Ubuntu is amazing!

[jefjj01]

I just discovered Ubuntu! I know everyone has their preference but this is worth a look for anyone who wants to try something different.


Ubuntu just rocks!! And I do not mean that lightly. I have been into Linux since Red Hat 8 and then moved around to Mandrake for awhile, then SUSE, and now Ubuntu. With each distro and as time has passed things have gotten better and better. I always thought if someone could come up with a distro that focused on the best of the best and just made it work then they would really have something...well this is something. This is the Linux desktop experience I always wanted. It is light, fast and picks the best software to install by default (one CD install). How in the world did a new distro like Ubuntu kick the snot out of well known distros like SUSE and Mandrake?

Hopefully Ubuntu will not give into pressure and try to be everything to everyone. I saw other posts where Ubuntu says they will continue to focus on quality...great job!

[rocketpcguy]

sounds good. does it have some package management stuff, or something like apt-get? can it use RPMs (i've got a old commercial redh hat linux program in RPM, it still installs in fedora, as well as mandrake)?

can i use it as a server?

[jefjj01]

Its actually kind of a hybrid distro. It has developers from Debian and Gnome. I never ran Debian before but I guess the deal is the release cycles are slow. Ubuntu will have faster release schedules and is currently based on a Debian Unstable branch and Gnome 2.8. They use APT for the package installation and its been the easiest thing to use. They also use the sudo command so you never log into a root account, but if you need to do root type things you use the sudo command before what you want to do. I think it is what Mac does(?). It takes some getting used to, but seems to work good!

The install is text based, but is so simple to use. It shows how creating something simple to use can be better than thinking it has to be a flashy GUI...and I used to think I needed a GUI!

They also have a Live CD if you want to check it out without committing.

It is worth the look. The site and forums are really good to. They want to be a true community distro and people seem to be really cool.

[rbrimhall]

Ubuntu is awesome... just wanted to post a link... it's in my sig.

[squeegy]

I really like how they modified the Gnome panel at the top it adds that nice "Computer" menu which replaces actions. It looks much more usable. I actually have the patch that they applied to the gnome-panel source, I just am too lazy to go through and figure out what I need and what I don't.

[infiniphunk]

Yes, Ubuntu is a winner. I needed something for my girlfriend's laptop that wouldn't be a big hassle when using different wireless access points(at home or at school) and with Ubuntu its quite a bit easier than knoppix. Now everything on her laptop "just works". Synaptic is a great package management tool. sudo is a nice way of doing things too.
BTW, does anyone know of a wireless profile manager for switching between different wifi points? Its easy enough to set it manually when she gets to school or comes back home, I was just curious to know if there is an easier way.

[Yosuke_]

I love Slackware and the way I configured it, but I want to download Live CD and try it out! Is this live CD? http://source.rfc822.org/pub/mirror/releases.ubuntu.com/4.10/warty-rc2-live-i386.iso
I just wan't to be sure!!! Maybe tonight I will be able to test it (if I will be able to run my cd-rw http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134408&perpage=15&pagenumber=1 )

[JohnT]

Free cd's for those that are on dial-up.
http://shipit.ubuntulinux.org/user.cgi?action=logout&usernum=18776

[habibbijan]

I've run Ubuntu on an x86 desktop, and I like it. However, I could not get it to work on a B&W Powermac G3; the installation worked, but it had a kernel panic on first boot. It said it was missing dev/console.

I searched the Ubuntu forums and found this:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=156

Apparently, other B&W owners are having trouble as well. So...head's up for any other B&W G3 owners out there (both of you).

[Dancen]

I just got finished installing Ubuntu (this thread was my inspiration :)) , and I've just got to say WOW so far. Everything seems to be working already, including my video system (which, if you've seen some of my previous posts, has been the source of most of my headaches)! i need to use it more to be sure, but I think I may have found my distro :D

[jefjj01]

Its fun to see other people as enthused as I am. One note on the Live CD is that it is based on a preview release so there might be bugs...

So if you think the Live CD is cool then you'll love the official release version because it gets even better. I'm sure the Live CD will be in official release sometime soon.

Plus, lets face it, Ubuntu is just a fun word :).

[JohnT]

Just remember.....that Ubuntu spelled sideways is ...Nutubu :eek:

[Hmse]

Downloading right now:D And for the first time ever I just experienced the thrill of getting 600 kb/sec! I live in the US, and started the download from the UN and somehow, managed for about 3 seconds to get 600 kb/sec! 2 megs in approx. 5 seconds:D

[seldomseen]

It's an interesting distro. I'm not real wild about its no-root system (using sudo etc.) and I'm not a big Gnome fan (Fluxbox and Windowmaker are more my speed) but it has its charms. I'm in the process of rebuilding a 'puter for my wife -- a Compaq Pressario I found on a dumpster-diving expedition -- and I'll probably put Ubuntu on it.

I think it's a good distro for someone to learn Linux with, even though it won't supplant Mepis on my rig.

[infiniphunk]

If you update synaptic to include the universe section(just put a checkmark to select them) then you can install kde also.

and you can always change the whole root privelege thing if you want: >open root terminal>passwd...
that way you can change the root password to one of your choice...though I think the unix gurus are gonna chastise me for making this suggestion.
:)

[EnigmaOne]

Originally posted by infiniphunk
If you update synaptic to include the universe section(just put a checkmark to select them) then you can install kde also.

Ok, that did it for me.
Just ordered 10 of each of the CDs, and the .iso is coming down the pipe right now. I think it'll live alongside Mepis on this machine for a while.

If this is as good a distro as I'm seeing here, they'll definitely get some of my money. :)

[mhacleth]

share your shots...:) I'd like to see it.

[serz]

Originally posted by mhacleth
share your shots...:) I'd like to see it.
Yeah, I would like to see some screenshots too.

[aNoob]

Originally posted by JohnT
Just remember.....that Ubuntu spelled sideways is ...Nutubu :eek:

If you remove some letters from 'Ubuntu' and add some others it is 'Slackware'

Worth a try though,downloading now. And since Pat will most probably reject Gnome from next Slack , I know where to get my Gnome dose.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by aNoob
If you remove some letters from 'Ubuntu' and add some others it is 'Slackware'

Worth a try though,downloading now. And since Pat will most probably reject Gnome from next Slack , I know where to get my Gnome dose. :p Dropline, hopefully will pick that up.

[rbrimhall]

Ubuntu Screenshot:

[rbrimhall]

With the hacked Computer Menu:

[jefjj01]

I'm not really big into posting that this piece of hardware worked, or that didn't work...just because I think Linux supports the most popular hardware really good and its best to stick with that. However, I made the mistake of buying an Epson CX5400 3 in 1 printer that is not fully supported according to linuxprinting.org. On SUSE I couldn't even get it to print correct in any program (margins way off) and the scanner I did get to work only after working through a two page 'fix' I found in a article (I think linked from linuxtoday.com). Anyway, under Ubuntu the printer and scanner worked right off the bat without me doing anything! I finally no longer regret purchasing the printer...

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by JohnT
:p Dropline, hopefully will pick that up.

JohnT, are you actually endorsing Dropline... I'm shocked;)

[aNoob]

I'm a bit afraid of using (again) Dropline. Last time I installed it over my fresh Slack+Gnome , my main IDE (Eclipse) quit working.Funny thing,without Dropline everything worked. I like a lot Dropline,but it seems to me that it goes too deep into system.Should check it again one day.

[EnigmaOne]

Originally posted by mhacleth
share your shots...:) I'd like to see it.

You can get a decent screenshot tour of Ubuntu here
http://osdir.com/shots/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=156&slide=1 (78 shots)
and here:
http://osdir.com/screenshots/index.php?directory=gnome2.8 (51 shots)

[BaVinic]

I Installed it, and it went very smoothly, not a big fan of Gnome though, so I did the whole kde thing, installed fine, but errors out everyting I do something, but that is an easy fix.

I think it has a lot of promise, and I see good things in the future with this one. the only downfalls I see are:

1: Debain based.

2:cost of shipping out the "Free" pressed cd's could cause future plans for it to be put on hold. people will no doubt take advantage of this offer, and order 10 to 50 copies, even though 1 would be enough for anyone unless you are trying to profit from it. (IMHO)

other than that, great promis indeed.

BaVinic

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by BaVinic
I Installed it, and it went very smoothly, not a big fan of Gnome though, so I did the whole kde thing, installed fine, but errors out everyting I do something, but that is an easy fix.

I think it has a lot of promise, and I see good things in the future with this one. the only downfalls I see are:

1: Debain based.

2:cost of shipping out the "Free" pressed cd's could cause future plans for it to be put on hold. people will no doubt take advantage of this offer, and order 10 to 50 copies, even though 1 would be enough for anyone unless you are trying to profit from it. (IMHO)

other than that, great promis indeed.

BaVinic

Not sure why being debian based is a problem but for your second point:

They actually ask that you order at least 10 cds or more because shipping will cost more than actually pressing and printing. I ordered a few more to pass around to random strangers ;)

[akshat]

ubuntu sure does sound interesting...

btw, have any shipit cds been delivered yet?

[aNoob]

OK, 5 days with Ubuntu today and I believe Slack will come again as sole distro on my laptop.Don't understand me wrong , I love Gnome and Ubuntu is ... misterious distro but not for me. :D
However it may find some place on some friends computers.I am back to my flux now.Just realized now how much I depend on Slackware.

[jefjj01]

--Ubuntu is ... misterious distro

Why do you say that?


After two weeks I am completely sold because I finally have a desktop that is polished, fast and every piece of hardware (including the 3-n-1 printer) works perfectly. Plus the stability is as good as what I had with SUSE!

Its all good though...to each his own.

[BaVinic]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
Not sure why being debian based is a problem but for your second point:



actually, I did not mean to make it sound like Debian was a problem, just that Ubuntu is not a "From Scratch" distro. there are many ditros out there that are repackaged distro's, and even though I would agree that there is still a lot of work put into them, it is not like we are getting a completly new distro, just repackaged goods.

Ubuntu is a good distro, installs great, is very fast and clean, I like it a lot. it's just not Original.

BaVinic

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by BaVinic
actually, I did not mean to make it sound like Debian was a problem, just that Ubuntu is not a "From Scratch" distro. there are many ditros out there that are repackaged distro's, and even though I would agree that there is still a lot of work put into them, it is not like we are getting a completly new distro, just repackaged goods.

Ubuntu is a good distro, installs great, is very fast and clean, I like it a lot. it's just not Original.

BaVinic

On that slippery slope wouldn't a lot of distros "technically" not be original? Like Mandrake and Suse deriving from Redhat for example? Not starting a flame war or anything... just curious how far that logic extends;)

[BaVinic]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
On that slippery slope wouldn't a lot of distros "technically" not be original? Like Mandrake and Suse deriving from Redhat for example? Not starting a flame war or anything... just curious how far that logic extends;)

That I think was my point, but please, don't misunderstand my comment, there was no logic intended :)


BaVinic

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by BaVinic
That I think was my point, but please, don't misunderstand my comment, there was no logic intended :)


BaVinic

Got ya;)

[infiniphunk]

Are any of you having any luck with wireless profiles settings on Ubuntu? When I installed it on the SatelliteA10 the wireless worked right off the bat, but I need to set it up so that it will also connect to the access point at school, where in one builidng there is no encryption or essid and in the other building the essid is set and there is a 64-bit WEP key? I'm pretty sure I just have to add these profiles in /etc/network/interfaces and then ifup for them depending on where I am. Anyone know an easy way of settign this up? Using the GUI configutation tool just seems to set it up wrong.

[rbrimhall]

Someone on the mailing list wrote a script for this... try searching there for "wireless profiles"

[teeitup]

I spent last night installing and checking out Ubuntu. It's a very young distro and will get better over time. It has a good development team and corporate money behind it.

The installer is too automatic for my tastes. It is another Debian high bred much like Libranet. It doesn't conform to a particular branch. This can cause dependency problems down the road after installing a bunch of software.

The available software in the apt repositories is extremely limited. They recommend against mixing Ubuntu sources with Debian sources. You can use deb files with dpkg. I did this for a number of programs I use all the time and they seem to run just fine. I used testing versions. All the development libraries are available through apt-get so rolling your own isn't a problem. I had to add samba and smbfs support, xmms, and a decent file manager, Nautilus is the default.

The basic install of Gnome 2.8 and Evolution and Firefox produces and very nice basic system.

screenshot (http://home.comcast.net/~srvffl/screenshots/ss_eclipse.png)

[jefjj01]

--The basic install of Gnome 2.8 and Evolution and Firefox produces and very nice basic system.

But see that is what makes this system so nice! It is lightweight, fast and polished. I personally use my computer to do Java Development (Eclipse), Surf the Web, Email, and write documents sometimes (Writer). Along the way I need to use my CD burner, listen to music, create graphics (gimp), and use other various development tools (like ssh). Why do other distros have to carry so much bloat just for people who want to do these things? The beauty of Ubuntu is everything most people need is nice and polished and just works. I just think its about time somebody did not give into the pressure to try and be everything to everyone. On a side note I find it interesting that people download Ubuntu to install KDE. Why would you do that? And if you do why are you surprised that your disappointed? Ubutu picked the packages they deemed worthy to include and they picked GNOME. There are plenty of distros trying to be everything...which is why I am constantly disappointed with the results. And actually I did not know I was disappointed until I found Ubuntu.

