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Anyone else use Ubuntu?

dibo

Well-Known Member
I've been farking around with my PCs at home (mostly for procrastination purposes when I should have been studying) and decided to install Ubuntu on my laptop and desktop.

Anyone else use Ubuntu or any other Linux distros? Any tips, tricks or advice for someone to try them out who hasn't used a command line since pre-Windows 95? Any horror stories?
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've got Ubuntu 9.04 installed, dual-booting with Windoze. I'm slowly learning how to do what I want with it, still got a long way to go.
I notice that there seems to be little need for me to go to a command line, but then I'm not a programmer or a user of esoteric stuff. If you need the CL often, you might be better off with a distro like LinuxMint. It's based on Ubuntu, but I believe it allows you to boot into the CL if you need to.
There is a utility called Ubuntu-tweak available, it works a bit like TweakUI for Windows. I can't remember the URL to get it, but if you Google it, you'll find it. One of the good things about it is it makes it easy to add extra sources to the repository lists and it also provides a list of programs that don't appear on the standard Add/Remove list. It has an entry to get the proprietary codecs & drivers that aren't in the default install because of copyright issues.
I have found the Ubuntu forums to be very useful for answers to questions, your problem has usually been answered already there.
There is a Linux user group which meets 3rd Wednesday of the month at Narara public school. I haven't been yet, I plan to go this month. I can get more details for you if you're interested.
 

dibo

Well-Known Member
Cool info - will definitey be looking up Ububtu-tweak.

spike said:
There is a Linux user group which meets 3rd Wednesday of the month at Narara public school. I haven't been yet, I plan to go this month. I can get more details for you if you're interested.

If I were still living up with my folks in Narara rather than in the inner west... It's all good, I'm sure if I get really into it I'll be able to find something like that down here.
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
The great thing about Linux is the cost!!!  Almost $500 for Windoze Ultimate, nearly $300 for Home Premium, and $0.00 for Linux.
There is a free Linux alternative for almost every standard Windoze program, and if there isn't then the prog will usually run on top of Wine.
Enjoy your Ubuntu.
 

FFC Mariner

Well-Known Member
How does the office suite integrate when transferring files back to Windoze?

Or should I just do what I want to and buy a Mac?
 

Jimmy

Well-Known Member
FFC Mariner said:
How does the office suite integrate when transferring files back to Windoze?

Or should I just do what I want to and buy a Mac?

Only gays and art students use Macs.
 

dibo

Well-Known Member
FFC Mariner said:
How does the office suite integrate when transferring files back to Windoze?

Or should I just do what I want to and buy a Mac?

you can use ms office under 'wine', or you can use the included 'open office' package by sun microsystems which is office compatible - it has its own proprietary file formats as well, but you can always save in an MS format.

i'd say if you wanna buy a mac, buy a mac, but you could always experiment with ubuntu for free, just for shits and giggles. they're not mutually exclusive.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

you save an ISO to create an install disk, and away you go.
Jimmy said:
FFC Mariner said:
How does the office suite integrate when transferring files back to Windoze?

Or should I just do what I want to and buy a Mac?

Only gays and art students use Macs.

easy on the homophobia.
 

tuftman

Well-Known Member
FFC Mariner said:
Thing is, Macs do what PC's cant and do it quicker

Each to their own, my Dad had a Mac as his work PC for a while(fairly high end to I believe - engineering programs etc.) and it did well in terms of CPU performance and all that, he just got sick how unreliable it was
 

Marquee

Well-Known Member
Please, not another Windows VS Mac thread. Lets keep it on Linux.

I used Ubuntu for a while, mainly just playing around like yourself Dibo. Didn't really have time on my hands to get into the command line stuff, but now I do so I might get my dual boot going again.

Might also try a few other distros.
 

MrCelery

Well-Known Member
I tried the latest Ubuntu a few months ago. Even now, with simpler installers, it was a bit of headache. And it f**ked my PC to the point that I had to do a clean install. But then maybe it was just me!

The programs seem quite good, though limited, but just don't seem to be a well integrated suite. Getting better all the time though.

Still can't compare to excellent installer that is in Windows 7.  Lot cheaper though, if that's important.
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
FFC Mariner said:
How does the office suite integrate when transferring files back to Windoze?

Or should I just do what I want to and buy a Mac?
I use Office 2007, but I have to save files in Office XP format if I want to use them in Open Office. That's no problem for me, but it may be a bother for some.
I don't know if you can boot a Mac from a CD, but if you can you get a "live" version of Ubuntu - it runs from the CD without changing your hard drive.
MacOS is based on Unix like Linux, so when you become familiar with one it's not too hard to come to grips with the other, unless you want to do things with the command line. I don't know if the Mac has a command line.
The kicker for me with MacOS v Linux is cost. I have to buy MacOS, Linux comes free, as do the vast majority of software packages.
 

adz

Moderator
Staff member
I use redhat for production servers and fedora for development servers and thats enough linux for me  :-\

Reasons for using it as a web server are basically it is more stable, quicker and secure (out of the box) than windoze, but that's only when we're running it as a web server. Interested in the reasons for switching to linux on a home pc though...
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
Marquee said:
Please, not another Windows VS Mac thread. Lets keep it on Linux.

I used Ubuntu for a while, mainly just playing around like yourself Dibo. Didn't really have time on my hands to get into the command line stuff, but now I do so I might get my dual boot going again.

Might also try a few other distros.
Exactly right, never argue about politics, religion or PC v. Mac!  8)

The command line doesn't come into play a lot with Ubuntu, you can't even boot into it.
Other distros I've used are Mandriva, OpenSuse (both use KDE instead of Gnome) and LinuxMint, which I particularly like. If you like KDE, you could try Kubuntu, and if you have an old or low-powered PC try Xubuntu.
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
dibo said:
you can use ms office under 'wine', or you can use the included 'open office' package by sun microsystems which is office compatible - it has its own proprietary file formats as well, but you can always save in an MS format.
If you're prepared to spend a little money, not much but I can't remember exact $$, you can get Crossover Office, which does for Microsoft Office what Wine does for other programs, if you don't want to use Open Office.
 

MagpieMariner

Well-Known Member
MrCelery said:
I tried the latest Ubuntu a few months ago. Even now, with simpler installers, it was a bit of headache. And it f**ked my PC to the point that I had to do a clean install. But then maybe it was just me!

The programs seem quite good, though limited, but just don't seem to be a well integrated suite. Getting better all the time though.

Still can't compare to excellent installer that is in Windows 7.  Lot cheaper though, if that's important.
I'm not having a go at you, but it might be you  :)
I've installed & uninstalled a number of different distros on my main PC without having any trouble with my Windoze install. At one stage I had four different distros installed on a quintuple-boot setup.
The secret is to install Windoze first.
As for Office, I don't use a lot of the bells & whistles, so Open Office suits me well.
Don't much like the Win 7 installer even though it looks pretty. But then I only have the RC, I may find the retail version more to my liking.
 

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