Ubuntu World

[gogoblender 3,068]

With all of the talk on the other thread about Ubuntu, I was thinking that it could maybe bump it off course, so I've decided to start up another thread and hopefully Schot can tell us how it goes tonight with his latest, tastiest little toy.

And as a congratulatory gift for the his acquiral, a nice set of links from PC Game World for Apres Install ^^

 

Seven Post-Install Tips for Ubuntu 7.04

 

 

Course if it works out for Mister Schot, we may wants it as well...

 

 

gogo

[Schot 407]

Cool! I am officially, and presently, Ubuntufied.

 

It`s pretty cool to be running an OS outside of the MS family. And what an amazing OS it is so far. Lots of little bells and whistles. Of the number of tricks I`ve seen so far I like the Workspace Switcher the most. That`s going to be very handy! The Workspace Switcher is kinda like multi instances of your desktop. You have the option at any time to increases the number of instances. A little icon sits at the bottom right of the screen and clicking on it will switch you to one of your other desktop instances. So for example you could have Firefox running on Desk 1 and Photoshop running on Desk 2. Each of them being in a different graphical instance. Makes for keeping the Desktop nice and tidy.

 

The install was completely painless. I installed on a new Hard Drive that I added to my system today. The install took about 30 minutes I would say and after the install I needed to update much like you would XP. The nice thing was that I didn`t need to browse to a site to get my updates. The updates take place straight from the desktop. Quite handy that. I had 198 updates to download and install, (whew!), but something I found very nice was that the updates were downloaded at approx. 400Kb per second. (ummm... I was going to write about how I`m having problems typing certain characters and just realized my keyboard is set up for French, lol) Updates took about another 20 minutes. After the updates I had another convenient `Ding` from Ubuntu telling me it would like to fetch a graphics driver for my ATI card.

 

All in all I`d say expect the process to take about 1 hour so cook up a nice pasta sauce like I did during the whole process. Yum!

 

One other thing I liked is that Ubuntu was able to transfer all my XP settings into it. Not sure what all it carried over but I did notice I`ve got all my bookmarks which is nice. Oh and Firefox comes with the Ubuntu package. Had to throw that in there.

 

Ok. I`ve got to change this keyboard setup, lol. Then it`s off to get some Wine and then I`m going straight for that link you put gogo.

 

 

A very happy Ubuntu user so far!

[Silearth 6]

Glad to hear it. I just finished burning my Ubuntu disk and will install before the end of the week. I can't wait!

 

 

Well I did it. The wife turned in early and I decided to just do it. Ruined one CD-R; burned it a 52X and it wouldn't install. The second was burned at 8X and worked like a charm. Right now I'm downloading 198 updates. Tomorrow I'll go through the checklist.

Edited March 12, 2008 by Silearth

[Patroclo Picchiaduro 1]

Cool! I am officially, and presently, Ubuntufied.

 

Ok. I`ve got to change this keyboard setup, lol. Then it`s off to get some Wine and then I`m going straight for that link you put gogo.

 

 

A very happy Ubuntu user so far!

 

 

Ensure that you are going to install 0.9.57 version of wine, previous versions had some troubles while running Sacred

 

Have a nice day

[Timotheus 416]

Hmm... This thread peaked my interest please post more of your experiences with those linux distros, I have been looking at them quite some time now and have been getting more interested in trying it

 

EDIT: a note for the gamers among us

apparently there is a program called CEDEGA which allows you to run all kinds of games that are "restricted to Windows" :)

Sacred/Sacred Gold is also mentioned as a supported title

Edited March 12, 2008 by Timotheus

[Patroclo Picchiaduro 1]

Hmm... This thread peaked my interest please post more of your experiences with those linux distros, I have been looking at them quite some time now and have been getting more interested in trying it

 

EDIT: a note for the gamers among us

apparently there is a program called CEDEGA which allows you to run all kinds of games that are "restricted to Windows"

Sacred/Sacred Gold is also mentioned as a supported title

 

Disclaimer: there are surely many mistakes in my post, please forgive any appearance of rude behavement

 

Cedega it's part of the wine cvs project, you can get it by paying it, or downloading the sources of wine cvs (which are free) and compile them by yourself.