[Ehwaz001]

I have downloaded the Live CD version and used it on a PII 400 with 320 MB RAM and noticed that it detected all my devices properly and that it actually booted fast. I don't like the distro however, since it tends to be developed and focused more on people who just want their computer to do their daily work done and don't want to mess around much. Indeed, the distro and certainly GNOME looks very polished, but it has a bit to much eye-candy for me. All applications and leisure programs are available just by the click of a button, and that's what a regular PC user just wants from a PC. Nothing more, nothing less.

Therefore, I don't like it that much. Not much is being showed when the OS boots and not much is shown in the actual log when you press escape to erase the boot screen and see what's going on. I tend to see more messages and much more lines with other distros then this one. I showed it to my parents and they like the OS. Logically, they use their computer just to get their work done and don't use it that much for anything else.

So for me, it's not a good distro for developers and people who really want to dive in. It's focused on people who see their computer as a tool to make their everyday life just a little bit more easy. I have absolutely no objection to that, because these sort of distros have to be available as well. I don't demand everybody to dive into code or command lines like I do, and I can understand those who dislike this way of using a computer.

Overall, Ubuntu is a good OS which is focused more on the casual user and that worked very good on a rather old PC. You do have to love using GNOME (and that is something I don't like using either, so...)

Greetings, you all have a nice monday!

[mrBen]

Originally posted by Ehwaz001
I have downloaded the Live CD version and used it on a PII 400 with 320 MB RAM and noticed that it detected all my devices properly and that it actually booted fast. I don't like the distro however, since it tends to be developed and focused more on people who just want their computer to do their daily work done and don't want to mess around much. Indeed, the distro and certainly GNOME looks very polished, but it has a bit to much eye-candy for me. All applications and leisure programs are available just by the click of a button, and that's what a regular PC user just wants from a PC. Nothing more, nothing less.

Therefore, I don't like it that much. Not much is being showed when the OS boots and not much is shown in the actual log when you press escape to erase the boot screen and see what's going on. I tend to see more messages and much more lines with other distros then this one. I showed it to my parents and they like the OS. Logically, they use their computer just to get their work done and don't use it that much for anything else.

So for me, it's not a good distro for developers and people who really want to dive in. It's focused on people who see their computer as a tool to make their everyday life just a little bit more easy. I have absolutely no objection to that, because these sort of distros have to be available as well. I don't demand everybody to dive into code or command lines like I do, and I can understand those who dislike this way of using a computer.

Overall, Ubuntu is a good OS which is focused more on the casual user and that worked very good on a rather old PC. You do have to love using GNOME (and that is something I don't like using either, so...)

Greetings, you all have a nice monday!

Developers should use Debian, then ;)

[Ehwaz001]

Hmmm, and which distro are you using ? :D :D :D

[mmills]

I personally like CCUX for a desktop, has anyone tried this on a laptop?
does anyone have a KDE screenshot?

[mrBen]

Originally posted by Ehwaz001
Hmmm, and which distro are you using ? :D :D :D

Debian and Ubuntu, of course :)

[rocketpcguy]

can i use this ubuntu distro as a NAT and samba server while it's being used as a home PC?

[teeitup]

can i use this ubuntu distro as a NAT and samba server
while it's being used as a home PC

Sure.
However it doesn't include these in the initial install. You can add and configure them later.

[ions]

I installed Ubuntu for my neighbour after she came to me for the Nth time with an XP box that just stops responding. I told her she could continue dealing with that all the time or move to Linux and not worry about that sort of crap. Plus I was really getting tired of playing with that XP box.

Other than a couple problems, like no support of MSN Web chat in Linux, the machine has been working fine for them. I ssh into it once in a while and make sure everything is working fine and have been quite impressed. The Ubuntu people set Gnome up well enough that it convinced me to move to Gnome from ob3. It's very peppy and easy to use!

Perfect Newb distro and not bad for more advanced users either really. When you consider that Ubuntu is still very young it's an impressive distro and has a bright future.

I'm working on a few more converts for Ubuntu now. :)

[darth_tradd]

Considering this is young distro, they've delivered a quality product. I'm kind of a RPM guy, so I had Fedora Core 2 installed in my laptop. It worked fine, but I had to write a script to get my USB flash memory working and to get some modules to get my webcam set up.

With Ubuntu, both devices worked perfectly, without needing any further adjustments.

I'm really impressed with this distro. If they keep doing like this, i'ts going to become a major player on the desktop.

[ehawk]

Originally posted by ions

Other than a couple problems, like no support of MSN Web chat in Linux, the machine has been working fine for them. I ssh into it once in a while and make sure everything is working fine and have been quite impressed. The Ubuntu people set Gnome up well enough that it convinced me to move to Gnome from ob3. It's very peppy and easy to use!




Gaim doesn't handle MSN chat? I don't recall....

[infiniphunk]

Other than a couple problems, like no support of MSN Web chat in Linux

but even that's not really a problem; just show your friend how to connect to messenger through GAIM, which is installed by default with Ubuntu.:)

[mhacleth]

Well, I tried it and was quite impressed by the ease of installation.

It is a perfect recommendation for people switching over to Linux from Winbloze.

Having been reared in Gentoo and now, Slackware, I don't think I'd switch over. right, JohnT? ;)

my Congratulations to Ubuntu for this excellent start! :)

Mhac

[dr_te_z]

Installed it recently. 1st impressions:
- no go on my XP/VMware config. My VMware is too old. Other people reported simular problems. Too bad.

- installed it on my multi-boot P200 to replace W98 :). It comes with GRUB. GRUB sees my (lilo-based) debian and slackware, but misses my OS/2 and freeBSD partitions. Accepted anyway, solve that later.

- from another linux I try to ssh into ubuntu. it does not accept. the keywords "ssh" and "sshd" on their documentation site come with zero hits.

- I miss gkrellm. when I "apt cache search gkrellm" I get zero hits. Can I use my good-old debian apt-urls? If so, which ones: woody/sarge/cid?

- Just like debian ubuntu cannot auto-config my X. My PCI-based S3 card is too old or too exentric.... During manual config "I see the light". xf86config created a new "/etc/X11/XF86Config" but X uses the unchanged "XF86Config-4". Moving that one away solves the problem. Quick quick boot my old debian, perhaps there the same problem...

- From the GDM screen I choose to reboot. From that moment GRUB gives errors on all OS-es. That was yersterdayevening late. Machine is dead now....Gives me something to do. I'll keep you informed.

But what I saw I liked. Very nice setup. Very up-to-date (kernel/gnome).

[mrBen]

Originally posted by dr_te_z
Installed it recently. 1st impressions:
- no go on my XP/VMware config. My VMware is too old. Other people reported simular problems. Too bad.

- installed it on my multi-boot P200 to replace W98 :). It comes with GRUB. GRUB sees my (lilo-based) debian and slackware, but misses my OS/2 and freeBSD partitions. Accepted anyway, solve that later.

- from another linux I try to ssh into ubuntu. it does not accept. the keywords "ssh" and "sshd" on their documentation site come with zero hits.

Ubuntu installs the ssh client, but not the server, by default. It sees itself as a desktop distro, and so doesn't install many services.


- I miss gkrellm. when I "apt cache search gkrellm" I get zero hits. Can I use my good-old debian apt-urls? If so, which ones: woody/sarge/cid?

You want to add some of the 'Universe' options. See the Wiki/FAQ.



- Just like debian ubuntu cannot auto-config my X. My PCI-based S3 card is too old or too exentric.... During manual config "I see the light". xf86config created a new "/etc/X11/XF86Config" but X uses the unchanged "XF86Config-4". Moving that one away solves the problem. Quick quick boot my old debian, perhaps there the same problem...

Your card probably is either too old or too eccentric, unfortunately. I've not had any X problems when I've installed Ubuntu.


- From the GDM screen I choose to reboot. From that moment GRUB gives errors on all OS-es. That was yersterdayevening late. Machine is dead now....Gives me something to do. I'll keep you informed.

But what I saw I liked. Very nice setup. Very up-to-date (kernel/gnome).

Out of curiousity, were you using a pre-release, or the latest, final release version? I had GRUB issue on the pre-release, but I believe they have been resolved in the final release.

[Sgood1971]

Has anyone ever recieved the CD's from their site they were shipping for free? I ordered 10, which was the default, but have not gotten them. I have been dying to try this, but with the &^%# bandwidth limitations they put on my satellite connection, I have to pick and choose very wisely what I download.

[mengle]

Granted I only tried out Ubuntu for a couple of days, so definitely take my comments with a grain of salt.

Here are my beefs with it:

1) Appraently it's package pool is not that of Debian so it has limited packages that one can install. IMO it's too bad they had to do this instead of helping continue develop the debian pool, they are building their own. I'm sure they have their own reason for it but I think it's too bad.

2) I think I've realized I really don't like GNOME. Personal preference so let's move on.

3) Using sudo was driving me insane. I think there are some good aplications for sudo but I would have given anything to have my root back.

4) Fairly unstable packages. I had a lot of program crashes. More than any other distro I've used. I would guess that it stems from Ubuntu using version frm the Debian unstable pool. Granted it's more up to date but it started to feel a bit like windows (minus the blue screen of death, of course).

5) They offer free CD's. I ordered mine well over a month ago. Still haven't seen them. Has anyone? I think it's great they offered this service but they need to actually send them out in a reasonable amount of time.

I realize that Ubuntu is very simple to install and has great hardware detection but there are plenty of other distros that do that. So I can't really see what's going for it at this point. We'll see where Ubunut heads though.

[teeitup]

3) Using sudo was driving me insane. I think there are some good aplications for sudo but I would have given anything to have my root back.

I agree it got old. For a single command like mount no big deal. If you need to do more than that you can sudo su and become root. Then you won't need to use sudo for every command.

[mengle]

D'oh! Now if feel stupid but at least I learned something.

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by mengle

1) Appraently it's package pool is not that of Debian so it has limited packages that one can install. IMO it's too bad they had to do this instead of helping continue develop the debian pool, they are building their own. I'm sure they have their own reason for it but I think it's too bad.

I think this was intentional for a reason. AFAIK mixing debian versions (sarge and unstable) is bad form so it would make sense that mixing Ubuntu with debian would be frowned upon. Have you tried installing some stuff on MEPIS (GNOME?) and seen how difficult it is even though MEPIS is "debian compatiable"?

The developers maintain they're own packages but whatever bugs they squash are sent upstream to Debian proper for submission and either admission or rejection.

I don't see the problem here... and debian packages "work" they're just not supported ;)



3) Using sudo was driving me insane. I think there are some good aplications for sudo but I would have given anything to have my root back.

Hasn't bothered me very much at all...

4) Fairly unstable packages. I had a lot of program crashes. More than any other distro I've used. I would guess that it stems from Ubuntu using version frm the Debian unstable pool. Granted it's more up to date but it started to feel a bit like windows (minus the blue screen of death, of course).

Yep, some of the packages are a little "warty" but no show stoppers here. I haven't had an included program crash though some of the unsupported ones from universe do crash for sure

5) They offer free CD's. I ordered mine well over a month ago. Still haven't seen them. Has anyone? I think it's great they offered this service but they need to actually send them out in a reasonable amount of time.

They were supposed to start shipping the first of November AFAIK. Expect them "any day now" ;)

I realize that Ubuntu is very simple to install and has great hardware detection but there are plenty of other distros that do that. So I can't really see what's going for it at this point. We'll see where Ubunut heads though.

Well, it's a nice Debian-based distro that is GNOME centric rather then KDE or IceWM centric. It has actual Debian and GNOME developers working on it as well. It "just works" (for me at any rate.)

Whew!

[Ehwaz001]

I just wanted to add this in the thread about the amazing Ubuntu distro: OSNews has a review of Ubuntu, after using it for +- 6 weeks, so if anyone is interested, you can read the review right over here:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8754
(alas, no screenshots...)

[jefjj01]

>>Fairly unstable packages. I had a lot of program >>crashes.

>>I think I've realized I really don't like GNOME. >>Personal preference so let's move on.


Thats too bad...I have yet to have one crash. In fact Ubuntu has been the most crash-free distro as of yet. I never turn off my PC either.

I do notice a trend in that people who prefer KDE seem to have very little positive to say about a GNOME distribution. I guess that is stating the obvious but after reading that last review I would be very reluctent to try Ubuntu. Luckily I installed Ubuntu early on and found out first hand how rock solid and stable and amazing the distro is!!

p.s. I'm a recent GNOME convert too :)

[mohapi]

Sounds great. I just installed SUSE Pro 9.1 after a major glitch with Fedora I stopped everything, but SUSE seems slow and so it must be MASSIVE? I just ordered the free unbutu CD's and we'll se how it goes. I used Firefox on Fedora and liked it much better than Mozilla or Konqueror.

[GnomeProject]

I still haven't received my "free" CD's the makers of Ubuntu said they would send out to disseminate the word about the new distro. I ordered 20 about a month and a half ago and still no dice! Anyone else have better luck so far?

-Adam

PS. I really can't wait to try it, but bandwith is limited right now... :-(

[mohapi]

I downloaded and installed it, thus wiping away the SUSE. It has some bugs and an odd, to me, sudo system. I've tried to install Debian once and gave up, but although this is Debian based, it was Very easy to install and I think I'm going to like it a lot.

[psi42]

Just finished installing ubuntu on a P-II 450mhz with 128 MB RAM. It's pretty nippy, applications load quickly, everything is usable. I like the way they set up GNOME, no useless icons on the desktop, the "Computer" menu. I still am not a GNOME fan, but this is a pretty useful improvement...

