New to Linux? The New Ubuntu Is Now Out.

A Linux box is easy to come by. Installing a Linux OS can take as little as 10 minutes.

In fast, while you install some versions of Linux, you can surf the web through Firefox.

It's a neat little side project. Except for playing games, the average THX'er can get a lot of use out of Linux and the free open source apps that are available.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

There's even top level installations that cater to what type of use you want out of the OS. For instance, if your going to use it for a lot of multimedia editing of music, images, and video there's the Ubuntu Studio distribution.

Check out it's login screen. How sweet is that.

I'd probably just get the standard Ubuntu Desktop distribution and install each of the packages individually though if I wanted to do some of that type of stuff. There's a list of packages that U Studio includes here

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

If I had the Linux expertise to get my Windows based cell phone to talk to Linux, I'd totally run Ubuntu or Fedora almost exclusively. Or if I had a broadband connection, I'd love to use it.

On a similar note, I have a version of Linux called Knoppix (v4.0, I think) that is fully bootable from a CD or DVD, and is useful if you have an O/S that won't load, but have files that you want to recover. Pop the CD in, boot Linux (no installation required), recover the files, then reboot and reload Windows.

Latest Ubuntu Released!
I will be exclusively on either Ubuntu(home) or Redhat(work) 100% of the time after I get a chance to transfer over my music/pictures/documents and install the webcam drivers this weekend. Goodbye Windows, we had a great time these past 10 years. We laughed, cried, held each other tightly (you sometimes more than me). I'm a Microsoft fan, but I just can't handle having my brand new PC run comparatively slow because of Windows anymore.

Disavowed, what are you trying to do with your cell phone? How does it work currently with windows? I'm assuming you've got it connected via usb and the internet is through some software that you installed on the PC.

from: http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu710
"Ubuntu 7.10 Released, Delivering the Best of Open Source Software

LONDON, October 15, 2007 – Canonical Ltd. announced today the upcoming availability of version 7.10 of the Ubuntu Server, Desktop, Kubuntu and Edubuntu Editions. All will be available for free download on Thursday 18 October. Canonical is the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu makes no distinction between community and enterprise editions, Ubuntu 7.10 is our best work and is available freely to all. Ubuntu has consistently ranked #1 in reviews of security update responsiveness and effectiveness. The Ubuntu platform is fully certified and supported, making it a secure choice for users looking to explore, deploy and enjoy Linux. Ubuntu 7.10 brings together the best open source and free software available in a stable, robust environment that 'just works'.

'We are privileged to have millions of users running Ubuntu every day". commented Jane Silber, COO of Canonical UK. 'This gives us great insight into what they want from a free, Linux-based platform. Ubuntu 7.10 is another milestone in delivering on these requirements on the desktop and server.'

Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop Edition adds an enhanced user interface, improved hardware support, multiple monitor support and integrated desktop search. Additional information is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-desktop710.

Ubuntu 7.10 Server Edition features improved functionality, manageability, pro-active security and hardware compatibility and delivers a rapid deployment platform for developers and businesses. Additional information is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-server710. "

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

Help a newbie understand: Why should I want to run Linux?

Only run it if you have a reason. If windows works for you then that's good, don't worry about switching. Here's my personal reasons:
-Faster performance
-Better security (by a huge magnitude)
-Better reliability
-Less stuff running in the background (goes back to performance)
-Quicker boot usually
-HUGE amounts of free software that doesn't have spyware included. When people release the source code to their products, it enforces honesty that you don't get with shareware/freeware/etc on a closed source system (Windows) This is the primary reason your Windows installation will get slower as the years go by.

On a techie side, my reasons:
-Full customization if I want it (all configuration files are transparent. If I even wanted to add functionality that's not there, the source code for the OS is included and I can re-build the core kernel.) If you don't want to do these types of things, you aren't forced to think about them either.
-Software development tools included and easier to use on Linux.

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

My cell phone runs Windows Mobile, and can run Windows Internet Connection Sharing (built into XP Pro). So, my PC just recognizes it as another PC, and shares it's internet connection. The Blackjack never has to dial a connection, so it isn't a Modem, or I'm sure it would be easier to use in Linux.

