has ubuntu got any easier yet??

[Sammy1599968740]

come on nerds...

 

toyed with the idea a year ago. downloaded, installed it. liked it. but just couldnt get on with installing software, sorting things out the command system thing. didnt get the commands.

I'm not a computer wizz..

 

Has it got any easier yet??

 

cheers!

[Sm1thson]

Yep it keeps getting easier. I used it years ago and thought 'it's nearly there' now I think it is there and just keeps getting better. Give it a go.

 

For most common software you just install it through the 'ubuntu software centre' ( like the apple app store). You only need terminal /command line if your doing something funky and then you can usually copy and paste what you need off their forum .

[Sammy1599968740]

sweet cheers dude!

[The Geoff]

Yeah, there's a graphical interface for installing software...has been for ages. Although to be honest I still find it far quicker to just type "sudo apt-get install XYZ" into a terminal....that's all you need to do, it's not that tricky. Don't fear the terminal, it makes you feel like a proper geek

 

(And if anyone ever tells you to type in "sudo rm -rf /" or anything similar, don't. It wipes your hard drive. "rm" is the "remove" command, delete, -rf forces it to do it to all the folders lower down, and / is your main filesystem)

 

Give it a whirl on a partition or second drive, then you can just delete it if you don't get on with it.

Edited February 13, 2010 by The Geoff

[Sammy1599968740]

Cheers geoff! Appreciate that. There used to be a little program you can use to try out ubuntu through windows. Is that still around?? I had 7.10 and its 9.10 now so I guess its come along way. I already use open office, opera amd lots of other open source stuff.

 

Has partitioning got any easier yet? Remember having to fanny around with an awkward program.

 

Really like the idea of it but not super up on geek speak to deal with the forums. Any easy going setup guides you can recommend??

 

Cheeeeers!!

[Lem]

Partitioning is much easier if you have a Windows partition. It will automatically suggest a resize and setup grub to dual boot.. no nerd-age required.

 

For using Ubuntu through Windows, you want Wubi. It's still around.

[Sammy1599968740]

Go on then lem,

 

how do i sort out a windows partition? I got a C: Driv and a smaller E: backup drive. seem to remember you can do it control panel?

[The Geoff]

As far as I know, you can just stick the Ubuntu disc in and it'll run as a Windows program, ask you what you want to partition as what and do it all from there.

[Sammy1599968740]

Excellent!! Cheers! Project for a lazy sunday then!!

[stueyboy]

Install Wubi in Windows and it will stick the Ubuntu install inside a Windows folder then no need to partition the drive. Defrag your disk first..

[Sir]

try mint ... easy peasy lemon and all that

[stueyboy]

Mint is also pretty good. Can't install using wubi mind you but it takes care of all the multimedia action you need to manually add after installing ubuntu. To be honest, you really should expect to be using the command prompt a bit whatever Linux flavour you use.

[Sammy1599968740]

Aye cheers fellas.

Installed and all running smoothly apart from the wireless card in my laptop. which is wierd because it worked the last time i tried it. Any suggestions?

 

Currently using a USB wireless adaptor which i simply plugged in and it worked. but not ideal.

 

Any ideas how i might rectify this?

[Sammy1599968740]

wait sorted. amazing how good google is!

[Lem]

Have you looked in System>Administration>Hardware Drivers?

 

Ubuntu doesn't automatically install proprietary drivers (mainly to keep the open-source evangelists happy) but does include the handy tool above to identify such devices and do the hard work of installing and setting them up.

[Birdman]

Have you installed all the updates?

[Sparhawk]

+1 for Mint here - using helena for the business machine - and to be fair - once youve got your head around the "install software " thing its no different from XP.

 

And you get to feel smug about using it cos you didnt pay £100 extra to use your computer

[Sammy1599968740]

Aye sorted it cheers! i needed to sort the proprietary dirvers. all up and running smooth. quite like it.

 

Why are there so many distributions?? whats the most popular and how does mint differ from ubuntu, fedora etc etc

[zimmer]

Aye sorted it cheers! i needed to sort the proprietary dirvers. all up and running smooth. quite like it.

 

Why are there so many distributions?? whats the most popular and how does mint differ from ubuntu, fedora etc etc

 

Because it's all about choice, imagine if it was just ubuntu, be a bit like Microsoft windows then.

[Lem]

Mint is essentially a Ubuntu remix. It's the same underneath the green.

 

Distributions generally differ largely by the package management system and Desktop environment. Ubuntu (and all the other *buntus and Mint) are based on Debian and use the apt package management system with different Desktop environments. (Ubuntu = Gnome, Kubuntu=KDE,Xubuntu=xfce)

Others such as Fedora are based on RedHat code and use the rpm package management system.

 

So.. essentially the main differences are how it looks and how you install stuff.

[Sammy1599968740]

gotcha. cheeeeers!

it seems i've got alot to learn!

[Sm1thson]

writing on my phone so can't remember exactly where it is but go to help and search compiz / visual effects and click the link to activate the advanced effects, then turn on wobbly window + the cube etc, gives you something to show off with it then

[Sammy1599968740]

Got the wobbly windows! but cant seem to get the cube to work properly. just seems to flip windows rather than be a cube like Geoff posted on the show off your desktop thread!

[Sm1thson]

for the cube you will need to have 4 desktops/workspaces/whatever it calls them set up (click on the workspace icon in the bottom right hand corner to configure the number), infact you can do it with any number, but 4 for a cube and less than 3 its 2D)

[flysurfer1080]

how did you get one with it sam?