Thinking about changing to Linux

[Fulanito de Tal]

I'm thinking about changing from Windows 7 to Linux. Mostly, I'm worried that my Win 7 will become not usable anymore.

Anyway, I've read the Linux is free and open software which I find EXTREMELY appealing. It appears much more secure from malware. Also, it claims to leave your computer's resources freer than Windows so you can use them up with other tasks/applications.

This is what I've read on Linux: http://www.linux.com/learn/new-user-guides/403-switch-to-linux. I've also skimmed over other sites and the Wiki page for it.

I use my computer mostly for school and internet surfing and watching videos like on Hulu. My main programs are Microsoft Office and Firefox or Google Chrome, but I'm getting over Chrome and using Firefox more. If I can't use Microsoft Office, I'm probably going to stick with Windows at least until the semester is over.

Computer Specs
Dell Studio
Intel Core2 Duo T6400 2.00GHz
4GB RAM
no modifications


I was thinking about using the Ubuntu version. Any appropriate advice would be appreciated.

[¿Que?]

You mention that your use of Linux hinges on the ability to use Microsoft Office. Well, I can tell you right now that there is no Microsoft Office version for Linux. That said, you can always use openOffice.org, which is a Office type word processor available for most platforms (certainly available for Linux). With openOffice.org you can open, edit and save documents in the OOo format, as well as in doc and docx format (Microsoft Office proprietary format).

I know a lot of reasons why you might not want to use Linux but Microsoft Office shouldn't be one. I finished my first semester of Grad school using Linux and OpenOffice.org. Just make sure if you send someone a document, you save it in the Microsoft format. Most people do not own OpenOffice.org and will not be able to open OOo documents.

As for distros, I would recommend Ubuntu mostly due to its ease of setup and user friendliness. Keep in mind that Linux is for tinkering and tweaking. It's going to be hard to avoid that no matter what distro you get, so if you're command line-phobic, I wouldn't recommend it at all. But Ubuntu minimizes the amount of tinkering you'll have to do.

If you decide to go with Linux, keep us posted, and if you run into trouble, maybe some of us can help you.

Good luck.

[Kuppo Shakur]

Go for it, you have nothing to lose but your chains.

[praxis1966]

As for distros, I would recommend Ubuntu mostly due to its ease of setup and user friendliness. Keep in mind that Linux is for tinkering and tweaking. It's going to be hard to avoid that no matter what distro you get, so if you're command line-phobic, I wouldn't recommend it at all. But Ubuntu minimizes the amount of tinkering you'll have to do.

^This, especially the part about tinkering. The most difficult part about installing any Linux distribution is getting it to work with your video card. Once you've done that, you're pretty much golden. Also, I find Red Hat is a relatively easy to use distro as well. No matter which distro you choose, chances are it'll be faster, more stable, more aesthetically pleasing and more secure than Windows... Plus, you'll get to lord it over your hipster friends that they're a bunch of trendy ass poser marketing victims for buying Mac bullshit and you're the real counterculturalist.:lol:

Further, I don't know what about Windows 7 would make it incompatible with Linux. If you want, you should be able to install both Win7 and Linux by partitioning the hard drive, installing Win7 first and on the first logical hard drive, and then installing Linux afterward on a different partition. You'll also need some type of boot manager, which should be installed prior to doing the Linux installation. There are plenty of articles online which give more detail on how to do this...

That is, of course, unless you have no interest in continued use of Windows. If that's the case, fuck everything I just said in the paragraph directly above this one, lulz...

[Fulanito de Tal]

Thanks for the responses.

I installed Ubuntu and I'm using it right now. So far, I like it. The wireless driver didn't work at first, but once I connected to the internet through a LAN line, Linux showed a pop-up asking if I wanted to install the driver for the wireless.

Advantages for the moment
- Quick start up and shut down
- I learn Linux

Disadvantages
- I don't know what to do with this.

Anyway, so what's cool to do on Linux? Any programs I should use?

[praxis1966]

Anyway, so what's cool to do on Linux? Any programs I should use?

Well, you can do just about everything that you can with a Mac or Windows system... Generally, there are alternate versions of popular applications which are designed to run on Linux systems and when there aren't, there's generally some free app that works as a usable substitute. Apart from that, Apache Web Server is probably about the best damned thing out there for if you wanna do web hosting.

[JazzRemington]

You can download what's called "live images," which are versions of Linux that can be run directly from a CD/DVD/USB stick. All major distros have a live image that is available for download. I'd recommend Ubuntu or Fedora if you are new. One thing you have to understand is that once you gain confidence and experience with Linux, it really doesn't matter which distro you use because odds are you'll change and modify whatever one you get to the point where it's a completely different distro almost.

[Q]

You mention that your use of Linux hinges on the ability to use Microsoft Office. Well, I can tell you right now that there is no Microsoft Office version for Linux. That said, you can always use openOffice.org, which is a Office type word processor available for most platforms (certainly available for Linux). With openOffice.org you can open, edit and save documents in the OOo format, as well as in doc and docx format (Microsoft Office proprietary format).

As a matter of fact, OpenOffice.org might be dieing in the next few years as most of the developers behind the OOo project left in order to found the Libre Office (http://www.libreoffice.org/) project. This happened because it was feared that the company behind OOo, Oracle, would pull the plug in the mediate term on it (Oracle is known for being very anti-open source).

Many distro's have stated that they'll switch to Libre Office in the short term, for example Ubuntu 11.04 will feature it (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/01/libreoffice-now-default-office-suite-in-ubuntu-11-04/).

As this split (in softwareland called a "fork") happened recently, both office suits are still nearly identical (with Libre Office having a slight edge on having more features which Oracle blocked implementing for years) and, as both projects are open source, there is still a lot of code that is being interchanged between the two. But I think Libre Office has the future.

Anyway, Ubuntu is clearly a good choice for running a GNU/Linux distro that "just works". I've switched myself from Gentoo to Ubuntu over time (running it on my laptop for quite a few years and recently migrated my desktop too) and I still don't regret this step. But like someone already mentioned, there is no need to totally wipe your harddisk clean of Windows yet, if you want to run that specific game or commercial app that doesn't run well under Wine (http://www.winehq.org/) for example.

[Quail]

I'm using ubuntu. I switched from windows vista (after someone downloaded a virus onto my laptop :lol:), and I do definitely prefer it. It's a lot nicer and less irritating than vista, and I can do pretty much whatever I want on it. The only thing I would be wary of is making sure that things such as phones, webcams, etc are compatible or you can find drivers for them. If you play games it might be best not to get rid of windows completely. You could always get a dual boot.

[ckaihatsu]

Don't throw away that older computer!

www.revleft.com/vb/dont-throw-away-t137361/index.html


Also, xPUD.





Plus, you'll get to lord it over your hipster friends that they're a bunch of trendy ass poser marketing victims for buying Mac bullshit and you're the real counterculturalist.:lol:


= )

[Fulanito de Tal]

I just found a free statistics program for Linux called PSPP and it reads SPSS .sav files. I'm fettishizing the shit out of this Linux right now! No more Saturdays at the lab running statistical analyses or clearing out a whole day on my schedule because it will be the only day I have access to SPSS.