The software that came with the Blackjack does enable my PC to recognize the Blackjack, synch with it, share files, etc., but it doesn't contain ICS. It contains software to use it as a Modem, but that slows the connection down considerably.

3rd time's a charm, so I'm hoping when BamaWISP comes out today for their 3rd site survey, after some tweaking done to their tower, that they'll be able to provide service to me. At which point, this whole cell phone issue will be moot.

It's free!

I'm like you, though. New to Linux. And I've already bought Windows. So the cost thing isn't a huge issue to me at this point. But it probably is to others.

Why do you use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer? A lot of the reasons why you use FF instead of IE are reasons why you could like Linux over Windows.

The free software is a huge reason. For instance, instead of paying $300 for Microsoft Office, you could install Open Office. There are loads of other free software you can download and use (like the Gimp which is a Photoshop ($600) clone).

If you don't have a technical reason to use a certain piece of software, then you can probably switch to Linux with little to no problems.

Another reason to switch is because you are disgusted with Microsoft. I know I am. Their products don't even play well with each other (Zune, Windows Media Center, XBOX 360, Windows Vista, etc.). Windows Vista is a terrible operating system with a ton of problems. A lot of people run Linux just to spite Microsoft.

If I didn't play Games for Windows on my PC, I'd using Linux 100% of the time at home.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

I've never used Linux just to spite MS, however I have been irritated at Vista lately. Katie made the remark the other day that we've never had computer problems until I bought and installed Vista a few months ago. She's right.

The problem lies in the fact that every Windows release is developed by a single company, while Linux and it's associated packages are constantly being improved by thousands of people worldwide.

I'm a big believer that 20 years from now, a much higher percentage of people will be using some form of Linux. Hell, Linux already owns 90% of the server market. MS currently has to innovate and find new methods of keeping people locked into their operating system. Disavowed's cell phone is one example. Other examples include the Media Center Extender type functionality that connects it to a physical object that MS controls such as an Xbox 360. The people running MS are smart as shit and they know that if you didn't have this connection then Linux is an easy click away. Expect more of these "connections" in the future.

I'm counting the days until the US .gov switches to complete open source, saving the taxpayers God knows how much money. The misconception is that Windows is easier to administer.. it's not. Someone should start a group/lobby to promote this... anybody want to join?

Operating Systems are really at a plateau where nothing more UI wise is really going to be invented to improve them beyond their current capabilities other than some eye candy effects. Third party applications and drivers will take over much of the extended functionality in the future. This is where Linux shines.

The big battle is with the standards.. Whoever controls the standards controls the ballgame. That's a whole other topic of conversation though.

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

Things I'm concerned about:

Plug-and-play compatibility - Can I plug in a USB thumb drive or MP3 player and have it work?

Wireless LAN security/functionality - Can I have the equivalent of WPA security? Will wireless devices in my house be able to connect to it for streaming music, etc.?

Software compatibility - Can it run Photoshop, iTunes, PC Games, most freeware apps (like IrfanView, WinRAR, etc.)?

Media - Does it have a strong alternative to Windows Media Player other than WinAMP?

Drivers - Would it give me any grief with my videocard, etc.?

Yes, I haven't run into a problem doing things like this yet.

Yes. You used to go search and find a compatibility list of wireless cards that work, however I'm betting a lot of these drivers are more readily available, and some included. Short answer is do a quick search of your wireless card on google like this: "CardModelNumberHere site:ubuntu.com". In fact a quick search gives me this page.

-Photoshop: replace with Gimp
-iTunes: replace with Rythymbox or XMMS or a 100 different others. Stay away from DRM music at all costs... JayWHY will give you his opinion of this if he sees this thread.
-PC Games: Depends... Quake,UT3,HL, yes. GoW,HaloPC,Shadowrun, no, MS has exclusive licenses with some of these games.
-IrfanView: I have no idea(not even sure what it is), but I'm 99.99% sure it has a counterpart.
-WinRAR... (Win)RAR ?? Linux has very solid compression/decompression utilities that have been free and better than anything else for years.

-Rythymbox comes with Redhat (probably Ubuntu as well), XMMS looks just like winamp and works the same. Again, stay away from DRM music at all costs (ie mp3s are good)

-99% chance - NO. 1% chance you will have to use generic drivers included in the OS, and that still works. A lot of Video card manufacturers now release Linux Drivers. How do you install these... very easily.. however there's a couple tricks that make it easier. I won't go into command line stuff in this thread, but I'll start another one soon showing how easy it is to use the command line in Linux.

