Since that time, I have run numerous Linux distributions including all of the popular Debian based distros, SUSE, Fedora and a host of others. It has been fun and educational (to say the least). ]]> Several years ago, when I was just starting to use Linux, I remember getting a SUSE machine working and I was quite proud. My second big install was Red Hat and once it was working, I thought I ruled the world. Things were a little different then, not as much automated install…more hands on.

My ego was crushed when I attempted to install Debian. After a few failed attempts, I admitted defeat and went right back to SUSE.

Since that time, I have run numerous Linux distributions including all of the popular Debian based distros, SUSE, Fedora and a host of others. It has been fun and educational (to say the least).

The other night, I had to try Debian again. This time, I would download Debian 4.0 and attempt a net install on my old Athlon 1200. My hope was that I could install the basic Desktop software and find anything else I needed either through Apt-Get or Synaptic (really both one and the same, however the GUI is nice).

Downloading a 160M .iso is truly a piece-of-cake and burning it to disk was so quick, I felt that I was missing part of the distribution. Once burned, I booted the old machine with the CD and I immediately got a chill. There was the DEBIAN logo and I harkened back to the troubles of several years ago. Knowing that things in this big Linux World just keep getting better, I moved on.

This installation had much the same feel of a UBUNTU install, with the same questions in the same order. Finally, the system asks which mirror you want to finish your install. First, let me say that you can stop at this step and have the barest of minimum installs or you can proceed and do as I did…use the default mirror.

Once the mirror was selected, the install seemed to purr along at a good speed. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, just an install. On a couple of occasions, the install would stop while I answered a question…one was the screen resolution I wanted and after answering the question, the install resumed. In all, about 40 minutes from boot to first log in.

I guess the reason I wanted to share this with you is that there are many people out there that would use the pure DEBIAN system, but have nerves as a result of earlier experiences. To the Debian team, you have done a good job and are to be commended.

While a lot of software is installed, there were some codecs, java and other things I wanted, so I went to the Automatix site and downloaded their program for Etch. While everything did not work, as they reported on their site, the items I felt I was missing installed without flaw.

I have been working back and forth between Feisty and Etch and both are excellent distributions. I should also mention that I have a machine running Mepis 6.5, another Debian/Ubuntu based distribution. The speed and simplicity of all three is amazing and the ability to use configuration tools that are soooooo simple today, compared with the configuration tools of a few years ago is amazing.

I read daily those that say Linux is Ready/Not Ready for full time disktop use and I am amazed at what this community has done during recent years in the area of advancements. I see installers that are simple, installs that are almost automatic and program adding/removing as well as configuring that is simple even for the least skilled and I question where the fear that many feel with Linux. I think there is a certain stigma that continues to haunt Linux and that is the words “COMMAND LINE.” Based on what I see with many of today’s distributions, the Command Line has, for the most part, been replaced by the GUI World and is there for those of us that feel the need to tweak and tune.

While Vista may be the operating system of beauty (this is based on articles, not real life experience) Linux is the system of stability and trust and is rapidly developing into the distribution of choice!

The project began when I lost a video card and when the replacement arrived, I decided to reinstall Edgy. This started my “stumbling down stairs” phase. My first clue that this was not going to be easy was the forums are full of people attempting to get 1280x1024 as native resolution for their LCD monitor. ]]> Ever have one of those weeks? You know the kind where nothing you are trying to do is working! That has been my past week. The project was getting UBUNTU EDGY working at 1280×1024 resolution the native resolution of my LCD monitor.

The project began when I lost a video card and when the replacement arrived, I decided to reinstall Edgy. This started my “stumbling down stairs” phase. My first clue that this was not going to be easy was the forums are full of people attempting to get 1280×1024 as native resolution for their LCD monitor.

When I found that this was not as simple as I thought, I began chasing solutions on the forums. I edited the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file so many times, I thought there would be no recovery. I downloaded drivers, installed drivers, had the video disappear and after 10 installs ( to correct the loss of video) I finally decided that it was time for me to try something I hadn’t tried…a text based install!

I remember doing several text based installs in Debian and why not Edgy? Let me state here, text based does not mean difficult, it just requires a little more work that is straight forward and simple.

