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Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 11:08am On Apr 27, 2006 |
www.chxta..com I am writing this because of Pekun at Interswitch for whom I installed Ubuntu Linux yesterday, Ubuntu is a popular distribution of the Linux operating system which has acquired a wildly growing user base and I am one of them. Described as being Linux for Human Beings, Ubuntu is somewhere in between Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) and Fedora Core in terms of ease of use. Ubuntu has recently been awarded Best Distribution, and is rated as the top Linux distribution by Distrowatch. Getting Ubuntu The first thing you need to do if you are online, is to go to www.ubuntu.com/download. Go to the bottom of that page and select a download mirror. There are three downloads under Install CD. Download the ISO file that you need for your system. If you are not sure which one you need, it is very likely to be the one for x86 computers, that is for those of you that have PCs. I am not concerned about those who don't (hehehe). After you have completed downloading the ISO file, burn it to a CD as an image with your favorite burning utility such as Nero. If on the other hand you have a bad lnk, and you have some time, you can order a CD by going to shipit.ubuntu.com, they would send you free copies of the latest version. I am using version 5.04, 5.10 is available, and 6.06 would be out in June. Installing After I got my CDs, I installed Ubuntu, (5.04 aka Hoary Hedgehog), on my laptop, completely wiping off the Windows OS. The install process is quick, I was on in Ubuntu in 30 minutes. However, there is no full-fledged GUI installation like Mandriva or Suse. But, the installation process is fairly automated. By default, Ubuntu installs a number of applications that you cannot deselect or add to them in the installation process. This can be bad for users with slow systems that just want the bare minimum. Although, that can all be changed once the operating system is installed. Programs can be added or removed as you wish. Other than that, the installation process is a breeze. You can send me an email if you have any questions about it. Post installation comments Ubuntu comes bundled with the Gnome window manager, which has two taskbars. The one on the top features the menus and the system tray icons while the bottom taskbar has the open windows, show desktop, trash, and a virtual workspace switcher. If you feel more comfortable with a windows style format, you should consider Kubuntu which features the KDE window manager. The first thing you notice is how clean the desktop is… it is empty, just the way I love it! In other Linux distros I have been used to desktops being littered with links to the distribution’s website or trivial shortcuts to “home.” The user interface is simple and pleasing with nice icons and cursors. Ubuntu is a powerful operating system, with OpenOffice.org, a BitTorrent client (Gnome BitTorrent), Mozilla Firefox, and gAIM instant messenger, among others, preinstalled. Ubuntu is much faster than Windows on my computer in terms of general system tasks. Windows boots faster because like all Linux distros, Ubuntu searches for a lot of stuff before it finishes booting. However, it is faster than Windows when the system is online. It has a lot less to load up and doesn’t have to load any fancy graphics. I did not notice any lag in the menus or the file explorer, nautilus. I am still tripping over how all of my hardware works flawlessly. Just to test, I plugged in several USB devices and all were functioning. This is a major relief as I remember my Windows days where I would have to enter start rushing to Driver Guide in order to get a lot of gadjets to work. The first thing you need to do after Ubuntu installs is a system update. The update process is painless. Everything is done by the Update Manager, which you can find by going to System>Administration>Update Manager. A window should pop-up asking for the user password, this is normal. The update process is self-explanatory, select the packages and apply them by clicking Install. In my case it keeps reminding me that Ubuntu 5.10 is available, but I would update to 6.06 when it is released in 2 months. If you need administrative rights to do something in the terminal, then go to Applications>System Tools>Root Terminal, and voila, you are the administrator. If you want to install extra software, you can download a magnificent program Ubuntu Add-on, and in the terminal (root terminal), type the following after each has executed: cd Desktop/ unzip ubuntuaddon.zip cd ubuntuaddon/ sh ubuntuaddon.sh Follow the promptings to install each application. Remember everything thing is a choice. If you wish to install just press ENTER. If you wish to skip press N then ENTER. Ubuntu Addon Zip selectively installs the following applications without an internet connection: Java, flash-player + firefox plugin, adobe reader + firefox plugin, gFTP, multimedia codecs, mplayer (xmms is installed if you install mplayer), dvdplayback, xine, realplayer 10, thunderbird, gnomebaker, firestarter, nvidia 3D driver, samba server, ssh server, Japanese and Chinese input. Other features: can automatically add 1) universe, multiverse repositories 2) marillat repositories 3) backport repositories. The Ubuntu CD-ROM is not required either. This is a typical method for installing