Linux

rjstaaf · 03-28-08, 06:29

Anyone out there been curious about Linux but hesitate thinking it if for gurus only? If you have ever wanted to try it without the commitment of installing it on a machine you can download a LiveCD or a LiveDVD which will allow you to boot Linux without actually installing it on your machine. One of the very first distros to offer a LiveCD is Knoppix and they have just released their latest version 5.3.1.

You just download the .iso image and burn it to a DVD. You then boot your machine with it and you can try it out. It will NOT alter your hard disk in any way, it all runs from the DVD.

DistroWatch.com: KNOPPIX

One of the latest distros with an aim towards the average Joe is Ubuntu and they also offer a LiveCD option.

Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu

Check it out....

CleanGSR · 03-28-08, 08:14

I run Ubuntu and really like it. I still use Windows (dual boot) to manage my Microsoft Money and photo editing. Other than that I use Ubuntu Linux without the worry of viruses or adware.

truzoom · 03-28-08, 08:33

I'm a big Ubuntu fan, but do not currently use it as the current release does not like my laptop.

I'm glad to see that Linux is becoming easier for beginner users. I remember trying Red Hat 5.0 as a teen and going nuts over the lack of internet, sound, and decent video.

Nowadays, you can pop in a cd and you're basically set. Probably the most convenient thing is the package manager which essentially gives you the software you need in a few clicks.

Pennypacker · 03-28-08, 12:25

I'm a Linux fan. Windows for gaming. Ubuntu for everything else.

One interesting factoid: Michael Dell runs Ubuntu on his personal computer.

themightytimmah · 03-28-08, 01:32

Thanks for the links... I think I might install Linux on my PS3.

BlackElantraGT · 03-28-08, 01:45

I finally got a bigger, replacement hard drive for my Windows install, so I'll be using my old drive probably for Kubuntu. I was at Ubuntu's website a couple of days ago and it looks like Hardy Heron 8.04 will be released within the next 30 days, so I just might wait to do the install then. I'm really looking forward to it. As much improvement Linux has made though, I wish someone would develop a money management software that can at least compare to Quicken/Money. GnuCash and KMyMoney aren't even in the same league.

I recently attended MS's Launch event for Server 2008/Sql Server 2008 and to everyone's surprise, they included a full, clean install version of Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1 with no time restrictions (at least that we know of) inside their package of software they handed out. I'm trying that right now instead of WinXP and so far, so good. All the security pop-ups asking me what I want to do are annoying though.

2003SCT · 03-28-08, 05:40

After trying several of the new distros out there, I have finally decided on Mandriva. It's nice and easy to install, works better on a Dell laptop than any of the others it seems, has the friendly KDE Desktop Environment AND includes the Beryl environment. I won't give up XP on my main computer for obvious compatability reasons but using it on my laptop has been interesting to say the least.

CHRIS

Ray in Kingwood · 03-29-08, 03:16

Download WUBI......the easiest trouble free installer for ununtu....works great and you dual boot. I have this on all 7 of my machines

fstb88 · 03-29-08, 03:53

I wanted to try Ubunti and ordered the cd, but when it booted only in 800x600 resolution I un-installed it, everything came out very blocky and looked horrible. Couldn't find a way to change it.

BlackElantraGT · 04-28-08, 02:53

As of this very moment, I'm using Kubuntu 8.04 KDE4 Remix to do this. I was really looking forward to this release and waited until the final release came out so I didn't have to deal with too many bugs, but at this point I have to say I'm slightly disappointed.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with me coming from a Windows background and not being a Linux/Ubuntu guru, but there are some things that I expect either to work out of the box or should be easy enough to figure out. Keep in mind that I had been using Kubuntu 7.10 (with KDE 3.5) before along with a few other distros, so this is not my first time around with Linux. I first was introduced to Linux on Red Hat 6 and what I had learned in class was done primarily via command line and not the GUI.

My biggest complaint right now is that I can't figure out how to switch from 24 hr/miltary time to 12 hr time. It really shouldn't be that hard to set a freaking clock. I can add a analog or digital clock widget, but why no option to set your time to 12 hr?? WTF?

Speaking of widgets, the only useful one is the clock widget (the battery one might be handy, but I'm not on a laptop). That's no big deal, but if you're going to offer add'l downloadable wallpapers from KDE.org, why not give the option of downloading add'l widgets? A weather or calender widget would have been nice. And another thing I can't stand so far about the widget is that after I restart, the clock widget I had put on earlier has to manually be put back on.

