intro to ubuntu?

greyed

Hello there. Ordered shiny new laptop recently with xp installed, but was wondering about setting up a dual boot with ubuntu gusty... want to get some experience with an OS other than windows. Looked at a few installation guides and they seem pretty straight forward but its in using the system im left blank. havnt come across any good guides for complete noob like myself, so was hoping someone could link me or explain a little. Is it all gui or is there any command line for mainstream stuff? Im not pushed either way, though would like to use some cli for a change. And installing programs... is it as simple as windows, just point and click(compatible ones of course) or is there a bit of tweaking to be done... also gnome is the desktop bit of ubuntu right?:o
Any info would be great

/edit... or is it healthy to just figure it out as i go?

challengemaster

http://www.ss64.com/bash/

found that handy for a few command line commands

with ubuntu, its split either way. whichever way you like to use it, you can. GUI or command.

it has a package manager which you can use for installing xyz, or just as easily you can go to the terminal..

low

greyed wrote: »

Hello there. Ordered shiny new laptop recently with xp installed, but was wondering about setting up a dual boot with ubuntu gusty... want to get some experience with an OS other than windows. Looked at a few installation guides and they seem pretty straight forward but its in using the system im left blank. havnt come across any good guides for complete noob like myself, so was hoping someone could link me or explain a little. Is it all gui or is there any command line for mainstream stuff? Im not pushed either way, though would like to use some cli for a change. And installing programs... is it as simple as windows, just point and click(compatible ones of course) or is there a bit of tweaking to be done... also gnome is the desktop bit of ubuntu right?:o
Any info would be great

/edit... or is it healthy to just figure it out as i go?

you can dl the live cd and boot from it and explore before installing. it's basically like windows, you don't need to be command line savvy immediately to use it. not at all.

Mach

Google is you friend when it come to linux. Gnome is the desdot that come Ubuntu but may other KDE and xfce are two I can think of.
Just did a goole and found this site that might help

http://www.linux-noob.com/forums/index.php?act=home

greyed

Excellent links there, cheers.
Will try my hand at a few commands so... are packages just linux term for files that make up a program(which you then install via cli or manager)? Will I have to look hard for these, or are they fairly common? Does unbuntu come fairly well equiped from the start? sorry to load yehs up with questions..

challengemaster

it does come with quite a lot installed. depends what you want to do from there, but its not that hard to get things installed

greyed

ok thanks again, ill see how it goes... though ill have to wait for my laptop to arrive:p

BrandonBlock

Just on the subject of ubuntu, ive been using debian 4.0 for a while and dual-booting with xp. Spent a good bit of time setting it up like installing the kernel headers, etc. I've never used ubuntu but hear a lot about it, just wondering is it any way superior to debian?

AndrewMc

greyed wrote: »

Hello there. Ordered shiny new laptop recently with xp installed, but was wondering about setting up a dual boot with ubuntu gusty... want to get some experience with an OS other than windows. Looked at a few installation guides and they seem pretty straight forward but its in using the system im left blank. havnt come across any good guides for complete noob like myself, so was hoping someone could link me or explain a little. Is it all gui or is there any command line for mainstream stuff? Im not pushed either way, though would like to use some cli for a change. And installing programs... is it as simple as windows, just point and click(compatible ones of course) or is there a bit of tweaking to be done... also gnome is the desktop bit of ubuntu right?:o
Any info would be great

/edit... or is it healthy to just figure it out as i go?

It's pretty safe. You can only cause damage when you run something with “superuser” privileges — and it'll ask for your password to do so. There are a number of good resources out there, including:

• The official help (not yet updated to 7.10, but 7.04 is similar enough): https://help.ubuntu.com/
• The Wiki, for specific bits of information: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/
• The forums are also good, very busy, but friendly: http://ubuntuforums.org/

The main differences to Windows are, I think, the permissions setup and the filesystem layout. Permissions are a long-standing thing, and users are properly separated from each other and have limited access to the core system itself (at least, not without the right passwords, anyway). The filesystem is a single unified area. There are no drive letters, instead everything lives under the root filesystem called "/". Drives are "mounted" somewhere under "/" and are accessed like any other directory. There are also special filesystems already mounted, such as /proc which is a virtual filesystem providing various information on the kernel. (If you're technically inclined, it's well worth a look )

Really, though, as said before try the live CD. There are GUI and command-line methods to achieve most things, so feel free to click around to find things. I think one reason that people give instructions for command-line rather than GUI is that it's easier to say "type this:..." than describe clicking through menus and forms (even if the menus and forms are easier to actually do).

greyed

Nice, thanks for the input, looking forward to trying this

Capt'n Midnight

BrandonBlock wrote: »

Just on the subject of ubuntu, ive been using debian 4.0 for a while and dual-booting with xp. Spent a good bit of time setting it up like installing the kernel headers, etc. I've never used ubuntu but hear a lot about it, just wondering is it any way superior to debian?