simple applications in Ubuntu, or most other Linux distributions for that matter. However, other distributions with different window managers have unique ways of putting links to applications. For example, in the Blackbox/Fluxbox window manager you must edit a file to include an entry to that application in the right click menu. If you have ever seen the typical method for installing applications on a more complex distribution of Linux you will notice how many things are compiled from source. While compiling from source builds the application around your computer’s individual settings and makes it run more efficiently, it is often too difficult or time consuming for the beginning Linux user. Therefore Ubuntu does not come with a preinstalled compiler such as gcc. If you ever want to gain that functionality you need to execute sudo apt-get install gcc in the terminal. After you do this, if you want to install an application from source usually you extract the file to a folder (tar xjf for .tar.bz2 and tar xzf for .tar.gz) and then run the following commands: cd /path/to/folder ./configure make make install Ubuntu has a great package manager called Synaptic that lets you search for or find applications to install or remove from a list. You can check it out by going to System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager. You can easily sort packages by category, their installation status, or by searching. If you find a package you want to add click it and select Mark for Installation. Once you’ve selected all the packages you wish to install, remove or upgrade at this time, click the Apply button. It’s as easy as that. However, not every application will be on this list and betas are usually never listed. In those cases you must go out and download the installer elsewhere and install it manually. Such is the case if you want the latest version of Firefox the day it comes out. It might take the repositories a day or two to get the latest versions. Some useful hints # The Terminal is your friend. It will scratch your back for you. I suggest putting a launcher to it on the taskbar by right clicking Terminal in Applications>Accessories>Terminal and selecting Add this launcher to panel. # Most applications in Ubuntu are stored within /usr/lib/ (the equivalent of C:\Program Files). # Linux can only handle one sound stream if your sound driver is not fully supported by ALSA, which I find to be quite often. If you watch a movie and then close the movie player, it is normal for a slew of gAIM sounds to play for a while as that sound stream was cached for later playback. If you are streaming internet radio in Amarok and then open a video in VLC, the sound from Amarok will be heard. # If a program ever seizes up, you can force quit it using the killall [program] command. You can view active processes and kill them if necessary via top. Typing k and then the PID of the process you can kill that process. This isn’t always the case, so you many need to do killall -9 [command]. # The man command can be used before any command you wish to learn about. For example, man apt-get will list the man pages. To exit the man pages and go back to the terminal press q. You can manage system packages via the apt-get command. Here are a few to keep handy… sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install [package name] sudo apt-get remove [package name] You can search for packages to install via packages.ubuntu.com. # pwd tells you what directory you are in (print working directory), cd changes the directory, cd , goes back up (out) a directory, ls lists the contents of a directory, nano is a simple text editor while more and less are simple text viewers, unzip unzips zip archives, tar is a valuable decompression tool, ./ executes some files (eg., *.sh files), other programs can be accessed by typing their name such as firefox. # Here are some more important commands. # If you need to switch between Java installations use sudo update-alternatives –config java My final thoughts, Linux proponents loudly celebrate Linux's increasing importance in the world of software. It's true that Linux has made great strides in becoming a standard part of the computing landscape, but it has made far more inroads into the Unix space than into the Windows desktop space. Despite that, there's simply no doubt that the desktop—and Microsoft—are the current target of many open source software projects. These projects are conceived, executed, and extended to compete with Microsoft's desktop applications. But they are currently fighting a losing battle as far as most users are concerned. To compete successfully, Linux needs a standardized platform and robust installation mechanisms so that users can choose software on its merits, without worrying about whether the software they want works on their particular Linux flavor or GUI choice. As a first step, open source proponents should band together to create a standardized Linux/GUI combination as a single platform for application development targeted toward average users with the goal of removing barriers to generalized adoption. Doing so would not remove or limit choice for more advanced Linux users. Vendors and open source projects would be free to choose to support the standard or not, just as they please. Freedom of choice is not incompatible with the concept of providing a standard platform. Applications that meet the standard would: * be guaranteed to work on the defined standard platform * have an install program that automated all modifications to the target machine and provided reasonable and intelligent default settings * have an uninstall program that removed the software but would not affect any data produced with the software * would interoperate (where appropriate) with other standard applications * would include the ability for users to manually or automatically upgrade their applications to the latest stable release version Any such group should immediately implement comprehensive end-user testing and make the results available to the open source community. A project that builds on and augments the existing Free Standards Group recommendation, the Linux Standard Base (LSB) project, might be a good first step. The LSB provides tests and documentation so that organizations can certify their Linux application binaries as compatible with a specified binary standard. The LSB project doesn't address GUI concerns, and perhaps it shouldn't. After all, not all applications require a GUI. But those that do need some way to provide assurance to users that the software will run on their systems. Until that happens, average users aren't likely to get very excited about either Linux or open source. Special thanks to Paul Stamatiou. 19 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by jogego(m): 3:29pm On Apr 27, 2006 |
If you are running Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehodge 5.04, you are about a year behind and need to upgrade to Breezy Badger 5.10 or once Dapper Drake 6.066 is released to Dapper. Upgrading in Ubuntu is easy. Step 1. Open terminal and type sudo geedit /etc/apt/sources.list and tten press enter a file will open in your text editor. Step 2. Use Find and replace to change all 'Hoary' in this file to 'Breezy' or 'Dapper' as you wish and then close the file after saving it Step 3. In terminal type the folllowing apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade depending on how fast your internet connection is, you will soon have an updatted system. Another tip for Ubuntu is to use auttomatix to install all proprietary codecs and plug ins such as acrobat, win32 codecs for playing mp3s, java, flash etc. Just google for automatix. Am personally back on Mepis, when Dappeer drake is finalised, then I might go back, but Gnome 4.14 is awesome and for the first time I actually enjoyed using Gnome 6 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 4:15pm On Apr 27, 2006 |
I would have upgraded to Breezy, but since I've been in Lagos, I've been unable to get great connection speeds. I'll upgrade to Dapper when it is released. Ordering the CDs, 2 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by jogego(m): 5:45pm On Apr 27, 2006 |
pity, just sent some breezy cds to lagos today, wouldnt have cost me nothing to have sent you one. Have Dapper Beta but want everything to settle b4 trying it again. I can imagine how long it would take upgrading it, 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by igwe4life(m): 5:27pm On Apr 29, 2006 |
1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by donmayor(m): 6:27pm On Apr 29, 2006 |
Ubuntu is gr8 but it took me a while to get used to it.Especially making it to support mp3 playback. I'm still working wit it. I got spare ubuntu cds, if u need one pm me. 3 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by dakmanzero(m): 12:43pm On Apr 30, 2006 |
Ever since a recent hardware crash, I've wiped off my slackware installation and havent gotten around to reinstalling linux. I was thinking of going with Ubuntu because of all the praise, but what donmayor said has gotten me scared. So I'd like to ask the ubuntu experts a few questions: Is ubuntu a 'bad boy' distro like slackware and knoppix/debian or is it a 'legally sound' distro like redhat? I mean this in the sense that redhat requires kernel modifications for questionable functionality such as NTFS access, MP3 playback, CSS decryption support, strong encryption support, captive-NTFS support, full winex functionality, etc. It was a real pain battling redhat every step of the way. Slackware gave me freedom, because it used standard versions of all the software, patent violations notwithstanding, but I had to pay the price: No real package management and needing to compile practically every program I installed myself (imagine my dismay when the hard drive died) Pls help out. Downloading gigs worth of ISOs is a real problem for me. I had hoary hedgehog ISOs but but u can guess what happened to them! 4 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by jogego(m): 4:56pm On Apr 30, 2006 |
dakmanzero: I can only talk about mp3 playback, and yeah for legal reasons, Ubuntu does not include several plug ins but they are all available in the repositories so all you need to do really is install automatix. Google for automatix and you'd find it. For captive, I know Kanotix has it by default but since I dont have need to write to any NTFS disks I cant say how well it works. To be honest, go to the forum for the distros u have in mind and am sure you'd ind if you can get all you want |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by roflmao: 5:39pm On May 04, 2006 |