:tt1:

[F9]

I am having this thoughts too.Let me see, i dont play any games pn my pc, i use office, lots of web, programming, pdf reading(have few books i need for uni), video watching and downloading(torrent+warezs) as the same with music, and skype and msn.Will there be any possible issues on this?What arent available?Will i be able to read my microsoft office documents?Cause i have created a not that small political "database" for myself.

[Tablo]

I am having this thoughts too.Let me see, i dont play any games pn my pc, i use office, lots of web, programming, pdf reading(have few books i need for uni), video watching and downloading(torrent+warezs) as the same with music, and skype and msn.Will there be any possible issues on this?What arent available?Will i be able to read my microsoft office documents?Cause i have created a not that small political "database" for myself.
You will still be able to do all of those things just fine. As far as programming goes it is different programming software to run on different operating systems. Unless it is an interpreted language like Java or Python.

[F9]

You will still be able to do all of those things just fine. As far as programming goes it is different programming software to run on different operating systems. Unless it is an interpreted language like Java or Python.

No Java?Anw, i am using C++ at least for the next 6 months;)

[praxis1966]

No Java?Anw, i am using C++ at least for the next 6 months;)

Actually, I think what he was saying is that there isn't much of a difference doing Java programming on a Linux box as opposed to some other operating system. Now I don't claim to know a lot about programming (I do actually have quite a bit of tech training, but it's almost all in networking and server maintenance/architecture), but I can tell you this: Just about every programmer I've ever met loves Linux. In fact, most of them absolutely refuse to use anything else. As a networker, though, I do have a soft spot for the Linux OS as that's what Cisco's NOS is based in.

Anyway, you won't have any problem playing music, watching videos or using/creating MS Office documents in Linux. As has been mentioned, OpenOffice.org and Libre Office work pretty well as substitutes for MS Office. Skype I know for a fact has been ported to Linux. I'm not entirely sure about torrents and warez (though I would guess there's some equivalent) but I would think that there has to be some app for Linux that can deal with .pdf's...

[Tablo]

No Java?Anw, i am using C++ at least for the next 6 months;)
No, you can use Java. C++ will have you developing software differently for different operating systems. Java can be developed in one way and work on windows and linux because it is interpreted.

Just so you don't take my word for it, I'm not some hardcore programmer guy. I learned Java and VB6(ewwwwwww) in high school and couldn't do anything with it now beyond understanding basic programming concepts.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Ubuntu comes with a torrent download program.

You can definitely read pdf's. You can also make them. The word processor that comes with Ubuntu, OpenOffice, can even make pdf's easily.

Word processor document
The "Export to PDF" button is right below the "Format" menu.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/durancm/WordtoPDF.png

PDF it created

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/durancm/TestPDF.png

[Ele'ill]

Linux is ok, until you need a compiler to compile the complier you just downloaded. I'm sort of joking, I used linux for a long time.

[Kuppo Shakur]

Holy shit I've never even noticed that.
Neat.

[F9]

Any good site for "tutorials" on how to install this thing?:D
Also my files will be affected?i need a format of my pc first to go ahead with changing?
i hope not cause i am too bored to do that ,and i will need to learn how to do that also, and it would mean way more time to invest that i care to give:lol:

[praxis1966]

Any good site for "tutorials" on how to install this thing?:D
Also my files will be affected?i need a format of my pc first to go ahead with changing?
i hope not cause i am too bored to do that ,and i will need to learn how to do that also, and it would mean way more time to invest that i care to give:lol:

This .pdf (http://tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/intro-linux.pdf) should answer all your questions in greater detail, but the short answer to some of them is yes, you will need to do a drive format in order to do the install as with pretty much any OS. As such, you'll need to back up all your files because, well, they'll be fuckin' gone after you do that. Like I said before, though, if you done a decent job of your backup, you shouldn't lose anything. If you're unsure about whether or not you want to completely convert to Linux, you can always go dual boot. You can find plenty of articles on how to do that with some simple Googling.

A word about the link: The last copyright date on the link I provided is 2008. A lot of the stuff in there is still applicable, but some of it may not be. (I'm not 100% because I just skimmed it briefly.)

[¿Que?]

If you have enough disk space, you can do a double boot by using Gparted to format the unused disk space and install linux there. From there, you can access the files in the windows partition from the Linux partition. Once you do that, use Gparted again to format the windows partition to Linux (ext3 I think), you will have your whole disk devoted to one OS again. I've never tried this though, so I don't know if it will work.

[Tablo]

Definitely recommend formatting. I don't think it is necessarily required, but it is a good idea.

[praxis1966]

If you have enough disk space, you can do a double boot by using Gparted to format the unused disk space and install linux there. From there, you can access the files in the windows partition from the Linux partition. Once you do that, use Gparted again to format the windows partition to Linux (ext3 I think), you will have your whole disk devoted to one OS again. I've never tried this though, so I don't know if it will work.

Meh I didn't think about that, but the thought of it kinda bugs me. I like doing OS installs on clean hard drives as a matter of general principal; seems to work better most of the time.

[F9]

Definitely recommend formatting. I don't think it is necessarily required, but it is a good idea.

damn more work to do:bored::lol: will need a tutorial on that too now...
anw, the whole point behind me wanting to change to linux is me "discovering" new ways and learn new things(and try something different that damn microsoft of course):thumbup1:

[Tablo]

damn more work to do:bored::lol: will need a tutorial on that too now...
anw, the whole point behind me wanting to change to linux is me "discovering" new ways and learn new things(and try something different that damn microsoft of course):thumbup1:
I think when you boot up with the cd in it will pretty much walk you through the process. Tutorial might be a good idea. It's really easy, it just takes a long ass time for it to finish.

[Diogenes]

If you download a program called Wine it'll let you run windows programs. If you had already bought Microsoft Office you should be able to run it on Linux, I ran Age of Empires II on my Ubuntu OS and it worked great. I hear that WoW runs great on Wine as well

[F9]

there are people still buying office:confused::lol:
Yeah heard of that Wine thing on another forum, but if i format my pc, i wonder how i will need it when i delete my hard disk:bored: Although i am pretty sure i am missing lot points its almost 7 am so.... i will revisit my thoughts tomorrow:lol:

[JazzRemington]

If you download a program called Wine it'll let you run windows programs. If you had already bought Microsoft Office you should be able to run it on Linux, I ran Age of Empires II on my Ubuntu OS and it worked great. I hear that WoW runs great on Wine as well

WoW runs perfectly. I had a problem with my video card, to where I would get random slow downs (about 5fps) for a few seconds at a time, and over time they would get more frequent until I did a complete restart of the computer. Otherwise, it ran flawlessly.

[kitsune]

I dual booted for a while because there were a few programs I wanted to keep, but I soon found Linux alternatives that were as good or better.

