Ubuntu - is it for me?

[wizer]

I have only dabbled myself so i'd recommend a little further research. But those that I know of are:

http://lives.sourceforge.net/
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
http://www.kinodv.org/

We use an application here at work (very large media company) but it's bespoke to the company.

 

[ByronBlack]

i just checked out the video and have to ask myself - whats the point?

bendy windows, drop effect etc etc.. all graphical pointlessness that doesn't achieve anything apart from slowing you and the computer down.. also all the window handling wizadry is a rip-off of what mac Os X has been doing for about the past 5 years.

I'm all for innovation, but this is not it. It's just eye candy, what about things like decent backup, driver management, file finding facilities (all of which OS X has - and i'm not sure if linux does) - but these are generally the things that need to be improved upon, not fancy 3d desktops, fish and bendy windows.

Rant over.

I shall still be installing Ubuntu (without beryl) just to see how it runs with open source alternatives - I almost exclusively run open source open the mac and I think they are excellent so it will be interesting to see how Ubuntu works.

 

[Gill]

The one thing that deters me from using Ubuntu is that I wouldn't know how to connect to the internet with it. My ISP is AOL which, I understand, can be problematic.

Can anyone tell me how to hook up to the internet through AOL using Ubuntu?

Gill

 

[mr]

It's just eye candy, .

Correct
While Beryl is pretty, thats all it is - it has little real value. Rather like mac prettiness its pointless at heart at the moment. There may come a day when the idea is useful for something but that day isnt here yet. Beryl is just another applcation really, if you dont want what it does dont use it the underlying system is unaffected.

Gill, either get a better ISP or prepare to throw away the AOL proprietary connection widget. Set up PPPOE settings manually Try it with a live cd perhaps and see how you get on.

Cheers Mike

 

[jaymar]

I've read the posts on this thread but I'm still not sure what the advantages of Ubuntu over Windows are. I have an elderly laptop with XP which I only use for simple games, websurfing and photo manipulating. Would I gain anything with Ubuntu ?(the laptop will only take 128 mg of memory so runs slow with windows) Would I be better loading both ?

 

[mr]

There are Linux distros that would fly along nicely with that speciication probably not Ubuntu though. Having said that there is a lightweight version for lesser spec machines called Xubuntu. Confused yet ? However if you're happy with what youve got then why change? If on the oither hand you want a more up to date system at a better cost and, it would appear, more useable than Vista seems to be out of the box then perhaps it's something to consider.
Cheers Mike

 

[misterfish]

I've got a second hard drive in my PC with a Feisty Fawn installation of Ubuntu.

As a long time Windows user (since version 2) I'm quite impressed with what Linux seems to offer. I'm not a games player so fancy high end graphics and the latest games aren't of concern to me, but the wide array of free software is pretty impressive.

The only major downside I have found is network/internet connection. Using a cabled connection it works fine, but wireless is another ballgame and the most problematic. As most wireless adaptor manufacturers don't produce Linux drivers you have to use a program called NDISWrapper that allows Linux to use Windows drivers. At least that is the theory - but despite hours of searching the web and support forums I am unable to get it to work (and that is despite 20 years employed as a small systems IT specialist involved with software and hardware installation, support and development). My son has been experimenting with SUSE Linux and is also unable to get his wireless adaptor to work.

It feel that I am going to have to spend many more hours fighting the system before I stand any chance of it working. Others have reported success with the same adaptor as I use and I have tried all the tweaks they reported making to their installations but with no success.

I quite expect the only way I will succeed wil be to replace the wireless adaptor with one for which the manufacturer produces Linux drivers.

However, if you have a standard wired connection then there should be no problem.

MisterFish

 

[MrJay]

It doesn't make much difference if you get your connection via wires or wireless. What does make a difference is if you attach your computer to a network via a network card or via USB. Grownup modems do all the signal processing on board and plug straight into the network port. Linux likes networks.

Linux thinks trying to network via a USB port is a bit daffy. Cheap ADSL modems (the USB variety) don't do any signal processing (in fact one wonders what they do do) and rely on the operating system to do all that as a background task via proprietary drivers. Compatible drivers can probably be found and configured, but if you're a fresh convert from Windows and don't know your way around it's a frustrating way to have to start.

Try the Live CD first. If the Internet works you're good to go, otherwise brace yourself. I bought a proper modem/router/hardware firewall box on ebay for about £20 - win.

Don't expect Linux to run all your commercial windows software. Some stuff works, lots of stuff sort of works a bit, lots more doesn't. Linux does however have lots of it's own software, some of it is very good. If you just absolutely must use MS Publisher it's your own fault.

Ubuntu won't play DVDs out the box. For some wacky reason it's actually illegal to watch encoded DVDs on Linux which is why you absolutely mustn't open a terminal and type:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/./install-css.sh

Because of Linux's open source traditions you should also expect to have to work to be able to play video files like you're used to (VLC is a much better media player than the default one by the way) and expect to have to download things like Java Run Time Environment that come ready to go on windows. Fortunately downloading and installing software typically inlvolves no more than typing the name of the software you're looking for into a box and pressing Ok.