Now back to applications. KDE4 is similar to what I hated about openSUSE 10.3 w/ KDE. I find the menu system to be pretty annoying because opening up a program requires more clicks than I would like. And when you install applications via the default Adept installer, it doesn't automatically create a link or icon for the program you just added: not for the menu, not for the desktop, and neither for your toolbar. To find your program, you have to do a search for it, which after that point, you can choose to add it to your desktop or your toolbar, or you can add it as a favorite but you can't put it into it's proper category or wherever you'd like the program link/icon to appear. Maybe there is a way to do this, but for someone who's pretty computer/tech savvy, I cannot figure out how to do it (on my own at least.).

So I wanted to test sound and video, and since I have no music files to do so, I figured the easy way would be to go on YouTube and/or pop in a DVD. On a PC and a Mac you have to download the proper plugins and codecs for it to work (if it doesn't already come with pre-installed software to do so) but doing that is almost self-explanatory on these 2 operating systems.

Not on Linux. No, you have to do a google search and either learn how to unpack a tarball file and compile it yourself via the terminal. Or if you find a Ubuntu specific forum, you'll learn the sudo apt-get command to find a "hidden" library of "restricted", but NECESSARY software, plugins, codecs, etc. Either way, you have to use the command line. What's the point of me allowing the use of 3rd party repositories if I still can't find everything I need via the GUI installer? Imagine if installing/removing a program in Windows required you to open a DOS window and use command line. A user-friendly GUI was what allowed Microsoft to gain mass market appeal with Windows, so I don't understand why after all this time Linux still requires the use of command line more often than it should. I understand that due to legal reasons they are not able to ship the distros with some of these things, but they can at least make it a lot easier for the user. Give us a hint or something jeez!

For a moment let's just forget about comparing PC and Linux, as they are pretty different. But look at Mac OS X. It's the perfect example of what Linux SHOULD BE and SHOULD DO. I guess my main complaint about Linux is that I don't get why people recommend it to the average Joe. It's not a newb-friendly OS whatsoever! Maybe it's a LOT easier to install and use compared to BEFORE, but it's still far from being mainstream. I can see myself using it, but it would be difficult to recommend it to someone like my parents or a majority of my friends. I'm not a Mac OS X fan at all and despite that, with having to deal with all the Windows issues I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it because it's less of a headache for ME. I would kill myself if I had to deal with Linux issues. Sorry folks, but Linux is still not user-friendly enough for me to recommend to the average person.

One compliment though is that my computer is running 8.04 with KDE4 much faster than the same computer with Vista Ultimate SP1 or XP. I haven't had many issues with Vista, maybe because I started using it with Sp1 already pre-installed from my install disc. I have a 4 year old computer and the speed difference for the most part isn't much different compared to XP, but it is a way bigger resource hog (in particular, RAM). Don't even bother with Vista unless you have a minimum of 2gb of RAM.

BlackElantraGT · 04-28-08, 11:34

I just installed Ubuntu 8.04 and while I've mostly preferred KDE over Gnome over the years, after using Kubuntu with KDE4 I must say this is much better. I just got done with the install and already I'm up and running with DVD and flash player playback. Unlike Kubuntu, Firefox 3 beta is already installed, I have an icon for it sitting in my taskbar, and it automatically installed the flash video player for me with just a few clicks. In Kubuntu, it gave me an error and I had to install it through the terminal (after I googled for the workaround).

Already I've figured out how to change my time settings and add users, which I could not figure out on Kubuntu. I popped in the same DVD and it automatically detected which codecs I needed and asked for me to install (totem movie player). Dragon player in Kubuntu didn't do $hit, not even an error message.

I just figured out that I'm able to access my Vista NTFS partition, which for some reason Kubuntu could not see past the first few system folders.

I'm really surprised by all this as the experience between Ubuntu and Kubuntu (both 8.04) is a night and day difference so far. So far Ubuntu works almost right out of the box, which is what I would expect a user friendly OS to do.

rjstaaf · 04-29-08, 01:27

I was going to suggest you try Ubuntu. I have never been a big fan of KDE myself.

Glad your experience with Ubuntu was more positive...