This is useful whenever wine hq fails. The best choice for sacred is to simulate a window of 1024x768.

 

***

 

Well my experience.. ..starts after getting a new workstation with Vista. I simply couldn't stand on it. Too tasks in the background, too slow and heavy for my hardware. So I decided to look for an alternative.

I tried ubuntu, kubuntu, opensuse, and fedora 8, ubuntu seems to be the fastest and lightest among them. It was love at first sight

 

After the first installation, I usually add also these software/features:

- plugins for totem xine

- plugins for "protected" dvds

- support for ntfs (ntfs-3g)

- Kopete instead of PidGin for istant messaging

- g++ and gcc for software development and compiling;

- compiz-fusion (for 3D desktop and other effects)

[Timotheus 416]

Hmm wel my main concern with shifting to a Linux atm is games support AND office support.

I need several programs for my study a.t.m., with a statistics program called SPSS being one of the most important. And that doesn't seem to run well on linux distros. That, and my college does not have a license for SPSS 16.0 which is made available for Linux... *sigh*

 

Does anyone here have extensive experience with office programs for Linux and their compatibility with Office for Windows?

[bhj 24]

although theres about as much chance of me installing it as it is for all of us to meet on top of Everest

 

I can post a download link or two

 

Ubuntu 7.10 PC (Intel x86) desktop CD

Ubuntu 7.10 64-bit PC (AMD64) desktop CD

Release notes Version 7.10 (October 2007)

[gogoblender 3,068]

Well my experience.. ..starts after getting a new workstation with Vista. I simply couldn't stand on it. Too tasks in the background, too slow and heavy for my hardware. So I decided to look for an alternative.

I tried ubuntu, kubuntu, opensuse, and fedora 8, ubuntu seems to be the fastest and lightest among them. It was love at first sight

What a great sale.

K, I'm sold...I expect to see it on my desktop when I get back from work.

 

oooooh, new cool software....no more ms!

 

*crosses fingers*

 

 

gogo

[Timotheus 416]

Heh those arelive cd's right?

 

Wanna give it a try as well

[Schot 407]

Yup! The one I downloaded/burnt was Live. The way it worked was the system booted from the CD and starts off with a number of options for you to choose from. The first option being "Install or Run from CD" If you choose the first option it will run from CD first. Once you have entered the Ubuntu OS environment you will then have the option of exploring the OS live or installing. I like the fact that you install Ubuntu from within it's environment.

 

K, I'm sold...I expect to see it on my desktop when I get back from work.

 

oooooh, new cool software....no more ms!

 

*crosses fingers*

 

 

gogo

 

Ha! You have to go through the motions like I did. Of course I'll be there to help yah. I won't even charge you... Much!

[Silearth 6]

Well, so far so good. I have gotten everything running pretty much the way I want. have not installed Wine yet--perhaps tonight.

 

A couple of low points that I will have to overcome.

first, I tried to turn on the desktop effects but was not able for some reason. I turned on the restricted driver but still no go. This is a very minor issue.

Next, I seem to have lost many of my pictures. Ubuntu did a great job of capturing my files, but when I look in the pictures folder I only see about 10 sub folders and a few pictures. I had about 3 gigs of photos. The wife will kill me if they are gone for good.

I'm thinking that they are somewhere on the drive; I just have to locate them.

 

Other than my two issues, everything is running fine and fast. I did have a slight scare when I finally booted back into windows. It ran the check disk and then went back into Ubuntu. Another restart got me back into windows.

[fRACTAL 0]

Hmm I I think I will install Unbuntu along side XP on my new computer, on the extra hard disk!

You sold it to me!

~Doom

[Yarasa 0]

I prefer to get a new hdd only for ubuntu. I hate to mess windows partitions.

