Posts Tagged With: Ubuntu
· August 28, 2008 at 4:36 am · Odds & Ends
Typing this as, well, I type I can tell you I am a Kubuntu user. Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to get it just the way I want it. Was I successful? Well as somebody who has used just Windows all his life, it wasn’t easy - but it is now done.
Firefox is installed, Pidgin is up and running, so I now know I can at least do my day-to-day work done on here.
What is the Most Frustrating Thing About Kubuntu?
Well for me, my cries are pretty anal. I don’t like that windows do not remember their locations when you close and reopen them. Instead they just rotate corners they launch from. I guess this will take some getting used to.
What do I like the most about Kubuntu?
The biggest positive is hard to put my finger on. I like the basic look and feel of it, even more so than I liked Ubuntu. Ubuntu just never felt right to me when using it, but Kubuntu does the trick. Guess that makes me a fan of KDE over Gnome? Hope that is right, getting the “lingo” down is another challenge for another post.
Feel like trying a new OS? So if you have looked the other way with Linux distros in the past, give Kubuntu a shot.
· June 30, 2008 at 11:31 am · Hot Web Topics
Ubunturd!
I wish I had a clue of what the designs behind Ubuntu were thinking - the interface was already ugly and now they want to go uglier?
As I mentioned in the comments over on CyberNet, this is one reason why I am personally looking a lot more at linuxmint.com and the like.
· September 14, 2007 at 6:02 am · Hot Web Topics
I have been trying out Ubuntu via Wubi for a while now, and I can honestly say I have only had one big beef with it during my tinkering. There is no good one, two three step process for editing the monitor settings. Now that might be more a problem with my computer than the OS itself - but it has kept me from using Ubuntu full time.
Trying to search around and find a way to edit the brightness and contrast to where things don’t look ultra-bright has been a pain. If that could be made into an easier process - then sure I might give it a permanent chance. Other than that, it does seem to fit all the rest of my needs.
Of course there is probably some Ubuntu gurus out there having a good laugh at the fact I can’t figure this situation out. Afraid this old HP desktop computer though might just not have it in it to go too open source.
Also there are a lot of different Linux flavors I haven’t gotten to try out yet either, so maybe I can find one that fits me just right.
· September 10, 2007 at 6:25 am · Hot Web Topics
To continue from where I left off previously, my installation of Ubuntu’s Feisty Fawn (7.04) has been full of nothing but pleasant surprises. It just works! Right out of the box, if you will. So far, the experience has been smooth. Now, like most of you out there, I was hyped to see what all I had to use that was comparable to Windows. Granted, not all applications/software/games will work on Ubuntu….yet.
But thanks to some clever people over at the Wine project, that is soon to be a thing of the past.
Applications Galore! OK, let’s see what we have here:
Word Processing
- Windows: Word
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Writer
Spreadsheet
- Windows: Excel
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s CalcPresentation
Presentations
- Windows: Powerpoint
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Impress
Read the rest of this entry »
· September 3, 2007 at 5:00 am · Hot Web Topics
Hi again. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. Hopefully, you’re getting over the last blast of the summer without too much pain. What do you say we pick up where we left off last week on the installation of the Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04)?
Running from Live CD or Full Install
Last week, I had downloaded the ISO file, burned it to a CD with DeepBurner and was preparing to install Ubuntu on my hard drive. Before we go much further, let me tell you that you can run Ubuntu right from the CD. That’s right! You can run it and all it’s programs right off the CD. It’s called a Live CD and this way you can check out Ubuntu without installing it. Now, you won’t be able to save anything as it’s a live CD and is read only. You would have to install it to do any of that but, the Live CD will give you the opportunity to see what all Ubuntu has to offer. It tends to run quite a bit slower than an actual installation so don’t let that influence your decision.
My installation went so smooth that I was left wondering why I hadn’t tried this before. As Ubuntu runs through the pre-installation process, it asks you questions like what time zone you’re in (it does this in a general way as my time zone was selected by way of Mexico which is CDT), keyboard preferences, language, and eventually, you get to the part where you get to decide where to install Ubuntu and how.
This can be frustrating to some as your average user (like me) normally wouldn’t have a clue as to what partition to install Ubuntu to. This is easily overcome because Ubuntu gives you several choices on how to install it. I chose to install it to my second hard drive and clicked next. The next screen allows you to review your choices and if they’re good to go, click install.
Taking Your First Steps Into Ubuntu
Now, because I still wanted to keep Windows due to the many apps/programs/files/junk that I had accumulated over the years I was a bit nervous by this point. Remember, I was a first-timer at this too at this point. Well, my fears were totally unfounded as Ubuntu recognized my other hard drive with Windows and asked for logon credentials to be able to access it. Sweet! Dual boot plus access right from the Ubuntu Desktop! Can it get any better than this? Oh yes…read on!
After the installation process completes, you remove the CD (it tells you to as it needs to reboot now) and when Ubuntu boots back up, you’re greeted by your new desktop. Right about then you’re presented by a notification that you need to update your new installation with around 148 updated files, apps and so forth. Just click the icon and follow the prompts. After it finishes you may need to reboot once more.
Now is where you see that you have a wonderful new desktop that is secure (no viruses to be concerned about, no malware), many apps to check out like Open Office (a M/S Word/Excel/Powerpoint substitute), Firefox (much better than M/S Internet Explorer), Evolution (a replacement for M/S Outlook) and many more apps and programs that are real similar to their paid for counterparts that run on Windows but are installed free on your new operating system.
Ubuntu Linux Resources
This site has an excellent tutorial on installing Ubuntu 7.04, although you don’t need to install all the apps/software that he does unless you just want to. Keep in mind that you can access your Windows drive from Ubuntu anytime you want plus having the option to boot into Windows can’t be beat.
These next sites address some neat information for those who want to know more about Ubuntu:
Now considering I was new to all this Linux stuff and was a bit unsure what to expect, I was impressed by the ease with which Ubuntu installs, updates, and operates. It’s so easy you’ll feel comfortable in no time. As a matter of fact, I’ve rarely booted into Windows at all in weeks! That’s just how impressed and at ease I am with Ubuntu now. That speaks volumes!
Next week I’ll go over some neat apps that Ubuntu has to offer that Windows also has. Call it a comparison or battle royale between the two operating systems. Either way, I think you’ll find it interesting.
Article by Scott Wilson - Scott has been involved with PC’s, operating systems and web development for around 6 years. Once he figured out how to turn a computer on he’s never been quite able to turn it back off again. He’s been continually adding to a weblog to help pass on information relating to the world wide web. You can find out more about Scott and his work at MerlinsMinute.com.
· August 28, 2007 at 6:03 am · Personal, Software Help
At least once a year I get so frustrated with Windows I look over at Linux and see what is happening on that side of the fence. Now before I might do the whole Live CD thing - my main problem with that though is that my CD drive in this PC sounds like helicopter taking off when I put any disks into it.
So what is a guy wanting to play with Linux, but doesn’t want to do the whole partition dance need to do? Go give Wubi a whirl.
From start to finish, Wubi just makes it almost dead brain simple to get Ubuntu up and running. As a matter of fact, over the past two days I’ve played with Kubuntu and Ubuntu trying to decide which one I like more. When your done with it - you can just uninstall it like you would any other application and it is gone from your system. No messy clean up and no sticky mess.