For partitioning, root - home - swap is the most basic setup. This allows you to do a clean install of the OS when a new version is released without messing up your files. It's a good idea to back up your stuff anyway, though.

[Q]

Any good site for "tutorials" on how to install this thing?:D

The Windows installer might be of help (http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/windows-installer) (never used it myself).

[F9]

The Windows installer might be of help (http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/windows-installer) (never used it myself).

whats the difference from this than going threw the "other procedure"(see format hdd, insert new OS CD, install etc)?Does this have to do anything with what is referenced above as double boot?Or is this just a "mask" while i am still running on windows i see linux interface?

[praxis1966]

whats the difference from this than going threw the "other procedure"(see format hdd, insert new OS CD, install etc)?Does this have to do anything with what is referenced above as double boot?Or is this just a "mask" while i am still running on windows i see linux interface?

Dual boot means you have two different operating systems (say, Win7 and Ubuntu) installed on two different segments (which is what is meant by "partitioning" the hard drive, that is to say you create smaller "logical" drives on the same "physical" hdd) of the same hard drive. You can only run one at a time since each interacts with your hardware in a different manner preemptively of the other. In other words, you can't run two operating systems simultaneously, so if you wish to install two operating systems you must partition the hard drive. The "boot manager" that I mentioned before is a separate piece of software that allows you to select which operating system you want to use when you power up your system.

As for formatting your hard drive, it's not exactly necessary to do this before installing your operating system. As Tsukae said briefly, all you'd need to do is insert the disk of whatever operating system you plan to install into your machine and that software will walk you through formatting the drive.

Anyway, it does sound like you'd need thorough tutorials on how to do this based on your questions... So I'd take Tsukae's advice if I were you.

[F9]

i was convinced by chat users that Q's advice was just as good with no tricky parts, so i am installing it as we speak.Seems like i will be able to use both OS by choosing what i want at the start and can remove ubuntu and linux any time i want, so yeah will give it a try this way i think, the "easy way" and if i get sattisfied with it i will either drop windows completely or try formatting my pc and do a "proper" dual boot, on the other hand of not likeing it, i dont expect to like it immediately i have been working with windows all of my life so the transfer cant be that easy but i am willed to give it a try:thumbup1:

[F9]

Running it right now, but i have to say that "codecs not found" its pretty annoying.:(But it will need more than that to give up on it;)

[¿Que?]

Running it right now, but i have to say that "codecs not found" its pretty annoying.:(But it will need more than that to give up on it;)
Use VLC.

EDIT: Here's the link, but you're better off trying to use the package manager to install it. I don't know what distro you chose, but if it's based off of Debian, you'll be using aptitude.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

If Debian based:
apt-get update
apt-cache search vlc
apt-get install vlc

That should install it and any dependencies it may need.

[MarxSchmarx]

Running it right now, but i have to say that "codecs not found" its pretty annoying.:(But it will need more than that to give up on it;) Use VLC.

EDIT: Here's the link, but you're better off trying to use the package manager to install it. I don't know what distro you chose, but if it's based off of Debian, you'll be using aptitude.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

If Debian based:
apt-get update
apt-cache search vlc
apt-get install vlc

That should install it and any dependencies it may need.

I'm guessing Fuserg's problem is with mp3 or other media file types.

In case anyone is wondering the main reason you get that error is because certain file formats like mp3 are apparently still proprietary, so linux distributions can't ship them with their main build. There are usually only about two or three file formats for most computers that have that problem.

One advantage that ubuntu has over other distributions is that pretty much no matter how arcane your issue it's very likely someone else has run into the problem before, and it will be on the ubuntu forum. If you google the error message in quotations you will almost always be good to go.

[Bright Banana Beard]

Get Linux Mint if you into media entertainment.

For me, once I get my own pc, I am putting peppermint ice.

[Fulanito de Tal]

I completely formated my drive to get rid of Window and am running Ubuntu.

I am liking Ubuntu much more than Windows.

Pros
Multi-tasking is superior. I can be installing a program and playing a game at the same time with no problem.
Booting and shutting down are much faster. My computer seriously shuts down in less than five seconds.
A lot of free and not secretly downloaded programs. If you need to do something with your computer, there is likely to be a program for it and it can be downloaded relatively quickly. Also, it will be compatible with your computer/OS
Awesome science programs like real time star charts, satellite trackers, and statistical analysis software
Outstanding support via the Ubuntu forum. I started a thread asking for help with a problem and I received a working solution within minutes
I learn something new. While everyone that uses computers knows Windows, I know Windows and eventually Linux
I feel like I have much more control over what's on my computer. Like nothing secretly running in the background

Cons
I'm still getting used to it and it's office counterparts
Learning to use the terminal is like learning to use a complex DOS from scratch
Running some installations can still be a bit of a mission as you may need to use the terminal, but as I said, the support through the forum is great


For those with experience with Linux, is there anything I should watch out for? Things I should avoid doing?

For example, in Windows, you shouldn't delete program files to get rid of a program. You should go through control panel -> add/remove programs. Another one for Windows would be to install two anti-viruses at the same time.

Lastly, anything cool to do with Linux? Any fun programs?

[¿Que?]

Get Linux Mint if you into media entertainment.

For me, once I get my own pc, I am putting peppermint ice.
sounds delicious!:)

[kitsune]

Partitioning and installing formats the drive as part of the process.

Wubi isn't the same as dual booting. It runs Ubuntu in Windows. It's not a bad way to get used to the OS, though.

You definitely need to get some proprietary drivers. Flash, mp3, NVIDIA or ATI or whatever is needed for your graphics card. Ubuntu makes it pretty easy to get the right drivers, though.

Mint is good. It's basically Ubuntu with the proprietary drivers included, except for the Debian Edition that's based on Debian Testing. That looks interesting; it's a rolling distro.

[MarxSchmarx]

For those with experience with Linux, is there anything I should watch out for? Things I should avoid doing?

For example, in Windows, you shouldn't delete program files to get rid of a program. You should go through control panel -> add/remove programs. Another one for Windows would be to install two anti-viruses at the same time.

Lastly, anything cool to do with Linux? Any fun programs?


Ubuntu has a similar way to get rid of programs. I have also found that I don't need any of the anti-virus stuff.

sudo apt-get uninstall PROGRAM

As far as cool stuff to do with it, learning the intricacies of command lines, managing displays, figuring out where material and stuff has its own prosaic, I guess, qualities to it that is far less maddening than figuring out the nightmare that is registries and dlls and stuff in windows. Also the endless customization it enables is pretty neat.

For fun programs, nibbles and tuxRacer are pretty addictive.

[Bright Banana Beard]

I will *ahem* install Peppermint Ice, one of linux distro.

[F9]

I'm guessing Fuserg's problem is with mp3 or other media file types.



yeah.thanks to chats technical support:lol: i got over that pretty quick, pretty much the only issue i am facing currently is that i am missing some of the stuff on my hdd.See my laptop made out of 1 hdd 2 ones C+E(on windows), and while i have complete access on C i dont have any on E beside that i am using ubuntu which i saved on E.Anw, i am taking this to ubuntu forum to see if i can help it:)
My first thoughts arent that bad, i think asa i get full access on my hdd i wouldnt have an issue staying on linux.