Booting the system from CD, I hit F4 immediately and selected 1280×1024 as resolution. I then selected TEXT MODE for the install method. Within seconds, I was answering the same questions as with the graphical install…language, keyboard, etc. Once the install began, it was like watching a Debian install…checking the package groups, etc. About 5-7 minutes into the install the screen I had been hoping was there came up…RESOLUTION! I used the down key to get to 1280×1024, hit the space bar to mark it and with the tab key went to the OK. The install progressed on schedule and when it was time to log in…there it was 1280×1024.

OK, having spent the bigger part of a week editing, reading, downloading, mumbling things about computers and in general frustrated, I was nervous about what would happen when I did a reboot. With a deep breath and perspiration on my brow, I told the system to restart. Everything looked good as the system came back up…I think I have it!

Immediately I went to preferences>screen resolution and there it was 1280×1024.

I am joyfully writing this post on that computer and it is absolutely beautiful. Now I am worried about what might happen if it doesn’t work for you. The reason I question it is that I did my install on Friday the 13th and we all know strange things can happen on those days…OOOPS….this is the 14th and it is still working.

Bet it will work for you too. Give it a try!

Normally, I have jumped on the new releases and immediately installed and reviewed, but with Ver. 6.10, I decided to spend some time working with the finished product looking more at reliability and software that fists the way I use a computer. ]]> There are few Linux users or potential users that haven’t heard of UBUNTU. When it first released in September 2004, it promised an every six month release and was touted as “always free.” With two full production cycles annually, the latest in software is always at hand and to date, only once has the cycle not been met. That was due to the release of a product that would feature long term support.

Normally, I have jumped on the new releases and immediately installed and reviewed, but with Ver. 6.10, I decided to spend some time working with the finished product looking more at reliability and software that fists the way I use a computer.

For openers, there are no Windows machines in my Linux Lab. All six machines run various flavors of Linux. Some would think this a little overboard, I call it GREAT!

UBUNTU 6.10 was released in late October and I immediately downloaded and installed. While I have done installs on most of the popular and some of the “not-so-popular” distros, UBUNTU has become one of the more simple. Minimal key clicks and your system is running from a live CD. A few more key clicks and you are installing the system on your hard drive. I now consider it simplicity at its best.

I should mention that I have installed on; Pen III, AMD Athlon, AMD Duron, Celeron and and AMD 2800+. all with no problems. I should also include an old laptop that I carry everywhere we travel.

While the code name for Version 6.10 is EDGY EFT, I must admit I found little EDGY, however that has not deterred me from using the distro daily in a multitude of ways.

One of the more subtle changes in Edgy is “UPSTART.” This is a replacement for the traditional init daemon and resolves many of the dependence issues during boot. It is one of the many things that the UBUNTU developers have used to insure the system just works!

At the core of Edgy is a newer kernel, version 2.6.17 and GNOME 2.16. Other changes include; Tomboy and F-Spot included at default install, Firefox 2.0, Novell’s Evolution now in version 2.8.0 and several new graphics.

Detection continues to be excellent for sound and video cards as well as printers. I must say that I had been using Version 6.06 LTS with a D-link Wireless card that had worked extremely well with a minimal amount of setup. After my install of Edgy, I found the Wi-Fi would not work. In fact, my system wanted to default to the Lan Card and after several frustrating attempts, I changed the encryption key to any, entered my code and suddenly I was up and running. In checking the UBUNTU Forums, I found I was not the only one with the problem.

Once that problem was solved, I went back to the internet and did an update. UBUNTU uses the Debian repositories and there is a wealth of programs at your fingertips whether using Synaptic or the command line Apt-Get.

Once the update was completed, I decided to install AUTOMATIX. For those that haven’t tried this program, it is simple to install and gives you a lot of programs that add to your computing experience and if you are a music and movie buff Automatix provides many programs. In all, it is hard to not like this feature.

Now, back to the crux of this piece. I am writing this post on the UBUNTU machine. In the 45 or so days since the install, I have not had a crash, program failure nor problem. Are there better distros out there? Maybe, but I just haven’t found one yet. Am I awaiting the next release…YOU BET. Do I recommend it to nOObs and experienced users alike…YOU BET.