It's debian for dummies

If you just want to use linux but don't want to know what's under the bonnet it's fine, like Knoppix most of the apps you need are already there.

http://www.debian.org/misc/children-distros

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that starts with the breadth of Debian and adds regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should Just Work, TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release. Ubuntu ships with the latest GNOME and KDE releases as well as a selection of server and desktop software that makes for a comfortable desktop experience off a single installation CD.

Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd.

greyed

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If you just want to use linux but don't want to know what's under the bonnet it's fine, like Knoppix most of the apps you need are already there.

I hope to explore whats "under the bonnet" eventually, but as im not used to linux, would ubuntu be the best option for now? or you think I should dive right in, eh?

pid()

greyed wrote: »

I hope to explore whats "under the bonnet" eventually, but as im not used to linux, would ubuntu be the best option for now? or you think I should dive right in, eh?

Ubuntu is the best option for now. Learn to get to grips with the apt-get package management, find your favourite window manager (fluxbox rocks!) and go from there. If you ever have any questions or issues just post in this thread and I'm sure we'll be able to help you / point you in the right direction.

rmacm

I've always found http://ubuntuguide.org/ to be pretty decent for information on how to do various things in Ubuntu. It's always a version behind the latest but most of the information is still good.

greyed

Ok, ubuntu so... 3 questions if yeh dont mind...

What portion of my drive(160GB) should I partition for ubuntu? I will use primarily windows for a while anyway so i was thinking around 30GB for ubuntu. How much drive space would be required to run it smoothly and install a fair bit? Is it possible to add unused space to a partition later?

Regarding drivers, will I have to install them for everything,mobo, video card, int webcam etc and is it possible i will not be able to find some for linux?

also, heard oo-bun-too from person and oo-boon-too from wikipedia, which is it?:p while im onto pedantics, lin-ux or line-ux?

hheh, sorry to load on the questions there.

challengemaster

greyed wrote: »

Ok, ubuntu so... 3 questions if yeh dont mind...

What portion of my drive(160GB) should I partition for ubuntu? I will use primarily windows for a while anyway so i was thinking around 30GB for ubuntu. How much drive space would be required to run it smoothly and install a fair bit? Is it possible to add unused space to a partition later?

uhm.. 30gb is fine tbh. ubuntu partitoner will pick up the xp partition (so try not to overwrite that when installing) but yeah, its fairly easy to partition.

Regarding drivers, will I have to install them for everything,mobo, video card, int webcam etc and is it possible i will not be able to find some for linux?

99% will be installed or you will be told by the OS what driver is needed iirc

also, heard oo-bun-too from person and oo-boon-too from wikipedia, which is it?:p while im onto pedantics, lin-ux or line-ux?

it varies! go nerts
personally, lin-ux

oscarBravo

Well, it's named for its creator Linus Torvalds. His name certainly isn't pronounced like "line us". It's not exactly "lynn us" either, but it's close.

greyed

it varies! go nerts

kewl:cool:... thanks again all

monkey tennis

greyed wrote: »

also, heard oo-bun-too from person and oo-boon-too from wikipedia, which is it?:p while im onto pedantics, lin-ux or line-ux?

Unless whoever you ask is African (for "Ubuntu") or Finnish (for "Linux"), you're not going to get a 100% accurate pronunciation.

SligoBrewer

I'm a complete noob so.

I'm downloading the ubuntu live cd atm while running xp atm.

What program should I use to burn the iso file onto the cd?
Will Sonic be ok?

yoyo

Try using www.imgburn.com (Freebie btw...), and burning to blank CD-R, I've used it in the past, no issiues

Nick

SligoBrewer

yoyo wrote: »

Try using www.imgburn.com (Freebie btw...), and burning to blank CD-R, I've used it in the past, no issiues

Nick

burning ubuntu yeah?

Capt'n Midnight

if using windows there are several cd burners
http://cdburnerxp.se

if you already had a knoppix boot disk you could use k3b

yoyo

SligoBrewer wrote: »

burning ubuntu yeah?

Yeah, And Fedora Core prior, worked great, m8 also burned ubuntu with it, no issiues, it writes all the boot data stuff, make sure u use a blank CD-R (CD-RW gave me m8 issiues),

Nick

SligoBrewer

i tried using sonic to write knoppix before and it failed to boot on both my laptop and my dimension 4300 desktop

bandit197

SligoBrewer wrote: »

I'm a complete noob so.

