Ubuntu has been updated and can now be downloaded at no charge off the Internet. Like other distributions, you can easily locate a download site by first searching for it with a search engine like Google. Not all sites are alike -- some default to a language other than English, and some are very slow either because of limited bandwidth or because they are getting too many requests at once. Another factor is that some sites will download CD Burner Software first, to make it easy to burn the image to a CD. However you can find and download that software separately, or use the software that came with your CD Burner.
Though not specifically stated at most of the sites, the new .ISO image gives you both a live CD and an install capability in one. By live, we mean your PC can boot up into Ubuntu without having to install it to your hard drive, and give it a test drive. Or you can install it to your hard drive in place of or in addition to any other OS currently installed.
Some people will like that Ubuntu boots up without a lot of cryptic messages, whereas others might prefer it otherwise. The desktop gives you two toolbars, top and bottom. The top one includes Applications, Places, and System. Ubuntu defaults to the use of GNOME rather than KDE, which gives you a chance to try out both desktops as well (KNOPPIX defaults to KDE, so burn a CD of each if you like and alternate).
Windows users should feel very comfortable with GNOME, because the toolbars make it easy to find just about anything you might be looking for. It is a very logical and clean workplace. There were a lot more games listed than I found on KNOPPIX, and it also included menu support for Bluetooth, but KNOPPIX added a fair amount of Development listings to its desktop. Both environments are highly configurable, so it is really a matter of personal choice, I suppose. You don't like it; change it.
Using WINE (Windows Emulator), you may be able to run programs that were written to run under Windows. There is a new version available, and .DEB packages available for several Linux distributions, including the new Ubuntu 7.10 release. You can find more information at this link: http://www.winehq.org/site/download-deb
I was very excited when waiting ubuntu 7.10. After all in my use, Feisty 7.04 has been best OS i have ever used. Fast, stable, secure and very easy to use but after few days of using 7.10 i think waiting was not worth of it.
Feels like my computer is slower and more unstable. Naturally it might be up to that there were some problem at installing but cant confirm it.
As reported on the Knoppix board, I finally conceded that it needs more work. The software that comes with it is a bit dated, and there is little in the way of available packages for it. It apparently needs an update to the gcc software in order to perform a configure operation, necessary to build the current wine source code into the necessary install package.
So I am on the outlook for another distribution to weigh in the balance, but for the moment, I am switching my attention to the Ubuntu 7.10 release, which I had already downloaded and burned to CD.
Any decent install process has got to analyze your system, install the necessary drivers, and present you with choices that take into account how your hard drive is presently configured, or make the safe choices for you in going forward. There is certainly contrast between Knoppix installer and the Ubuntu method, which is at least easier on the beginner. But being easier isn't automatically better.
If you select the instart or install Ubuntu option, the first choice presented to you, then it will run the Live CD version and get you started. You have an example folder on the desktop, and and install icon. What could be simpler? In fact, it requires you to use the double-click method of selectiing either, so most Windows users will feel right at home.
Ah, but as you work through the install process, you are presented with a menu as to where you want to install Ubuntu. As I progressed this far over several attempts, the options varied. Either it will offer to create a new partition out of available free space, with a slide bar to indicate how much of it to use, or offer to automatically use an entire drive and list the available drives (not partitions - actual drives), or offer to let you do it manually.
Since I have a number of partitions with other things on them, I had no choice but to go manual. Then it listed and identified each partition. In order to select a given partiton, you have to edit it and change its mount point to root (/). You can optionally click on the box to have it reformatted, and you have a choice of file system formats available. You also have to have or create a swap partition, but there is no format option for that. You just specify it as a swap.
If your CD drive gets an error, the install process will fail. The notice that appears will give you some hints as to get around it. I would also make another suggestion: Make a couple of CDs initially, so that you can try another if the first one is bad. There does not seem to be any way to recover from a failed install, except to start over.
You will be asked to pick a city to identify your time zone, then you will be asked some questions for your user account, and finally presented with a summation of the information gathered. Note the Advance button in the lower right corner on the summation page. This is where you specify where grub, the boot loader will be installed. The default is (fd0), which is the floppy disk drive. Which is fine, if you want to control access to the Uvuntu install by inserting the boot floppy into your PC. Otherwise, you will probably want to specify the first hard drive if grup is to be your primary boot loader, or the root (/) partition where you installed Ubuntu if you want to use grub as your secondary boot loader. In my case, I specified /dev/sdb1, which is the first partition (1) on the second (b) hard drive, which is the one I set up as root (/). My NTLDR is already set up to boot a Linux distribution from that partition, so I did not even have to modify the boot.ini file on my C: drive. And that had been modified previously with a free program called partboot that I got off the Internet. All I have to do now is change the name I gave for this partition from Knoppix 5.1.1 to Ubuntu 7.10 in the boot.ini file, using an editor, and I will attend to that later.