[ckaihatsu]

It's worth noting here that several very well-built and very useful apps are available for Java. If you don't already know, Java is a "virtual machine" that is created "within" or "on top of" whatever operating system (Windows / Mac / Linux) you're already running.

The advantage to this is that anyone who creates apps only has to write their code *once*, in Java, and the app will run identically no matter what the hardware or operating system happens to be for each individual user. For the user, a Java app will run the same on whatever machine it is brought to, using the same files in exactly the same way. Most OSes already come with a Java virtual machine already installed -- Linux Mint does, for Linux.

For music I've found that the audio quality from JavaTunes (or Jajuk) is significantly *better* than any of the jukeboxes provided with a typical OS installation. I've also mentioned the FTPGoServer Java app for enabling computer-to-computer file transfers over one's local area network (as with using a router device and Ethernet cables). There's also Vuze / Azureus for file sharing, and I'm personally partial to Art of Illusion and now Sunflow for the creation and rendering of 3-D graphics.

Finally, I'll mention the Linux Mint OS again since one can immediately go to the 'Control Center' and configure the 'Remote Desktop' to allow for incoming control of the screen (and mouse and keyboard) from any other computer on the local network -- it's called VNC. Using a VNC client like 'Gnome-RDP' on one's main screen means that one can make all other computers on the network "headless" so that they're accessible remotely, without using a separate monitor for each one.

[F9]

i am facing quite few but really annoying glitches currently on wubi..Right click never works properly, java has its bads and goods, few delays and i am facing issues with internet videos(see youtube and like that) some of them dont load, some of them load and then the play disappears, others dont even show the video at all, they stuck.Is this linux issue, is this problem of the particular ubuntu version i am using?Cause i am seriously thinking of just going ahead and get over with windows and just get ubuntu if it will solve all those "glitches".

[Q]

i am facing quite few but really annoying glitches currently on wubi..Right click never works properly, java has its bads and goods, few delays and i am facing issues with internet videos(see youtube and like that) some of them dont load, some of them load and then the play disappears, others dont even show the video at all, they stuck.Is this linux issue, is this problem of the particular ubuntu version i am using?Cause i am seriously thinking of just going ahead and get over with windows and just get ubuntu if it will solve all those "glitches".

- What happens when you rightclick? What do you expect when you rightclick?
- Do you have the latest version of Java VM installed?
- Do you have the latest version of Flash installed?

[Hoplite]

I'd have done Linux a while back except I'm functionally retarded when it comes to code. I dont know ANY programming and when last looked into Linux, it seems like something you really need programming experience to do well.

As a friend once quoted me regarding Linux

"There's a reason not too many people have cars they built from the ground up."

[F9]

- What happens when you rightclick? What do you expect when you rightclick?
- Do you have the latest version of Java VM installed?
- Do you have the latest version of Flash installed?

i should probably have the latest versions, beside i installed them few days ago, and their official sites seem pretty cable of not screwing it up and giving me older versions to download.But again... you can never know:lol:

On the right click, i expect a menu list to come up, which does come up, but sometimes i need to keep it clicked in order for it to stay there.On java chat and few other places when i do right click and dont keep it pressed it just goes for the first option on the menu list.Its not always and its not just on java chat it happened on other places too(which cant recall right now, but i am sure that they had nothing to do with java)

[kitsune]

I remember running into that Flash problem (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/flashplugin-nonfree/+bug/410407) on my system. The fault is Adobe's. They (still!) don't have a 64-bit version of the Flash Player. There is a preview release (http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html) that some people say works great on their system.

The workaround I used was:

Open a terminal and enter:

gksudo gedit /usr/lib/nspluginwrapper/i386/linux/npviewer

Then add: "export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1" (without quotes) before the last line of text

[Fulanito de Tal]

I've also had the same problem, although not much, and and running a 64 bit system.

[Q]

I'd have done Linux a while back except I'm functionally retarded when it comes to code. I dont know ANY programming and when last looked into Linux, it seems like something you really need programming experience to do well.

As a friend once quoted me regarding Linux

"There's a reason not too many people have cars they built from the ground up."

Sorry, but this is absolute nonsense. When I first installed Ubuntu 9.04 (their release numbers are based on the year and month of their release, so 9.04 was in April 2009) on my laptop it asked me about this wireless connection it found and if I wanted to use it. A simple pressing on "ok" and it installed the needed driver automatically. Likewise, it installs codecs (mp3, etc) when it encounters such files automatically. Windows is far from being this userfriendly!

There are Linux distributions that do take the "building from the ground up" approach (Gentoo comes to mind), but Ubuntu isn't one of them. You should really give it another try next time Windows whines about some virus.

[Hoplite]

Sorry, but this is absolute nonsense. When I first installed Ubuntu 9.04 (their release numbers are based on the year and month of their release, so 9.04 was in April 2009) on my laptop it asked me about this wireless connection it found and if I wanted to use it. A simple pressing on "ok" and it installed the needed driver automatically. Likewise, it installs codecs (mp3, etc) when it encounters such files automatically. Windows is far from being this userfriendly!

There are Linux distributions that do take the "building from the ground up" approach (Gentoo comes to mind), but Ubuntu isn't one of them. You should really give it another try next time Windows whines about some virus.
I might get my hands on an old laptop and dick around with it if that's the case.

How does it handle different types of programs? Do you have to install your own drivers to run specific things or is it more automatic?

[Unclebananahead]

Anyone know how well wine works with the Civ series of games?

[JazzRemington]

Anyone know how well wine works with the Civ series of games?

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&sTitle=Browse%20Applications&sOrderBy=appName&bAscending=true

This is a large database of Windows applications and how well they run on WINE. User reports mostly make it up. You should be able to find all the Civ games on there.

But if worse comes to worse, there's a clone of the first civilization game called FreeCiv:

http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

[Q]

I might get my hands on an old laptop and dick around with it if that's the case.

How does it handle different types of programs? Do you have to install your own drivers to run specific things or is it more automatic?

About (Windows) programs, there are either good clones/alternatives in most cases or it works in Wine many times. Drivers are pretty straightforward too, as most of the stuff is in the kernel already. The major exception to this is if you're running Nvidia or ATI video cards, which require proprietary drivers to be setup, but that too isn't a major pain anymore. Regarding stuff like printers, it depends per brand. HP for example is litterally plug and play, Lexmark needs a little more fiddling, etc.

[MarxSchmarx]

I've had rather mixed outcomes with wine. Some stuff is pretty good, other stuff is unusable. There's a wine database about this. I actually stick to windows (xp) for my gaming because it's just not worth the trouble - you're already paying upwards of 50 USD per game, the operating system is like 150 or less. There was a movement about 5 yrs ago to move a lot of the games to linux but it fizzled. Perhaps as more and more games need to accommodate OS X they will also be unix compatible. But for the time being if you use your pc for gaming I don't think it's worth it to switch to linux.