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

Plug-n-play works for a ton of USB devices on Linux.

Wireless? Most modern wireless cards have Linux drivers. Linux machines play well with other non-Linux machines on your network (almost everything you view on the web comes from a Linux machine). BTW: DD-WRT is considered the best app for your router...in some cases making your router as powerful as $10k enterprise routers. DD-WRT runs Linux. I'm reconfiguring my network. My next network will run DD-WRT firmware.

Photoshop alternative: The Gimp

Versions of iTunes do run on Linux. Unsure if the latest version does (because I don't follow iTunes sw releases), but iTunes used to play well with Linux.

PC Games: You can play 3D games on Linux. However, most Windows-only games won't run on Linux unless you run an emulator like WINE. A lot of 3D games are free and available for Linux like these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_games

Irfanview: There's no Linux version of IrfanView. However, you could run it via an emulator like WINE or a virtual machine. I haven't used the GIMP that much. Perhaps there's a viewer in the GIMP.

WinRAR: Pretty sure WinRAR originated from Unix and then was renamed and made available for Windows. WinRAR does offer Linux builds.

WinAMP: WinAMP offers Linux installs. It'll probably be packaged in Ubuntu (as will WinRAR). Unsure why you would want to us WMP over WinAMP as it's much more powerful.

GPU drivers: Modern cards will most likely be supported unless they were very recently released (in which they could have support already anyway). Linux has been mainstream for so long, I'd be surprised if you have a card that isn't supported. Depends on the card you have. You could always run Ubuntu from the CDROM and see what does and does not work.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

Friend just installed Ubuntu on his laptop over at my house. Video drivers + Wireless Networking Card + WAP + PlugnPlay all worked flawlessly out of the box. :) He remarked how much faster it was to install.

(not really box, but .iso)

Mine's installing right now. I'm typing this from the desktop of the boot cd.

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"Oculus is just this guy, you know?"

I'm going to do an install on my Linux box soon. I'm going to throw it up in a closet somewhere and let it be my media server.

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currently playing: Halo 3, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 4 MP beta
currently supporting: Ron Paul - r3/\O¯|ution

Ubuntu 8.04 is out. I've dwnld'd it and am going to install it tonight. Recently, I built a cheap WinXP machine, and am using it as an internet server. It syncs w/ my Blackjack, and bridges my wireless internet connection to my router. So it sits outside the router, and my other PCs and Xbox are all inside the router, which has been working pretty well the last month or so. Of course, I reboot the Windows server daily. I only sacrifice speed when two or more connections are simultaneously active. Last night I put another HDD in my gaming rig, and tonight I'm going to load Linux on it. I've already booted to the live CD a few times, and Ubuntu sees my router just fine.

I just bought a laptop for my wife, as she's going back to school, so I'm going to turn her old WinXP Home PC into a Linux workstation, probably Kubuntu KDE. I bet it will run SO much faster, even though it's an older machine. That way she can use that one when she's home, and only needs web browsing and an office suite. And her laptop (Vista, unfortunately), will be primarily for on-the-go, where she'll use WiFi, or her own Blackjack, which I've set up for ICS, as well. Surprisingly enough, Vista was easier to setup and use a Win Mobile device w/ Internet Sharing than XP Pro was...

How ironic will it be when I'm using Linux boxes that get their internet connection from a Windows server?!

I've had no problems with Vista. I've actually found it to natively recognize devices and perform common functions much better than XP. I don't have any stability or speed problems. I sometimes think Vista's bad rap comes from a vocal minority.

I've had two bad experiences w/ Vista. But that was probably due to hardware (low-end CPU, 1GB RAM), and pre-SP1. It should be illegal to sell a Vista PC w/ less than 2GB of RAM, unless there is some type of doomsday warning on the front, like, "DANGER! 1GB of RAM on a Vista machine may cause you to go medieval on your desktop/laptop! Only buy this if you want your software to run slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter."