Ubuntu's desktop is somewhat different from Knoppix's, and it is not all about the theme, color and background. Knoppix used KDE, and Ubuntu defaults to GNOME. I'm not sure of the significant differences between the two, but Ubuntu presents a second toolbar at the top of the screen. And the icons on that toolbar are very significant. On the left, you have Applications, Places, and System, along with three icons, one being for Firefox. On the lest is the user, then a tool for checking for updates, then another for checking for available drivers (including some that cost). I used both, and got a number of updates, then a new driver for my video card. That only took about 15 minutes. Then I took on the challenge that had haunted me under Knoppix: I decided to see if I could get my Canon PIXMA IP6000D printer to work. Under System (top left) I found Administration, and under that I found Printing, and under that I found where I could attempt to add my printer. I turned it on, it was successfully detected, and I selected it to search for a driver. I then showed me a list of venders. I chose Canon, and it listed all the Canon printers it knew of. The IP6000D was not listed, so I tried the IP6700, which printed, but failed to print black and was to the wrong scale. Then I tried the IP4000, which I believe came out about the same time, and it works better than the driver I have from Canon that I use under Windows. I probably do not have access to the smart card features that the IP6000D has, but I'm not concerned with digital photography anyway.
So here in a half hour or so, I am sitting pretty. That isn't too bad for a start. When the update manager ran, it wanted a password, so I gave it the one I used for my user account (it never asked me for a root password when I did the install, so I figured I would just try that one). It worked.
However, in terminal mode, I would expect to see some action when I type su (for super user), and I do: A request for a password. But what is the password? It turns out that you don't get that. Instead, if you want to do something that requires administrative priveleges, you precede the command with sudo, and when you press enter, you will be asked for a password. Here you just use the one for your account, and presto! You have administrative priveleges for just that one command. A lot of people find this convenient and probably better than the idea of uses becoming super users, then forgetting who they are (or the damage they can do as super user).
In ubuntu, first user has admin powers with hes/her password. This is bit different that other distros. Is it good or bad? Well, depends from who you are asking.
If you want continuos superuser priviliges, then type
sudo -s and give your password.
[edit]
If you use
sudo and re-use it in less than 10 minutes, ubuntu will not ask password again unless you close your terminal between of using
sudo[edit2]
Quote from: Donald Darden on October 23, 2007, 06:43:52 AM
Using WINE (Windows Emulator), you may be able to run programs that were written to run under Windows. There is a new version available, and .DEB packages available for several Linux distributions, including the new Ubuntu 7.10 release. You can find more information at this link: http://www.winehq.org/site/download-deb
Wine is pretty powerfull tool if you really want/need to use some windows programs but i would not suggest to use it so much after all. Using linux programs except works better in linux but also teaches you how to use linux and it's programs. I doubt there is really much programs wich you can only get for windows. Naturally not the excactly same programs, but similar with what you get same result.
Hi,
just reporting it is possible to run on PII 400MHz, 320MB RAM, GeForce2 MX.
If you are not connected to net during installation, "localisation" of system is very very weak.
It is possible to add it later, with little bit more complicated process, but it works then.
Also 3D acceleration, at least for GF2, is not enabled by default.
Rest is nice, but I still have "unsure linux feeling" with this distribution, exactly like I had when experimenting with other linuxes 3-5 years ago. For example soundcard is detected, programs do not complain as when it was missing, but no sound goes out of it.
Rest is nice, like OpenOffice, Firefox and other "must haves" installed, but I cannot say Ubuntu could replace XPs for me.
Petr
I'm not ready to make a home under Linux either, but I have the feeling that if I try, it would not be that confining. Sort of like renting a beach cottage for a week, and debating the idea of actually living at the beach year round. There would be lots of unanswered questions remaining.
However, there is a gray area between the Windows and Linux world that says maybe a commute between the two is not only possible, but desireable. I want to check out that possibility a bit more. Is it really worth the effort, and are the results in tune to my needs? Or do I lose much if I decide to just switch from one to the other?
