or at the IRC (#ubuntu-beginners and #ubuntu) about the things which you don't understand. I'm willing to help if it's not too hardware-specific and is, of course, within my grasp. Or perhaps one of the other members who visit this thread might be able to, even if it is very specific.

(As an aside: since you have Ubuntu, you could have tested the Live CD first to check if things worked with your hardware.)

I have a dual-boot, and the only other computer in the house is my mom's, which she is often using for work, and my brother will be sharing it when he starts school Monday (and I start school Monday, too). It's not like I didn't try- I wasted an entire morning working on this and wanting to smash in the monitors because I didn't know anything.

These are all good suggestions... if I had easy internet access side by side with it. The only thing possible is to either 1) buy another computer and work on installing the driver or 2) get an Ubuntu-compatible router. 1) I'll have to do anyways when I start experimenting with writing Linux server programs, so that part is inevitable, eventually. But yeah, if I don't get a router and decide to install the driver, I will indeed need and appreciate the help.

[ibanezmonster]

Is this the router that everyone uses for a dual-boot Windows/Ubuntu?

Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Broadband Router
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190

$50, 5 star average with 3,725 reviews, and it is "Linux-based"... so I assume that if I just used this router instead, I'll just be able to connect to the internet easily on Ubuntu?

[liuzerus87]

As far as I can know, what router you have shouldn't matter, since all OS-es support the same standards. I've never heard of a computer being incompatible with the router.

On the other hand, the computer might be incompatible with the wireless card on that machine. This is a driver issue, which could be a problem. Anyway to tell what wireless card you have installed?

[DavidW]

So it looks like you have to be a near expert to even get Ubuntu online in the first place, but to become an expert on Linux you have to have internet with Linux.

I need to learn Linux...

If your wifi card requires a proprietary driver, then yes!  Else no.  Ubuntu, actually does NOT have the best hardware support.  I find that Open Suse does (Mandriva One also does, don't know if it is still around).

[DavidW]

Quote from: DavidW on May 09, 2012, 07:05:55 AM

Alot of the issues with unity and to a lesser extent new gnome (3.x) is that they are trying to develop a good ui for tablets and phones, and then subjecting desktop users to it.  An interface for a tablet doesn't work for a desktop and vica versa.  They should have just split the teams instead of taking a page from Windows 8.

I recommend Cinnamon to everyone who finds Unity obnoxious like I do.

Thanks!

I'm tired of Windows, but I think I'm going to ditch Windows for a Mac, at least at home.