Giving it a try..

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sboucher

Gawd
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
550
So I decided to give Ubuntu a trial run on a backup computer of mine. Desktop with an AMD 3000+, 1G DDR333, Nvidia 7800GT AGP card... etc.

I downloaded and installed Ubuntu 8.10 32bit, and figured the first place I would like to start would be to try and customize some of the appearance similar so some of the screenshots you guys have posted in this forum. We'll I didn't get very far... I'm somewhat familiar with the basics of finding applications using the add/remove programs. I installed Compiz, and Emerald Theme Manager, but haven't been able to get the themes I've downloaded to work properly.

What programs do you guys suggest if other than the two mentioned above? I recall seeing a few other names pop up in my searches (GTK etc). What works best with Ubuntu, and is easiest to work with?

I'm a relatively experienced windows user, but with Linux I find myself getting frustrated pretty quickly. Clearly there is a bit of a learning curve that comes with this.
 
http://gnome-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=100&PHPSESSID=85b694a54c53ce79f0dca84de3f692e3


You want GTK 2 themes. You also don't exactly need a separate manager for themes. Under Preferences, the "Appearance"... thing is what you want.

If you download a theme it should come in a tar.gz file. Open the Appearance program and select themes. Drag the file from your Desktop into the open program and it SHOULD install. Then you can select it from there.
 
sboucher said:
So I decided to give Ubuntu a trial run on a backup computer of mine. Desktop with an AMD 3000+, 1G DDR333, Nvidia 7800GT AGP card... etc.

I downloaded and installed Ubuntu 8.10 32bit, and figured the first place I would like to start would be to try and customize some of the appearance similar so some of the screenshots you guys have posted in this forum. We'll I didn't get very far... I'm somewhat familiar with the basics of finding applications using the add/remove programs. I installed Compiz, and Emerald Theme Manager, but haven't been able to get the themes I've downloaded to work properly.

What programs do you guys suggest if other than the two mentioned above? I recall seeing a few other names pop up in my searches (GTK etc). What works best with Ubuntu, and is easiest to work with?

I'm a relatively experienced windows user, but with Linux I find myself getting frustrated pretty quickly. Clearly there is a bit of a learning curve that comes with this.
Click to expand...

that frustrated feeling will never, ever go away, especially if you're used to knowing how to dig around a bit with windows systems....

if you want to learn linux, drop ubuntu, head over to slackware.com, freebsd.org, gentoo.org, or archlinux.org

i highly recommend a slackware installation using the slackbook- http://www.slackbook.org/

holy crap that thing is well written! very good read....
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
that frustrated feeling will never, ever go away, especially if you're used to knowing how to dig around a bit with windows systems....

if you want to learn linux, drop ubuntu, head over to slackware.com, freebsd.org, gentoo.org, or archlinux.org

i highly recommend a slackware installation using the slackbook- http://www.slackbook.org/

holy crap that thing is well written! very good read....
Click to expand...

See, I think that's what drives people away from Linux.

He's already stated he's new to Linux and is frustrated with it. Most people would be with a new OS. Then you tell him to try Slackware or Gentoo, which are both totally difference from how Ubuntu works. He'd be even more confused and just give up on Linux all together.
 
Private_Ops said:
See, I think that's what drives people away from Linux.

He's already stated he's new to Linux and is frustrated with it. Most people would be with a new OS. Then you tell him to try Slackware or Gentoo, which are both totally difference from how Ubuntu works. He'd be even more confused and just give up on Linux all together.
Click to expand...

um, no way.... he said hes an advanced windows user.... so i'm assuming hes going to want to be able to do *some* advanced user things in linux too....

and with linux, you'll want to learn it once, and learn it *right*, which is why taking some time out to play with a more advanced distro is worth it...

and what makes slackware and gentoo totally different than ubuntu? other than the BSD style inits... linux is linux is linux....

besides, for someone looking to get a mile high overview of linux... what exactly is wrong with the slackware handbook? that thing kicks amazing amounts of ass... and answers *so* many linux newbie questions, its not even funny....
 
For general "ease of use" with a distro, I recommend Ubuntu.

If you really want to learn something, I recommend Arch, from the ground up. Gentoo is still over the head of people new to Linux in general and in principle, but Arch, coupled with the extremely easy to read and apply wiki tutorials at their site, is unmatched.

</personal_opinion>
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
that frustrated feeling will never, ever go away, especially if you're used to knowing how to dig around a bit with windows systems....

if you want to learn linux, drop ubuntu, head over to slackware.com, freebsd.org, gentoo.org, or archlinux.org

i highly recommend a slackware installation using the slackbook- http://www.slackbook.org/

holy crap that thing is well written! very good read....
Click to expand...