Over the holidays, why not download and experiment with UBUNTU EDGY EFT? You might just like it.

This is a direct excerp:

First of all, we'd like to express a big public thank you to everyone who has showed their support to Ulteo. This has been absolutely awesome!

So what has happened for all these months, and why aren't ]]> Early this year, Gael Duval was released from Mandriva with the promise that the Linux community had not heard the last of him. To me, that is a good thing.

Today, I received the first ULTEO Newsletter which holds promise for a new distribution and would like to share the information with all that visit here.

This is a direct excerp:

First of all, we’d like to express a big public thank you
to everyone who has showed their support to Ulteo. This has
been absolutely awesome!

So what has happened for all these months, and why aren’t
any Ulteo products available to the public?

First of all, remember that the Ulteo project is a mix of
different concepts, which are supposed to simplify the use
of the computer in everyday life.

For most of these ideas, some choices were already done
regarding the direction we would take to implement them.
But there is a big gap between an idea, or even a demo of
this idea, and a full implementation that exists and works.

Furthermore, in April 2006, we realized that we had two
different ways we could approach the development of Ulteo:

- Either we would release something in one or two months,
by aggressively hacking a Linux distribution, and
adding quick & dirty features.

- Or we would bet that the project had a long-term
potential, and that we would take the time to build it
on clean and solid roots.

We chose the second option. This lead to frustration, both
for all people who were interested in Ulteo and for us, the
few guys who have been actively developing Ulteo for more
than 6 months now.

But for about one month now, we have had a full autobuilder
system in place, which can automatically rebuild a full
Ulteo system from sources, patches, branding and some
configuration files. This means that now we can really
concentrate on the development of specific features.

Recently, we also enjoyed many reports from all the
alpha-testers who were kind enough to have a look at the
first alpha version of the Connected Desktop, a virtual OS
which runs within the web browser, and which is a part of
the Ulteo concept. This information helped us greatly and
it will benefit the future development of the Connected
Desktop. These reports will certainly make it easier to
make the Connected Desktop a better feature for everyone.

But on the 5th or 6th of December, we are going to release
the first installable Ulteo LiveCD (for PC).

At the same time, we are going to unveil the basic ideas
behind Ulteo.

For this first alpha release, be prepared to dive a bit
inside the system to understand the potential of Ulteo. On
the desktop you will find only a few differences with what
you can use or see when compared to a graphical environment
on other distro’s. Maybe then you will understand what
makes Ulteo different, and you will start to think about
the next steps of development.

Take care.

Gaël Duval & The Ulteo Team.

Like many others in the Linux community, I eagerly await this new addition.

]]> http://geektimelinux.com/2006/12/04/OLD360/feed/ 0 http://geektimelinux.com/2006/10/26/OLD354/ http://geektimelinux.com/2006/10/26/OLD354/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 Dave It was from this simple premise that Mandrake was born. Mandrake, now Mandriva simplified installs, made them almost effortless and was responsible for many new users coming to Linux.

I learned of the Mandrake Legions some years ago when I was in a “Big Box” store looking at their boxed Linux distributions. The sales clerk, a young man in his late teens ask if I had ever used “Mandrake,” I answered NO and it was as if I had slapped him in the face. He quickly told me that he and several of his friends were avid Mandrake users and that he belonged to a LUG where many of the members were Mandrake users and he proceeded to open up as if I needed the testimonial. I bought a copy! ]]> Not many years ago, Linux users were pretty much computer geeks. The amount of software available was limited and most installs were from source code.

It was from this simple premise that Mandrake was born. Mandrake, now Mandriva simplified installs, made them almost effortless and was responsible for many new users coming to Linux.

I learned of the Mandrake Legions some years ago when I was in a “Big Box” store looking at their boxed Linux distributions. The sales clerk, a young man in his late teens ask if I had ever used “Mandrake,” I answered NO and it was as if I had slapped him in the face. He quickly told me that he and several of his friends were avid Mandrake users and that he belonged to a LUG where many of the members were Mandrake users and he proceeded to open up as if I needed the testimonial. I bought a copy!

Having done installs of SUSE and Red Hat, I found Mandrake to be quite simple to install, configure and use. I too became hooked.