You don't know until you try. I thought of a problem the other day that I considered posing as a challenge to the math gurus among us, but realized that there were probably no formulas available that would fit the problem. In a case like that, people are forced to experiment, then try to identify relationships that can be expressed mathematically, then use the new formulas to predict further behavior, and continue on until they establish all the correlations between the formula and real world behavour. In other words, instead of being a quick and fun thing, you have to perform extensive tests and labor over the problem for a considerable time. The details of the original challenge escape me at present, but it represents the difference between passing thought and blith statements, and getting down to established facts. My experiences, reported here, then become a roadmap of my trip through that gray landscape.
Some might argue that a blog is a better place for this type of journey, but that would put me in an uncertain community of strangers, most of whom have no commonality with this subject. Here I hope to be in a good crowd. And besides, it did not start off as being a self-imposed task, but the idea that a number of people would contribute and share. However, so far there has been little of that. I do appreciate what has been contributed thus far though.
Donald, your writings inspired me to have a wild weekend of experimenting last weekend with many distros again. I even setup vmware with ubuntu, haiku and reactos and that is remaining for future playing as the mood strikes.
I have two reasons for wanting to learn linux. First, if Microsoft forces a version of Windows that I am repulsed by that I want an option. The second is for portable devices.
For instance, if you look at any windows based UMPC, they start at around $800 and are usually more like $1500 - $2000. Where as linux based devices are from $299 on up.
That is a substantial difference in pricing. This tells me that unless a windows based device that drops dramatically in price, I will be going with a linux based device for such purposes.
Also there are some new ultra low costs notebooks coming out and they are linux based. So keep up the good work and writing. Your documentation is being read if not responded to in an active manner.
http://www.asus.com.tw/news_show.aspx?id=7317
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/spearhead/nanobook/
The analogy of operating systems being like different homes - commuting between them - is exactly how it feels. The commute in my case is a distance of 6 feet. MS Windows has the hard wooden chair, Mandriva has the comfy chair, so I have come to associate it with a more relaxed kind of computing. Also it feels a lot more secure and private. No unwelcome visits from Microsoft officials and various other busybodies interfering with my PC every few days or so, not to mention the criminal underworld of the Internet. So I have moved all my sensitive stuff like emails into the Linux box.
But I have not been tempted to venture far into the internals of Linux. I know just enough to get by, which somewhat limits what I can contribute here, other than to say that the KDE desktop suite and the Bash shell are wonderful rich environments and very comfortable to work in once you get used to them.
After you install Ubuntu, you get access to any drive via the desktop. This is something that Knoppix does, but also did from the Live CD. And with the KDE Desktop on Knoppix, if I ventured to a different folder, I found I could select under Tools to go right into a terminal mode there. But with Ubuntu, whenever I enter the terminal mode, I am at my home directory. And I can't get a handle on how to access other folders not in my directory tree when in terminal mode. That's a safeguard in Linux I know, but it does not give me full ownership of my PC, does it?
However, with Ubuntu, I can right click an .EXE file and tell it to open it with the Windows Emulator, and it does. So I tried it with the CCEdit.exe, and it opened right up. But it does not let me access any of the files or folders that I have in the same area. With Knoppix, the CCEdit was able to fetch files in the same folder and access other folders as well. There seems to be a different philosophy at work here.
I should mention that I first used the terminal mode to try this: echo alias ls="ls --color=never -F" > .bashrc
Now what this should do is cause the entry between echo and > to be put in a file called .bashrc. But when I did a ls command, I did not see a .bashrc file, though I did see a bashrc file without the leading period. So I did a cp bashrc .bashrc, and I now had both. Then i did a rm bashrc, and now only had a .bashrc file. So I exited the terminal mode, then entered it again, and got a -F not found error. I tried ls, and it only did part of what I asked, which was the --color option. I exited the terminal mode and then used Applications/Accessories/Text Editor to start the text editor. But I could not find the .bashrc file. I finally just typed in the name .bashrc, and it opened right up. The trouble was, the double quotes around the "ls --color=never -F" had disappeared. So I manually inserted the double quotes, saved it, exited the editor, and went into terminal mode again. This time the option to append a symbol to show the type of file was working, and the use of color for this purpose was suppressed. Now I can easily read and identify the type of file without fighting the color issue. You can use --classify instead of -F if you want.