Of course, by no means am I switching. As was mentioned before, this distro (like GNOME, I might add), is pretty much designed for the guy who wants to point and click his webbrowser around and basically little else. In my opinion, it does this job admirably. This is the best "desktop linux" I have ever seen, and I'm willing to bet that linux finally has a viable home desktop contender right here in ubuntu.

Too bad its not slackware based :)

I'll be spreading this CD around. But it's still slackware for me, no challenge on that front. :)

~psi42

[EnigmaOne]

I have to agree with your essential points on that.

This one will probably end-up being good for a good number of my customers...glad I went against instinct and ordered so many CDs.

[beerman]

I have a quick question while talking about Ubuntu....

Has anyone installed VMware on this distro yet? I can't seem to figure out how to install the linux sources correclty yet. I download the tarball, tar it to a directory, but the installation script doesn't accept it. Any ideas?


/thread hijack

[JohnT]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
JohnT, are you actually endorsing Dropline... I'm shocked;) Well if Pat drops Gnome from the lineup, there's not much of an alternative, is there?

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by JohnT
Well if Pat drops Gnome from the lineup, there's not much of an alternative, is there?

You're right about that I guess...


(PS-- I was just kidding by the way in case it wasn't obvious):)

[JohnT]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
You're right about that I guess...


(PS-- I was just kidding by the way in case it wasn't obvious):) :eek: ...(your right though....I don't endorse....DL...I guess we could go back to source...:D

[Pierre Lambion]

After reading all the positive comments on Ubuntu, I just tried the Live CD.

I will echo the praises about the simplicity and polish of the desktop. But the point I want to raise is the speed and responsiveness of it.

I'm currently running Slackware current on an old p2 based Celeron 600 with 380 RAM and a 5400RM 10GB HDD (hdparm optimized).
The only services I'm running are squid, dansguardian and lprng.
My desktop is openbox+kicker+konqueror and kmail; using urxvt as terminal. No kdm or session management.
I feel quite at ease with it and keep precious backup of my configuration files.

Lately I tried the 2.8 release of gnome and found it very sluggish. By the way, I previously switched from Firefox + Thunderbird and rox filer to kde based apps because firefox was just too sluggish.
Gnome 2.8 (dropline) was slower than my previous desktop except for epiphany which suprized me in a positive way. However, globally my kde+openbox was faster.

That's why I have been really suprized to see Gnome 2.8 on the Ubuntu Live *CD* run faster than my normal (HDD installed) setup! Nautilus windows just pop up with no perceivable lag. Firefox is stll a bit slow and epiphany is not installed by default. The desktop feels snappy! I'm very tempted to install it to my harddrive but that would mean dropping slackware that I have been using for years now.

Hardware detection has been excellent. Plenty of small settings well adjusted. I must admit that even though I know my slackware setup and have back up of config files, it would still take me several hours to re-install it from scratch, should anything bad happen. I guess Ubuntu would install quite faster.

Next time I feel like re-installing, I will try Ubuntu first. Maybe in April when Gnome 2.10 gets published ...

I'm very pleased by Ubuntu in its Live CD version.

P.

[rocketpcguy]

tried it (hdd install), didn't like it. i'm reinstalling slackware.
its good for ultra-newbies maybe, but misses a lot of essential programs. i needed to get my 56k winmodem working. i couldnt compile it, because it doesnt come with a compiler, and i couldnt download a compiler with no internet either.
and brown? er, no thanks.

[bensdomain]

Trying Ubuntu now, compared to FC2, Ubuntu has a smooter interface. It includes a number of apps not in the default install of FC2 like mp3 player and movie player. However, when i tried to play mp3 and movie on ubuntu, i couldnt get it to work. How can it not be able to play mp3?

Installing Ubuntu always take pretty long and you dont get many choices till after you're done with the base install. The base install takes up around 3.1gb.

But I just love the nice interface on gnome:) I have always wanted to try debian, now i can at least try something pretty close to it :).

[jme]

Well... I downloaded and installed this first thing this morning and from what I have seen I am very impressed.

I usually use Slack and I can't see me converting at the moment, but it's doing it's job rather well. I have it installed on my laptop which is only a 400MHz PIII with 320MB RAM and it is really nippy - must be the fastest distro I have had on here especially considering it is runnuing GNOME.

Anyway, back to playing.

[rbrimhall]

Originally posted by bensdomain
Trying Ubuntu now, compared to FC2, Ubuntu has a smooter interface. It includes a number of apps not in the default install of FC2 like mp3 player and movie player. However, when i tried to play mp3 and movie on ubuntu, i couldnt get it to work. How can it not be able to play mp3?


Patent/legal reasons (same as Redhat/Fedora and SUSE)... you can enable it by following the information in the FAQ on the ubuntu wiki... pretty easy...

[euklidis]

hi guys. i am new to linux and last week i bought a magazine for pc which has a cd with Ubuntu. is it easy to use for a biggener? should i try it? i now have Suse 9.0

[GnomeProject]

I just got all 20 of the Ubuntu CD's I requested about three weeks ago...good stuff! Gonna go try it out now and I'll let you know how it goes... :-) From what I have heard it should be quite an amazing experience. So keep in mind, that the free CD's are for real.

[dragaal]

I have been reading up on this distro for the past few days, and I decided to just try it for myself, I had never tried a debian based distro before, let alone this one. So I went got the 1 cd it required me to get (very nice its on one cd by the way) and it started installing, I was actully amazed how much they cramped into that 580mb cd, they still have plenty of room to keep it on one cd, at least it only takes a 25 minutes or so to download it and burn it.

So on I went to installation, it went through everything in 20 minutes without locking or error, and boom, I was greeted with the Ubuntu Desktop, which is in Gnome, I looked at it, looked very professional, it also had sounds which was interesting, it wasn't the same old same old. I have tried in the past, Mandrake 10.1 - I have dependency hell, Fedora Core 1 and 3 - Ahhh the bugs!!!!! and Slackware - Yeah this one is decent, but it feels kind of bland for my tastes but definately a great distro none the less, its rock solid, so i'm left with Ubuntu, and I have to say, it kicks *** ;)

And don't get me wrong either, Ubuntu is also rock solid ;)

[Sgood1971]

While at my mom's house over Thanksgiving (She has a cable connection) I decided I could not wait for the free CD's so I downloaded and installed Ubuntu on my laptop. I like, I like. I am posting with it now. I am no fan of Gnome, but I may learn to like it in time. I am going to leave it as my main distro on my laptop for now alongside SuSE 9.1 Pro. The only thing I have not figured out yet is how to get my Linmodem working, but I have only had it installed since late last night and I plan to work on that today. First impression is very nice.

[jefjj01]

>>hi guys. i am new to linux and last week i bought a magazine for pc which has a cd with Ubuntu. is it easy to use for a biggener? should i try it? i now have Suse 9.0

Its been the easiest for me!

The really nice thing is you can just preview it with the Live CD and then if you like it go grap the Install CD.

I am also really impressed with the text based install. I at first thought a text based install would not be as good (or easy), but then discovered I like it a lot. It goes to show what a well designed program will do whether its a GUI or text based.

As for the distro itsself I haven't had on hiccup. I keep my computer on 24X7 and it hasn't gone down once. The programs I use all work great too, so its hard to find anything negative to say.

Seems like the only people who are not as enthused are the do-it-yourselfers in the slackware and gentoo world, or some of the KDE fans. Each to his own...thats why we have choices!

[torontonewbie]

So far I've found the Xandros OCD edition to be the simplex Linux distro to get up and running with "no fuss no muss".

Yes the OCD edition is a bit limited too but when you have a mixed Linux/Windoze network it works quite well...very easy to find your Windoze shares and also very easily found a shared printer that was connected to a Windoze box. Shared Windoze folders are not much of a problem on most distros but shared Windoze printers can be a royal pain for a newbie...and Xandros OCD fit the bill quite nicely on that.

I have heard quite alot of "buzz" lately about Ubuntu and want to give it a spin. I know the "easy" distros aren't for everyone but if Linux is to have a future on the home desktop (and I think it does) the "easy" distros are the way to go IMHO for 90% of home users.

My Xandros "test" box is a Celeron 333 MHz. with 96 MB RAM, 8 GB hard drive, 8 MB ATI AGP video card, old ISA 16 bit Soundblaster card. It runs quite slowly but it does work.

I have enough stuff in the "junk bin" to throw together a couple more old boxes. For most Linux boxes with GUI I've found I need at least a PII or K6-II at 300 MHz. with 64 MB RAM (but preferably more).

Any thoughts on how "low" to push the hardware on Ubuntu? I've got a bunch of PI 233 MMX chips along with some old motherboards in the junk box so was just wondering it it was worth my while.

[Sgood1971]

I have Ubuntu running on a 233MMX box w/64MB RAM. It's not even terribly slow compared to SuSE running Flux on the same box.

[Licaon]

Hey there,

Just got my free Ubuntu CDs this morning and i got it installed om my machine... looks good, as i am a Slack-fan myself i liked the text installer, but the partitioning interface rocks!!!(fdisk is fun anyway:))

some stuff i did not like:
-the lack of MidnightCommander (had to get it from UNIVERSE throu SYNAPTIC);
-the lack of GORILLA theme for GNOME (i just love that theme... good colors...);
-while it installed GRUB it has a rather strange black (text!?) theme... well some Ubuntu-boot-splash could be more fun;
-looked like GCC/G++ are on the CD but not installed by default ... but since i want GCC a can run SYNAPTIC a get them installed:);
-did not yet installed the NVIDIA drivers but ill give them i try tonight;
-since GNOME has large packages i feel like it uses the cdspace for some other packages like XMMS (rhytmbox doesn't do it for me:))/XINE (i can't get totem to use subtitles);


ill post some more adventures under Ubuntu after i test drive it some more...

[Texatl]

OK, cuz of this thread - and I wanted to try something different. I downloaded and installed Ubuntu to my "play" laptop. It installed very nicely.

I use RH9 everyday on my main PC so I was used to Gnome and synaptic, etc... Don't know if I like this new version of gnome, but....

Opening up "universe" in synaptic allowed me to install, rather easily xfce, fluxbox, gkrellm. Although, flux came with nothing and I had to configure the entire thing myself (great learning experience though). So far I feel it could be a great disto for those who wants a working system now!

BUT, the whole sudo thing sucks. I burned a cd w/ gkrellm themes from the RH9 box (themes I can't find anywhere esle - googled for invisible and can't find it) and Ubuntu won't allow me to copy the files off the cd because I don't have permission to read the files ?!?!?!!.... Here is where su -l would really help. But Ubuntu barfs big green stuff when you try su -l.

Oh yeah and totem doesn't like any vid files I throw at it. I don't know why its on here...

So anyway. It looks good. Needs some refinement... But I like it (kind of)

[Licaon]

about totem and video files:

since the codecs aren't full open source they are missing from Ubuntu... check this out...
www.linuxforums.org/forum/topic-25783.html

i'm using XINE anyway... :)

[Hey girl!]

How does Ubuntu do for newer computers, how is the support for s-ata harddisks?

[mrBen]

Originally posted by Hey girl!
How does Ubuntu do for newer computers, how is the support for s-ata harddisks?

It's designed for newer desktop machine, although I've no idea about SATA drives - the drives shouldn't be a problem, but the controller might.

Get a copy of the LiveCD to try first.

with regards to the su/sudo thing mentioned above, there is a menu option that allows you to open a 'root' terminal.

[jefjj01]

>>BUT, the whole sudo thing sucks.

Someone posted earlier on this thread that you can...

"If you need to do more than that you can sudo su and become root. Then you won't need to use sudo for every command."

I have not tried it myself but it seems to be what you are looking for.


What a fun thread!

I just ordered a C programming book this morning. I'm excited :). I have been a Java programmer for years, but figured its time to roll up my sleeves and learn c/c++ to do some Unix programming! I can't wait to see how Ubuntu does as a Unix development box. I use it for Java development right now and it works great!

[mmills]

I am running Ubuntu 4:10 on a HP N5340 Pavilion laptop and I get a pci error on boot as well as another I have no clue what it means, I like the wireless support ubuntu has but, I get a video error as well, I cant watch any sports videos, my video wont run, I tried installing mplayer, it failed, and left an icon in my system tray. other than a few glitches, I like the system.

[Gogeta_44]

Originally posted by psi42

Of course, by no means am I switching. As was mentioned before, this distro (like GNOME, I might add), is pretty much designed for the guy who wants to point and click his webbrowser around and basically little else. In my opinion, it does this job admirably. This is the best "desktop linux" I have ever seen, and I'm willing to bet that linux finally has a viable home desktop contender right here in ubuntu.

Too bad its not slackware based :)

I really couldn't have said it better myself.:D

[jefjj01]

>>is pretty much designed for the guy who wants to point and click his webbrowser around and basically little else.

hmm, thats actually a little insulting. I do more than use my web browser, and I would be willing to bet others do to!

Could you explain what it means to be a newbie distro and what is so great about the "elite" distros such as gentoo and slackware? I mean can I not do something on Ubuntu that I can do on any other distro? My experience are some are easier than others to get configured and then work with. I like Ubuntu because they picked the best (in my opinion) packages to install by default. I did try Gentoo from stage one, but got irritated at how often the compiling would fail. I did get it up and was excited about doing it, but I couldn't get around how often it would not compile and could not see moving it over to my main machine. I always meant to try Slackware, but then found this and cannot see why I would switch...at least not on my main machine. What exactly do you do with Slackware that is so cool? And I do not mean that in a bad way...I really want to know...what can you do that I cannot?

