Ubuntu what is it?

Okay I have reading and hearing a lot about Ubuntu but I still not sure about it.

What is it exactly? I mean I am a complete novice I don't even really know what Linux is.

What are the advantages of Ubuntu.

I can dual boot with Vista 64 right? Why would I want too?

 

Here...this explains it well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(Linux_distribution)

Basically, Linux is an open-source operating system, which is free, extremely stable, and doesn't get viruses...However, with Linux, you have to do some work yourself

I would suggest requesting/downloading an Ubuntu Live CD first to learn the system....you can boot up the operating system from the CD in order to see how it works. They offer both a 32 and 64 bit system...when dualbooting with Vista 64, I would suggest the 64-bit edition...

Read the official website as well, its very user friendly and straightforward.

 

Here's a list of advantages from this website:

http://thecomputingexpert.com/start/?p=261

1) Eye Candy
If I am completely honest, the biggest reason why I converted was the eye candy. Sure Windows Vista comes with lots of it, but it just isn’t as good. Ubuntu 7.04 comes with just a few of the effects seen a lot nowadays, these effects include the rotating cube desktop and wobbly windows, it just makes it much nicer to use. I have installed Beryl on my computer to give much more eye candy. I base a lot of my judgments on looks first, features later.

2) Easy to Install Applications
Installing new programs in Ubuntu is a doddle, far easier than in Windows, because there is one program that basically gives you access to most applications available to Ubuntu, simply click the program you want and it will install, you don’t need to accept agreements because its all open source so there is no need to click Next 20 times before the program is installed. Simply select the program and click OK, wallah! done.

3) Secure
In Windows Vista, to change a setting requires a ridiculous amount of dialog boxes and passwords, in Ubuntu, you are never logged in as an administrator (root), you are logged in as a simple user, you can change options that are only applicable to your user area but for changing options that affect the system you are required to input the administrator password, one dialog and you’re in, simple and secure. There is also the added bonus that there are very few viruses for Linux, I haven’t ever come across one yet so you can feel safe, imagine not having any virus protection software installed in Windows, there is no need for it in Linux, freedom from the threat of losing all your data.

4) Easy to change options
Ubuntu comes with a control panel but also comes with a menu next to the Applications menu where you simply select the thing you want to change, be it the Desktop background or the network settings. Everything on the windows that appear is simple and there are just the options you need so it is easy to change the options.

5) Community
The community behind Linux, especially Ubuntu is what attracts many people to the operating system. People in the Linux community are mainly ex-Windows users so they know what it feels like to be new to an operating system, so they are happy to help. Whenever I had and have a problem with Ubuntu I simply post on the Ubuntu forum and within minutes there are answers to the problems. I never got put on hold or had to phone up customer service and wait for hours if I had any problems.

6) Free
Everything about Ubuntu is free, the operating system (you can even have them send you a free copy of the operating system, they even pay the postage charges), the software installed is free (including all the software you can download) any help and support is free. The whole experience is 100% free, because it is open source. Open source means that you can distribute and even edit the code behind the program.

7) Simple Networking
The other day I was amazed with how easy it was to connect my Ubuntu laptop to my Windows XP PC. I simply plugged in my laptop to the network hub and it immediately connected with no problems, I didn’t even have to configure it.

8) Mozilla Firefox
OK, I know that you can use Firefox on Vista as well, but on Ubuntu, there is no Internet Explorer that keeps popping up and cant get rid of. Mozilla Firefox is the number one web browser (remember, my opinions).

9) Fast
Windows Vista is slow and takes up a lot of resources which means you need a pretty decent computer to run it, I know with my 1GHz computer with 512MB of RAM it was too slow to work with. Ubuntu is just fast, it doesn’t slow down in performance when it has been on for a couple of hours, it just keeps on going and everything opens literally a second after you click the icon, and closes when you click the X, with Windows Vista you have to wait for like 30 seconds before a program starts and try shutting down a program like Word 2007 or Visual Studio after using it for a couple of hours, it takes forever.