[Sendo]

definitely do something in the debian family like ubuntu or linux mint.

just remember to install "restricted codecs" and manually download flash.

For anyone transitioning stick to cross-platform programs like firefox (chromium is never truly stable and chrome mines your information and isnt maintained by the linux distributors), as well as LibreOffice, VLC for video, but i recommend against adobe reader since its bloat. you will never read your browser to read pdfs in the webpage, just let the builtin program open it on its own.

And don't forget Iced Tea's Java environment.

All other installations are available from the built-in software finders except for flash, skype.

[Sendo]

WINE doesn't work well in my experience, but you can easily dual boot debian or ubuntu with windows 7. WINE especially fouls up with .exe's that were designed for XP and would have installation hiccups on 7 anyway. The exe needs to be really well designed in the first place. Even though WINE has an XP mode, if you've got problematic exes (korea makes a lot of them), that are picky about not having the right region, service pack, etc, expect problems. WINE is at least a year off from the jump to real usability. I'd hate to be stuck with bought and paid for retail software that wouldnt install on WINE.

Windows even released its own USB start-up disk creator program. you just gotta find the iso yourself. look for the windows 7 LOADER if you have trouble entering your bought and paid for serial number.

[Black Sheep]

Warning, all ubuntu-install wannabes, DO NOT delete windows.
Just install dual-boot, and in a few months,when you'll be linux-self-sufficient, purge their corporate bits to oblivion.

The life of leftist software users is hard in the beginning.

[F9]

the last thing i would describe ubuntu is hard.I cant remember if a week passed and i can do what i used to do in vista with same results and some times better.Some bugs existing may become annoying but vista also had somes and they were more(allthough not so annoying beside the long time to shut down/start)

[Fulanito de Tal]

Warning, all ubuntu-install wannabes, DO NOT delete windows.
Just install dual-boot, and in a few months,when you'll be linux-self-sufficient, purge their corporate bits to oblivion.

The life of leftist software users is hard in the beginning.

lol. I just spent about 45 mins figuring out how to format my headers in APA format.

Still, I think Ubuntu is much easier to use than Windows...as long as you don't get into Terminal stuff.

[Black Sheep]

as long as you don't get into Terminal stuff.
:confused:
The 'terminal stuff' is like the no 1 reason to get Linux.

[Q]

:confused:
The 'terminal stuff' is like the no 1 reason to get Linux.

Totally.

But you don't have to use the terminal. Whether you do a command via a terminal or via a GUI, it doesn't really matter. Terminal has the advantage of being (a lot) faster to do your stuff, graphical interfaces often help in maintaining an overview. They're not mutually exclusive in any sense.

Also, for Windows users that think about a DOS terminal: Let's say DOS is to UNIX as toddlers are to adults: cute, but it can't do a lot and it works on your nerves.

[Hoplite]

I'm thinking about digging up an old desktop and experimenting around with Linux.

I have zero coding skills and too much curiosity for my own good.

Any suggestions?

[Q]

I'm thinking about digging up an old desktop and experimenting around with Linux.

I have zero coding skills and too much curiosity for my own good.

Any suggestions?

Ubuntu, it does everything for you and when all fails, there is a big internet community to google and ask questions upon ;)

[F9]

how do you change typing language?:blushing: damn ctrl+alt dont works...

[kitsune]

how do you change typing language?:blushing: damn ctrl+alt dont works...

You can switch the keyboard input method with iBus (http://maketecheasier.com/enable-foreign-language-input-in-ubuntu/2010/09/07).

[Fulanito de Tal]

how do you change typing language?:blushing: damn ctrl+alt dont works...

System -> Preferences -> Any of the 3 keyboard selections

[F9]

yep was easier than i thought:p i tried kitskunes way but didnt work, but it gaved me some heads up where to find some things and i figured it out;) now i locked it on panel and its a done job:)

[#FF0000]

I'm on Ubuntu now.

Fuck Linux forever though. I want to play my games and have my graphics card not idle at 73 degrees Celsius.

[Hoplite]

I've been trying to figure out which distribution to use.

I found one called Ark Linux that's supposed to be for people with no coding or Linux experience.

But I've been seeing Ubuntu recommended as a good starter.

[Black Sheep]

Fuck Linux forever though. I want to play my games and have my graphics card not idle at 73 degrees Celsius.


http://www.winehq.org/download/

About the terminal powa, damn, i was like :blink::blink::blink::blink: with even the grep command (search command).
Also, pipelines.
The possibilities and combinations are endless,my amazement grows, and i m still a noob.

[tbasherizer]

The whole "most users don't want to install their software from ones and zeroes"-type arguments are just like the "communism is good in theory but bad in practice" arguments. I started out on Ubuntu with a Windows XP/Breezy Badger dual-boot. I removed Windows entirely two years ago and haven't looked back. Since I work in research computing, the pure intuitiveness of UNIX is always showing up. Windows honestly seems like a stagnant and rusting hulk compared to the always-dynamic world of open software. I'd encourage anyone, especially leftists, to not only try linux, but to get involved with some open-source projects, even in a testing capacity.

I'm glad OP and others are trying this out!

[F9]

my damn laptop i installed wubi on has crashed.Its now running again but from what happened and what i have seen before it i am still not sure.However my first thought was that it was a battery failure, since the whole pc got turned off while it was on plug and charging and beside turning off it stoped charging also, it was "dead".I gived it a minute, i didnt even try to open it, i learn not to open up electronics soon of their closure...Now its running up again but i still have no idea what happened.What made me worry on ubuntu side is that lately it started acting weird, from the 5 seconds shut down, it last time took it few minutes to do so, some pages on starting up were fastly deformed, and didnt seem to work properly.Could it be an ubuntu fault or should i keep the fault on battery or something else?:confused:

[kitsune]

my damn laptop i installed wubi on has crashed.Its now running again but from what happened and what i have seen before it i am still not sure.However my first thought was that it was a battery failure, since the whole pc got turned off while it was on plug and charging and beside turning off it stoped charging also, it was "dead".I gived it a minute, i didnt even try to open it, i learn not to open up electronics soon of their closure...Now its running up again but i still have no idea what happened.What made me worry on ubuntu side is that lately it started acting weird, from the 5 seconds shut down, it last time took it few minutes to do so, some pages on starting up were fastly deformed, and didnt seem to work properly.Could it be an ubuntu fault or should i keep the fault on battery or something else?:confused:

Hard to say what it is. My friend had a similar problem recently. The laptop would just die. Turned out to be a blown fan. She picked up a cooling pad real cheap, and it works fine. Still ought to replace the fan to make it portable, but it was a cheap, quick fix.

