AndurilShards Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 (edited) Pretty sleepy so gonna fix some mistakes tomm Neowin Review August 1, 2005 My First Week With Linux: Ubuntu Okay, let me start off by saying that I love Macintosh computers. If I had any money to spare at all, I would really strive to get an iMac G5. Until then, I'm waiting what the mactels will be able to do in due time. Second, I love the Windows operating system. The main reason I wanted to try out Linux was that I was going to do my bi-yearly reformats, the cause of course, a machine whose glory gaming days ended with DX8 gaming. I thought to myself, why not. I was gonna try Linux on my box again. Not because I hate Gates or Microsoft but for a fresh start. To see what the leet side of Operating Systems had to offer. My first true encounter with a Linux distro was years ago. This piece of fast aging hardware had an old version of KDE version sort pre-installed. Not entirely sure what distro it actually was as I wasn't learned in the terminology before. It was pretty good for my first time (my lil bros loved that Potato Guy game or something) but the network wasn't automatically set up. As I had school work to do, I couldn't be bothered with learning the OS and promptly installed Windows XP after formatting when installing Windows 98. It's an old habit which isn't really required as XP could do it on it's own but I liked getting the feel of an older Windows version first. So back to the present. Yeah, I wanted to try something new so I backed up all of my important files, documents, pictures, digital editions, music... on compact discs while downloading a Linux distro. I heard pretty good reviews on Ubuntu and I decided to give that a try. ISO was perfect and burned to a bootable cd. Popped it in and my days with Windows until Vista have begun. Ubuntu and various open-source software have supplied me with my schooling needs for now. Formatting and installing Ubuntu was flawless: blazing quick, simple, everything that you wanted to just simply install the OS. Though it didn't look pretty, it got the job done. Couple of [Enter] presses and [< ^ >] movement and everything was set up. Networking was a breeze; internet was already there and it even upgraded some of the programs while installing the programs. Ubuntu login screen was there and I was happy. But then that's where my first problem started. Upon logging in, it left me with a blank brown screen with a movable cursor. Luckily, the Ubuntu Forum is a great resource site and on my family's billion year old computer, I was able to fix the problem. acpi=off pnpbios=off in menu.lst Why didn't I think of doing that? The thing about Linux that got me was that you had to learn a lot more. The feel is a whole lot different coming from Windows and you'll grow to love the command line in Terminal more. So I got all that fixed and booted into the desktop. First impression was pretty good. The Gnome Desktop Environment is pretty easy to get used to and with the pre-installed programs in Ubuntu, it would be good enough for my family or my friends who don't delve into hardcore computing and just want to chat or surf the net or create documents and spreadsheets. From then on was an adventure. I went through a lot of trial and error issues and at one point had no idea what to fix but that was due to my dunderheadedness. It just takes a lot of patience when you want to learn how to configure things. I tend to find out and mess with every single feature something has to offer when I come across it. MAJOR MESS-UP The ATI drivers are a pain in the ***. With my Radeon 9200, it took me hours to configure how to install the drivers. There were kernel problems and at some points, my faithful Sylvania F93 monitor wouldn't show up. But as always, the Ubuntu forums were always there. It seemed like every problem that popped up there was someone there who knew how to fix it. My quest from then on was to learn the core of linux to be able to fix the problems that would prop up. But a tip for the new new people, I recommend starting with an Nvidia based graphics card if you want 3d acceleration as they are a lot easier. But after all that drama and banging head, the ATI drivers were installed. But once you know how to fix it, it's pretty simple. There are a good selection of OpenGL games for Linux (free! so no more pirating :p) and software installing is almost as easy installing on a Mac OSX. apt-get and Synaptic Package Manager are a godsend. I love those features, updating programs through the Universe community maintained repositories are really easy. From there and sudo commands alien, dpkg, it's all good. So Debian Linux Ubuntu has been a great learning experience. Though you'll need to configure a lot [and not just point and click; tis a lot of typing and learning commands] to get it the way you want if you're an in-depth user, it's pretty rewarding at the end. The Bad Let's get this over with: Installing the ATI drivers were hell and the card isn't pushed to it's fullest until ATI releases better drivers but even then it's pretty good. I love playing Gltron with my sis and it fulfills the needs of PSX emulating. Hybrid printer/scanner from Lexmark is impossible to get working