| | I'm reading lots of good press about ubuntu, time to get my hands on a current version. At the time of this writing, 8.04 is the current version and the 8.10 release candidate is available. Goto http://www.ubuntu.com and download the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition, burn the installation CD and start with a new install on an older IBM Thinkpad. Older in my case means that the BIOS date is 1999 and some ACPI functions are disabled. Hibernate won't work, no big deal as long as I get some of my software running.
The installation went without a glitch. All the default settings worked fine. A few very simple questions - this is made for a nontechnical user. I'm impressed.
First time launch, the desktop is clean, not a single icon. Very nice.
Looks as if root can not login. Every time I go into a system function I get the password prompt. When I update my network settings, I have to Unlock with the password first, then I could change from DHCP to static address. Works for me. | |
| Preloaded Software |
Office Tools - Nice, loads OpenOffice 2.4 (http://www.openoffice.org).
I'm a huge fan of OpenOffice - not much else to say
Internet Browser - Installs Firefox Web Browser
Evolution Mail - Has all the functions you would expect from your email (See Link to the left)
Games - I should spend some time with Mahjongg, Sudoku or Chess one day ... maybe. |
| Looking for ... |
| a firewall. Not installed by default. The documentation refers to the firestarter package. Select and install the package, then go to System and launch the application. Answer the basic questions and start the firewall. More about this later. |
| After 3 days ... |
... I'm getting more and more excited about ubuntu. And here is why.
All system tasks are reduced to simple point and click functions. Not even once did I have to type one of these really ugly case sensitive unix commands.
Ubuntu does things a bit different then other Linux versions.
When I login, ubuntu shows a single box for the user name, then a fresh screen with the password. Every once in a while I type my password into the first box (in plain text) - this is how some systems authenticate without a user id.
The menus are on top of the screen and the three default options make sense, Applications, Places and System. The Trash Can is in the lower right corner, date, time, network status and logout/shutdown is top right.
I installed ubuntu on a desktop, now running on two systems, on a Thinkpad and a desktop. I installed some new software which was really simple. It's all menu-driven and as I mentioned before, designed for the nontechnical user. Support is available when needed, free support and paid support. Up to now, I had no need to get support. It all just worked.
Over the next few days, I will setup nmap, burn some CD's and likely add other tools. I'll keep on adding my experience here, but this is without a doubt more then an operating system, it's a complete experience which I can recommend to anybody with a PC at home who doesn't want to spend money on Microsoft products. Ubuntu is free, OpenOffice is free and for once, you're getting more then you paid for. |
| Loading more software |
Some software is already part of the Ubuntu installation and can be selected from > System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. Other software like Skype is available at the software maker web site.
Getting Skype for Linux. See the Skype link in the left navigation panel. |
First published on October 24, 2008 |