[Fulanito de Tal]

my damn laptop i installed wubi on has crashed.Its now running again but from what happened and what i have seen before it i am still not sure.However my first thought was that it was a battery failure, since the whole pc got turned off while it was on plug and charging and beside turning off it stoped charging also, it was "dead".I gived it a minute, i didnt even try to open it, i learn not to open up electronics soon of their closure...Now its running up again but i still have no idea what happened.What made me worry on ubuntu side is that lately it started acting weird, from the 5 seconds shut down, it last time took it few minutes to do so, some pages on starting up were fastly deformed, and didnt seem to work properly.Could it be an ubuntu fault or should i keep the fault on battery or something else?:confused:

I had a laptop that would do that. It was an overheating problem. There is this fluid/gel that goes between my CPU and the cooling coil/system to make contact and allow for radiation. My computer was missing that; it was a laptop I found in a dumpster.

To check your temp on Ubuntu, follow the instructions on here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SensorInstallHowto

[Fulanito de Tal]

I just found a free statistics program for Linux called PSPP and it reads SPSS .sav files. I'm fettishizing the shit out of this Linux right now! No more Saturdays at the lab running statistical analyses or clearing out a whole day on my schedule because it will be the only day I have access to SPSS.

:tt1:

I just discovered R Commander and RKWard. Two statistics software that help one interact with R (a free statistics application). They are free and can read SPSS files! Plus, they can do two-way ANOVAs and such :)

[Hoplite]

Ok, tried to install Ark Linux, it took my mouse and completely screwed it.

So I'm now installing Ubuntu.

[Black Sheep]

Ok, tried to install Ark Linux, it took my mouse and completely screwed it.

So I'm now installing Ubuntu.
I had Mandriva for 1,5 year,then i got a deadly virus and i formatted, now i'm dual boot XP & Kubuntu.
I recommend both Mandriva & Kubuntu :)

[F9]

deadly virus on linux?:ohmy:

[Fulanito de Tal]

deadly virus on linux?:ohmy:

Yea! How?! What should I do to prevent the same from happening to me?

[Black Sheep]

No,no, i had mandriva along with XP, and a virus made booting to XP impossiblargh.
Since i rely on XP for gaming & music making, i wiped my hdd and installed Kubuntu for a change.

The most common linux virus,i'd presume, is a rookie with root privileges :D

[Black Sheep]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/803/sandwichsl2.png

[Q]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/803/sandwichsl2.png

That reminded me of this quote:


windows error: OMFG THERZZ AN ERRROR!!111 WTF??!?!?!
linux error: hello there, you have an error. here's a detailed list of whats gone wrong and here's how to fix it, would you like some coffee?
:cool:

[F9]

i hate imageshack btw, the picture shows just a stupid frog in ice-cube...fuck i dont want to register to imageshack to see pictures!!:cursing:

[Fulanito de Tal]

i hate imageshack btw, the picture shows just a stupid frog in ice-cube...fuck i dont want to register to imageshack to see pictures!!:cursing:
http://www.frogsonice.com/

[Black Sheep]

i hate imageshack btw, the picture shows just a stupid frog in ice-cube...fuck i dont want to register to imageshack to see pictures!!:cursing:
You don't have to register to view the pic :blink:

[F9]

then why the picture tells me Domain Unregistered, To view register at bit.ly/imageshack.us? :tt2:
I think it makes it pretty clear that i do need to register:p And its not just me it happened to lots of people, in another forum(local) half of us see the same thing(frog inside an ice-cube with that description i posted above in bold)

[¿Que?]

then why the picture tells me Domain Unregistered, To view register at bit.ly/imageshack.us? :tt2:
I think it makes it pretty clear that i do need to register:p And its not just me it happened to lots of people, in another forum(local) half of us see the same thing(frog inside an ice-cube with that description i posted above in bold)
It probably has to do with local censors. I sometimes can't load youtube videos if I'm on a European proxy.

[Fulanito de Tal]

I have had Ubuntu installed for almost a month now. Before using Linux, I had never even seen anyone use it. I got the urge to use it just to see what Linux was about because I had heard that it was an operating system different fro Windows.

I love it and will never go back to Windows. Now, when I look at computers, I think, "How much better will that computer run with Linux on it." I would be so excited if I could get another computer just to run different distributions of Linux. I get upset when I have to use Windows at school.

My favorite things about Linux
-There is a program for almost anything and the programs are FREE...FREE FREE
-The support is phenomenal
-I have more control over my machine than with Windows
-The computer runs much faster and smoother
-My printer prints good with in draft mode with Linux. In windows, it would print really bad. The "swipes" of printing would not match the swipes above, so the top half of letters wouldn't match the bottom half.
-Its fun to learn something new

I recommend that people look into switching over to Linux. :thumbup1:

[Q]

Victory! One more over to the camp of software communism :)

[Black Sheep]

Also
-Appearance & behavior is customizable to disgusting levels.
-Features that Win just now implements had been a part for ~a decade (for example multiple Desktops)
-Desktop environments to choose from
-Almost every useful task you need to perform is easier
-stuff you want to do which you'd need 1-2 programs in Win, can be done by a god damn command
-a life saver if you're a computer science student
-If not,you can learn compsci basics
-Tech support is fast and always leads to the solution.
-software is free, and peer-reviewed (by users and devs, that is)
-can run it at startup as a demo, so give it a try, nothing to lose! (just be sure not to format your hard drive in the process :D)

[F9]

but it was killing my pc:( at least the damn edition i had:crying:

[Black Sheep]

If your machince didn't have linux, it deserved to die.

Also if you had ubuntu you could just run

$sl


and your problems would be a train wreck :lol:

[Q]

If your machince didn't have linux, it deserved to die.

Also if you had ubuntu you could just run

$sl


and your problems would be a train wreck :lol:

$ man sl
No manual entry for sl

[Black Sheep]

Okay.

$sudo apt-get install sl

$sl

[Q]

Okay.

$sudo apt-get install sl

$sl

I lol'ed

[JazzRemington]

I lol'ed

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/18/128688595455046802.jpg

But srsly:

$whatis sl

[praxis1966]

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/18/128688595455046802.jpg


http://www.revleft.com/vb/picture.php?albumid=608&pictureid=6144

[Q]

Gnome 3.0 has been released (http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.0/) :)

[¿Que?]

Gnome 3.0 has been released (http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.0/) :)
Is there any benefit to Gnome over KDE, or does it just look better. I know Ubuntu uses Gnome, but I've tried other distros with KDE and also XFCE, and they all seem to work pretty much as you would expect.

[Q]

Is there any benefit to Gnome over KDE, or does it just look better. I know Ubuntu uses Gnome, but I've tried other distros with KDE and also XFCE, and they all seem to work pretty much as you would expect.
Gnome and KDE are both pretty much on par featurewise, although they have a different philosophy with Gnome focussing on an easy to use interface wheras KDE emphasises on flexibilty and configurability. Xfce is a much more lightweight environment.

As an aside, Ubuntu will switch to their own developed Unity interface (http://www.itworld.com/open-source/128540/ubuntus-unity-interface-what-expect) from 11.04 on. Gnome will probably get its own "flavor" of Ubuntu, like "Gubuntu" (KDE/Kubuntu and Xfce/Xubuntu already exist of course).