Yea I run Ubuntu Breezy 5.10 on my Dell D810 with XP professional and no problems at at all. I used to run FC4 prior but I never used that cos wireless networking was hell. Installation was smooth and it automatically configured my wireless network(which I couldn't do even manually on FC4!) and I've just been going on step by step since then. I use XMMS for most of my music but I also have VLC(plays windows media files), Xine (on which my totem player is based) and RealPlayer(this was a little tricky to install!) just to give me other options when I need to play some other wierd format music files. If your music files are mainly MP3s then I'd suggest you go for XMMS as it's easier to install and configure. Ubuntu maintains an online repository where you can get most software and libraries you need. The Synaptic Application Manager allows you to get these at mouse clicks. You may need to configure it depending on your needs but the default configuration should be enough for most users. You also get important software updates which you can choose to install or ignore. The only software I haven't managed to install successfully is Skype although I did manage to get the static version to work. I suppose all you need is a little bit of time and patience to get things to your desire. And believe me there are more than enough stuff online to help you do anything. Everything I've done with my machine comes from online resource help pages - no textbooks! So if you scratching your head then http://www.google.com and http://www.wikipedia.org are excellent places to start. "Ubuntu - Linux for Human Beings". Nuff said! 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by dakmanzero(m): 6:46pm On May 04, 2006 |
thanks for the help, guys! Unfortunately your answers were not very helpful, I guess I phrased my questions wrongly. I'm not asking whether I can 'play mp3 files on ubuntu' or whether there is software available to meet my needs. As one who has succesfully configured and installed ALSA for an ESS1964 chipset on the incredibly evil redhat7.2, I can proudly join you in saying that nothing is impossible with linux and the 'net. HOWEVER. There are patent/legal issues that prevent some distro providers from giving you the original versions of the packages they install, and these modifications often cause problems down the line. The examples I gave were the horrible mpeg123 library in redhat9 and the modified kernel that had crippled ntfs.o support, both requiring lengthy configging sessions, and ensuring that if you build a lot of stuff from source you are in deep shyzer with such distro's. You will agree with me that redhat's inclusion of a nonstandard glibc library has caused many a headache. Everyone has run into that problem at one time or another, and reinstalling glibc is a big no-no (dont even suggest it!) the bottom line is this: a distro like slack or debian includes original unmodified headers and binaries. Redhat and mandrake include modified binaries to escape patent infringement. I find that most of the things I do (region bypassing on encrypted dvds, mp3 transcoding, etc) require such software to be installed, hence my concern. If I install ubuntu and have to rip the guts of the OS out whenever I want to do something nontrivial I will personally starve a penguin to death, 1 Like |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 8:53am On May 05, 2006 |
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Re: Ubuntu Linux by Saddam: 10:09pm On May 08, 2006 |
@jogego Can you send me one? Expecting ur reponse via ma email nonnyray at yahoo.com jogego: 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 6:44pm On May 09, 2006 |
dakmanzero: Ubuntu comes with Rhythm Music Box by default, it plays mp3s |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by seyiox(m): 4:52pm On May 10, 2006 |
hey it's nice to know that a lot of u guys work wel with ubuntu. I got my first ubuntu dvd iso with a linux mag issue (5.04) and it worked beutifully on my laptop. problems came howevr when i tried to connect to my modem for dial-up nternet i had problems any help on that connecting to the internet via modem (i dont have a problem with doing it in a net.) 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Saddam: 9:50pm On May 10, 2006 |
Hey Seyi Have you been able to configure your Linux for dial-up Internet.? seyiox: |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by seyiox(m): 10:37am On May 11, 2006 |
@SADDAM well yeah on my fedora system, it was painless. i did it cuz my modem was connected to the standard serial port. (RS232). Here are the steps: run wvdialconf <if all goes well it should detect your modem and give it and INIT string.> Then vi /etc/wvdial.conf: Then uncomment name,phone fields and replace with your own info save the file and voila!! run wvdial and try you should be up you may need to point you default gw and dns to your ISPs |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by seyiox(m): 10:39am On May 11, 2006 |
@SADDAM well yeah on my fedora system, it was painless. i did it cuz my modem was connected to the standard serial port. (RS232). Here are the steps: run wvdialconf <if all goes well it should detect your modem and give it and INIT string.> Then vi /etc/wvdial.conf: Then uncomment name,phone fields and replace with your own info save the file and voila!! run wvdial and try you should be up you may need to point you default gw and dns to your ISPs first try using a graphical internet connection tool though (is easier) i will send u a mail on a more detailed step and posible problems u might encounter if u send me your info |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by dakmanzero(m): 11:22pm On May 12, 2006 |