Again because of licensing restrictions you won't have all the fonts you're used to pre-installed. You can go download the msttcorefonts.

Beryl is a travesty.
Linux has Beagle as a next gen search engine. Beagle is the opposite of travesty.

 

[kafkaian]

Have had Debian based systems for years, but then I'm a Unix/SQL/php developer and software engineer.

I tried Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake" (replacing Debian from which Ubuntu is derived) on one of my machines and felt it was the first really true out-of-the-box Linux system available. It detected my cable modem at a breeze and I was able to use "Synaptic" to install my requirements in minutes.

I've long since lost touch with Windows as I prefer truly customizable and robust systems so can't do like-for-like comparisons with applications; vis-à-vis Office versus OpenOffice etc, but can say confidently that there's always something comparable available and plenty of forums to ask questions.

On said machine, I'm now on Ubuntu 7.04 "Feisty Fawn" and using it now to type this in. There are some issues with net browsers and video compatibilities/licensing problems as MrJay alludes to above (YouTube works a dream) whilst some BBC videos might need saving first and then playing in a standalone player, but apart from that, the feel is very "mainstream".

As for the spec argument, I would say that the basic 7.04 installation is still far less "bloated" than XP whilst *nix systems are, IMHO, traditionally better at making use of available resources than certain other global players!

Give it a go; you could always dual boot and leave your Windows partition intact!!! Soon you'll be setting up a LAMP server (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) and running a basic website from an IP to your own restricted access rather than through a third party host!!

If you're really interested, then there's potential for a lot of fun on the way.

 

[MIGNAL]

Standard answer from all the Linux geeks: get a proper modem. Most people don't want a 'proper' modem, they just want to surf the net at any reasonable speed. The most common USB modem packaged with British ISP's is the Thompson Speedtouch. Getting the speedtouch to work in Mandriva is a walk in the park, not so in Ubuntu but it must be possible because I managed to do it. I don't quite know how I did it but 'miracles do happen'. In fact I've become so confident in my abilities with Linux that I'm preparing to install Geentoo, see you in six months.

 

[misterfish]

I agree with Mignal - I have my system with its wireless adaptor that works fine with XP but cannot get it working with Feisty, Edgy or Dapper versions of Ubuntu. This is despite me being an IT specialist.

I am aware that this problem is caused by hardware manufacturers not providing Linux drivers, but what is needed is a simple method of getting this type of hardware to work. The procedures necessary to even try to get this type of hardware to work are not for the faint-hearted (feint-hearted?) and certainly not what 'ordinary' users want. Until installing hardware and drivers in Linux is as simple and straightforward as Windows then I am unlikely to ditch XP. This is a shame as I am impressed with the quality of much of the Linux programs.

MisterFish

 

[MrJay]

The latest version of Ubuntu (7.04? Feisty?) has a new widget called the Restricted Drivers Manager, which in theory (and practice with my graphics card/wireless network adapter) detects hardware, auto-magically installs license restricted drivers for stuff (like my wireless adapter) that just won't work without and makes installing and maintaining optional drivers (like my grpahics card) as simple as ticking a box and clicking OK.

I've no idea how it will cope with anyone elses various modems and such like, but if it works it's significantly easier than doing drivers with Windows.

 

[wizer]

I gave ubuntu a go when this thread was created. I have persevered with it but am probably going back to XP within the next few days. I have had to fiddle to get things working and can't get sketchup working with wine or vmware. XP works... No fuss. I can put up with the performance hit.

 

[Gill]

Could some of you guys have been drawn to Ubuntu by the promotional material...?

 

[Nick W]

As a moderator, Gill, I think you should slap yourself on the wrist for that. :roll:

b.t.w. I am posting this from Firefox on Ubuntu, on my shiny dual boot system.

Shame that none of the software that I need to use works under this OS though. :evil:

 

[andycktm]

Come back Vista all is forgiven :lol: :lol:

10 years ago i tried another os can't remember what it was but it would boot from windows, seemed great
but unfortunatly i couldn't get anything to work with it :?

 

[RogerM]

Could some of you guys have been drawn to Ubuntu by the promotional material...?

Gill - now if someone could work this type of image into a kalidoscope they may be on to a winner! :wink:

 

[Nick W]

Does anyone know how to change the default boot order on a laptop? At the moment Windoze is last on the list, so if I forget to stand by the machine when switching it on I end up in Ubuntu, which is not what I want most of the time.

TIA

 

[DomValente]

Nick, I have a gentleman sitting next to me who is a software specialist for a very well known company.
He's feeling lazy but suggests "Google is your friend", just type in 'boot order

 

[Nick W]

Sorry, it looks like I didn't ask the right question. Boot Order is about which order disk drives are searched for an operating system. What I want do is change the order in which operating systems are listed having found them on my C: drive.