[Fulanito de Tal]

What would it be like to change from Ubuntu to Gnome?

[MarxSchmarx]

What would it be like to change from Ubuntu to Gnome?

So the current versions of Ubuntu (10.10) already use GNOME. I guess as Q said the next installation won't have Gnome. My suggestion is to familiarize yourself with using Ubuntu first, as the Unity project sounds like it will be fairly easy for people familiar with GNOME to adopt for their own uses.

Actually I've tried something very similar already on their netbook edition and found it to be quite easy to use. The only minor difference was that there was no icons on the desktop but I guess we can live with that. Anyway, read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28desktop_environment%29

I think a big issue is going to be how easy the transition from windows/ osx is going to be for it. Right now gnome is simple. Unity I'm not so sure. Going from windows to gnome is pretty easy and from gnome to unity seems easy, but windowx to unity might not be so straightforward at first.

In any case, I think if you are used to windowsor OSx, going from unity to Gnome should be really easy.

[Black Sheep]

Can you install and/or choose a different GUI after installation?
Or may select on boot.

[Q]

Can you install and/or choose a different GUI after installation?
Or may select on boot.

Yes, very easy. This guide for example explains how to install KDE on Ubuntu (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/kde). You could easily adapt it to Gnome, Unity, Xfce or some window manager. Basically, you install the desktop environment / window manager, log out, choose the desktop environment at the login screen and log back in.

[Fulanito de Tal]

I'm compfused here.

Ubuntu is a type of desktop environment that runs on Gnome? Kind of like a Windows theme?

If I change from Ubuntu 11.04 to Gnome 3.0, will I lose any functionality?

[altnet]

I'm compfused here.

Ubuntu is a type of desktop environment that runs on Gnome? Kind of like a Windows theme?

If I change from Ubuntu 11.04 to Gnome 3.0, will I lose any functionality?

Ubuntu is the "flavor" or distribution of Linux. Linux is essentially the brain/manager of the operating system known as the kernel. Gnome is just a desktop environment that just allows for a graphical user interface. There are various types of these interfaces different types being Gnome, KDE, XFCE. They all have different ways of functioning and allowing the user to interact with them. In essence, it is similar to a Windows theme but with a bit more depth. No, if you change desktop environments you will not lose any sort of functionality. Hope that helps.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Ubuntu is the "flavor" or distribution of Linux. Linux is essentially the brain/manager of the operating system known as the kernel. Gnome is just a desktop environment that just allows for a graphical user interface. There are various types of these interfaces different types being Gnome, KDE, XFCE. They all have different ways of functioning and allowing the user to interact with them. In essence, it is similar to a Windows theme but with a bit more depth. No, if you change desktop environments you will not lose any sort of functionality. Hope that helps.

It helps, thanks!

[Black Sheep]

Crap.
Gnome 3 is for 11.04 only...
And i may have destroyed my installation because of that.
Damn you, Q.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Crap.
Gnome 3 is for 11.04 only...
And i may have destroyed my installation because of that.
Damn you, Q.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1726580

[Fulanito de Tal]

duplicate. trash please

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I like to play games, especially older ones, so no Linux for me. "But you can use WINE" - I don't care. I already use three(?) emulators, plus the average Linux dork is a smug elitist fuckhead who insists on making others compile their code for them. Fuck that shit. If you could take the trouble to write/alter the program in the first place, why could you not also compile it as well? The only reason Linux users insist on pulling shit like that is so that they can look down their nose at all the plebs using Windows.

Oh well, at least they're not Mac users. Don't get me started. *Dons flame-proof suit*

[#FF0000]

I like to play games, especially older ones, so no Linux for me. "But you can use WINE" - I don't care. I already use three(?) emulators, plus the average Linux dork is a smug elitist fuckhead who insists on making others compile their code for them. Fuck that shit. If you could take the trouble to write/alter the program in the first place, why could you not also compile it as well? The only reason Linux users insist on pulling shit like that is so that they can look down their nose at all the plebs using Windows.

Oh well, at least they're not Mac users. Don't get me started. *Dons flame-proof suit*

This. One million times this.

ps i am using linux

[Black Sheep]

plus the average Linux dork is a smug elitist fuckhead who insists on making others compile their code for them. :mellow::blink:

they what?

[Q]

Crap.
Gnome 3 is for 11.04 only...
And i may have destroyed my installation because of that.
Damn you, Q.

What did you "destroy"? What problems did you run into? It is highly unlikely that it is unfixable.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

:mellow::blink:

they what?

հրավառ բառաչել ավարտվում to you too.

[Q]

I like to play games, especially older ones, so no Linux for me. "But you can use WINE" - I don't care. I already use three(?) emulators, plus the average Linux dork is a smug elitist fuckhead who insists on making others compile their code for them. Fuck that shit. If you could take the trouble to write/alter the program in the first place, why could you not also compile it as well? The only reason Linux users insist on pulling shit like that is so that they can look down their nose at all the plebs using Windows.

Oh well, at least they're not Mac users. Don't get me started. *Dons flame-proof suit*

The whole "compile your own code" thing is so 2005, probably even before. When you say to the Ubuntu community to "compile your own code", they'll probably have a similar reaction to you: "fuck you and your app". These days, if you don't provide a .deb you don't count to normal users. And rightly so.

[Black Sheep]

I installed (what i thought iwas) Gnome 3.
Rebooted, no login screen.
The Kubuntu logo & loading

The background of Gnome appears.No up & down panels, only a folder of my cd rom.
Can't launch terminal, can't run a KDE session..All is lost.

My files are intact though.I either didn't install correctly, or didn;t install correct package.

Tried recovery mode,same.
If you solve this , i'll read a whole book of Trotsky you'll pick. :(

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

The whole "compile your own code" thing is so 2005, probably even before. When you say to the Ubuntu community to "compile your own code", they'll probably have a similar reaction to you: "fuck you and your app". These days, if you don't provide a .deb you don't count to normal users. And rightly so.

Isn't Ubuntu specifically written for people who aren't code monkeys? I've actually used it (I think - I certainly used some kind of distro), but there was nothing that made me particularly want to change from Windows.

[Black Sheep]

^
But you have to do it, if you want to be a leftist! Aren't u tired of being a pawnish conformist?
Gotta battle mikkkro$oft! :D

[Q]

I installed (what i thought iwas) Gnome 3.
Rebooted, no login screen.
The Kubuntu logo & loading

The background of Gnome appears.No up & down panels, only a folder of my cd rom.
Can't launch terminal, can't run a KDE session..All is lost.

My files are intact though.I either didn't install correctly, or didn;t install correct package.