yo seyiox why dont you put him thru on using kppp? its the easiest for a linux newbie |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 1:44pm On May 14, 2006 |
I tried upgrading from Ubuntu Hoary to Dapper usingthe steps that jogego wrote and now my system has hung. I get this message when I try to boot: I cannot start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likely that it is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the X server output to diagnose the problem? Then the system hangs. Even the keyboard doesn't respond. What do you guys suggest? There must be a solution other than using the CDs, |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by seyiox(m): 4:48pm On May 15, 2006 |
@darkmanzero that might be a good idea but having no idea of what distro or desktop enviromment he's using, figured the CLI is the best way i've kinda gotten used to using commands since i constantly work on different flavours of linux in ma lab. @SADDAM yeah i forgot to mention, there are easier methods of connecting - graphically, so dont hesistate to explore. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 8:19pm On May 15, 2006 |
Still no solution to my problem. Anyone knows how I can boot into terminal direct so I can try and solve it from there? |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Nobody: 1:12am On May 16, 2006 |
Chxta, at the GRUB screen, interrupt the process and type linux 1 or 3 to go to a GUI-less runlevel. preferably 1, because you will be root ![]() 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 12:36pm On May 16, 2006 |
Would try that. Thanks Gridlock. |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 7:27pm On May 25, 2006 |
At the grub prompt press "e" to edit the command and add a "3" to the end of the line. Then press "b" to boot. This should get you into text mode. From there run something like xorgconfig to fix your X server and test it with startx. That is how the problem was finally solved, |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Nobody: 2:20pm On Jun 03, 2006 |
Glad you gort it working. I havent had to edit my GRUB for a while, so i didnt remember how exactly its done. 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Jalal(m): 10:41am On Jun 08, 2006 |
Well my first try at Ubuntu Linux wasnt successful!!! Why does it take so long to install?? Also the system hangs somewhere in between so i was reall pissed off. Anyway i love the other open source software that is compatible with the windows environment e. openoffice, AbiWord and Gaim!!!! Anyway if any of u are in Kano i have got tons of the Install and Live cds (Version 5.10) for both Pc and Mac plus the softwares that work on the windows environment, so if ur in Kano or know anyone in kano that can get u a copy, just let me know, FREE of course (Up open source Software!!!) For more details:- http://users.boardnation.com/~jalalsforum/index.php?board=7;action=display;threadid=6 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by instinct(m): 9:58pm On Jun 15, 2006 |
... 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 6:13pm On Jun 20, 2006 |
www.chxta..com ![]() What you are seeing above is a picture of my new desktop. Yes, today I joined the ranks of KDE users. KDE is one of the X-Window environments that is used in Linux. Like the interphase for the Mac OS X, its proponents tout it as a very beautiful (I whole-heartedly agree) environment. I had been agonising about the switch for a while because while on the one hand I was very content with the functionality of the Gnome environment, I was always tripped by the beauty of Windows XP, and when I finally saw the Mac environment in action at PC Outlet, I knew it was just a matter of time before I had to do something about my ugly Gnome desktop. I did my research on KDE, and while most people say KDE is resource hungry, I finally took the bull by the horns and downloaded the thing. So far I must say I haven't been disappointed. I installed KDE 3.5 on my system (as opposed to installing Kubuntu). The summary of the features of KDE 3.5 are: Better overall performance, enhanced support for desktop interoperability standards, and increased compatibility with Web standards New applications and utilities for messaging, graphics, games, personal productivity, and accessibility Usability improvements in menus, tool bars, dialogs, and control panels Cleaner default appearance, new icons, and updated artwork Almost 10,000 bug reports resolved and some 2000 feature requests implemented Developers get better KDE API documentation, new language bindings, new versions of the development tools, and UML support. It is also touted as being more stable than any other desktop environment. Let's see how it goes, |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Giorgio: 11:42am On Jul 19, 2006 |
I ordered Ubuntu CDs and I got them. Chxta can I get tutorials from you? 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by Chxta(m): 12:49pm On Jul 20, 2006 |
Get me email from the Political forum somewhere. . . |
Re: Ubuntu Linux by instinct(m): 4:43pm On Jul 22, 2006 |
@jogego please can i get a copy of UBUNTU. I have suse 9.0 running. i need something better. heres my email address neoinstinct01@yahoo.com |
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