The next thing I did was to do Applications/Add.Remove. This gives you a long list of possible applications that you can choose from to download and install, and includes a rating list by other users as to how they evaluate them. You go through and choose any that you want, and the process will automatically download and install them. Some are pre-selected (these make up the standard Ubuntu distribution, including those for which there was no room on the CD, I suppose). Wine is not included in this list, but you can get it separately.
Now the problem I have, is how to I negotiate drives and folders in the terminal mode?
This is a biggie to solve if you want to consider any form of integration between the Windows and Linux world.
Hi Donald.
Devices such as usb stick are at /media. So if you want to copy from your desktop to usb stick, it will be done like this.
cp /home/USER/Desktop/vaavipieni.png /media/KINGSTON/
Now, hdd is in different place. You can figure out them by goin to console/terminal, and typing sudo gedit /etc/fstab
Simplest way is to create symbolic links to every hdd you are using. Remember, with linux you just cant copy something to C:\ :)
Donald, the home directory problem might be resolved by checking out the Konsole Settings // Configure Konsole menu option. On the Session Panel, the Directory line should not contain anything.
Yes, I did find the hard drives under /media, and I also found that a windows-compatable description of them is maintained under /disks. I found where you can access the CD and DVD drives via the desktop. but you cannot use eject there to open the tray doors because they are not mounted, and you cannot mount them unless media is inserted, and you can't insert media unless you can get the door open. You would think somebody would have seen the problem there, wouldn't you?
I finally used a terminal and checked for the possibility of a command such as eject using man (man eject), and sure enough, it exists. I then went to /media and looked at possible device names. I found names for both the CD and the DVD drives, but in trying all of them, the only door that would open was for the DVD drive. Adequate, but not very satisfactory. Some warts are showing, and I wanted that second distribution to compare to. Having no better suggestions, and coming to realize that I might have given Knoppix short shift, I decided to reinstall it to another partition, and that is how I spent my evening.
For reasons beyond my knowledge, Ubuntu decided that my system has SCSI drives rather than IDE drives. That is why the partitions show up as sd__ rather than hd__. This hasn't caused any problems yet, but they also show up as removable media rather than standard devices. So in order to locate them on my system, I have to look under /media rather than /dev.
The CDRW and DVD drives to not show up in the desktop. As I remember, they did when I was using Knoppix. I did download some CD burning software, and calling one of them does show the devices as being available. The main disadvantage is that I cannot open either the CDRW or DVD tray doors under Ubuntu.
-------------------------------------------------------- Later ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I found the same problem with Knoppix as described in the last paragraph. I was able to create a link to a device
there, so I came back to Ubuntu and looked for a similar capability. If you right click on the desktop, you will see the option to Create Launcher. There, set the command to eject /media/cdrom0 or eject .media.cerom1, whatever is suitable in your case. Name it something like Ekect CDRW Drive, and there you are. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, Ubuntu failed to recognize my second drive as being a DVD-ROM drive. I'd like to fix that, but right now I am not sure how. I did not have a similar problem with Knoppix. And I also found a way to update Knoppix to wine 0.9.48. Plus, I found that Knoppix also gives you a wide range of additional packages to download and install.
So right now, I think that the two edges that Ubuntu have over Knoppix is (1) In selecting add-on packages, Ubuntu presents you with a user rating system and brief as to the package contents. And (2), Ubuntu willl notify you automatically whenever updates are available for any of the installed packages.
Donald here is an interesting link. I haven't tried it, but it is step by step instructions for installing ubuntu studio version. Perhaps you will see something in there to help.
http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_ubuntustudio_7.10
You need to scroll down a bit to see the step by steps.
I looked at the link, and the option looks interesting. But with the time and effort I've already expended, I think I will stay with what I have for the moment. First, the Studio version is really about multimedia, which I'm not too involved with. Second, I'm just to the point where I can now try a few things, to see if they will work or not. I'm interested in moving on at this point, not starting over again with another option. But someone else might find it worth exploring.
Today i got 10 + 10 cd's from canonical (10 * 32bit + 10 * 64bit) and after gettin pure and clean installation, i got to say that ubuntu 7.10 works like a dream. No two ways that xp/vista could beat it. But it is a opinion thing. :)
How well does Ubuntu work with the latest generation of NVIDIA/ATI cards? I would like to pursue 3d on Ubuntu Linux if it is up to speed for multimedia. I could buy a box with the full Ubuntu preinstalled.
