Thinking about Ubuntu

[Zephik]

Well I seem to have a problem with my lappy lately that from wherever I go I hear the best way to fix the problem is to just fresh install an OS. Obviously, I don't want to shell out $80 bucks for XP, so I was looking at getting Ubuntu again. I had it once before, but not for very long so I didn't really get in depth with it. So heres my question, what are the downsides by taking the cheap route and getting Ubuntu instead of XP? ...are there any positives? lol

[.Maleficus.]

What did you do mostly on the laptop? TBCS, Sketchup, etc? If that's the case, *I see no problem with Ubuntu. You can do most of what you did on XP in Ubuntu some way or another.

Or, you could reinstall XP, during activation call the guys up, answer their questions and get a new activation number. (If you already have an XP disk). I did and it was easy.

*I'm not sure about Sketchup under Linux, but you may be able to do it with Wine or a VMWare session. (The latter being easier).

[Luke122]

Maybe have a look at Sabayon linux too.. very similar to Ubuntu, but the most gorgeous interface ever. :) Comes "out of the box" (off the net? off the disc?) with Beryl installed and configured. Oh, and a Quake4 playable demo...

[Zephik]

What did you do mostly on the laptop? T

Well I would rather not be limited to only certain things. But I know that I will be. Right now I don't do a whole lot other than read E-Books and browse the web. I'm a fairly large media nut though too. Most of my stuff is in Xvid, AVI, mp3 and other familiar types. But in the past I have done a fair amount of gaming, designing (sketchup) and _light_ graphical editing.


Maybe have a look at Sabayon linux too.. very similar to Ubuntu, but the most gorgeous interface ever. :) Comes "out of the box" (off the net? off the disc?) with Beryl installed and configured. Oh, and a Quake4 playable demo...

That does look pretty nice. Thats another reason why I was looking at Ubuntu, because I remember being impressed with their designs compared to windows. They have pretty sounds too, which aren't important, but it definitely puts a very nice touch on things. I'll have to download "Sabayon" and run it on a live cd if I can, or maybe just put it on a temporary partition.

Whats Beryl by the way? I've loosely heard of it before, but I'm not on familiar grounds with it at all. The same with Wine, I'm not sure what that is either.

A Quake 4 playable demo? I wasn't aware that you could play games using linux related operating systems? Thats pretty cool, I wonder if I can play any game or only a select few? or maybe they have special releases of games so they can be played on non windows machines?

[calumc]

there are good things being said about linuxmint as well (havent used it myself tho)

[Zephik]

http://www.linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=4387

Phew, 4GB! Thats a pretty big file for Linux isn't it? Must be pretty good then though. It sure seems good, reading down through the features list. Seems perfect for what I want, especially that bit about good support for laptops, hope it doesn't disappoint!

lolz @ 3 days ETA. I keep getting an Error 3 code or something like that, with the tracker I think. 25kbps FTW! :hurt:

So from what I understand, Wine is basically a support system for windows applications? How well does Wine work? Does it have full support for all windows applications or just the ones that it has been programmed to work with?

Still don't know what Beryl is though. I checked the Wikipedia and it turned up stuff about rocks or something. lol not exactly what I was looking for, but interesting anyways. ^_^

[.Maleficus.]

Sabayon is based on Gentoo Linux which is considered one of the "harder" distros (you have to do most of what you want done manually).

Some games can be played on Linux if the developers developed with Linux support (id does a lot of this because they develop the games using Linux). Doom 3, UT2k4, Quake (most if not all of the series), HOMM 3 (Heroes of Might and Magic 3) are all some that work natively. Check this out. (http://www.linux-gamers.net)

Wine is a Windows emulation tool that is supposed to emulate Windows so Windows-only apps can run on Linux. It's mostly used for gaming. Not everything works, because certain steps need to be taken for the programs to run, but Wine has a list of known apps at their site. Here. (http://winehq.com) It's pretty easy to understand and works fairly well, so install that when you have your system running. For games, a very good option is Cedega (http://www.transgaming.com), it's like Wine but they focus on games and have better support. It costs money (you're paying for updates) but you'll have support for WoW among other things.

Another option for Windows apps is running a VMware session and installing Windows as the OS. It will let you run Windows inside Linux and you can install Sketchup, all that stuff you need on the virtual Windows install. You'll need a fast computer for this though.

Beryl (http://www.beryl-project.org) is a 3D desktop enhancement for Linux. It just gives some cool effects to your system. Not much more, though it is pretty sweet.

[Luke122]

Beryl is basically a 3d accelerated desktop, similar to Aero on Vista, but infinitely more customizable. :D

[Guttenaffe]

there is also xgl and some others 3d desktops...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz_2vKq5cZk

The desktop that has my interest currently is Pyro (http://www.pyrodesktop.org)... I like where it is going at least currently... who know what will happen to it in the months to come which is the problem with current OSS and free software...