[Sgood1971]

Just wanted to add that I discovered by accident that my synaptic touch pads touch scrolling works. I had gotten so used to this not working on every other distro I have had on here that I didn't even think to check. I am liking Ubuntu better all the time.

[blackbelt_jones]

I tried Ubuntu briefly, but I didn't like it as much as Debian from the Sarge installer. Anyone with a broadband who has had a hard time installing and configuring Debian might want to try the Debian installer, which can be found here.

http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

You get "real" Debian, with all the flexibility and access to a vast library of free software (about 15 thousand packages, all of them a simple line command away.) but with a greatly simplified installation procedure from the old seven-disk Woody method.

Clearly, Ubuntu is onto something. I mean, how many months ago was it that I had never even heard of this upstart distro? I can't say that I gave Ubuntu a fair shake, but it seems to me that it was somewhat less flexible than Sarge. Anyway, far be it from me to put down anybody's distro, but if your problem with Debian is the vast, complicated installation procedure(Lord knows, that was MY problem) the Debian installer may be the way to go.

[Sepero]

Originally posted by Texatl
su -l would really help. But Ubuntu barfs big green stuff when you try su -l.As another poster said, you can easily `sudo su -`. If you absolutely have to have a root password, that's easy too. `sudo password root`


Originally posted by Texatl
I am running Ubuntu 4:10 on a HP N5340 Pavilion laptop and I get a pci error on boot as well as another I have no clue what it meansMy dad had this on his machine too. I searched in the Ubuntu forums and found it's easy to take care of. Just note the modules(pcichp and shchp?). Type this in a term `sudo gedit /etc/modules/blacklist`, and add those modules the bottom of the file.

[Vectorman]

I too was really impressed with ubuntu distro. the only problem I had with it was the I couldn't seem to set up a dual monitor system. I tried editing the config file but nothing worked. even took the config file from another install and tried that. nope didn't work. Hopefully they will come up with an easier way to get it working.


other then that it works and looks great.

Joel

[Hey girl!]

I don't know if it's all that amazing..couldn't install it. When I had to install the bootloader it didn't do anything. When I skipped the bootloader part my pc hanged on the registering modules. Very strange. Gonna try another distro now.

[Sepero]

Sorry to hear that, Hey girl. Good luck with your next distro.

[blobaugh]

MODS: ubuntu has been getting alot of interest around here, and there are tons of threads starting up on how great ubuntu is. how bout merging them into one [MAIN] Ubuntu thread?

[ruwach]

Hey all
i just installed Ubuntu on a friends system at his house. He has been itching to try linux, so i thought i would hook him up with one that is supposed to be newbie friendly. It worked out great, a little soundcard issue, but we got it fixed.
Very exciting linux experience. i would not replace Arch on my own desktop, but he really digs it.

btw - if the whole sudo thing is irritating to you, just open a root terminal :)

[jefjj01]

>> i would not replace Arch

The interesting thing is the Ubuntu team members include leaders from the Gnome, Linux, Debian and Arch open source projects.

Just thought you would find that interesting :)

[ruwach]

i do find that interesting.... hmmm...... maybe i will have to give it a go myself soon.

i must admit, seeing it work temps me to tinker. i still like my Arch though

[rbrimhall]

Different Arch. Not:

Arch Distro (http://archlinux.org/)

but this arch:

Arch revision control (http://www.gnu.org/software/gnu-arch/#TOCintroduction)

[jefjj01]

Thanks for the info. I had not heard of Arch revision control before!

[Chess007]

Ubuntu was disappointing. It didn't pick up the ethernet interface...the text editor would freeze...the background wouldn't change etc. I might try it when they release a new version.

Any new distro's that use the same package management?

Any interesting new distros?

I liked vector linux a lot.

[simjanes2k]

Ubuntu won't boot on mine either. I get the first graphic with help or boot options, it scrolls a few hardware checks, then black screen.

Exact same thing with Debian, though. I'm just giving up to try Red Hat, I think.

[Sepero]

Originally posted by simjanes2k
Ubuntu won't boot on mine either. I get the first graphic with help or boot options, it scrolls a few hardware checks, then black screen.

Exact same thing with Debian, though. I'm just giving up to try Red Hat, I think. Sorry to hear that. You seem to be determined. I wish you the best of luck with RedHat.

PS.
Who's the manufacturer and what's the model of your pc? If it's custom made, can you tell us the specs? Perhaps this info can help resolve problems like yours in the future.

[simjanes2k]

I have an HP Pavillion zx5369cl (zx5000 class). All of the hardware included in it works flawlessly with SuSE, other than the wireless network card I'm still working on. The laptop is brand spanking new, so none of it is old. I really have no clue what options to use on boot up to get it working right for Ubuntu. I tried everything that is recommended on the startup help screen, and nothing worked.

If you have an idea, or need more detailed specs on something, let me know.

[Sgood1971]

Originally posted by simjanes2k
I have an HP Pavillion zx5369cl (zx5000 class). All of the hardware included in it works flawlessly with SuSE, other than the wireless network card I'm still working on. The laptop is brand spanking new, so none of it is old. I really have no clue what options to use on boot up to get it working right for Ubuntu. I tried everything that is recommended on the startup help screen, and nothing worked.

If you have an idea, or need more detailed specs on something, let me know.

What happens when you try to boot it?

[Sepero]

simjanes2k, what he means is, "what are the last lines you see before it blanks out?". The more specific you can be, the better.

[ruwach]

Try a live CD and copy the info from the X configuration to the distro you want to install. Ubuntu Live CD worked on my laptop, but Slax got the refresh rates wrong.
try what works, and copy the goods over .

[Uranus]

I finally tried Ubuntu - and omg, I have to agree. It sets up all the hardware really nicely, everything works out of the box. Only thing I don't like is the default brown color for everything.
Sam

[ladoga]

I just received ubuntu CDs yesterday after frustrating myself with several gentoo installation tries. (got some weird out of space errors when extracting stage file)

This really is easy. I mean maybe it misses much what linux is about? I don't know since two days ago my only computer experience was using MS Dos and Windows. Even moron like me can install ubuntu in 15 minutes.

Im ok working with terminal. It's actually quite logical even for one with no experience. But in GUI i would like to know how to access files in other than /home directory. Sure it's possible but how? As in ubuntu one cannot login as root.

here a screenie:
http://www.saunalahti.fi/ladoga/Screenshot.jpg

This definetely is a good linux distro for noob like me. Maybe ill switch to gentoo someday if i want more control...dunno, but im having fun. :)

[Sepero]

Originally posted by ladoga
But in GUI i would like to know how to access files in other than /home directory.Open your "Home" folder.
Then click on the little box in the lower left of that window.
Last, click where you want to go.

[jefjj01]

Also, as a complete side note I just found out that you can right click a folder and go to "Browse Folder" to get the tree view of folder navigation. I like spatial navigation...just not all the time. I started to switch back to the tree view, but then discovered I could have both!

[rbrimhall]

shift + click does this as well... not navigational but doesn't open a window per folder...

[ladoga]

Originally posted by Sepero
Open your "Home" folder.
Then click on the little box in the lower left of that window.
Last, click where you want to go.

I know how to navigate, but my problem was how to execute commands as #root in GUI. Now i need to do all writing (app installs/edits) to non-home folders via terminal (which is ok i guess...sometimes just using GUI would be quicker way). Or well...maybe i will just learn how to change rights of those directories i often need to edit in.

[Sepero]

Open a terminal, type:
sudo nautilus

[ladoga]

Originally posted by Sepero
Open a terminal, type:
sudo nautilus
yay! thank you. :D

[Sepero]

Originally posted by ladoga
yay! thank you. :D I love getting feedback like this. It gives me those warm fuzzy feelings. heheh

[infiniphunk]

Originally posted by Sepero
It gives me those warm fuzzy feelings. heheh

Yeah 'tis the season!

I just went for a walk through the foot of snow that fell here today!
If it starts to bug you when nautilus keeps opening up new windows as you browse through your tree, you can turn that off so that each new view opens in the same window. Also, there is a setting in there where you can change it so you only have to single-click stuff...
I do agree though, Ubuntu really is top notch. Gets me wondering what there next stable release, Hoary, is going to be like.

[leyb]

Got the cds today. Installed flawlessly.
Way to go Ubuntu!! ;)

[ladoga]

Here's a screenie of my ubuntu :)
http://www.saunalahti.fi/ladoga/Screen.jpg

Linux is soooooooo good. Im astounded about all possibilities and the level of control.

Im thinking about swithing my main desktop from Win2k to linux too. Maybe later though when i gain bit more experience in compiling stuff, getting ATI drivers to work and so. I would need to install few games i play (Targetware mainly..which luckily has a linux port and runs also faster in linux than windows too). Nethack i found from apt-get database...yeehaa!

Linux has all i need. Im converted. :)

[Sepero]

Originally posted by ladoga
Linux has all i need. Im converted. :) Wow, all that in only 5 posts.

[blackbelt_jones]

Originally posted by mengle
[B]Granted I only tried out Ubuntu for a couple of days, so definitely take my comments with a grain of salt.

Here are my beefs with it:

1) Appraently it's package pool is not that of Debian so it has limited packages that one can install. IMO it's too bad they had to do this instead of helping continue develop the debian pool, they are building their own. I'm sure they have their own reason for it but I think it's too bad.[B]

Ubuntu Shmubuntu. All I see is Debian with less choices. If you're used to the Sarge network installer, that's exactly what installing Ubuntu feels like. I'm sure it's a swell distro, but why mess with Roger Moore when you can have Sean Connery?

[rbrimhall]

Ubuntu Shmubuntu. All I see is Debian with less choices. If you're used to the Sarge network installer, that's exactly what installing Ubuntu feels like. I'm sure it's a swell distro, but why mess with Roger Moore when you can have Sean Connery?

Well, I like Moore and Connery... anyways, Ubuntu is not debian... debian is not Ubuntu.

I recently tried Debian sarge... why? Ubuntu... since I love it so much I figured I'd check out the source. Needless to say I wasn't impressed. GNOME 2.8 in Debian is horrible compared to the Ubuntuized version. The menus are so cluttered in Debian. And what's with that ghastly Debian menu? geez... do i really need a menu item for everything on my system? Not for me, but I guess others may find it helpful. Also, I could not get wireless to work in Debian Sarge and after about 2 hours went back to Ubuntu. I do not want to spend a great deal of time getting my distro up and with Ubuntu I don't need to. It is fast to set up with "sane" defaults and the benefits that come from a Debian-based system. I think it's cool you like Debian proper so much but why the need to evangelize Debian and critique Ubuntu? If you don't like it don't use it, right? I, for one, am glad I have the choice. My two cents not that you asked...


**Edit** Reading this post... I'm evangelizing Ubuntu and critiquing Debian... I guess we are all territorial about our distro of choice... this is an Ubuntu thread though...

[mrBen]

I think that Ubuntu and Debian have different target markets and therefore are different.

Ubuntu is very much a desktop distribution, and aims to provide simple installation, simple program choices, and clean and easy user interface for desktop users.

Debian is much more of an all encompassing distro that you could use for a desktop, server or laptop, but therefore needs a bit more work on installation.

Oh, and I think Pierce Brosnan is the best, despite being lumbered with a couple of the poorer Bond scripts/plots/actors......

[Dr. Shim]

I'm a Debian fan, and I like the sound of this Ubantu thing. However, I'd like to "try" it out first before really "going through" with it. Can I get a live-CD version of it?

By the way, ladoga, how'd you get that wicked GNOME panel at the bottom?

[Uranus]

I have Ubuntu installed on my brother's computer, and you can definitely use Debian's package depositories - just edit your /etc/apt/sources.list and add them!
I did that for my brother and it works fine, except that it now prefers debian software over ubuntuized software - but since Ubuntu is about automatic hardware configuration imho, it's quite ok this way. I really don't mind when the default gdm theme is switched. I really do like when I can easily install stuff like tuxracer on the system (which works as a charm btw, while I've _never_ succeeded in getting his i810 video card to work).
Anyway, I think since Ubuntu is linux and linux is what you want it to be, Ubuntu can be debian.
Sam

[Sepero]

So, does that mean Gentoo can be Debian too?

[Dr. Shim]

Well, if the name "Debian" is copyrighted, no. :p

[ladoga]

Originally posted by Dr. Shim
[BBy the way, ladoga, how'd you get that wicked GNOME panel at the bottom? [/B]

gDesklets (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/) and StarterBar (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/categories.php?func=gd_show_app&gd_app_id=13)
It's also available in debians apt universe.

To activate starterbar you have to run following commands:
>gdesklets

>gdesklets /usr/share/gdesklets/Displays/starterbardesklet/starterbar.display
(or whatever is the path to your starterbar.display file)

Then click on your desktop to place staterbar.

[torontonewbie]

Well I have so far tested the Ubuntu Live CD and yes it was rather impressive. Impressed enough that I burned a copy for a friend to have a look at.

It didn't find the old ISA SB card, but if I get around to sticking it on a box I'll figure it out. I've got a few old ISA SB cards in the junk box...audio never being all that important to me...so when I get around to actually putting Ubuntu on a box I'll mess with that.

Xandros Open Circulation is still my favourite "get it up and running quick" distro...but Ubuntu looks promising.