10) Updates
Ubuntu gets updated every 6 months, well as close as it can do, and whenever I turn my computer on there are updates for the programs installed. Compare that to Windows, how often does that get updated, well the 5 years between Windows XP and Vista sort of answers that question.

 

^^^^

All of it sounds good if not great. My question is with all that Ubuntu has going for it why is it not on every computer or more popular than it is? I've always considered Linux as a niche OS much like OSX but even more so.

 

The best way to figure out what Ubuntu is involves running the live cd on your computer so you can get some sense of what it would be like. The live cd allows you to run the OS from your cd drive (slowly of course) so that you can get a look at it before installing.

If you like what you see and you have a few gigs of hd space, why not dual boot and check it out for a while?

That said, I would wait for 8.04 to be released in a few weeks. It has several improvements over 7.1 that will make it even easier to set up and run.

 

Its like driving a car, why learn another way to drive it when you already can drive.

However there is more to it, people are afraid of linux but as microsoft is starting to piss users off, more and more are giving it a try. Those who do spend some time getting used to it enjoy it a lot more.

Linux is now a threat to microsoft due to the one laptop per child project, linux being used in poorer areas of the world and schools, the increasing ease of use of linux and the freedom it offers.

 

Take a company like Dell. They offer a few Ubuntu boxes and laptops although it is questionable whether or not it is in their best interest to do so. Why? Because Microsoft gives them a bulk discount on their windows licenses and that discount is dependent upon the number of OS's they sell. So if they start selling a lot of linux boxes, they may not be able to compete in the windows market which is what most folks want. You don't want to upset Bill Gates.

Instead of paying for windows, I put my licensing money towards hardware by buying and customizing a barebones notebook. Ubuntu is now easier to install on my laptop than Windows. No contest.

After you have it set up and running, there are a few tweaks here and there that may involve the command line terminal, but that is not as scary as it sounds--follow directions and cut & paste. Most everything can be managed via some gui.

The big problem is if you're a gamer. In my experience, gaming on Linux under wine is possible but very difficult sometimes so it is best to dual boot while you're learning.

 

yes linux doesn't appeal to gaming enthusiasts, but dual booting is the way out.

infact dual booting for games can work better as you would then use windows for games only and can cut other services out making games run better.

once linux becomes more familiar and mainstream, developers might start making games for linux which would profit them as they will stop paying licensing fees.

in my opinion over the last 2 years there have been more linux breakthroughs then microsoft has had in 10

 

Yeah, I got into linux several years back when Windows 98 was a virus sponge. I installed Xubuntu on my old PIII. It was difficult to get it up and running and I needed help, but eventually it revived my old desktop and allowed me to use it for several more years whereas I was re-installing win98 every other month due to malware.

I begin using Linux on my primary system when compiz and beryl became available. The eye candy is nice but I find working on multiple cubed desktops to be a huge advantage.

The other nice thing about Ubuntu and other actively developed distros is that you get a system-wide upgrade every six months to a year which includes the latest and greatest features (as the distros actually compete with one another). With windows you get a service pack every two or three years where the aim is to fix the various vulnerabilities and shortcomings.

WinXP turned out to be a relatively nice OS and I like it for gaming and some office stuff but I will not upgrade to Vista any time soon.

 

Yeah i'm a big PC gamer and getting too old to want to mess with things.

 

Im not here to say that either Windows, Linux and Mac OS is the best. All are good in their own ways, but I sometimes don't approve some of the tactics Microsoft and Apple are using as of late.

 

I've never had too much of a problem with MS. Apple on the other hand with their "holier than thou, we walk on water" is annoying. Even more so with their ipod/itunes crap where they try to get you to use their software only.

They make decent to good gear but yeah I don't like the Company at all and this comes from someone who's used Macs since 2001.

 

True and for window users who like to use Itunes, you are forced to install quicktime, which for a windows user is a such a ****slap. We don't want to use a bloated application for the 0.99 % of the time we get a .mov link

 

^^^ Yeah, the irony is that Apple brands itself as the alternative to MS when, in fact, they are more about locking their customers into proprietary software than MS is.