Over the years several things have changed. Mandrake went through some serious financial problems, recovered, changed their name to MANDRIVA, purchased CONECTIVA and later LYCORIS and ousted their founder. Through all the changes one thing has remained a constant, install and configuration remains among the easiest of any distribution on the market.

During the past week, I installed Mandriva PowerPack 2007. I have used the PowerPack version since becoming hooked some years back. I guess that coupled with the ease of install and configuration PowerPack offers the user the opportunity to select an expanded selection of applications.

The install is very straight forward. Make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD or DVD and insert the distribution disk. I used the DVD, however CDs work the same way with the exception you have several changes during the course of the total install.

You are ask a few simple questions; language,keyboard layout,home country, time zone, agreement and partitioning. Just about as simple as it comes.

Once your install is complete, what can you expect? For one thing, the old Galaxy theme is out and a new la Ora theme is in. It comes in several colors instead of just the traditional blue and the background and splash images are new and more attractive.

If you are a “gammer” MANDRIVA 2007 has Cedega. TransGaming’s Cedega Windows emulator for games allows you to play many Windows games in much the same was as Wine or CrossOver Office.

Newer software for your desktop including; Firefox 1.5.0.6, OpenOffice 2.0.3, KDE 3.5.4 and GNOME 2.16. In addition, MANDRIVA PowerPack 2007 comes with LinDVD. Basically, this is the GNU/Linux version of WinDVD that allows you to play DVD movies legally. The list of options and new programs seems unending.

My test machine was an old AMD 950Mhz Duron. The install took about 40 minutes and, while I had the option of installing the entire DVD on the hard drive, I opted to only do a standard install.

Once the install was complete, I detected several small bugs. First, I had a bit of trouble getting the Wi-Fi to configure. Fortunately, I also had a wired Lan card in the computer that I configured to complete the install. This became quite annoying when I attempted to use the online update service during the post-install.

I wanted to try the LinDVD player and found it easy to use…that is until about 15 minutes or so into a movie. That is where it stopped. I was undaunted and tried another movie. I now have 30 minutes of my life I will never get back.

While you can update the software manually, do not depend on the software update notifier. It simply doesn’t work.

Even with the bugs mentioned above, I find MANDRIVA 2007 to be a good distribution. If you are new to Linux or hate complicated installs, this is probably your distribution.

If you don’t need all the frills and fancy stuff, you might opt for the Discovery Edition, with three CDs and a little easier to use.

Not only was I intrigued, the distribution jumped from no where to #36 on Distrowatch's list of requested distributions! I have never seen any distro, including Ubuntu jump this far this fast. I had to give it a try. ]]> There are times when intrigue causes me to jump up, download a distribution. do an install and in some cases I am happy, while in other cases …well!

A few weeks ago, I was reading Distrowatch when I saw the announcement of a new distribution that really piqued my attention. LINUX XP. The distro was touting itself as a Linux distribution that would run MS Word, MS Excel, Powerpoint and a host of other Windows programs while offering the stability of a Linux kernel.

Not only was I intrigued, the distribution jumped from no where to #36 on Distrowatch’s list of requested distributions! I have never seen any distro, including Ubuntu jump this far this fast. I had to give it a try.

Built on Fedora Core 3, the distro is familiar to many Linux users. From the time you pop the single CD in the slot and reboot, til the time you see the initial splash screen, the install is pure Fedora. Just like Fedora, you need no activation code or special privileges to use LINUX XP…Unlike Fedora, if you want all the features you need an activation code.

After using the system for a couple of days without the code, I activated the system. I guess I am not sure what I expected with the activation, but don’t believe I received it! When I went to the update system icon, I was given the opportunity to install Pack 1 and Pack 2. OK, so what the heck is Pack 1 and Pack 2? Not knowing I proceeded and when they had finished downloading, I still didn’t know what Pack 1 and Pack 2 were, but my computer had them!

I then proceeded to the Install Additional Software icon and was given a very limited list that included; Mplayer, Adobe, Open Office and Skype.

OK…I know what to do, I will go to a terminal (conveniently opened by right clicking on the background) and use YUM. Once I entered YUM UPDATE, the screen filled with scrolling programs that errored out and nothing was updated.