Ubuntu did an automatic video driver update on my nVidia card, so I guess it is a question of whether the vender has provided a Linuix-compatable driver with advanced features or not.
Installing Ubuntu was really pretty simple, especially if you are installing it to a clean PC. The only issue is when you are trying to install it in conjunction with existing OSes, and making sure you do not overwrite a whole drive. In that case, you really have to make manual selections. I think that Knoppix is slightly superior in hardware detection capabilities, but the Ubuntu is working fine as it is.
I was reading the latest issue of PC Magazine, and they have really turned their backs on Vista -- at least the columists have, for the most part. After years of bashing XP, they now regard it as the superior OS available today, as they do not regard Linux as being made simple enough for many people. I tend to agree with this accessment.
But I think there is real opportunity here in someone filling in the gaps a bit. A lot of functionality could be added under Linux that would rival the ease of doing things in pretty much the same manner as done under Windows. You can even add a simblance of DOS for those that make use of the command line. The Linux purist would argue that this is a corruption of what is arguably a superior operating system, but the pragmatic would see it as a major step forward for wooing Windows users to Linux.
Yet we already have Linspire, and it is not setting the woods ablaized. So what is the problem? Well, if you are going to price a product in the ballpark with Windows, and your chief claim to fame is that you are somewhat similar to Windows, then you will only invite comparisons to Windows, and you have yet to prove why you are more advantageious than just buying Windows. And it does not help that Windows comes pre-installed on almost all new PCs, and that you would have to pay extra to get a competing OS and install it yourself.
I've now read that Microsoft is going to extend the life of XP. I expected that.
After all, what they lose in possible sales of Vista will still go into their pockets via new sales in XP - with the prospect that those XP buyers will later upgrade to Vista anyway, once they decide they really need DirectX 10 or some other apect promised for Vista that will not be found in XP. That is almost a guarantee of a double sale in new OSes for anyone trying to stay locked in to XP at present.
If Microsoft ever announces that DirectX 10 will be retrofitted to XP, then it will be the death of Vista, and they probably know it. So by locking XP to its current state of development and providing only additional security and bug fixes for it, and working to make Vista more enticing, they will eventually get their resale of the new OS. By then there will be enough new hardware out there and new gameware using DirectX 10 to make it happen. Hard to believe, but Microsoft stands to gain more sales due to its mistakes with Vista than if they had got it right the first time.
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=202600158
Whichever side of the argument you take, this article, referenced in Yesterday's Code Project Daily News, makes many very interesting points about Linux, especially about a window of opportunity - the weaknesses in Vista and the increasing availability of pre-installed Linux PCs.
The author advocates adopting the KDE desktop as the predominant standard in preference to Gnome.
I would agree, but except for Canonical's attempts to make Linux just work, the other linux's don't seem to care, nor the established users. I think they like running a non mass market OS and if you read the help forums, there seems to be some snobbery in attitudes. Ubuntu is the exception and it seems to be alone.
I think the only real OS that can topple Windows anytime soon would be the Mac OS.
I think Haiku with its simplicity and performance could do it, but I don't think it will be ready while this window of opportunity exists. With the Microsoft Army of 20,000 programmers, I am sure they are scrambling to make Vista right for the service pack releases, at least you would think so. So how long will this window of opportunity exist?
I think you can only describe the present as a period of uncertainty, nor really one of opportunity. In order to create opportunity, you must replace uncertainty with certainty, and that means market direction or realignment.
And certainly the forces necessary to seize the moment are not aligned, nor do we all agree on what would be the optimum solution. But Microsoft's setback is a setback for us all, though some of us might see this differently. The reason is that we know that change must come, but now it will take longer, and it will also lessen the commitment among developers to move on to the next generation OS.
If we could look at XP as now gaining new strength and gradually evolving in place of Vista, then this setback could be a good thing. But why should they do that? The real market is in pushing us to buy expensive new machines and make new commitments to buy Microsoft products. Thus, the sword continues to hang over our heads.
The Mac OS is certainly well thought of, but not by 3rd party developers or PC manufacturers. The problem is, that Mac is a closed world. If Apple decided to sell just its OS, you would next complain because you would be limited to the relatively small cateloge of software available for it. Developers would have to relearn their trade, and licensing fees from Apple would likely make your purchases cost more than equivalent products for the PC. PC builders would have a problem if they are already committed to Windows with licensing agreements there, as those license agreements probably are based on total PCs sold, not just those sold with Windows installed. And Apple would have to limit its future growth to software features in support of generic hardware platforms, rather than coordinating both hardware and software developments together.