[JohnT]

The only feature I find thats amazing about Ubuntu, is the lack of promised CD's.......let's see was it September the first request, then repeated in November.......Ubuntu (literal) :the jokes on me.:p
The rumour of Slackware must have reached their ears.:D

[rbrimhall]

I got my Cds JohnT... twice as many as what I actually ordered. If you want one PM with your address and I'll mail you one.

[mrBen]

Originally posted by JohnT
The only feature I find thats amazing about Ubuntu, is the lack of promised CD's.......let's see was it September the first request, then repeated in November.......Ubuntu (literal) :the jokes on me.:p
The rumour of Slackware must have reached their ears.:D

Thats strange.

Most of the people I know who had them ordered originally have received them.

The original orders were never going to be shipped until after Warty was _officially_ released, which was at the end of October. People who ordered in September would still have had to wait until after that date.

[blackbelt_jones]

Originally posted by mrBen

Ubuntu is very much a desktop distribution, and aims to provide simple installation, simple program choices, and clean and easy user interface for desktop users.

Debian is much more of an all encompassing distro that you could use for a desktop, server or laptop, but therefore needs a bit more work on installation.


That was definitely true back in the day, when the Woody installer would ask question after question that I couldn't begin to understand, so I'd hit the default, and bluff my way through. It's not true any more-- at least if you've got a broadband connection. The new Sarge Network installer is not only as easy as the Ubuntu Installer, IT IS THE UBUNTU INSTALLER! It's the same program, people.

I'm sure there's more to it than that, but my experience is that the main difference is that after you've installed Sarge off the network you have instant access to a huge world of free software-- and after you've installed Ubuntu, you don't.

Which isn't to say that the program choices are more complicated for Sarge. When installing, the tasksel screen comes up-- the same screen as in an Ubuntu installation, if I recall. I click on "Desktop"... and I've made all my program choices! Anything else I need I can get later though apt-get.

I'm not much of a geek, but if there's anything I know about, it's how Debian is making enormous strides toward people like me, who are not much of a geek. Apt-get had already made package management for Debian incredibly easy. With the new installer, it takes another huge step toward the slogan on the web page: "The Universal Operating System" What Debian is becoming is easy to install, easy to maintain, but infinitely configurable and powerful in the hands of a power user. In the future, I don't know if we're going to have all these distros, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to need them.

****, I swore I'd never get into a distro war, and here I am, guns blazing. I especially hate picking on Ubuntu, cause I love the philosphy and cool name. So I tell you what I'm gonna do... I'm going to install Ubuntu on my extra harddrive, and give it a closer look. If I decide I was wrong, I'll come back here, and say so.

[Sepero]

I'm a long-time Debian user, and thought I might throw in my 2 cents on the whole Debian vs Ubuntu theme. I think I may be somewhat of a good judge because I have always used Debian for my desktop, and NOT a server or anything else. Here you go, I'll try not to be too biased for either distro.

Ubuntu positives:
-Better organized menu system(more understandable names, less clutter, icons for every entry)
-Relatively on-the-edge-system without having to download updates everyday and risk screwing up things that once worked great
-Apt entry for security alone updates. The less time desktop users spend downloading/installing security updates, the better. (technically only a problem with Debian unstable)
-Upon install, excellent immediate default programs and desktop environment. A Good Thing TM.

Debian positives:
-Generally, security updates are continually provided for all packages, unlike the frozen "universe" of Ubuntu.
-More informative boot messages. Though, I think Suse does it better. They hide the boot messages completely, but if you want, you can still see them by pressing F2.
-Doesn't do the sudo. The sudo thing is somewhat of a security hazard. Find out the user password, and instantly you have root access. This may not seem so easy, but relatively inexperienced computer users(ubuntu's target audience) tend to use weak passwords.
-Supports more architectures. Also, you never have to worry about Debian being sued, going bankrupt, or going out of business. Debian is non-commercial and will continue to survive and grow.

Of course, lots of these can be subjective, so please let the thrashing begin. :D

[JohnT]

unlike the frozen "universe" of Ubuntu. He,he....:p

[jefjj01]

>>Of course, lots of these can be subjective, so please let the thrashing begin.

How about we don't. It seems wrong to thrash on a "Ubuntu" thread. Remember Ubuntu means humanity to others! Merry Christmas everyone!! :).

Ubuntu finally motivated me enough to learn C programming (I know Java well). Hopefully Gnome Programming (the book) is under the tree.

On an unrelated note I got a binary clock from my wife for Christmas...its soo cool. Of course it takes just a bit longer to figure out the time now :)!


-Jeff

[Mark_E_Wallace]

At the moment, I'm a Xandros 3.0 and ProMepis fan. Any of y'all happen to have a comparison of Ubuntu Warty with Xandros and ProMepis?

Not trying to fan any flames. Just wondering how Ubuntu compares with these two other Debian-based distros.

(And, of course, wondering if there's a reason to switch. :) )

[hard candy]

I have used Mepis (but not MepisPro). Ubuntu is as easy, and I think it is easier to configure due to the FAQ, Howtos posted in the forums.
I would say the Ubuntu forums are a bit better than the Mepis forums.

[madcompnerd]

Originally posted by Mark_E_Wallace
At the moment, I'm a Xandros 3.0 and ProMepis fan. Any of y'all happen to have a comparison of Ubuntu Warty with Xandros and ProMepis?

Not trying to fan any flames. Just wondering how Ubuntu compares with these two other Debian-based distros.

(And, of course, wondering if there's a reason to switch. :) )
Ubuntu is a gnome distro, the other two are KDE dists.

[rbrimhall]

Well, taking sepero's challenge (though hopefully not flaming) I'd like to readdress the debian vs. ubuntu debate.

I switched over to debian sarge over the weekend using the r2 installer (same one ubuntu uses for the most part but ubuntu "automagically" sets several options up for you) and everything went fine.

My previous attempts at debian sarge resulted in no wireless... I discovered that in addition to the pci=noacpi boot option I also needed noapic (don't need this in ubuntu which is wierd). My firewire was "detected" as eth1 and my wireless was eth2... took me several minutes to figure out why eth1 wouldn't connect to the net. ;)

Anyways, I logged into gnome and glanced at the menus... I'm used to the spartan one application for one purpose mentality of ubuntu and was greeted by two web-brosers, two email clients, two music playing apps, etc. In the meantime, no instant messaging, no irc, no gui ftp client... so, I went about installing some stuff using apt like gaim, gftp, x-chat, Firefox and removing mozilla, and galeon.. tried to remove xmms but apparently gnome-desktop depends on this). I also removed abiword and gnumeric since openoffice was already installed.

I got everything set-up I decided to delete the spurious kde menu entries (home, search for files) from the gnome menu and then began using the system.

I had to install several things right off the bat that (IMO) have been installed initially since I'm on a laptop (namely acpid, laptop-mode, and powernowd) to get a somewhat working acpi implementation. The acpid scripts provided by debian were not as functional as the ubuntu equivalents IMO and of course I had to add a battery monitor and wirless applet to the panel (ubuntu has a script that detects if you are using a laptop and then sets up the panel accordingly). I also had to install the nvidia drivers but there was no module for 2.6 kernels in debian's repos so I had to install the source and then unpack it, make, make install after installing kernel headers and a build environment (gcc, etc.) Ubuntu is simply apt-get install nvidia-glx.

Overall, I was not particulary impressed with debian "proper." I'm back to ubuntu now and happy about it. The "debian has so many more packages" argument is spurious at best... Ubuntu has almost as many (universe and multiverse are snapshots of testing and contrib of debian testing) and the ones it doesn't have I either don't want/need or can install myself if I need to.

I think it all basically boils down to personal preference and what desktop environment one prefers in the debian vs. ubuntu debate. If I did not use gnome I'd use debian... plain and simple... I use gnome so I'm using ubuntu.


Whew, sorry for the long post... just thought I'd share.

[Sepero]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
My previous attempts at debian sarge resulted in no wireless... I discovered that in addition to the pci=noacpi boot option I also needed noapic (don't need this in ubuntu which is wierd).+1 for ubuntu (wireless)

Anyways, I logged into gnome and glanced at the menus... I'm used to the spartan one application for one purpose mentality of ubuntu and was greeted by two web-brosers, two email clients, two music playing apps, etc.Debian will generally try to have a menu option for any and all apps that are installed.

In the meantime, no instant messaging, no irc, no gui ftp client... so, I went about installing some stuff using apt like gaim, gftp, x-chat, Firefox and removing mozilla, and galeon..I assume this was already after installing Gnome. Though, that is a good recommendation. The Debian Gnome probably should have default apps for these user needs too.


tried to remove xmms but apparently gnome-desktop depends on this).gnome-desktop can "safely" be removed after installation. It is only a meta package that installs "default" desktop packages.


I had to install several things right off the bat that (IMO) have been installed initially since I'm on a laptop (namely acpid, laptop-mode, and powernowd) to get a somewhat working acpi implementation.No argument here.
+1 ubuntu (laptops)


The acpid scripts provided by debian were not as functional as the ubuntu equivalents IMO and of course I had to add a battery monitor and wirless applet to the panel (ubuntu has a script that detects if you are using a laptop and then sets up the panel accordingly).+1 ubuntu (laptops)


I also had to install the nvidia drivers but there was no module for 2.6 kernels in debian's repos so I had to install the source and then unpack it, make, make install after installing kernel headers and a build environment (gcc, etc.) Ubuntu is simply apt-get install nvidia-glx.Personally, I agree that this sucks, as I hate compiling anything. Though, there may be a third party that provides nvidia drivers for the Debian kernels(I'm not sure), but I don't think Debian can issue them directly. I believe it goes against their public policy.


The "debian has so many more packages" argument is spurious at best...If any Ubuntu user wants more packages, all they have to do is add Debian repos to their sources.list. My only worry is that (multi)universe packages may have security flaws. To my knowledge, they only update those packages once per release(or every 6 months).
(a big +1 for debian?)


If I did not use gnome I'd use debianAfter everything you've said, this statement is slightly confusing. Most of your problems have seemed to be "setup" related, not DE related.

[rbrimhall]

Well, I meant that I prefered Ubuntu's gnome implementation to debian's. If I were a KDE user I meant I would go for Debian (now that I know I can get most things working ;))... I don't mind setting things up, I'd just rather not... if debian gnome was superior to ubuntu's as regards my preferences then I'd use debian... I guess it is confusing...

I also didn't address any problems that are identical across sytems... like blacklisting modules like hw_random, snd-intel8x0m, etc.


I think ubuntu has made me realize how much I like debian-based systems and, I guess, as a result debian itself. I hope debian accepts some of the ubuntu patches upstream relating to laptops.

[Sepero]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
I don't mind setting things up, I'd just rather not... if debian gnome was superior to ubuntu's as regards my preferences then I'd use debianPersonally I think you've probably made the best decision for yourself. Setup is less than 1/10th of the battle. Maintenance is the real chore. This is where Fedora and other distro's tend to fall very short in quality.

If Ubuntu is easier for you to maintain, more power to you. :)

[madcompnerd]

Maintenance is where cd upgrade distros usually become a complete pain in the butt. Simply because all that upgrade at once tends to leave things very broken, not just a little broken like a bad apt-get can do to you (although apt is very easily fixed).

[ehawk]

Yum update seems to work very well. I did a cd upgrade from fc2 -> fc3 without any problems (although it took ~10.5 hours!). This isn't so bad when you think that you only do this every ~6-7 months.

[rbrimhall]

I hope that you are on dial-up 10.5 hours is a looong time... almost gentoo long ;)

[ehawk]

This upgrade was using only the installation CD's, no internet connection....I agree, it was long. Not sure what the problem is....even the initial installation of fc2 (not upgrade) required ~4.5 hours to install everything. Once again, however, doing this for one day out of every 6-7 months isn't that bad. I did wonder if I had accidentally burned Gentoo CDs :)

yum update is much shorter for in-between package upgrades, though if it's something big, like a kernel update or openoffice, it'll take 30 minutes-1 hour. I can still surf, a bit slower, granted, while it's churning.

I am running all this with only 128 MB RAM, and yum itself requires that much, I'm told. During the entire yum update procedure, I am swapping. I can run Gnome, and it's just a little slow. Fluxbox is not much of a problem at all. A GUI on Fedora recommends at least 256 MB RAM.

[torontonewbie]

As for an Ubuntu vs. Xandros quickie comparison, my initial vote would still be for Xandros for a "quickie out of the box get it up and running distro".

I've just installed Ubuntu on an AMD 1900 box. No problem finding any of the hardware and Mozilla Firefox is the default browser "out of the box". (Xandros OCD defaults to Opera). The install was pretty quick and it went and grabbed all of the updates during the install.

I haven't had time to "play" as such so bear this in mind and my experience so far is with the Xandros Open Circulation Distro.

But Xandros was much better at playing nice with my Window$ boxes. My home network is a "mixed" Window$/Linux environment and I expect that's the situation in many places. Also Real Player is installed on Xandros OCD and works out of the box...no configuration required.

I did not like the fact that Ubuntu didn't ask me to create a "root" account during the installation. That's one of Window$ big problems and I didn't like the fact that Ubuntu emulated that serious security problem.

Yes you can setup a "root" account later but that's what Windows does and consequently most Windows home users never bother to setup an admin account with separate restricted user accounts.

Don't get me wrong...Ubuntu is a good distro, the install is pretty easy and of course you've got the Debian tools.