Probably old ide interface 20gb hd will do it with ubuntu.

 

Now the question is how can I find time for it

 

What about the programs such as photoshop and dreamweaver? Are they compatible with ubuntu?

 

Any problems with program installation so far?

 

 

Waiting for your reports.

 

I'm thinking that they are somewhere on the drive; I just have to locate them.

 

Please try following location to spot your pictures.

Hopefully they are fine

 

C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\My Documents\My Pictures

[Schot 407]

*reporting from the Ubuntu enviro*

 

Heya Sil. I had a bit of trouble getting the snazzy effects to work as well. Found a bit of info on that. Visual effects (compiz)

 

Click Applications-->Accessories-->Terminal.

Paste the following and push Enter:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl

 

Type Y to accept when it asks you to continue.

 

This process should now be complete and all that is left is to log out then back in. Do this quickly and easily by pushing:

ctrl+alt+backspace

 

It took about 3-5 minutes after this point before I noticed any change. Loving the flashy zippy tricks now though!

 

@Yarasa:

There are claims that CS2 will work if emulation like Wine exists. That will be one of the first apps to get working so rest assured feedback on that is on the way!

 

@Timo:

Oh cool. I'll check out that CEDEGA before installing the version of Wine I saw. Good tip, thanx!

 

 

P.s.

Installing Photoshop CS2 on Ubuntu. 2008 article

 

I haven't tried it yet but surely will and report back!

[Silearth 6]

Just amazing!

 

I have the rotating desktop cube going--although with only 3 viewports active mine is more of a pyramid. It's just amazing how responsive my system still is with all the eye candy.

 

Once I get everything sorted out I just may give the looking glass project a try.

 

I'm thinking that they are somewhere on the drive; I just have to locate them.

 

Please try following location to spot your pictures.

Hopefully they are fine

 

C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\My Documents\My Pictures

 

It took a while and I was freaking out toward the end, but I did locate my pictures. Their final location turned out to be c:\Documents and settings\my user name\recent\my documents\my pictures.

 

Now I can start moving all the photos to a safe storage location before I kill the windows xp partition.

[Yarasa 0]

Now I can start moving all the photos to a safe storage location before I kill the windows xp partition.

 

Never forget this phrase "Jesus Saves"

Write it on the media, in case of hdd crash.

[Schot 407]

Oh dangit Sil! I want dah cube ting too, haha. I haven't found that option yet, lol. I love how the windows slide in and out though. Sooo nice.

Gratz on finding those missing files. I'm still digging for some myself. Course I've kept XP installed so can access them that way.

 

@Yarasa

Oh yes! Save save backup save.

 

 

Something interesting I've learned is that Ubuntu(All Linux Distros) use a very different "File System" from Windows. Where Windows will use FAT or ntfs Ubuntu(Linux) will have many many choice types of file systems. The most typical being ext3 which mine is set up with. I believe ext3 is the default choice for Ubuntu. What I'm finding because of the two file systems I now have on my system is that when I'm in Ubuntu I can read files from my ntfs Windows Hard Drive but when I'm in Windows I can't even detect my ext3 Ubuntu Hard Drive. The entire hard drive is nowhere to be seen from Windows, eh heh... I'm sure with a bit of digging around I will be able to bridge it somehow. Just wanted to give a heads up there about that. I do believe I can reconfigure the Ubuntu Hard drive "file system" to be like the windows hard drive. ntfs. Of the little reading I've done so far though I have the impression that the ext3 file system might be significantly more efficient. Which would explain Ubuntu's seemingly excellent reaction time.

 

Bit of reading for us:

LinuxFilesystemsExplained

Chris Browne's: File System's Explained

Wikipedia Comparison of file systems

 

 

Oh and I gave Sacred a try in Ubuntu using WINE(Wine Is Not an Emulator). It actually worked. Kinda... Haha. I was able to install it, oh and it installed fast! Patched it with the 2.28 from the official site which stopped it from requiring the CD in the drive to start the game. And then... I executed it! It loaded up fine. Even tried out an SP game. Only problem was that there was an extreme amount of lag. I'm guessing that this is because I haven't fully set up my drivers and such but it was pretty cool to see Sacred run with minimal effort on my part. I'll be looking further into this of course. I'm guessing that I might need to choose a better graphics card driver.