It's often pointed out that Apple only has about 10 percent of the personal computer market. Those numbers have likely gotten better with the added ability to install and boot up Windows on a Mac. But the other 90 percent of the market is fragmented among many players, and the biggest single piece is the software segment, which is controlled by Microsoft. But compare Apple with other PC venders, and you can see that it is in the enviable position of having its own unique OS and hardware, and that it has a loyal and satisfied following that will stick with the brand, and what other vender would not want to be in their shoes?
Let's look at some of the requirements for a non-windows product to replace Windows on the majority of systems out there:
(1) Heavily promoted
(2) Inexpensive, if not entirely free
(3) Easy to acquire and install - anybody can do it!
(4) Fool proof, bug proof, stable, no surprises
(5) Compatable with all existing applications and data
(6) Convertees express total satisfaction with experience and convince others to do likewise.
I think this is pretty much what it would take for a new OS to reach critical mass, and I see no prospect that any new OS, even one from Microsoft, will ever all reach these objectives.
As I reported elsewhere, I replaced my hard drives, and restoring the Linux partitions from an image did not work. So I had to start over with installing each Linux distribution individually. When I attempted Ubuntu, I decided to take a gander at Kubuntu, which is Ubuntu with KDE as the default desktop. But after a bit of time trying to get a good DVD download, then installing from a LiveCD instead, I finally decided that the original Ubuntu is the better choice. I also did not like the fact that installing Kubuntu forced grub to be installed on the C: drive in place of my NTLDR preference.
I ran into a problem I had not allowed for in trying to download the DVD ISO files, which is that initially I did this under Knoppix using Opera. Then I had to copy that image from a Linux partiton to a FAT32 partition so that I could burn it under Windows, since my external DVD+-RW drive does not have a Linux driver. When I tried to download the Kubuntu DVD image, it was marginally bigger at about 4.3 GBytes, but that was just large enough that it would not download to a FAT32 partition. During my various efforts, I decided to look for a multi-source download manager, because there are several sites for getting these downloads, and that might be a way to get them at a faster clip. What I found was Orbit Download Manager, for free, that looked promising. So I downloaded and installed it, picking Firefox, Opera, and Netscape as the browsers I intended to use it with. On my last attempt to download the Kubuntu DVD image file, I had Orbit race with Opera, and it was about twice as fast. Not only that, but Orbit warned me beforehand that the file was too large for the file system I was attempting to download it to. I suceeded when I downloaded it to an NTFS partition instead.
I decided to replace my Knoppix release with Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) because I want do so some things that Knoppix, set at Linux kernel 2.6.19, is not up to doing. Virtual Machine support was not added until 2.6.22, and Ubuntu is a very nice package that is up to the task.
But I found a problem with Ubuntu in that, installing it on the first partition of my second drive, either it would replace my boot process one my first drive (hd0), which I did not want, or it would fail to install the grub boot process if I tried to install it to (hd1). I tried substituting (sdb) and (sdb1), and these did not work. I finally looked at the online manual, and ended up trying (hd1,0), meaning the second hard drive, first partition, and this worked. Ubuntu is smart enough that its install process checks for other installed operating systems, so I have no problem booting to Windows or to the other Ubuntu install on (hd1,1).
In initially decided to put Kubuntu on in place of Knoppix, but I ran into some bugs, notably that if you add a desktop link (or launcher) to a drive, it fails to work properly because the drive is already mounted, and the launcher is trying to mount it again. I don't need the headache of sorting problems like that out. I then decided to put Ubuntu 8.04 (hardy heron) on that partition, just as I have it on the second partition, but there appears to be a bug in the new release of f-plot, and the Update Manager had a bit of a seizure as a result. So I reverted to Ubuntu 7.10 for that partition, and will play with 8.04 on the second partition as the bugs are worked out.
I've been reading your Linux adventures for a long time Donald, and I appreciate them.
I installed Ubuntu 6.1 (Edgy Eft) on my good laptop almost a year ago and am still running that. After spending a couple dreadful months fighting to make progress learning it but being completely hamstrung by my lack of ability to get connected through my dial up connection, I gave up. Here just a couple weeks ago I finally signed up for DSL and got connected right away. Under no circumstances should anyone not a Linux guru fool around with Linux with only a dial up connection, IMO.