But for trying to convert Window$ users over to Linux in a "non-scarey" way I think Xandros is a better choice. I have no experience yet with Mepis...maybe after I toast Ubuntu I'll give Mepis a try.

[jefjj01]

I did not like the fact that Ubuntu didn't ask me to create a "root" account during the installation. That's one of Window$ big problems and I didn't like the fact that Ubuntu emulated that serious security problem.


You have it wrong. There is no root password because Ubuntu uses the sudo syntax. This means that anything that requires root access you have to use sudo command and then enter in your password. So really the root password becomes your user password. The main reason you do not want to run as root is to protect yourself against yourself. Having the root password be the same as you user password is not the same as running purely as root. Mac works the same way. You still have to do root things as root, just not carry two different passwords.

Xandros is also KDE based so its hard to compare the two without getting into KDE vs GNOME. I have heard Xandros is nice though. Mepis is also KDE based.

I just installed Ubuntu on my server machine this weekend. Heck, I even love it so much it pushed me over the edge to finally started coded in C/GNOME. I have been a Java developer for years and now am really motivated to learn the GNOME desktop...hows that for impressed with a distro!

[windowsfree]

I tried Ubuntu a couple weeks ago, I like it alot except for the apt repositories, I also couldn't get the "universe" sources to work, other than that I think Ubuntu is great, unfortunately, for my new system, Mandrake 10.1 for 64-bit is my weapon of choice. I may get flamed here but I like urpmi better than apt on ubuntu, although I love using apt on Debian.

[Sepero]

Ubuntu uses the same apt as Debian. Any supposed difference would be the fault of something that apt relies on.

[jefjj01]

I just found out about setting up Nautilus to work with remote resources. So now I can drag and drop files from my server right from Nautilus using sftp. That is super cool!

Thought I would pass this article on. It worked perfectly in Ubutntu.

Working with Remote Resources:
http://www.gnomejournal.org/article/12/working-with-remote-resources

I wish I could find more articles like this!

[DimGR]

I Installed ubuntu the other day on my friend's laptop. Looks ok but i would not use it:P

[JohnT]

Originally posted by DimGR
I Installed ubuntu the other day on my friend's laptop. Looks ok but i would not use it:P I'll agree with you.....good for someone though.:p

[s0ldier93]

i'm convinced. this will be my first (real) linux venture. . . . . .also, the one CD image downloaded in like ten minutes. the 2 for libranat are still going, and will be for a long time.

[Sepero]

Originally posted by s0ldier93
i'm convinced. this will be my first (real) linux venture. . .I hope you're not turned off by the Gnome Desktop. Also, sometimes there's a few quirks about getting it to boot nicely. Search google for ubuntuforums.

If you hit a few snags, you'll most likely find your answers have been posted at those forums.

[Eejay]

Here's a screen shoot

You have attempted to upload an invalid type of attachment. The valid extensions for attachments are: gif jpg png txt zip bmp jpeg

O well eh lol

[Eejay]

Ubuntu is awesome
It only took me 25 minutes to install and the set up was supper easy at first the computer was running slow programs were crashing and I was like humm then I went to Ubuntus website and found an article on how to tweek the system after first time installations followed the directions rebooted the computer and the systems is now running faster then it was with other Linux distros Ubuntu Linux is totally awesome.

It's a shame that no other distros ( at least any that I know of) weren't as easy to install as Ubuntu was because if they were more people would ditch Windows and switch to Linux.:)

[Sepero]

Originally posted by Eejay
It's a shame that no other distros ( at least any that I know of) weren't as easy to install as Ubuntu...Except maybe... Debian Sarge, from who the installer was copied from? heheh ;)

It's ok though, Debian's not as easy as Ubuntu. I honestly hope you have a great time with it. :)

[Eejay]

Thanks
I like Ubuntu Linux because Ubuntu was the easy version of Linux to install Plus Ubuntu runs a lot faster then both Mandrake and SUSE did.

I can't wait until the developers find a way to replace Gnome with a stable version of KDE... I heard Ubuntu wasn't stable enough to work with KDE not sure just how true that is just heard to many stories about KDE not working well with Ubuntu o well I'll just stick with Gnome until they find a way to make KDE compatible Ubuntu.

[mrBen]

Originally posted by Eejay
I can't wait until the developers find a way to replace Gnome with a stable version of KDE... I heard Ubuntu wasn't stable enough to work with KDE not sure just how true that is just heard to many stories about KDE not working well with Ubuntu o well I'll just stick with Gnome until they find a way to make KDE compatible Ubuntu.

The Ubuntu team decided not to work with KDE, but rather to concentrate on GNOME - there were various reasons, but I don't think stability was one of them.

There is a preliminary Kubuntu (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/Kubuntu) project, which aims to follow the same schedule and guidelines as Ubuntu, but with KDE.

[jefjj01]

There is a preliminary Kubuntu project, which aims to follow the same schedule and guidelines as Ubuntu, but with KDE.


Thats too bad :(. I guess I should keep an open mind. I just wouldn't waste the effort...there are quite a few KDE distros already. The world really needs a great GNOME distro...

[Sepero]

Originally posted by jefjj01
Thats too bad :(. I guess I should keep an open mind. I just wouldn't waste the effort...there are quite a few KDE distros already. The world really needs a great GNOME distro...I sort of agree. I think we could use several great Gnome distros.

For those that haven't seen it yet, here's:


"Adding Debian Repositories to Ubuntu, Safely":
http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137521

[blackbelt_jones]

Originally posted by jefjj01
You have it wrong. There is no root password because Ubuntu uses the sudo syntax. This means that anything that requires root access you have to use sudo command and then enter in your password. So really the root password becomes your user password. The main reason you do not want to run as root is to protect yourself against yourself. Having the root password be the same as you user password is not the same as running purely as root. Mac works the same way. You still have to do root things as root, just not carry two different passwords.



In other words, it's not that root is being left wide open, to everyone; it's the opposite. Everybody's locked out, including yourself.

[Eejay]

Originally posted by Sgood1971
Has anyone ever recieved the CD's from their site they were shipping for free? I ordered 10, which was the default, but have not gotten them. I have been dying to try this, but with the &^%# bandwidth limitations they put on my satellite connection, I have to pick and choose very wisely what I download.

I ordered 10 CD-s from Ubuntus website the CD-s took a little over 2 months to arrive, the wait was well worth it

Ubuntu Linux is the best distro that I've ever used

Ubuntu is easy to install, Light weight, and uses apt get as a way to get apps Ubuntu Linux is awesome, Ubuntu imo is best suited for people who are using new computers I thank the people who invited ubuntu for having the common horse crap sense to realize that most people no longer use computers that were made back in the 60-s
if more Linux developers would just take the time to realize that most people no longer using computers that were made back in the 60-s then more people would ditch windows and start using Linux.

Thanks Ubuntu y'all are awesome !

[psi42]

Originally posted by Eejay
Ubuntu imo is best suited for people who are using new computers I thank the people who invited ubuntu for having the common horse crap sense to realize that most people no longer use computers that were made back in the 60-s

Can you...repeat that...in English? :)

[bosox79]

I'll have to download this distro again and give it a spin

[Eejay]

Originally posted by psi42
Can you...repeat that...in English? :)

In short
It's about time that developers had finally come up with an idea to make using Linux simple and easy to use, unlike other distros that make things more complicated only so people can Say “OH I just finished installing... nameless distro' Wow it's really awesome, when in reality they hate the nameless distro because it isn't all that good. the only reason why people use distros that are damn near impossible to install is because they just want to show off, that they're using a distro of Linux that can only be installed by someone with a degree in computer science. furthermore we are no longer in the 60-s developers must learn that most people are no longer using computers with old hardware Audio/ Video cards etc that only support video games like Pong--

Don't get me wrong I'm don't mean to knock other distros, I'm just trying to point out that it would be nice if more developers would put more effort into making distros that actually work instead of rushing their distro so they can keep up and compete with the ones that do work on a average/ newer type computers with Pentium 4 type processors and since people are able to copy codes etc, maybe, hopefully, developers will copy Ubuntus install code and use it with their distros, this way people wont have to waste their precious time installing distros that aren't computable with their computers

until then I'm only going to use Ubuntu and when I get time maybe work with Debian a bit. :)

[Sepero]

Eeejay, you really should practice using the period(.) key. ;)

[Igrok]

I have been using RedHat 9 to "cut" my teeth on and I have gotten very frustrated with the RPM way of doing things.

I d'loaded an ISO of Ubuntu and I am loading it up now. I hope its all of what y'all say it is!

[sharkzf6]

Well igrok, I can tell you after using Ubuntu for over 2 weeks it really is a nice distro. I’ve got Ubuntu Warty installed on an old P3/GF2/SB live rig with 384 MB of RAM and it simply works great. I’m not a Linux guru by any means so this distro really helped me get hooked on Linux. There are a few issues as with any distro and a lot of that has to do with what hardware you’re using. I also have Ubuntu Hoary which is the unstable version loaded on my P4/GF6800/SB Audigy rig. This install has proven to be a little trickier, mostly because of the hardware I’m using, not because of the unstable nature of Hoary. Actually, as most linux people know, the use of the term unstable is a little misleading. It’s more like “constantly being upgraded/patched”. Word on the street - Hoary is going stable very soon and that will be good news for many Linux newbies.

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by blackbelt_jones
In other words, it's not that root is being left wide open, to everyone; it's the opposite. Everybody's locked out, including yourself. Here we go again blackbelt. This is wrong. Ubuntu does not "lock out" the root user. It just doesn't setup the root account by default. All you have to do is type 'sudo passwd root' in a terminal and issue a password. You can even take it one step further and go into Login Screen Setup and enable root to log into X/Gnome. Just posting this for clarification. ;)

To verify this, install ubuntu without enabling root. I bet a case of beer there's still a root folder... ;)

[Igrok]

Here we go! First cry for help on Ubuntu:

I am loading it on my laptop and I want to load the NDISWRAPPER_UTILS package, but I don't have access to the net or a network yet (Trying to get my wireless card working - its a linksys)

I need to find out where to put the ndiswrapper_utils package I downloaded with my desktop so Synaptic package manager can see it or the apt-get, either way - I need to know where to put the downloaded package so the OS will see it and update the package list.

Thanks in advance!

[sharkzf6]

Add the path to /etc/apt/sources.list file then run apt-get update...

Can't you hardwire (cat5) your laptop into your router until you get the wireless working?

[Igrok]

Yeah, but now its sort of a personal thing - I know I'm making it harder on myself, but its just one of those things - I GOTTA do this!

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by Igrok
Yeah, but now its sort of a personal thing - I know I'm making it harder on myself, but its just one of those things - I GOTTA do this!
I understand your point…I think you’ll find enough challenges on the way without deliberately creating more…. ;)

[Igrok]

I edited the sources.list file - but its telling me :

E: Type '/opt/wireless' is not know on line 3 in source list

what is the proper syntax? is it in their manual somewhere?

[Igrok]

Originally posted by sharkzf6
I understand your point…I think you’ll find enough challenges on the way without deliberately creating more…. ;)

I think you are right! I'll be back - gotta go get a patch cable LOL!

[Sepero]

To install without apt-get:
dpkg -i <packagename>.deb

[JohnT]

Ubuntu is "NOT" amazing!:D

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by Igrok
I edited the sources.list file - but its telling me :

E: Type '/opt/wireless' is not know on line 3 in source list

what is the proper syntax? is it in their manual somewhere?

deb http://someplace.somewhere/ubuntu/ warty main restricted
deb-src http://someplace.somewhere/ubuntu/ warty main restricted

Don't forget to run apt-get update anytime you edit the sources.list file.

[Igrok]

Originally posted by Sepero
To install without apt-get:
dpkg -i <packagename>.deb

Thanks bud! that was pretty painless.

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by Igrok
Thanks bud! that was pretty painless. Yes, I should have thought of that with my new Linux brain....

[Sepero]

Originally posted by JohnT
Ubuntu is "NOT" amazing!:D You're a little bit of a troll, JohnT. Cut that out.
:)

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Sepero
You're a little bit of a troll, JohnT. Cut that out.
:) Not trolling..... I think this thread has gone off.....these are post of a different color.;)

[Sepero]

Originally posted by JohnT
Not trolling..... I think this thread has gone off.....these are post of a different color.;) Suuure... ;)

Though, yes, I agree about going off topic.

DON'T ASK INSTALL QUESTIONS IN THIS THREAD.

[Igrok]

JohnT, u are right - it was EXTREMELY off topic and I apologize.

Thank you for showing me the errors of my ways.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Igrok
JohnT, u are right - it was EXTREMELY off topic and I apologize.

Thank you for showing me the errors of my ways.
Nothing personal in my post whatsoever....not directed at anyone.....dont apologize to me....LOL:D

[Igrok]

Well, I am sitting here typing this post on my IBM Thinkpad laptop running Ubuntu, using a linksys WPC54G wireless card!

Albeit my linux exposure is minimal, here are my pros and cons about the distro:

Pros: Hardware recognition and availability is outstanding. The USB Flash drive worked without any scripting on my part (UNLIKE redhat)

The linksys card was not THAT difficult to get activated.

CONS: The gnome environment is ummm, boring.

I also d'loaded an ISO of Gentoo and will possibly try it in a week or so.

[jefjj01]

The gnome environment is ummm, boring.

I found two articles that led me to some fun ways to enhance the GNOME experience.

http://www.tuxme.com/node/315
http://www.tuxme.com/node/340/

Some things I learned. I really like the Milk theme. My fonts look even better. gDesklets are really fun. Its all small little tricks, but combined really adds to the overall experience.