OK, maybe it was that I should have edited the /etc/yum.repos.d file. I entered the file and set up a series of repositories that I know to be good and wrote the file. Again, I entered the command “yum update” and once again the screen filled with scrolling programs, most appended with ready for update and once again the system errored out so as to not update anything.

Next try was to use “apt-get.” It failed as it was not installed.

Well, this needed a little more thinking, so why not move onto something that had been represented to be in the package…”wi-fi.” Yep, there it was with one exception, it does not contain an area for entering an encryption code, so without going out and downloading ndsiwrapper (not included) wi-fi was not going to work on my network.

Since I had already downloaded Mplayer, I thought I would give it a try on a couple of sites I visit regularly. OOPS, there is no plugin for Firefox and it appears that to install one will be a site searching process.

I finally decided to try Real Player, only this time I would not try the Linux version (remember this is the distro that runs Windows programs without having to use Windows). By golly, it installed and ran.

Amazed, I decided to go back to the original problem.
I would try going to the Linux XP forum and find an answer to my problem. I created a login and password and was immediately logged in. I posted my question and a few days later…nothing. It happens, so I was not too concerned. Two days later I tried to log in and found that I no longer have a valid ID or Password, however I do have a working copy of Real Player for Windows!!!

During the past days, I have hacked, cursed and tried many things I have learned over the years and have not progressed on the update or installation of software. I even tried to send an E-mail to their Tech support but to no avail. (User ID and Password do not exist)

When I saw the information on Linux XP, I was excited and thought this might be one of the really nice distros for those transitioning from Windows to Linux. After spending too much time hacking, cursing and fighting the system, I must say that Ubuntu is free, simple to install and does what it represents. For those that have a lot of time and patience, Linux XP might be for you, but for this old hacker, after I post this review, I will be putting Net BSD on the machine that now holds Linux XP.

FREESPIRE offers users the ability to choose the software they want to install on their computers including third-party proprietary drivers, codecs and many applications.

I downloaded the distro when the announcement was made and installed it on a 1.4 G AMD machine. The install was quite straight forward.

Booting from the single CD, you are afforded the opportunity to run as a Live CD or install. Mine was an install. After being ask about Keyboard selection (language) you are given choices of install method. In my case, it was the entire disk. The other option ...was for the more experienced user to do some custom work. Naming the computer, entering a user name and password with a chance to make some changes (you know...in the event you were staring at the pretty background and not reading the questions) and the install was underway. ]]> Just a week before LinuxWorld in San Francisco, Linspire delivered their free, Debian based desktop FREESPIRE. The release was almost a month ahead of schedule, something we haven’t seen for some time!

FREESPIRE offers users the ability to choose the software they want to install on their computers including third-party proprietary drivers, codecs and many applications.

I downloaded the distro when the announcement was made and installed it on a 1.4 G AMD machine. The install was quite straight forward.

Booting from the single CD, you are afforded the opportunity to run as a Live CD or install. Mine was an install. After being ask about Keyboard selection (language) you are given choices of install method. In my case, it was the entire disk. The other option …was for the more experienced user to do some custom work. Naming the computer, entering a user name and password with a chance to make some changes (you know…in the event you were staring at the pretty background and not reading the questions) and the install was underway.

Ten minutes later, the first boot of the new system was complete.

The distro does have a lot of nice features and programs. In the program department, FREESPIRE has a lot of multimedia support including; MP3, Windows Media, Real, QuickTime, Java, Flash, ATI, nVidia, Wi-Fi and more. Security is handled with a built-in firewall and Internet access by Firefox. The default E-mail program is Thunderbird and for IM, GAIM is the solution.

I have a D Link Wi-Fi card in the computer I installed on and, while I have had simpler setups, the system configured with a minimum amount of work.

As a simple, straight forward distribution, FREESPIRE hit the spot. The only problem I have is if you want additional software, you must join the Linspire Click-N-Run Repository. At roughly $50 per year, this removes the free from FREESPIRE. Yes many of us have paid that sum and possibly more for distributions in the past, but with the proliferation of distributions that are free and contain an abundance of software, this might pose a bit of a marketing problem.

Many experienced Linux users will probably opt for running Debian’s apt-get or Synaptic to download their programs, saving the $50 for dinner out. Either way, it is a distro you might enjoy. FREESPIRE.