Since my only interest with computers is programming, I'm teaching myself XLib right now. My long term intentions are to explore X Intrinsics (Xt), Motif, and GTK+. Its pretty much a 'labor of love' for me, as I have no real use for it.
It does impress me though. The only negative thing I can say is that I have a hard time with FireFox. It crashes a great deal, not so much in brousing, but anytime I attempt to buy books from Amazon.com, log into my mutual fund sites, etc. Also, using bookmarks guarantees crashes. Perhaps the newer versions have fixed this.
As I said, I appreciate the information everyone contributes here.
The end of life for 6.1 is in a few months, and at that time an LTS (Long Term Support) version will be coming out. I'll probably change at that time. I'm not real anxious to get rid of what I have because I sweat blood for several weeks getting my XLib development tools configured and working (had to download.deb files through Windows, and navigate through the dependencies morass as a bewildered beginner. It was one of the most brutal things I have ever done in my life, PERIOD).
I decided to follow the link in the last post (thanks, Kent) and download and install UbuntuStudio as the third Linux distro on my PC, keeping Ubuntu 7.10 on the first partition of second drive, and Ubuntu 8.04 on the second partion of second drive. It turns out to be a text-base install, and it requires a DVD burn since it is sized at about 801 MB, which is somewhat too big for a CD. The installer isn't too smart - you can select several defaults with F keys up front, then the dang thing asks you the same questions again during the install. The last thing it does is ask about is where to install grub, so don't panic when you see it go ahead and perform the install without that bit of information in hand.
I opted to go ahead and install all the media creator software as well, and have spent the day trying to get some additional stuff installed. I'm on hold for the moment with adding VirtualBox to the install on the first partition, as I encountered several problems, finally got passed two of them, but am presently stumped for a fix for a fatal crash with error 1909. I'm probably doing something wrong with VirtualBox, but the user manual is almost a joke - no real instructions or steps, just discussion of things that you need to do, then figure it out on your own.
It was a bit challenging to work with the Studio version after I finished the install. I didn't like any of the wallpaper choices - most were too gloomy and dark - so I found something better online and had to add it. I also lightened up the themes. But the big trick was to get FireFox to play certain media files. Turns out that the Studio version did not include mplayer, and then after that you have to find and install the mozilla-mplayer, which is a plugin for Mozilla and FireFox, then you have to find the binary codex and install them into /usr/lib/win32, which you have to create. Trouble is with Ubuntu, is that you are not allowed to log in as root or superuser into the GUI, and as just a user, you can't do administrative things unless you issue the command sudo, and in GUI mode you can't switch to superuser readily. So it ends up being a hash between some things done via the GUI and some things done through the terminal console with superuser priveleges. But finally I can play movie and video clips in FireFox.
The Studio version also did not allow me to install Opera and some other things as optional packages under the Add.Remove Applications, but you can get opera online and install it. You know the way the Repositories work, right? These are sites that you can access with a package manager that checks for available packages and updates. Apparently, even within a single distribution like Ubuntu, some variations exist between the lists of sites that get checked, and I might see some differences in available applications with the plain vanilla version of 7.10 and what gets listed with the Studio version.
I've looked at the video of using VirtualBox on Linux to install XP as a guest ooerating system, and I wish I could play it in slow motion and somewhat larger because it looks easy, but I keep having problems. You will note with Ubuntu that one of the packages you can opt for is VMWare, but it turns out that you can't get it for the 32-bit version of Linux, you have to be running the 64-bit version. That is different from Windows, as I did get to play with the VMWare Player while running Windows 2000 on my older PC.
Linspire 6, which is now based on Ubuntu has just been released. They did a deal with Microsoft for the use of codecs, driver technology etc to get good interoperability. They charge $49.99 for it, but in return you get technical support and access to CNR.COM which avails seamless installation of thousands of packages.
In other words it is Ubuntu with all the rough edges taken off. The question is whether they have resolved the disk partitioning and VM challenges that Donald has been facing. They put a big emphasis on easy installation on just about any hardware that will run MS Windows, so it might be worth making a few enquiries. I downloaded Linspire 5 about a 18 months ago and found them very professional to deal with.
I just downloaded the 64 bit version of Ubuntu Desktop version today. It was the easiest install ever on my notebook. For the first time it was able to get the updates to enable all my hardware automatically. I just sat here with my jaw dropped in amazement at what an incredibly simple experience this install was. My wireless card is working better than it does in Windows. With Ubuntu I have WPA 2 Personal available, where as in WindowsXP it would never give me that options, even after I did all the updates to get WPA2.