I love that my desktop looks like nobody else's...

[RaGe2012]

I've been using Ubuntu Linux ever since I jumped ship from Red Hat's Fedora Core line. Red Hat announced today their intention to reconnect with the hobbyist user and improve Fedora Core.

Red Hat will have to do alot of work if they want to get my attention back from Ubuntu, which is far superior.

[ions]

I've officially moved to Ubuntu from Gentoo on my own system. if you go back to page 3 or 4 of this thread you'll read that I had installed it for a few people and had just been supporting it.

Lately Gentoo had been giving me some error that I explored for a few days. I felt tired of tinkering, tweaking and constantly searching fgo. Nothing against Gentoo but I didn't feel like putting forth the effort to fix it when I knew I could have installed Ubuntu AND set it up the way I wanted in the same amount of time it would have taken me to just find exactly what the problem was on Gentoo. That leads me to the second reason I switched to Ubuntu.

I spent a massive amount of time tweaking Gentoo to act a certain way. That way happens to resemble the defaul Ubuntu install very closely. Why the hell I was wasting all sorts of time to make something a certain way when someone had already done a great job of it already I do not know. Sure it was fun but had gotten old for me.

Another reason: Package selection. Pretty much everything I emerged was already on Ubuntu. Or at least a variation of. Granted I may not be cutting edge with certain apps but looking at what I used those particular apps for I found the cutting edge features were rarely of consequence. Trading 6 month release cycles for great stability and inter-operability seems more than fair to me.

I still find Ubuntu a little quirky but I'm still stuck in the Gentoo way of things. As a leaving compliment to Gentoo, the Gentoo way of doing somethings is pretty damn smart comparitively to Debian & Ubuntu imo. But as I get more comfortable with Ubuntu it will seem less quirky.

A few comments on this thread:

If your panties are all in a bunch about the lack of packages in the Ubuntu repositories get over it. The Ubuntu people have specific interests with a commercial release as has been mentioned already. Also, the stability and inter-operability comes at a price and things need to be tested before being put into repos. 3rd, it's a young distro with only so much behind it, everything is not going to be available from the start.

If you tried this and you don't like Gnome then started slighting it cause you still don't like Gnome check your head idiot.

Too many people are complaining about simple affectations. Like a brown background! for crying out loud if you can't change a background step away from the computer and never touch it again. You'll be doing us all a favour.

Maybe one day I'll go back to Gentoo, possibly when they get the Gentoo/BSD thing going, but until then the Ubuntu/Gnome people have put together something really nice that I'm enjoying. Out of the box it's competitive with other distros and only going to get better.

[Sepero]

Nice speech ions.

[beerman]

If you have a broadband connection, you can always apt-get KDE, fluxbox, enlightenment, etc.

[panther3e]

Unbuntu is pretty cool. Installed warty and upgraded to hoary. By far the easist install and upgrade. Everything works except the sound. Sound card not deceted, but other than that IM quite happy with Ubuntu.

[psych-major]

I haven't received my free CD's yet...:(

[Sepero]

Originally posted by psych-major
I haven't received my free CD's yet...:( I haven't received my free Beer yet...:(

but I got my CD's though. Hope yours didn't get lost in the mail. ;)

Honestly though, I like pure Debian better than Ubuntu. It's difficult for me to say why. Many of the default options are quite a bit restrictive for a user who knows what they're doing(No auto-bash completion? That one bothered me for a long time in Ubuntu, until I found the "special" way to enable it.:rolleyes: ).

On the other hand, it's good for my dad because Debian tends to put almost EveryThing in the Gnome menu. For a newbie, this is Very overwelming(, or perhaps underwelming.:)). To him, knowing whether Python is installed or not is irrelavant. To "enhance" his experience, I actually changed, shortened, and even deleted more of the entries in his menu. I also added links on his desktop to familiar folders on his ntfs-ro partition.

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by Sepero
I haven't received my free Beer yet...:(

but I got my CD's though. Hope yours didn't get lost in the mail. ;)

Honestly though, I like pure Debian better than Ubuntu. It's difficult for me to say why. Many of the default options are quite a bit restrictive for a user who knows what they're doing(No auto-bash completion? That one bothered me for a long time in Ubuntu, until I found the "special" way to enable it.:rolleyes: ). <snip> I'm going to chime in here again because this is the main problem with Ubuntu. Yes, it's easy to install, upgrade, get hardware to work, etc, however, it castrates you somewhat because it's geared towards newbs, that's usually what turns experienced users off with Ubuntu. I run Debian Sarge, Ubuntu Warty and SuSE 9.2 Pro on 3 different boxes so I know what I'm talking about. Just my 2 cents...again.

[jefjj01]

however, it castrates you somewhat because it's geared towards newbs


You know I still have no clue what it means to be a newbie. Could someone enlighten me?

I thought it meant that the distro would not allow you to do something that others could. More specifically I thought it meant that as a developers box it did not include enough tools to program in. Well after having fun with Linux the last few years I decided to learn C/C++. I am a Java developer by day and C developer by night now. The last two months I have been learning GTK+, and I seem to have everything I need.

I did have to go into Synaptic and install everthing I needed. Do other un-newbie distro's just give you everything by default?

Could someone define newbie...or am I just a total newbie because I do not know what a newbie is :) ?

[sharkzf6]

Originally posted by jefjj01
You know I still have no clue what it means to be a newbie. Could someone enlighten me?

I thought it meant that the distro would not allow you to do something that others could. More specifically I thought it meant that as a developers box it did not include enough tools to program in. Well after having fun with Linux the last few years I decided to learn C/C++. I am a Java developer by day and C developer by night now. The last two months I have been learning GTK+, and I seem to have everything I need.

I did have to go into Synaptic and install everthing I needed. Do other un-newbie distro's just give you everything by default?

Could someone define newbie...or am I just a total newbie because I do not know what a newbie is :) ? You are not a newb. I newb is someone who is new to something, in this case, Linux. Distros like Ubuntu make the transition from OS's like Windows and OS-X easier. Eventually, everyone who starts using GNU/Linux learns how to configure their systems to do what they want, not what some propeller head in Redmond WA thinks a computer should do. That's the real beauty of GNU/Linux.

Correction. Everyone who uses GNU/Linux and sticks with it learns how to configure their system the way they want it. :)

[Admstng]

How do you pronounce "Ubuntu"

"uh-bewn-tew" ?

"uh-bunn-tuh" ?

[timothykaine]

Originally posted by Admstng
How do you pronounce "Ubuntu"

"uh-bewn-tew" ?

"uh-bunn-tuh" ?

"ooh - bunn - too"

[Sgood1971]

From the Ubuntu site.

Ubuntu, an African word from Zulu and Xhosa, is pronounced "oo-BOON-too".

[Admstng]

i just installed it.. it's good, but I like Mandrake better....

Maybe I have to get used to it

-Adam

[chrisflock]

I'm here on the live CD. I like what I've seen so far. The sound system is a little messed up, it pops and crackles a lot, but I figure that will clear up with a full install...

Chris

[XiaoKJ]

I actually prefer debian sarge to ubuntu --- finally sarge isn't crashing on me anymore after I went ahead and compiled myself a kernel.

and there is a way to secure ubuntu from the user's attack -- just sudo passwd root and then edit /etc/sudoers file to disable password-less actions. then you can have a real root account that can use a better password than the users.

but gentoo is still nicer. I only use debian and gentoo now :D

[soulestream]

well here is my 2 cents.

I will always be loyal slack user. Ive become one and don't see that changing. That said ubuntu IS pretty great. I dont like some of the features or lack of features (which can be customized I'm sure), but it installed easlily found all my hardware, is very easy for a "newbie" to manuever, and when I plugged im my lexar thumb drive it popped right up on the desktop with an icon that said "lexar media". For all those people who post what linux needs to be mainstream might wanna look at ubuntu. okay 3 cents :D


soule

[Eejay]

Thank god for Ubuntu

Debian sucks I'm glad that Ubuntu came along and fixed Debian and made Ubuntu the way Debian should have been to begin with Ubuntus awesome

[linuxnewbie42]

Yeah I think ubuntu is great. I wanted a smooth distro switch from Redhat 9 to Ubuntu (Warty) 4.10 and thats what it gave me. I was amazed at how straight forward the install process was.

[linuxnewbie42]

Yeah I think ubuntu is great. I wanted a smooth distro switch from Redhat 9 to Ubuntu (Warty) 4.10 and thats what it gave me. I was amazed at how straight forward the install process was.

[NotJustANewbie]

I happen to disagree. I don't like Ubuntu due to the lack of user-friendliness (is that word?).

My dad on the other hand (who introduced me to the world of Unix based OSs) disagrees with me and adores the Debian derivative...

[ions]

Lack of user friendliness? Can you expand on that?

[beerman]

Originally posted by ions
Lack of user friendliness? Can you expand on that?

I'm going to have to ask the same question. It's probably one of the most user friendly distros I've used. You pop the CD in, follow some simple instructions, and in most cases, it installs and detects hardware without a problem.

[arcorreia]

As a matter of fact I think I've read somewhere that it's the version of Linux that is being widely used in Spain both by the central government but also by all local administrations.
Spain as opted for the use of free software in administration and they decided to go with a version based on Debian for it's stability.
For those, that like me, are used/prefer KDE there is another version called KUBUNTU with KDE 3.4
It seems it's a pre-release version but all the comments I saw say the same, Ubuntu is already great with Gnome but under KDE 3.4 it really shines.
I'm using Mandrake 10.1 Powerpack for the moment so I've tried the live CD. It works well, it detected all my hardware, I had imediate access to internet without having to configure anything, though my configuration is not a simple one (I go through a USR 8054 router to access a cable modem). The only thing it didn' t detect was my TV card.
I understand the choice of sudo for most uses, but being a system manager I'm used to su all the time and I'm not sure sudo will do all the tricks.
That is my only reserve for the moment in adopting Kubuntu though I am seriously thinking about going to a Debian based distribution. Mandrake is quite stable, easy to install but it becomes a pain in the a.. in what regards it's $ politics.
I'll probably buy another hard disk just to install Kubuntu and when I'm satisfied enough with the results I'll discard Mandrake.

[Truthfatal]

I liked the liveCD, but I could never get it to install.

The installer hung up after I picked my language.
This was using the pressed CD they mailed to me..... not a messed up burned disk.

meh, I get plenty of gnome using Fedora Core 3.

[arcorreia]

Originally posted by Truthfatal
I liked the liveCD, but I could never get it to install.

The installer hung up after I picked my language.
This was using the pressed CD they mailed to me..... not a messed up burned disk.

meh, I get plenty of gnome using Fedora Core 3.

I think that the CD you received is the Live CD and as far as I know there is no option in it to make an install but I may be wrong.
In what regards the burned disk, it's what I've done, the system automatically downloaded the file and burned it into a CD without my intervention. Everything worked out fine and I've no problems with it. As I told before I'm using MDK 10.1, my browser is the latest version of Firefox and it was the last one, I suppose, that invoked cdrecord to burn the CD after downloading the file.

[Truthfatal]

When you order their Warty Warthog CD the send you two. One liveCD and one install CD - both clearly labeled and beautifully packaged. :)

I don't really worry about it.

[Hadiz]

Is Ubuntu as easy to use to configure as an mail/web/file server as say FC3?

I want to get an old crappy machine of mine working as a web server w/ FTP access and thinking of going with Ubuntu to do so if it's fairly straightforward.

[ions]

No. Ubuntu does not have those options during the install process to give you a stripped down install for such purposes. It is a desktop distro and makes no pretensions to be anything else. There are more appropriate tools for those jobs than Ubuntu.

[J-Val]

I'm more of a KDE fan, I like the way it looks and some of its packages better than I do gnome. So when I started with linux, all I've been using is Mandrake- since it offered everything to everyone, However it is really bloated for me, and I never know what exactly I need and dont. Plus its an RPM based distro- which the more I spend time with it, and URPMI the more frustrated I get. URPMI helps solve the issue with dependency hell, but there are other annoyances with it that's making me reconsider using Mandrake.

Im using the Kubuntu Live CD 5.04 which I burned, and everything is working great now. It even recognized my IPOD as a hard drive (which I formatted for windows) something that I had to FORCE mandrake to do. My only problem is with my printer, but I had that problem in MDK also so no points lost there.

My only reservations are that I'm not familiar at all with any Debian based distros. I tried debain a few years ago and couldnt get the damn thing to install, but now I'm reading that apt-get > RPM, and this flavor is slick and has detected just about everything I needed it to, without having to force it.

My final question is this...can anyone tell me how dual booting will work? Will it be as nice as MDK was- and being able to boot to XP/Kubuntu with no problem? Or am I going to have to force crap to get it to work?

Thanks

[jefjj01]

Could you explain the printer problem? For my Epson CX5400 I had to install the cupsys-driver-gimprint to get more options to show up in the available printers dialog box. Also, I installed Ubuntu on a friends machine and I had to install some other HP specific files to get his HP to work. I just did it all through synaptic (GUI to apt-get) so it was real easy.

If you ever have any problems I would look on the Ubuntu forums. They are easy the most friendly, helpful boards to find answers to Ubuntu questions.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

[J-Val]

I had to manually track down the specific drivers for my HP PSC1350- and use the correct linux driver for that printer, in order to get all the features to work. It's still not perfect though. I also had to use the CUPS "web" interface to get it to recognize my printer.