as I through some forums and I'll have to use the old comp for that printer. Gaming isn't really a problem since my low-end card wouldn't be that nice with HL2 and CSS anyway. Linux has a pretty good collection though and you could always use Cedega. Haven't setup my MIDI nor Voice Recording yet. I hoped they would have been automatic :p but they'll probably be as good as the rest of the OS. The Good Ubuntu came with great programs pre-installed. OpenOffice is great (importing docs is perfect and it comes with everything I need-just gotta look for a graphic calc program now), Firefox (I switched to DeerPark though, always like to be on the cutting), GAIM (can't live without my contacts :p), Evolution (I like the integration just like Outlook and as fast as Thunderbird). In other words everything was there. Bittorrent, IRC, GIMP (which is a bit hard to get used to coming from Photoshop but it'll be good enough as a home graphic user). Installing printer drivers was a breeze. Only drawback was I can't use my Lexmark X1150's scanning capabilities. At least my STYLUS C82 (expensive to keep up yet never failing) is always there. I downloaded the unofficial Ubuntu add-on pack so configuring some other programs were pretty fast. DVD configuring takes a while but I thnk it'll be good (I haven't spent time in trying to rid the choppyness in DVD playback). I also downloaded XFCE and KDE desktop environments so I pick a de based on my mood though I liked Gnome the best. PSX emulation is pretty good. I played through my old PSX discs (finished FFVIII just today) as I lost my playstation... Cedega (WineX) works pretty good too. VisualBoyAdvance through Cedega is better than the Linux native. Adobe PDF Reader is damn fast. A reason I loved OSX was that PDF reading is plain quick reading. Overall Ubuntu is a great distro and Linux is pretty ROCKSOLID. It feels a lot safer when you get it started. Windows will be pretty safe too but after putting up nod32, couple of spyware programs, etc. Personally I like GNOME but the Windows XP environment will be a lot easier for people new to computers. Installing is point and click and that's pretty easy for them but in the long run, updating with apt-get and SPM is way more convenient. Whew too sleepy to write some more. Might add some more stuff with screenshots tomorrow maybe but for now: It's a great Operating System if you want to try something new. If XP is good enough for you right now, I would say stay unless you're up for some learning. Edited June 8, 2007 by AndurilShards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 yeah i just installed ubuntu on my laptop.. its good, but i need to learn some stuff too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Behelit Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Nice article (Y) It's nice to hear you are pleased with Ubuntu as well (Y) Ubuntu is all over the place! I too fell under its spell a while back. I'd have to ask some of the more seasoned Linux users if they think Ubuntu's popularity will die down in time, and why is it so popular exactly? Ease of use? Aggressive/effective marketing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndurilShards Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 lol right now I'm just going with the flow while trying to learn linux :D yeah but it's pretty good I didn't expect it to be after using XP for so long EDIT: yeah it seems to be pretty easy I was amazed how networking was done automatically wasn't that easy for me in xp and using synaptic is great with repositories it's a pretty easy linux start I hope I'll get the hang of the commands and all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosidius Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Welcome to Linux, glad you like Ubuntu. I love Ubuntu except there is a tendency for apt-get to give me md5um mismatch errors. The command line is your friend. It's there for a reason. My linux skills have presumably got in the way in Windows. I was in IE going to my hard drive and I typed / in the address bar hoping to bring root. :p Presumably I prefer apt-get over synaptic as I find synaptic harder to use than apt-get install <program name>. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rezza Veteran Posted August 2, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 2, 2005 Nice article (Y) It's nice to hear you are pleased with Ubuntu as well (Y)Ubuntu is all over the place! I too fell under its spell a while back. I'd have to ask some of the more seasoned Linux users if they think Ubuntu's popularity will die down in time, and why is it so popular exactly? Ease of use? Aggressive/effective marketing? 586311132[/snapback] Ubuntu = debian with a marketing budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanobear Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I agree, Ubuntu/Kubuntu is a great distro. It's only downfall is not being able to select what you want for your default install. It's definately linux for the masses, gives a great install with everything covered, office, multimedia, etc. I learnt a lot from using Ubuntu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Douglas Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Ubuntu = debian with a marketing budget. 