My main question here is why Ubuntu? It is just one of them vanilla run-of-the mill GNU/Linux distros (that are around by the 100's) and is loaded with non-free software (though SUSE, what I'm on right now) is similar I only use it due to working as a Novell eDirectory Systems Engineer before switching to my current Electrical Engineering position. I like GenToo but to lasy to switch back now that I changed jobs...

[.Maleficus.]

Ubuntu is a very good distro. It's easy to use, has a great package management system (Aptitude is one of the best IMO, if not the best), overall great hardware detection and setup (compared to things like Gentoo), and is a great free alternative to Windows if your computer suddenly decides to crap out on you.

How is it loaded with non-free software? If anything it's loaded with tons of useful, free software (GIMP, Openoffice.org, Rhythm Box..) SuSE is bleh. You won't find me switching to it anytime soon.

[Zephik]

Ubuntu is a very good distro. It's easy to use, has a great package management system (Aptitude is one of the best IMO, if not the best), overall great hardware detection and setup (compared to things like Gentoo), and is a great free alternative to Windows if your computer suddenly decides to crap out on you.

How is it loaded with non-free software? If anything it's loaded with tons of useful, free software (GIMP, Openoffice.org, Rhythm Box..) SuSE is bleh. You won't find me switching to it anytime soon.

Yea, I would love a visually stunning desktop, but I'm still pretty new to Linux, so Ubuntu sounded like the ideal choice as its supposedly the easiest to use.

What would you guys say is the best distro for newbies? Just Ubuntu or are there others? Possibly better ones?

Which are the most visually stunning, the easiest to use, the best combination of the two?

Also, does it matter if your on a laptop or a pc? I don't know about Ubuntu, but Sabayon says it has good support for laptops.

[.Maleficus.]

Yea, I would love a visually stunning desktop, but I'm still pretty new to Linux, so Ubuntu sounded like the ideal choice as its supposedly the easiest to use.

What would you guys say is the best distro for newbies? Just Ubuntu or are there others? Possibly better ones?

Which are the most visually stunning, the easiest to use, the best combination of the two?

Also, does it matter if your on a laptop or a pc? I don't know about Ubuntu, but Sabayon says it has good support for laptops.
Ubuntu is good if you don't want to tinker much and you want everything to just work.

Sabayon/Gentoo is good if you want to learn, and want things made for your system. You do it yourself and you get what you make.

Fedora is good if you want lots of package support and want things to just work.


You can make anything look good with the right knowledge. There are loads of themes and icons and all sorts o' **** out there for Linux. Look in my "Linux in a Nutshell" for links. Also, go to the *NIX section of Desktop Screenshots over at dA.

Gentoo, Fedora, and Ubuntu are my top three distros. I'm trying out Arch on my server when it's built but that is like a fresh Gentoo install which is probably something you don't want to do.


Edit: Forgot about the laptop part. No, it doesn't really matter what you choose. You just want something with good hardware recognition and you'll be fine.

[xmastree]

Wine is a Windows emulation tool that is supposed to emulate Windows so Windows-only apps can run on Linux.Well almost.
Wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It's a compatibility layer, allowing windows programs to run on linux systems, but it doesn't emulate windows (apart from the frequent crashes...).

[.Maleficus.]

Well almost.
Wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It's a compatibility layer, allowing windows programs to run on linux systems, but it doesn't emulate windows (apart from the frequent crashes...).
Meh. It acts the same as an emulator (IIRC, haven't used it in a while). It can still be handy though.

[Guttenaffe]

I'm not supporting SUSE over Ubuntu, or Ubuntu over SUSE. I say this because each have their own benefits; SUSE has SaX2 & Yast2 which are outstanding management tools for Video Config and a Total system management(think M$'s MMC.) Better than anything in Fedora Core and vanilla Debian! (shock :eek: )
I used to be a Debian addict/fan boy till the went the path most other distros took...

I'm just saying that neither have the unique/innovative design that gentoo has, and both are loaded with non-free software. Though they also have a bunch of "free" software but there is so much non-free software... Just for a few examples java(though this is going to change soon according to what sun's plan is), codecs (MP3 and MP4 largest offenders), and tons of non-Free drivers (not even open source! :mad: ).

If you want to "learn" GNU/Linux I don't suggest going with any distro that is loaded with non-free software. You'll be dealing with a lot of other issues later because of this. Plus graphical interface systems don't really help you "learn" because most of them will mess up your config files and make it harder to manually learn how to edit them later!

[.Maleficus.]

Actually, Ubuntu doesn't have Java or MP3 installed. I'm not sure about MP4 but I know that Java and MP3 aren't.

And yes, if you want to learn Linux, then a distro like Gentoo is the way to go. But if you want an up-and-running system right away, Ubuntu is the best distro.