Looking at the distribution from my standpoint, I am a Linux user of several years, with no Windows products in the Lab. I like command line, hacking and most of all I enjoy Linux.

I have written about XANDROS several times during the past couple of years and always felt that the distribution was something special. Unlike Ubuntu or Linspire (both Debian distributions) you do have password protection for the root directory, a feature I think is a must. XANDROS has never tried to have the latest and greatest, just the most recent stable programs. It is also a commercial distribution meaning the basic edition of Desktop 4 will run about $40 USD and the premium about $80 USD. ]]> I hope all have had a chance to digest Judi’s non-technical review of XANDROS Desktop 4 Premium. I enjoyed it because it was the way I feel many people see a new distribution, feel about the install and the comments that follow.

Looking at the distribution from my standpoint, I am a Linux user of several years, with no Windows products in the Lab. I like command line, hacking and most of all I enjoy Linux.

I have written about XANDROS several times during the past couple of years and always felt that the distribution was something special. Unlike Ubuntu or Linspire (both Debian distributions) you do have password protection for the root directory, a feature I think is a must. XANDROS has never tried to have the latest and greatest, just the most recent stable programs. It is also a commercial distribution meaning the basic edition of Desktop 4 will run about $40 USD and the premium about $80 USD.

XANDROS has always featured simplicity in install. With Desktop 4, not much has changed. Once you boot the install disk, you are given the choice of Express or Custom install modes. Express installs the distro on your computer with default settings, while the Custom install installs the distro with user-defined settings. With Custom, there are four basic options; Minimal—Basic install (1.5G minimum), Standard—Commonly used applications including default and recommended custom options (2G recommended), Complete—Install all software (up to 2.5G) and Custom—user selecting the applications required. While there are no real statistics, I would think that the majority of XANDROS installs would be Express.

If you have progressed to the point where you are choosing Express or Custom and do chose Express, you will be given the opportunity to overwrite everything on the hard drive or install next to another operating system. My preference continues to be to use the entire hard drive.

The Administration Configuration window will then appear and you type and confirm the Administrator (root) password, name the computer. Clicking next, you will be greeted by a User Account window where you can set up accounts for all users, click finish and the install is performed.

The install is a fast process. I installed XANDROS Desktop 4 on an AMD 1.2G machine and the install completed in about 18 minutes.

Once installed you will be greeted with by KDE’s 3.4.2 desktop and then the First Run Wizard takes over. Walking through the simple questions is quick, with my heart stopping only once. That when I was asked for an “Activation Code.” I must admit that over the years of using Linux, those words have slipped from my vocabulary and I had to check the box quickly to insure I had one. Many new users are coming from a Windows environment and Activation Codes are common.

I had read that this distro worked well with wireless, so I had installed a D-Link Wi-fi card as a test. Clicking on Network connections, I entered the ESSID and Encryption Key and clicked OK. 15 to 30 seconds later, I had a wi-fi connection with my router. Checking the network, all was good.

XANDROS Desktop 4.0 comes with an application disk as well as VERSORA. Versora allows you to migrate your Windows files into the new XANDROS system. A slick feature I didn’t need!

Clicking on the XANDROS Network allows you to add software, upgrade programs (as they become available) and do some hacking. (More on that later) I dropped the Applications Disk in the CD and within seconds a long list of programs was being displayed. They were programs I could install simply by clicking on the box near the application. I clicked on all and they began to load. Once completed, I had to try out the CrossOver Office feature offered in the Premium Edition. I have been a believer in this product since it hit the market and continue to sing its praises. I clicked on Launch>applications>Crossover>install windows software and loaded on of the programs. It worked as expected. Installing quickly and performing well upon the completion of install.

I mentioned in the last paragraph the “hacking.” I am an ardent fan of Jem Matzen’s and he has published several “hacks” for Desktop 4. See Jem’s Article and find how far you can expand this system…FOR FREE!

What are my overall impressions of XANDROS Desktop 4? Short of the Server software I reviewed earlier this month, I think this is the best version of XANDROS I have had the pleasure of working with. Simple, stable, quick to install and supporting all of the software I use daily.