Think of adding hardware in windows NT 4.0 (no auto detect) - and thats basically what I had to do here. I had to reload CUPS to get it to recognize the correct printer.
Linuxprinting.org was a very good help with the process, but it was just a pain. Once it was properly configured, I was able to use it no problem, and it printed just as well in MDK as in windows. The only problem now is when I reboot between OSs (XP & MDK) and I leave the printer on, it becomes unusable. Example- I am in XP and print something. Then I reboot into linux, leave the printer on, and try to print something else. It gets spooled, but it never prints, and vice versa. I just have to remember to power cycle my printer everytime I reboot from one OS to the other.

[jefjj01]

For my friends machine I remembered what I had to install. It was the hpoj driver that you can get by using synaptic. It is also officially supported now.

My friend had a HP1250 and after installilng the hpoj driver everything worked perfectly, including the scanner.

I found a few pointers in the forums that may help...

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=8549&highlight=1350

And heres another post that may work.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=4360&highlight=1350


Unfortunately, there is a difference between the Live CD and the regular install. Things that do not work with the Live CD will "just work" with a regular insall.

[Rinias]

Please take that as a great compliment. Thing is, i've only had it installed for about a week on my AMD64 machine.

I was happily surprised with it's setup (I had tried it once before and I wasn't too impressed... BTW this is Hoary x86_64). It nicely configured my hardware (that which is configurable by an installer) and even threw up my 1280x800 resolution with no question! That was a first! Naturally I had to hack a little when I installed nvidia, but I had saved the xorg.conf so that was a cinch.

The limited-ness of the setup can cause problems if one needs to be really specific, but on the other hand makes it an ideal newbie distro. Configurability is "lacking". I mean this in the sense of the programs in the menus, etc that are not there or the packages not installed on boot that are needed for manual configuration. The "lacking" comes from the fact that we are still constantly thrown back to the terminal to do things (not a problem for some, but enough to make me tell some people to not even try Linux- oh, that's only after they are praising Win. /offtopic)

ontopic

But it's only good because it's only a week old. I haven't had time enough to break it yet. I can't say if it will be as good as Slack. I still haven't decided if I like the way they set up the root account, though I will leave it to test it out a bit.

I hope just that it will serve as a distro where I can work and doesn't bother me. up til now it's performing flawlessly (except that it's 64, and the damn USB modem driver is 32 only!! I'm buying a new modem...)

That's all for now. Hope I'll be back to say that it's awesome!!!

[infiniphunk]

The limited-ness of the setup can cause problems if one needs to be really specific, but on the other hand makes it an ideal newbie distro.

When you first start the setup, it does offer you the option of doing setup in advanced mode; this should have everything you need, try it.

[J-Val]

When I installed the hpoj driver adding my printer was just a few clicks, and is "Just Worked (TM)". The only problem I have is being able to use the scanner part of my printer. As of now, sane doesnt support this machine, and there isnt a front end Ive found that does yet. Hopefully this will get solved, but if anyone found a way to use their scanner part of the HP PSC printers, I'm all ears.

Thanks

[jefjj01]

Glad to hear its getting closer. My Epson CX5400 wasn't supported either, but somehow with Ubuntu it works, including the scanner. Like I said my friends HP1250 3n1 works so I was hoping yours would work too. Like you, his did not work till he tried the hpoj driver. Do you think you need to uninstall whatever you did to get it somewhat working? Oh, but your using the Live CD aren't you? You still might want to check the Ubuntu forums, or ask for more assistance there.

[J-Val]

actually I installed Kubuntu- I'm not using the Live CD anymore. I never had the HPOJ drivers installed, and until I did, Kubuntu didn't know my printer was hooked up. The scanning issue will be solved when a front end becomes available that will support HP's printer-scanner combo machines (PSC models).

[philtesone]

ubuntu is alot better than alinux, that's for sure. . .

I put it on a Dell Latitude D600 and it detected everything perfectly- I can now go access point hunting around town with ubuntu!

I put it on my PC- same thing, except it don't run good in my car. . .

Love the Synaptec Package Manager

(in suse too! :) )

[jefjj01]

The scanning issue will be solved when a front end becomes available that will support HP's printer-scanner combo machines (PSC models).

Sorry, not to beat this into the ground. That friends computer I was installing Ubuntu on has a HP1250 3-n-1 and his scanner works perfectly. Thats all I was trying to say. So it is possible with the PSC models...maybe just not the 1350, although it seems like it would basically be the same.

[timothykaine]

The PSC 1350 *IS* compatible with the HP driver. Ive seen it work under Suse. One method you can use is to choose the "1300 series" driver instead of the more specific "1350 driver". IIRC the 1350 is the same as the 1210 except its blue and has a card reader (dont expect the card reader to work under Linux, however). This is a common workaround for many of the PSC series printers under Suse. Try it under this distro.

[yhotg]

hi,
i didn't read all the 16 pages of post - maybe i should - but i want to know something,
can i use hebrew with ubuntu?
it sounds just the distro for me, one for an end user, but i looked in the ubuntu site and didn't found any reference to dual lenguage, or hebrew version, maybe didn't looked well enough....,

[AdamZ]

Yes, you can choose hebrew in the installer. Once it's installed, you'll have to install the hebrew language packs, and possibly play with the keyboard layout settings a bit. The packages are:

language-pack-he
language-pack-he-base
language-support-he

[yhotg]

so, then, leave behind mandrake 10.1 with KDE and give the jump to the easy ubuntu?
Gnome is so extrange....

yhotg

[AdamZ]

That's something only you can decide for yourself. Try the live cd. You can install packages through synaptic on it while it's running, so you can test out the hebrew support.

[yhotg]

and what about kubuntu?
it's so great as ubuntu?

[XbaxeSysAdmin]

Depends on your perspective...

[yhotg]

I really really hope kubuntu/ubuntu are so great as they say, that they r the best thing under the sky :rolleyes: because it's taking me a lot of pain to install it.
a really lot of pain.
How is posible it didn't come with an img file to make a bootdisk to install from hard drive?

yhotg

[MorphiusFaydal]

just downloaded 5.04 "Hoary Hedgehog"

and i think i'm definately liking my old gentoo installation much better than this whole ubuntu thing....

i do have to say though, the HW detect is pretty nice, but it sucks on my monitor.. couldnt get the monitor right (i have dual displays, and it detected the primary monitor, on DVI... and then applied those setting to my small, crappy monitor on the vga port [dual head vid card].. now, that monitor couldnt take it at all.. and it was not good looking at all...)

So, it's good for n00bs, but i'll definatly be doing a gentoo reinstall soon (only reason i tried ubuntu was because my gentoo install got fried.. gcc3.4 != stable.. well.. maybe it was my CFLAGS :))

[blackbelt_jones]

I have to say, now that I've actually run Ubuntu, that my experience suggests that the idea that Ubuntu is a good newbie distro is a cruel hoax.

Sure, it installs easily, and the hardware detection is flawless. This may be the first distro I've ever used that detected EVERYTHING, and required no input from me. But actually getting applications to run on Ubuntu turns out to be a lot more complicated. I'm going to focus on one example: Realplayer.

In order to get Realplayer to play on Ubuntu, you have to use the configuration editor to disable the enlightened sound daemon. I've run Realplayer on several distros and never had this problem before, but the bytch of it is that it installed fine, appeared on the applications menu, and when I tried to use it to play web content, I didn't get an error message. It just didn't play. If ions hadn't sent me a link to a page on the Ubuntu forum, I might have never figured it out. Compared to this sort of baffling mystery, the small amount of hardware information I need to supply to install Sarge seems like a small price.

That was the worst example, but there were more problems and inconveniences. You have to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file to run apt-get, which you don't have to do after a Sarge net install. You have to update before you use apt-get, or else it's a mess. You need to install plug-ins in order to run Totem. That was when I reached for the debian-installer disk.

It took me about an hour to install Sarge off the net, (of course, without a broadband connection, it's a different situation) but with Sarge everything just worked, without any tweaking. The /etc/apt/sources.list file was all set up, and it took me about ten minutes to apt-get everything I needed to start running.

To be fair, Ubuntu seems like a nice, polished, desktop distro, very smooth and responsive.

[jefjj01]

See, thats where in every distro the saying goes "your mileage may vary". I didn't have any of those experiences you explaned. I did everything your talking about without editing any config files or anything. I have full multimedia capabilities just by following the instructions in the unofficial Ubuntu manual, and I have no idea what you mean by having to edit sources.list.

I don't think its fair to say it doesn't work...just that it doesn't work for you. Thats too bad too. I know people like to say that Ubuntu is just for newbies, but I have mine cranked up to a full developers box and I still think it rocks. I also use it at work as a build box for development. First distro I feel attached to. The momentum behind Ubuntu continues to grow to. For most the honeymoon seems to still be in full swing.

But, like the saying goes..."your mileage may vary".

[blackbelt_jones]

Originally posted by blackbelt_jones
I have to say, now that I've actually run Ubuntu, that my experience suggests that the idea that Ubuntu is a good newbie distro is a cruel hoax.

I think that my original statement, quoted above with italics added, is suffuciently qualified that I can stand by it

... but I wonder if you got what I was saying. I think Ubuntu is presently a good distro for advanced users (like you, I'm thinking) who want a slick, polished, responsive desktop-- but based on my experience, it's NOT a newbie distro, cause for me nothing seems to work without tweaking. If we're talking about the hypothetical new linux user, I think we would want to be able to predict his/her experience. And I want the new user who finds Ubuntu frustrating to know that there are alternatives.

Anyway, far be it from me to interrupt your honeymoon. After all, this could all be fixed by the time the next Ubuntu release (Greedy Groundhog?) comes out.

[Sgood1971]

Just for the record, there are now a couple of scripts floating around the Ubuntu forums that will add all the right sources and install all of the appropriate multimedia packages with next to no fuss or muss. It really should be easier to find though since if you are a true newbie even finding the right answers on a board is sometimes a little hard to do. I have no problems with it, but I don't use it for my working box either. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

[jefjj01]

Hey blackbelt_jones, I did mis-interpret you. I will also back peddle a little. I did get everything installed by following the unofficial Ubuntu documentation, but I do realize that I float to the command line more than I am aware of sometimes. I guess the difference for me is what little I do on the command line is so simple any poweruser can do it. For a user that never wants to tweak anything I would agree with you.

A big part of the problem is that Ubuntu does not ship with much multimedia enabled. I actually thought multimedia was still poor in Linux because I never realized until just a while back just how easy it was to turn everything on. I understand the politics behind why distros do not ship with that stuff enabled, but the typical user could care less. I find it interesting that multimedia is not shipped, but to get it is insanely easy. Its like saying "don't rob my safe, but if you need the combination..."

Lately I have found myself addicted to virgin radio that I play via Realplayer.


Anyway, far be it from me to interrupt your honeymoon.

That cracked me up :)

[CoffeeMan]

All I have to say is that I am really impressed with Ubuntu, I installed Warty when it came out and Hoary when it came into development. My dad is no running it on his Sony Vaio laptop and there are no issues. Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog is definitley worthy of recognition. I would like to see the Debian Development environment become a reality because ubuntu debs are not entirely compatible with debian and it's brethren. Other than that, it is an excellent distribution all around. I would narrow my favorites down to (In Order) Gentoo, Ubuntu, Debian, SuSE, and Slackware....and other operating systems FreeBSD, Syllable, Menuet and FreeDOS.

[blackbelt_jones]

You know, I want to stress that overall I was favorably impressed with Ubuntu, enough that I plan on trying it again when the next version becomes available.

When I said that the /etc/apt/sources.list file needs editing, I refer to something that's very elementary for a an advanced user, but could be pretty baffling for a new user. The urls for the "universe" repositories are there, but they need to be "uncommented" in order to be enabled. With Sarge installed off the net, apt-get is already set up as part of the install. I think that's a clear advantage for a new user, but for an advanced user, it doesn't really matter much at all.

Until I get a lot better at compiling and lose my dependence on apt-get, it's all gonna come down to Debian vs. Ubuntu for me. So the worst thing I can say about Ubuntu is that, in my opinion, it's only the second best distro. I love the idea of Debian as "the universal operating system", with all the flexibility that entails. I think that Sarge (unlike Woody) is a pretty good newbie distro that I can take in any direction and use for any purpose as I grow in competence. But I also think that a debian that is designed to be more specific to the desktop is a fine idea. I approve... but I think that, for the sake of the newbie (again, based on my experience), that the Ubuntu folks need to focus as much attention on an easy setup as they obviously have on an easy install.

[paj12]

When I said that the /etc/apt/sources.list file needs editing, I refer to something that's very elementary for a an advanced user, but could be pretty baffling for a new user.
This can be done with 3 or 4 clicks in Synaptic, the GUI package manager. Also, here (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/RestrictedFormats) is a page that gives great instructions on how to get "non-free" formats working. Still, this is a lot of crap to go through when the average user just wants to play their videos or MP3s.

[GmarAppledude]

I have been using Kubuntu for a few weeks and love it. I have to say that if multimedia (Codecs) had been installed by default this would have had two impacts.

1) I would have seen this as impressive and user friendly.
2) I would have missed out on the grin on my face after having learned how to install codecs myself!

I am new to "Modern" Linux, as the last time I used it was over five year ago, and that was mainly Solaris (UNIX) console stuff, so these issues are new to me but still found the instructions on the Ubuntu web site easy to follow.