My problem is that I have been using Ubuntu so long now on my primary machine when I finally got around to fixing up my gaming rig I couldn't figure out how to do half the things I use to be able to do in Windows. I am a Windows idiot now... but its all good apt-get beats anything I lost by not using Windows.
 
/ease of use/
(me yesterday, hypothetically ) which linux program may be best for drawing?
(today) new /program=port/, freebsd, /usr/ports/graphics (category)/grafx2 (program)
installed it.
HEY dos 1990's, ported, EASY as PIE (to draw). All I have to do now is figure
out how to convert the saved .PKM file to something. AND THE COLORS are pretty.
///...could not have written this yesterday, though I have 3 maybe similar programs installed...///
 
Private_Ops said:
http://gnome-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=100&PHPSESSID=85b694a54c53ce79f0dca84de3f692e3


You want GTK 2 themes. You also don't exactly need a separate manager for themes. Under Preferences, the "Appearance"... thing is what you want.

If you download a theme it should come in a tar.gz file. Open the Appearance program and select themes. Drag the file from your Desktop into the open program and it SHOULD install. Then you can select it from there.
Click to expand...

That simple huh.... I guess I was just expecting it to be more complicated. Go figure. Didn't realize that the GTK 2 Themes were for the build in preferences. Thanks Private_Ops.

I also checked out some of that manual from slackware, it is interesting, and well written like you said Bruce. I may consider trying it sometime, but for now I'm just looking for something relatively simple to play around with.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
you dont *really* need to do a slackware installation to use the slackware handbook... you can just use it as a top down overview of "linux" in general ... something for which it is *great* for....

(an interesting note about slackware... it uses a completely stock linux kernel from kernel.org, and almost all of it's packages are straight from source, barely any slackware specific branding or customization)
 
sboucher, what type of operating system background do you have? Ubuntu can be very frustrating if you are coming directly from Windows XP, Vista, etc. The processes and logic in finding things can be too different.

My first taste of Linux came from very specific tools using Linux that were command line only. I still remember the very first one - it was a bootable floppy disk used for removing password protections from WinXP :D:D:D! I used to be very familiar with DOS, so working in a command line environment with a limited set of possible actions was very comfortable for my first experience.

Using Ubuntu took three separate tries before finding 8.04 to be polished enough to where I could make things work between the command line terminal and the GUI the way I wanted. And it still frustrates me regularly. But I like it enough that I have two regular machines that boot into Ubuntu.

If I could give you any advice, it would be to completely drop the Compiz, Emerald, eye candy stuff, and get to know the fundamentals of Linus from a very basic distribution. The Linux disto I learned the most on was Vector Linux Light - partially (I learned after the fact) because it is based on Slackware; but don't think about that - don't go straight to Slackware yet. Vector Linux Light.
 
Cheetoz said:
sad to hear that it is only capable on a few distros..... :confused:
Click to expand...

capable on all linux distros... but its a much more *straightforward* learning process on certain distros... and that can make all the difference with whether or not someone will stick around or not... especially a windows power user...
 
Oh wow, thank you! I'm using Ubuntu for the first time too and it's been very confusing. The slackbook is amazing!!
 
forkedt said:
Oh wow, thank you! I'm using Ubuntu for the first time too and it's been very confusing. The slackbook is amazing!!
Click to expand...

oh yea... quite good reading....

for anyone interested... Chapter 4 is where the awesome generic knowledge goodness begins...

edit: one caveat... make sure you read the section on BSD vs System V style init scripts carefully... since that will be one of the few major things that wont be universally transferable to every other linux distro out there...
 
I've used Windows 98se/XP/Vista, and Windows 7 beta. I'd say I'm a relatively experienced user (not advanced). I have very little DOS or command line experience. Although that's an area i've always wanted to improve on. Basically I can build my own computer desktop, install / configure windows operating systems, troubleshoot basic problems, and provide some technical support to friends and family. I'm by no means a programmer or IT professional however.

My main desktop machine uses Windows Vista, and I'll switch it over to Windows 7 when it releases. I'm an PC gamer, so there really isn't any alternative to Windows at this point. But for my backup machine Ubuntu seems to be just fine, and I'll keep reading the slackbook manual so hopefully my knowledge of Linux gets much better over time. Aside from AAA title gaming, there isn't much you can't do with Linux these days.

I was having a hard time trying to change my boot splash screen last night with Ubuntu 8.10. I found a few forums saying there is a bug with 8.10. Any of you guys find a solution? I was hoping to use some of the nice splash screens I found at www.gnome-look.org.
 
you want better command line experience? well shit... download a copy of virtualbox, load up a slackware DVD in it, and just read through the slackbook ....

command line and system maintenance from the command line are what that book is all about....

*I miss DOS and all it's clunky charm....
 
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