After I got my company laptop, I was happy to overwrite the default Windows installation with Linux.For two days I struggled with the Gentoo install. Not having the Gettle to do it all for me, I quickly (OK, 2 days) realized that this task was unrealistic for my skill-set.
So, I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO and gave it a try. Wow. I had a working Linux installation in 30 minutes. It took another 15 minutes to get the the direct rendering working. Most of that time was spent reading documentation. The laptop has a dual core processor, but it didn't look like the OS knew about it. So, 10 minutes later (again, most of that time was spent reading documentation) I had a SMP-enabled kernel. Cool.
The default Ubuntu installing uses Gnome for it's window manager. I like fluxbox. So I installed that. Unfortunately, fluxbox doesn't play nice with GDM and/or Ubuntu. It runs fine, but when I logout and try to return to the GDM login screen, the screen goes all crazy-silly. I guess I'll use Gnome for now. There is a fluxbox-ubuntu distro, but I found out about it too late.
After the installation was complete, I was alarmed to find that there was no root account. Oh no, did I forget something? Did I not pay attention during the install? Alas, this is how the default Ubuntu install works. Sigh. The root account can be enabled, but they prefer you use sudo. So far, I've been happy with using sudo.
I wasn't surprised to find that the install didn't pickup my wireless chip-set. I looked at the wireless installation notes. "Download blah1.2422314.323.patch. Apply the kernel patch. Recompile the kernel. Download huh3124.234.23.deb module." It seemed kind of complicated, so I avoided the issue for a few days. On a whim, I decided to try a different method. Gnome has a nice network configuration GUI application. I started that up and enabled the wireless network and that was it. I now have a wireless network connection.
The software updates are easy. Ubuntu checks once a day for any patches. If it finds something, it notifies you by displaying an icon in the upper right-hand corner. Clicking on the icon activates the software updates download/install.
As you can tell, I'm pretty happy with Ubuntu. So happy that I proposed to my kids that we (OK, I) install it on a computer for them to use. My daughter and youngest son were both concerned with not being about to use Word or PowerPoint. God damn you Microsoft. Damn you all to hell.
This one will probably make Tommy squeal in girlish delight, too!
ReplyDeleteYeah...I thought the Eagles game was pretty cool too.
ReplyDeleteDid you see Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Awesome... no more Word and Excel.
ReplyDeleteI knew about the spreadsheets. The Docs is nice. I guess this the result of their Writely acquisition.
ReplyDeleteYour experience reminds me of this little gem:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54
Now remind me, are you able to play Doom II, or is it still just Doom on your machine? I don't remember because I haven't had those applications installed on my Windows machine for over 10 years now. Whooooosh!
Um...I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. This is computer for work, owned by my employer. I don't think it would be appropriate to install games. But if I did, I'd check my dependencies ...maybe ...do that twice.
ReplyDeleteI recently ditched my Gentoo install to give Ubuntu a trial run. I was just as impressed as you. It really is a slick environment and the synaptic package manager is a dream come true.
ReplyDelete