I'm downloading the ubuntu live cd atm while running xp atm.

What program should I use to burn the iso file onto the cd?
Will Sonic be ok?

There is a link to a small iso burning app. on the ubuntu download page. see 'help with burning iso' Its a simple program and works great. Enjoy Ubuntu

bandit197

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto Its in here...infra recorder

SligoBrewer

using the one recommended by ubuntu..

burning now after downloading it twice..:o

wish me luck.

SligoBrewer

failure to cue?

whats the problem?

bandit197

Did you get the disk burned at all or did it hang when you tried to install??

SligoBrewer

bandit197 wrote: »

Did you get the disk burned at all or did it hang when you tried to install??

i got it burned last night finally.

but it wont boot into ubuntu.
its more than a matter of just popping it in before boot up and changing the boot order is it?

cause its on the disk, but it wont boot into it

bandit197

SligoBrewer wrote: »

i got it burned last night finally.

but it wont boot into ubuntu.
its more than a matter of just popping it in before boot up and changing the boot order is it?

cause its on the disk, but it wont boot into it

You might need to burn it again and make sure not to use a cdrw. I had the same problem but second disk was fine. It should boot into ubuntu no problem when you change the boot order. When it does, click on 'check disk' first and when its finished click on ' start or install ubuntu '

SligoBrewer

bandit197 wrote: »

You might need to burn it again and make sure not to use a cdrw. I had the same problem but second disk was fine. It should boot into ubuntu no problem when you change the boot order. When it does, click on 'check disk' first and when its finished click on ' start or install ubuntu '

i used a cdr.

exact same story as when i tried knoppix:(

bandit197

Are you getting as far as the first ubuntu screen or is the screen going blank before that?

SligoBrewer

bandit197 wrote: »

Are you getting as far as the first ubuntu screen or is the screen going blank before that?

it just boots straight to windows.

no ubuntu/knoppix screens on either cd

Capt'n Midnight

you need to set the computer to boot from CD
press Del or F2 to go into setup / Bios
or whatever it says - if not sure press and hold the Any Key until it gives you a warning message that gives you the choice of going into setup

there you should have a boot option - depends on the brand of PC as to where it is you want CD above hard drive

SligoBrewer

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

you need to set the computer to boot from CD
press Del or F2 to go into setup / Bios
or whatever it says - if not sure press and hold the Any Key until it gives you a warning message that gives you the choice of going into setup

there you should have a boot option - depends on the brand of PC as to where it is you want CD above hard drive

tried before and again..failed:(:(

greyed

With my luck it was inevitable, but hopefully they arent such big ones...

Havnt actually installed yet, ran ubuntu of the live cd. Straight off from a usability point of view, its great, really like it(little things like the two "desks" and organisation of the start menu alternative). Firefox as standard is nice.

Problems though with sound and video. I have no sound when using the live cd, the icon says muted and when I try to unmute i get something along the lines of "gstreamer/device not found", sorry i dont have the cd with me atm, I will post the actual msg later if needed.

With the video its less obvious, not even sure there is a probm but on boot it reads out that checklist and i get (again, something like:o) "failed to query uvcvideo 135"

should I full install first, and see if these problems persist?
thanks in advance for any info

Vostro 1500, nvidia 8600m gt, sigmatel audio(integrated)

/Edit possible sound fix... http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=3633314&postcount=11. Im pretty sure I could do this but it would be shooting in the dark abit, this look nice and safe? all i get from dxdiag regarding my sound card is sigmatel, this look like the right fix for my card? why install all those progs?

PogMoThoin

Most hardware will be supported straight away, but you might need to fiddle a bit to get it working. I'd say you just got to adjust your settings to get your onboard sound going & download a different sound driver. You will aslo need the gstreamer codecs to play some video & audio filles as these are not pre-installed in Ubuntu.

Thats the problem with running from a live cd, You'll have to install the codecs each time you boot & configure your sound.

greyed

Cheers pmt, you were right, installed gstreamer and alsa stuff, as mentioned in that fix and sound is working now, video card works after accepting the fact that it has a proprietary driver.

PogMoThoin

greyed wrote: »

Cheers pmt

:rolleyes: I take offence @ being called PMT

Glad u got it sorted m8

greyed

PogMoThoin wrote: »

:rolleyes: I take offence @ being called PMT

hheh, lol, apologies... now recognise the acronym
... laziness gettin me into trouble again:p