Why not give it a try yourself. XANDROS Desktop 4.

Why UBUNTU became so popular so quickly could be attributed to many things. First, Debian had been promising, but not delivering a new version. UBUNTU used the Debian core and added many new features. These features attracted Debian users. UBUNTU was not afraid of going cutting edge with their programming and the programmers coded a near flawless distro. Another reason that UBUNTU might have become so popular was their promise of a new distro every six months. They were true to that distribution schedule until 6.06 and they knew they were going to provide support and, after notifying the UBUNTU and Linux communities that they needed a bit more time to insure a stable distro, they moved their release date out six weeks. Still another reason that UBUNTU is so popular is that they will provide you with a free CD. I have had the occasion to receive some of the CDs and have been able to pass them on to new users that have become UBUNTU converts. ]]> In September, 2004, we wrote our first piece on a Linux distribution with a strange name, UBUNTU. Version 4.10 was code named “Warty Warthog” and aside from the chuckles associated with the name, UBUNTU was suddenly racing to the top of the chart on Distrowatch. Once it hit the top, it has remained and with the release of version 6.06 LTS (for Long Term Support) its popularity is sure to continue to grow.

Why UBUNTU became so popular so quickly could be attributed to many things. First, Debian had been promising, but not delivering a new version. UBUNTU used the Debian core and added many new features. These features attracted Debian users. UBUNTU was not afraid of going cutting edge with their programming and the programmers coded a near flawless distro. Another reason that UBUNTU might have become so popular was their promise of a new distro every six months. They were true to that distribution schedule until 6.06 and they knew they were going to provide support and, after notifying the UBUNTU and Linux communities that they needed a bit more time to insure a stable distro, they moved their release date out six weeks. Still another reason that UBUNTU is so popular is that they will provide you with a free CD. I have had the occasion to receive some of the CDs and have been able to pass them on to new users that have become UBUNTU converts.

While the entire base distribution is contained on one CD, there are thousands of additional pieces of software just a few clicks away.

Installation is easy, however lacks the beauty of a GUI! Rather, you will be prompted to answer such questions as; language, keyboard, time zone and of course, how to partition your drive for installation. I almost always select the entire drive and have never had a problem with UBUNTU building a partition system that is custom to the distro.

While you will be ask for a User Name and Password, many will find it unusual that you are not prompted for a ROOT Password. UBUNTU does not afford that opportunity. If you really are convinced that you need a ROOT Password, once the install is complete, open a console, enter: sudo passwd root (hit return and you will be prompted to enter your new UNIX password.) Problem solved!

The entire installation process, depending on the speed of your processor should take around 30 minutes.

UBUNTU uses GNOME 2.14.1 and includes OpenOffice 2.0.2, Firefox 1.5.0.4, Evolution and Thunderbird and the list continues to grow.

While Synaptic is probably the preferred method of adding programs, I discovered, while using UBUNTU 5.10 (Breezy Badger) a wonderful script written by a user that he had posted in the Ubuntu Forum The application AUTOMATIX handles many of the small features not covered by synaptic. Example would be the install of Java JRE. It also covers some non-free software. By the way, that is the method I used to install Java and Real Player for Linux. Both work perfectly.

Another source, although directly linked to synaptic, is the ADD/REMOVE feature. Here you can break down the vast program list in categories and find the program that is just right for you.

The appearance of UBUNTU is quite clean, however I must admit I am not a big fan of “Burnt Orange and Black” reminds me too much of my old school colors!!!

Dapper Drake, as version 6.06 is code named appears to be a little faster than previous releases. Hardware detection is excellent. When I checked my printer (an old HP) it took seconds to configure as the auto detection had found the printer and was just awaiting the command to set it up. An old sound card was properly configured and the list goes on.

While there is no perfect distribution for everyone, UBUNTU certainly comes close and with new releases every six months, users are assured of the latest in software.

UBUNTU jumped ahead of SUSE, RED HAT (now Fedora Core) and a host of other old time distributions (per the requests at Distrowatch) almost from its first release. While devotees worried about the slight delay with this version, the distributions reputation continues to grow. The development team promises that the software will always be free and that there will be a new distro every six months.

Simple to use and stable would describe UBUNTU in short phrases. Why not give it a try.