My other complaint is that, yeah, their gear is good, but it is way more expensive than it needs to be. I can buy and customize an ASUS whitebook and get the same snort for $700-$900 less.

Linux, despite its shortcomings, is a good way to avoid either and benefit from ongoing development and freedom from proprietary crap.

 

I never understood why they are so expensive, is it the apple logo?

Linux doesn't really have any short comings for the average user, for enthusiasts yes but they are becoming less and less.

 

Hmm I think I 'll get that free CD and try it out for awhile thanks everyone!

Should I wait and get the new version or just request the Gusty Gibbons CD now?

 

vista + ubuntu = visubuntatu

 

not only the logo, also the gui they got. so u dont need to do all those search to get this get that to work etc etc

 

You don't have to request the cd. You can download the cd image and burn it to a cd. You'll be up and running the live cd in 1/2 an hour. Just make sure you get the desktop / i386 version.

I'd get the 7.1 (Gutsy) cd just to play around with it and then plan to install 8.04 when it comes out in a few weeks. I can help you install a dual boot system but you should have some familiarity with the live cd to begin with.

There are two other great live cds to have on hand if you're dual booting:

http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page

Sysrescue has a great partitioning tool.

http://gag.sourceforge.net/

GAG will help you clear your mbr if something goes wrong with Grub (the menu that lets you boot into Vista or Ubuntu.

 

Crap I'll cancel my requst for a CD. Thank you alot you saved me 4-6 weeks of wait time.

So how do I do get the CD imgae?

 

Select a download location from here: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors , preferably one close to where you live. At the top of the resulting page, it will say "Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)", click on that and download the version you want, either the x86 or 64bit desktop CD. If you don't have a program to burn .iso files, download ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download . Once you've got it burned, put the CD in the computer and restart, and hit the button that the BIOS bootsplash says corresponds to "boot menu" or something like that, and choose the option for "CD/DVD drive".

 

Why cancel, it's free. You can always give those to somebody else.

 

If you go to distrowatch.com it will profile a bunch of linux distributions. You can download a bunch of different live cds and check out what works with your computer.

http://distrowatch.com/

Images are also shared via bittorrent. You can search here:

http://linuxtracker.org/

 

Another few reasons for checking out linux over windows.

There is no backdoor built into linux that the FBI can easily access that there is built into all windows versions.

Deleting a file in linux really deletes it unlike windows where it is still recoverable.

For these reasons it makes it more secure to use especially if you do banking and such transactions.

 

Or if you are trying to take over the world or something like that.

 

Never heard of this, got more info ?

 

I think he's saying windows is made in conjuction with the FBI that they will have access to all your files!
not really sure how true that is but i could see it

 

I thought most software had to have a back door? Isn't it law?

 

Yes it is a law. I had a professor that worked on it years back. Basically starting back in around 1995, every software vendor had to give the government access into their programs. So if you were a programmer back then, you most likely had to do something for this project. For windows, it is the ability to, through the internet, gain access to any of your files on your system, and record screen shots and keyboard strokes of your system.

They also have to be given for every security and encryption algorithm a "master key" that will decrypt any encrypted file. Even for Microsoft's 256 bit encryption, Microsoft had to supply the govt with a master key that could decrypt any file.

Also, this goes beyond this as all your internet traffic runs through att's spyroom (which my professor also worked on) where every website and thing you do on that website is recorded. It used to require a court order to gain access to this information, but now with the new patriot act they do not need a court order anymore.

The name of the project is something like colaris. If i could remember how it was spelled, you could google it and find all this out for yourself. It is not secret information. Kinda crappy, yes...but as i was once told, never do anything on the computer that you wouldn't want posted on a billboard along a major highway. Because everything you do they know about and you will be caught eventually.

 

If that were true, there would be no discussion like this.

 

Wow, and all this time I thought ubuntu means you got stuck.

 

Says the kid with dicyanoacetylene as his avatar...

Ubuntu is much easier than igniting that stuff

 

Right now I would say Ubuntu is MS's worse nightmare. It just keeps getting better. Ubuntu is superb at recognizing drives/partitions/filesystems and dual booting is easy to do and easy to undo.