Sarah's laptop, however, has a Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz w/ 2MB of L2 cache, and 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM. It's not high-end, but it's still good, and it runs Vista Home Premium SP1 at an acceptable level of performance. And Sarah likes the "aero" look, and she knows how to hook her Blackjack up to it and use Internet Sharing (like I said, setting that up was easier w/ Vista than w/ XP), so I'm happy with it thus far.

As for Linux in general, I'm not using it out of necessity. My XP Pro machine has been rock-solid, and I like the games I can run on it. I just want to learn more about Linux. When I get around to building a new HTPC, I might like the idea of MythTV. If I can load an HTPC-flavored Linux distro, such as Mythbuntu, or KnoppMyth, and get the same performance as an XP MCE or Vista MCE, then I can use the $100+ I save and put it towards better hardware.

The barrier for Myth TV has traditionally been guide data. Their source of free guide data ran out, which makes WMC and BeyondTV that much more appealing. Do you know if that problem has been solved?

I have a copy of Beyond TV for Windows that you can have if you'd like to experiment. I don't even use it, so it'd actually be legal. I found WMC to be an overall better solution for me.

IMO, it's hard to beat WMC for TV watching, especially when you have 360s as extenders. There's also a couple companies who have introduced entry level HTPCs that are pretty good (cheap) platforms for building a powerful HTPC. I think ASUS is one of them.

I'm currently running Vista 64bit version with SP1 on my new gaming machine and I've had no problems what-so-ever! I'm actually impressed at how smoothly everything is running, compared to my old gaming laptop that was running vista where games were running sluggish and I was constantly debugging/fixing everything, hint why I just built a new computer sick of it. Last night I got my rig running stable finally sitting at 4.0GHz, soooo sick! My new fan controllers came in which helped out greatly, and my cable management is almost finished and looks nice inside. If I ever get my dang camera back from the woman I will post some pics!

I agree with Jeff, Vista gets bad rep from people installing it on lesser machines that can't handle the os, which is kind of silly. You can always turn off all the aero/addons but then it just looks like a crappier xp and what's the point then.

Plus I did a ton of registry tweaking this time around on vista, and it has improved my overall performance tenfold. I recommend getting rid of most of the useless crap that is in vista, it will free up a ton of memory and quick boot-up/load/boot-down times.

I bought a laptop that came with SUSE Linux preinstalled on it. I hated it. I hated it so much I sent it back and bought the exact model with Vista on it. It's a tiny laptop with 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM, and Vista runs okaaay on it. I like Vista's features, and I'll definitely consider upgrading my main PC, but I think I'll just put XP on this one.

Regarding MythTV, I don't know if the guide data issue has been fixed. I'm sure that will factor into my decision.

As for Beyond TV, I would like to take you up on that. It would certainly help in narrowing down choices. So far, all I've used is the bundled software that came with my Hauppauge 1600. I'll be investing in an HD HomeRun box soon (seems to be the way to go, hardware-wise). So getting to test out Beyond TV will help out.

As of a couple weeks ago the HDHR firmware/software was not yet fully functional with the WMC TV pack. I don't know if you're planning on running WMC at all, or WMC with the TV pack, but if so you should check the Silicon Dust forums before purchasing a HDHR to ensure you aren't buying a headache. Jafa (Nick) on the Silicon Dust forums is very responsive and helpful with HDHR problems. It's my perception that he coded the HDHR, so it's pretty handy having him as tech support.

Kubuntu 8.04 has been installed on a separate HDD in my gaming rig. I am still playing w/ the GRUB file to get a true dual-boot going. Right now, I have to disconnect the HDD it's on in order to boot Windows. I tried 64bit Kubuntu, but the CD I burned wouldn't load or install. It would boot to the Kubuntu welcome screen, where you can choose to boot the live cd, or install, but it goes no further without errors. I don't know if it's a bad .iso file, or if it didn't burn well. I got it from the same mirror that the 32bit version (which works fine) came from, and burned the image @ 4x (slower speeds result in deeper, more reliable burns). I haven't checked the MD5sum on it yet, so perhaps I'll give that a try. I've also *heard* that some 64bit versions of Linux don't play well w/ AMD Processors.

It's not a huge issue. 32bit Linux O/S will see all 4GB of my RAM just fine, and it's more driver-friendly. I wouldn't get a huge performance boost from 64bit. I just thought I'd see if it worked.

Thanks for the tip on burn speeds. I had no idea.