It see my windows home network just fine too. I had downloaded some of the earlier 7.10 versions and none of them worked as nicely as this new version.
I now have three separate installs of Ubuntu 7.10 on three partitions on my second hard drive, so that would be drives /media/sdb1, /media/sdb2, and /media/sdb3. The problem that I found was, that each time I added another install, it somehow effected the previous installs, even though on different partitions.
Last night I think I discovered why. I had gone through and converted my four FAT32 partitions to NTFS yesterday, for two reasons: First, all my FAT32 partitions had been expanded too far, and the 32 GB upper limit on size was going to come back and bite me at some point, and I wanted to avoid that. Second, every time I booted up into Ubuntu, it would stop and run an extensive check on my FAT32 partitons, something I noted that it did not do with my NTFS drives. So I figured I would have a net gain if I just went ahead and got the conversion done.
But, I discovered that after I rebooted into Ubuntu, that the old FAT32/new NTFS partitions were no longer getting recognized by Ubuntu. So I posted a question about this on the Ubuntu Forums, I got a reply within minutes, and after several exchanges, the problem appears to be resolved.
The issue focuses on the /etc/fstab entries, which tell Ubuntu how to recognize and treat the various drives in the system. These had to be changed from fat32 to ntfs. But this was not enough by itself. When each drive was converted, the uuid assigned to each drive was changed, and the entries in /etc/fstab turn out to be static, they did not change. Thus, the volumes were no longer accessible via their uuids. I was advised to look in /dev/disk/by-uuid and find out what the new uuids were and change the entries in /etc/fstab to agree. This worked.
This means that somehow, /dev/disk/by-uuid is being maintained dynamically. whereas /etc/fstab is static, and has to be changed manually.
Now as it happens, Ubuntu will not install itself unless it reformats the intended partition as root (/) and also can identify a swap partition. If you select one of the automatic modes, it does this transparently. If you select the manual mode, which is what I do, because I am installing Ubuntu into a multi-OS environment, you have to designate both a root (/) partition and a swap partition, and you must flag the root partition to be reformatted, otherwise Ubuntu will refuse to install itself. But the process of reformatting the root partition will mean the uuid for that drive will change, which will effect how previous installs of Ubuntu on other partitions will be able to access that partition in the future. In other words, unless their /etc/fstab table entries are modified, they won't be able to.
Using the information in /dev/disk/by-uuid, you can of course go back and modify each /etc/fstab once you boot back to that install of Ubuntu, but the way my question was answered gave me a clue to another approach. The tone that came through was sort of like, "well, if you are going to use uuids in /etc/fstab, you can expect this type of problem". Hey, I didn't insist on it, it was just the way that Ubuntu installed itself.
But it made me look. And the entries for the CD drives did not use uuid entries, they used drive designations from /dev/cd* This gave me the idea that I could replace the UUID= entry in my partitons with /dev/sd*, and that should work. So I attempted this, and it worked fine. It might have taken a bit longer to access the contents of the hard drive, but the advantage is that this makes the entries in /etc/fstab more dynamic, and should fix the problem of losing access to a partition if it gets reformatted. But I guess you still need to go back and modify /etc/fstab if you convert it from one file system to another.
Ubuntu 7/10 was found to recognize my FAT32 and NTFS partitions without any problem, and I haven't really messed with that. I was advised to install ntfs-3g, and were I to do so, the ntfs entries in /etc/fstab would have to be changed from ntfs to ntfs-3g to take advantage of this. I haven't done that yet, and it may not be necessary. There were a couple of commands it was suggested I used to remount my drives and ensure that they were all accessible, rather than having to reboot after changes. These are:
sudo mount -a
sudo df -h
If you decide to give Ubuntu a try, the Ubuntu Forums turns out to be another great place to get help. It pops right up in Google if you search on those two words. You have to register, but no big deal. However, new posts happen so fast, that you might post a question and your post be pushed way down the stack in no time. So two things to suggest: First, if you post, you can indicate that you want to receive email if you get a reply. That would save you from having to come back and check later. Second, if you want to find your posts on the site, use the Search and just search for your username or topic. It works. If you start a new post, when you give it a name, the site attempts to match it to other previous posts. So the more specific your post title, the better chance it hasl of pulling up previously posted and answered questions.