Tried recovery mode,same.
If you solve this , i'll read a whole book of Trotsky you'll pick. :(

Ok, I've googled a little and more people run into troubles. As you can't use a terminal within the session, try this (step by step):

1. press ctrl-alt-f1 (you'll see a command prompt, you can switch back to X by pressing alt-f8)
2. login with your username and password
3. do the command: sudo nano /usr/share/xsessions/gnome.desktop
4. You'll probably see this line:

Exec=gnome-session --session=ubuntu
change it to:

Exec=gnome-session --session=gnome
5. press ctrl-x and press y to save the document
6. Create a socalled symlink by doing the command:

ln -s /usr/share/applications/gnome-shell.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
7. go back to X and restart the session, if you can't via the normal way, try ctrl-alt-backspace or restart the computer.

Good luck.

[Q]

http://picomol.de/counter/i_s.png (http://picomol.de/2010/12/23/der-weg-zu-natty-narwhal/)

Counter :)
Click on image for more counters.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

^
But you have to do it, if you want to be a leftist! Aren't u tired of being a pawnish conformist?
Gotta battle mikkkro$oft! :D

I have never personally paid for any copy of Windows that I have used. When it comes to programs other than the operating system, my preference is for third-party software, i.e. stuff written by neither Microsoft nor Apple.

There's scads of free and open-source software available for the Windows platform, but then again I have been using computers in general since I was a little nipper, starting with Amigas and DOS machines.

In some ways, newbie Windows users can be as bad as Mac users. I once ran an anti-malware scan on an old girlfriend's family PC and was horrified to discover more than a thousand seperate items of malware. In my experience Linux users have at least a couple of brain cells to rub together.

[Black Sheep]

At step 4:
The line in there was

'gnome3.desktop'
Exec = gnome-session

i tried
Exec = gnome-session = ubuntu
Exec = ubuntu

but nothing...

i'll be more than happy to return to KDE..

also, i could run kate in the 'gnomeish' environment, plus there's KDE log on & off screens.
I suspect it's still KDE, with a bad plastic surgery.

[Fulanito de Tal]

http://picomol.de/counter/i_s.png (http://picomol.de/2010/12/23/der-weg-zu-natty-narwhal/)

Counter :)
Click on image for more counters.


I'm upgrading to the Beta version right now :)

[Black Sheep]

sudo skill -KILL -u [username] successfully gets me on the login screen.
From there, i can only select KDE, no gnome appears.Selecting it, it loads and shows a black screen (mouse functional).
From there, i can ctrl alt f1 just fine, so i guess i corrupted KDE with stuff i thought was gnome.

[Black Sheep]

i miss installation wizards :p

[Q]

i miss installation wizards :p

Well, this site (http://ubuntuguide.net/how-to-install-gnome-3-testing-in-ubuntu-10-10-maverick) explicitly says:


For Ubuntu 10.10, there’s only Gnome 3 stack for testing and builds on launchpad.net and it’s not recommended to update.

But you can follow the short guide if you must. I'd suggest to stick with KDE for 17 days and upgrade to 11.04 when it comes out and then install Gnome 3.0. Alternatively there is this guide (http://digitizor.com/2011/04/07/install-gnome3-desktop-ubuntu/) that mentions:


Gnome 3 Desktop can be installed in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick using the following commands. Please note that this PPA (For Ubuntu 10.10) is old and hasn't been updated unlike Natty and there is NO WAY TO ROLL BACK!
Better read the install notices first next time :p

[Black Sheep]

there is NO WAY TO ROLL BACK!
But, like jesus of nazareth, KDE has returned to me. :)
Rejoice!

[Fulanito de Tal]

But, like jesus of nazareth, KDE has returned to me. :)
Rejoice!

What did you do? Now, I'm having the same problem!

[Black Sheep]

What did you do? Now, I'm having the same problem!
1.Boot Linux
2.Ctr+Alt+F1
3.Login
4.sudo skill -KILL -u [username]

And hopefully you'll logout.From there enter username & pass, and at the arrow select KDE. (Mine had only 'previous session','KDE','failsafe' )

I selected KDE, i logged in with the same way & problems, but them when i entered XP and then Linux, BAM!
KDE!

Weird.I hope it works for you too.

[Fulanito de Tal]

^ Thanks. I ended up doing an upgrade from the install CD and that worked.

11.04b Ubuntu is a lightning bolt compared the the 10.10 and I'm not having anymore NIC troubles at school.

Also, LibreOffice is much better than OpenOffice at interacting with MS Office...which I can use while watching The Office in my office.:tt2:

[Q]

^ Thanks. I ended up doing an upgrade from the install CD and that worked.

11.04b Ubuntu is a lightning bolt compared the the 10.10 and I'm not having anymore NIC troubles at school.

Also, LibreOffice is much better than OpenOffice at interacting with MS Office...which I can use while watching The Office in my office.:tt2:

How is LO different from OOo functionalitywise? I had the impression that since LibreOffice only forked recently, the differences would still be minimal.

[Bright Banana Beard]

Damn, I missed messing around with Linux. The only problem is I do not have computer nor laptop.

[Q]

Damn, I missed messing around with Linux. The only problem is I do not have computer nor laptop.

So, what are you using now then to be on Revleft?

[Bright Banana Beard]

So, what are you using now then to be on Revleft
Cell phone. I have to wait a few months to get an better VMUSA android phone that doesn't suck.

[Kuppo Shakur]

Dude, if you can't compile other people's buggy, platform dependent code then you're a fucking primmie.

[Fulanito de Tal]

How is LO different from OOo functionalitywise? I had the impression that since LibreOffice only forked recently, the differences would still be minimal.

I usually have to make some modifications when opening a file made by OpenOffice in MS Word. Today, opened one of those files, looked it over, and did not have to make any modifications. I have more papers to do this weekend. I let you know how it turns out.

[Fulanito de Tal]

So, after getting used to Ubuntu for a while, using Windows feels archaic.

Windows is slow, has tons of security issues, you need to click on a many things all the time, clicking on stuff takes a while for the reaction, turning the computer on means you hit the power button and go do something else for a little, and programs that are effective in their stated tasks are expensive.

Plus, the support for Windows is shit compared to Ubuntu.

[ckaihatsu]

So, after getting used to Ubuntu for a while, using Windows feels archaic.

Windows is slow, has tons of security issues, you need to click on a many things all the time, clicking on stuff takes a while for the reaction, turning the computer on means you hit the power button and go do something else for a little, and programs that are effective in their stated tasks are expensive.

Plus, the support for Windows is shit compared to Ubuntu.


I'm very impressed with how far the Linux OS has come since I first started poking at it around 2002. It now rivals any commercial OS in usability and user-friendliness, and is able to *revitalize* older hardware into being actually workable at intrinsic hardware ability without bullshit bloatware overhead.

Desktop tower PCs and laptops with broken screens can be used as secondary "headless" server machines by using a webpage-only distro like TurnKey Linux or by setting up remote desktop viewing (VNC) with any regular distro like Linux Mint. Even lower-level yet non-techie functionality can be had from the Puppy Linux or Tiny Core Linux distros.

Here's a good active thread on the topic:


Mac, PC, or Linux

http://www.revleft.com/vb/mac-pc-linux-t154835/index.html