586311873[/snapback] And a kickass GNOME install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt74441 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 yeah i just installed ubuntu on my laptop.. its good, but i need to learn some stuff too 586311103[/snapback] I tried installing Ubuntu and plain old Debian 3.1 on my laptop with minimal success. I could get everything but the touchpad to work. It doesn't matter though, I'm selling the laptop in September and buying an iBook. So I get to screw around installing Debian on it :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted August 2, 2005 Administrators Share Posted August 2, 2005 Nice review. Some of the other distros I have used (Mandriva 2005 LE, SuSE) were less problematic than your experience...... but Linux is all about learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Here are two scripts that will install and configure the radeon and nvidia drivers correctly for you. They are optimised for Xorg. Be aware though that once you install the radeon drivers you may have to run fglrxconfig (for ati) from the command line to build a working xorg.conf file. In other words don't panic if it appears not to work right away. The best place to ask for advice on what the correct options for fglrxconfig and Xorg are is on the Ubuntu forums. You will need to know some stuff though, like the technical specs of your monitor (usually just selecting safe values is enough - look at a Knoppix CD, boot from that and see what it lists as safe values for your monitor for comparision) for horizontal and verticalsync and referseh rates - and select yes to use the external agpgart module - but 8 times out of 10 the default answer is usually the best. These scripts will not break anything, but you still need to be at least a little sure of what you are doing before you use them. Remember to remove the .txt extension and make them executable (eg. chmod 777 install-radeon-debian.sh) before running them. These scripts are only usable for debian type distros. GJ install_radeon_debian.sh.txt install_nvidia_debian.sh.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rezza Veteran Posted August 2, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 2, 2005 And a kickass GNOME install. 586311911[/snapback] How is the default ubuntu gnome install better than the debian one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted August 2, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 2, 2005 Nice review of a first-timer's impresions. There are things there (acpi=off) that would cause a lot of problems for someone without experience. Glad you stuck it out through the configuration phase (configuring Linux properly can be a lot more work than Windows, in my opinion, but I feel it is well worth it, as using a properly set up Linux box is so much better than a Windows one). Oh, and did you want this thread posted in the *nix section? We do have a "meber reviews" section that may be more appropriate, as I don't think existing *nixers are your intended audience. * thread moved * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msg43 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Ubuntu = debian with a marketing budget. 586311873[/snapback] Also with user friendly people unlike debain the irc channel banned me for asking were I could find a repo so I could mainly download the packages so I decide to go with slackware on a old laptop. oh by the way not to be troll or anything :ninja: but apt-get is not God send. Pacman is a God Send! Pacman has everything apt has but more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I haven't used Pacman for a while - but the last time I tried it I wasn't that impressed. There seemed to be less options - and much less packages than there was on apt. However all package management is good. Things these days are a lot better all round from like it was in the old days when you had to install and manage all your dependancies on your own. Now that really was a pain. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticben Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Well, having read this and looked at Ubuntu I've decided I'm going to download it onto my old laptop as it's not powerful enough for gaming so I won't miss anything - I figure it's worth a try. I have no experience at all with Linux, only Mac and Windows, and I don't know any code - so wish me luck! I'm downloading the ISO now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seethru Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Making me want to switch even more, if it wasn't for my addiction to WoW I'd have switched by now. I know WoW works in *nix w/ some configuring, but I've heard that performance is poor, and since my PC is first and foremost a gaming rig, performance is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I don't know about performance. I think if you have a fast enough machine that you will probably be suprised. People who say these things suck usually have quite crappy systems. Just to show it does work though take a look at this: http://www.linux.org.ru/gallery/bigujNhEh.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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