 

So far I think what needs the most amount of attention when installing Ubuntu is making sure you've got all the drivers. All the right drivers. As a windows user this is more or less straight forward but in Ubuntu it requires much more attention and "know how". Thankfully there is an abundance of helpful info on the net so all you really need is to know how to use google and ask the right questions.

[Silearth 6]

I cut the life line completly last night. I got rid of the Windows Partition and expanded my Ubuntu partition. Had a bit of trouble and my display was running at low res mode for a bit--eventually I got it sorted out by going back to the default driver and then reloading the restricted driver.

 

As for the cube: Once you get the restricted driver up and running and then type that line you gave me into the terminal, and then turn on desktop effects.....phew! Well there is an option under administration(I think) called advanced desktop settings.

Find and activate, cube, cube rotation and I think viewport.

 

After that it's a simple matter, and so cool, of just holding CTRL+ALT while left clicking and dragging the menubar at the top.

 

Still not finished experimenting . I tried installing KDE this morning. It appeared to work but I didn't have an option to use it. I'm going to give it a go later.

 

Most of all, I am loving Ubuntu--do not miss windows at all.

[Timotheus 416]

I went ahead and purchased a Linux Starter mag (with the Gutsy Gibbon editionBHJ provided us with), gonna check it out tomorrow or maybe this weekend. Oh and I'm on the lookout for a new drive lol.

[Schot 407]

Oh you're much braver than I am Sil, lol. I can't really afford to cut it just yet because of all the many programs I use. Mostly graphics and sound editing. Not to mention the near thousand of psd projects. Yikes! Oh and of course Sacred. Gotta keep that goin. Aaaaall about tha Sacred here, haha. Big time gratz to you though for taking the plunge and going forth so that we may one day follow.

 

As for the cube I noticed that even after following those steps I gave that the "Desktop Effects" option has yet to appear from the drop down list/lists. I'll have another dig for it but as I understand it is still considered unstable. What's more is that it seems from what I've read that it can be quite difficult if not impossible to undo that option. So I'm going to hold off on that particular option to they deem it stable.

 

@Timo:

Definitely try it on a separate Hard drive if you want to "warm" into it. Would be awesome to read your experiences as well. What with you being a tech head and all, haha.

[Timotheus 416]

Ghehe yeah I'm trying to find a cheap 2nd hand one right now

 

 

EDIT

Took a quick look around and I like it so far. Looks very OSX-ish

Eager to find out whether I can get my games and programs running, so I need that HDD! lol

Edited March 13, 2008 by Timotheus

[Schot 407]

Oh me too Timo. I wanna get a game going on this Ubuntu. Got the cool Desktop effects up and running now and having a blast with it. So far I've managed to get Sacred Underworld running using wine but it's got some serious video lag going on. I have a feeling that my video card isn't being used somehow... I'm hoping that with a bit of vid card config tweaking I'll be able to smooth things out. If not I'm gonna give Cedega a try.

[fRACTAL 0]

Contary to what I said earlier (yes I'm shamelessly inconsistent) I might not get ubuntu, but debian instead...

its more complicated to install though...

~Doom

[Silearth 6]

Lol.....

 

I'm reinstalling Ubuntu right now. Wanted to try out KDE and so ran the command from terminal to install it. I made the mistake of setting KDE as my default and Ubuntu turned into Kubuntu. To make matters worse, it was painfully slow.

 

I tried everything I could think of to undo it but I ended up shrinking my partition and reinstalling.

 

I was investigating other distros, though. I had thought about Opensuse, but Myles would not be happy about that.

 

I did install wine and Underworld, but could never get it to run. Nevertheless, I won't reconsider the dual boot until next year when I will finally be able to get a new machine.