I spoke once before about how much I enjoyed my initial foray into the Linux world. Well, I’m still largely enojoying it! Hurrah! I’m keen for any future netbook I may own to have Linux on it too and would happily work in an all Linux world, but sadly my employers will not be convinced of the beauty of being run with Ubuntu. Even if you point out the inherent savings on software. Though given the amount of time I spend instructing computer novice ladies at my work how to use various things, I think the appearance of a different OS would cause mass panic. Or complete obliviousness. But probably panic.
Anyhow, I’ve found in my Linux journey that there’s a fantastic community of users out there who are sharing out their expertise to help newcomers like myself with any issues and difficulties they encounter. While my knowledge and experience is paltry compared to these guys, I feel it would be remiss of me if I failed to at least attempt to offer some assistance to those who brave the world of open source OS’s for the first time. So I shall tell the tale of my Linux journey, it’s successes and failures and links to the places that helped me out. I can only hope that at some point a new user with the same monitor as me, or a similar motherboard, or any generic problem I had, stumbles upon this and it helps them. Or that it is in some way an entertaining or interesting read. Hm, that last one might be a vain hope...
Chapter 1: The Linux Decision
As I’d stated in a previous blog, I was finding that life with Windows was becoming dull. I was missing the days of playing around with settings to make stuff work. I’d just built my new PC from components and was feeling technical. Then I read Stephen Fry’s blog about his new Asus EEE with Linux on it. He sounds pretty please and enthusiastic about this Linux business. So I wondered whether it might be worth giving it a try. So I did a little research. To sum up the pertinent points of Linux. That I discovered.
There’s no such actual system as ‘Linux’. Instead Linux comes in various forms, known as Distros. These Distros are all based on the core Linux basis, known as the ‘Kernel’, (sadly not the one with the fried chicken). From there they vary in many different ways, looking and feeling different and coming with different bundles of software.
The linux kernel and a lot of software for linux is open-source. Meaning, anyone can look at it and improve it and or use it for their own needs and styles. Hence how come the different distros, as people have come up with versions tailored to specific areas. For a better explanation of Open-Source and free software, go here.
One of the most popular distros currently, is Ubuntu. It’s considered to be friendly to newcomers and generally all round brilliant. Even this comes in different versions, as you can get Kubuntu, which is Ubuntu with a fancier desktop. Plus apparently Ubuntu gets a new version release every six months.
While you can’t run the same programs under Linux distros as you can with Windows, some highly regarded alternatives have been created. There’s Gimp in place of Photoshop and Open Office in place of Microsoft Office. There’s a plethora of music players, video players, media editors and programs for the ipod. I’m not much of a gamer on the PC, that’s what my playstation is for, but I was pretty happy to see Oolite, an open source version of a game that I loved in my youth along with Freeciv and some others. Web browsing, e-mail and IM’ing is all covered too. Ok, so if I was to change to a Linux system, I should still be able to do things I was able to do before.
You can dual boot. This basically means you can install a Linux distro onto a machine with Windows and then choose which system you want to use each time you turn the machine on. Ok, sounds useful, that way I can ensure a smooth transition over with Windows there for anything I can’t get working straight away.
These were the main points I needed to make my decision with. Obviously the dual boot thing was particularly important as it meant I still had Windows to fall back on. So I decided I’d begin with Ubuntu.
Next time: Ubuntu – The Installation
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