tips for a new ubuntu user

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FRAGMAN BOB

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 25, 2005
Messages
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I just inherited my sisters old laptop with a CeleronM (1.4ghz) and 512mb of Ram. I am installing ubuntu 8.04. Are there any tips or must-do's for a new ubuntu user? thanks
 
Yea add the non-free repositories and install the non-free codecs(for things like mp3s).

Other then that the standard updates and what not.

Something you can look into as well is if you plan on keeping the notebook you might want to throw some extra memory in it when you can find some pulls cheap in the forms. Same with a cpu upgrade as you can get a pentium m pretty cheap for it.
 
You might want to grab the Advanced Desktop Effects Settings from add/remove applications so you can enable the better-looking interface effects.
 
Add the medibuntu repository, and other non-free repositories
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-restricted-extras kubuntu-restricted-extras ubuntu-restricted-extras libdvdcss2 w32codecs
 
Thanks for all the info, but when i tried to add the medibuntu repositories (as indicated by the code you posted) I get these error message:

Package w32codecs is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package w32codecs has no installation candidate


any ideas?
 
All I can really think of getting is Compiz Fusion/Better Desktop Effects.
 
Buy a laptop cooler because CPU frequency scaling seem the be quirky on most laptops. Idle I'm hitting 60c and with a wine or a heavy task running I always over heat.. I've tried just about every tip/trick on my laptop to fix the scaling and nothing works. All the desktops I run on it run fine though...

Research any Windows programs you like and see if you they a linux version.

And definitely read the Ubuntu forums because there is a wealth of information there. I've only been using it for about 6 months but I seriously haven't found a thing that I wanted to do that I couldn't.

I personally recommend;

Amarok - Music/MP3 Player
VLC - Will Play an Media
Xsensors - Temperature Monitor
Deluge - BT Client
Xchat - IRC Client
 
Ooo, I forgot to mention VLC. VLC is my favorite media player. Definitely a must have. It will play nearly anything you try and open with it.
 
Does anyone else have problems enabling the advanced Desktop Effects. Sometimes I have to reboot severl times before it offers to enable the driver!!!!!!!!!
 
The best tip I can give is never be content with the default anything installed by your distro. Especially one with such a vast repository as Ubuntu. Whether we're talking about a word processor or a complete desktop, nothing is one size fits all. Fire up synaptic and take a look at some of what all is in there just a download away.
 
There's a thread for linux software list. Check it out.
I would also install wine and openOffice, in addition to all the codecs and video playback plug-ins. Also install flash (probably adobe) so you have full view of web sites and all those flash banner ads :)
 
Yes - press ctrl + alt + f1and do as much as you can in that screen. Set up some goals (NFS, Samba, Apache, FTP Server) and work through them.

Best advice I can give you...unless you just want Compiz Fusion or something like that which offers no relevance to Linux / Ubuntu.
 
I love when people can't read man pages or do simple searches to resolve simple known issues and then blame the OS.
 
Carloswill said:
I love when people can't read man pages or do simple searches to resolve simple known issues and then blame the OS.
Click to expand...

thats where you are sooooo wrong my friend....i spent hours upon hours trying to get a simple driver to work with a wireless card, and i even did my homework and got one with the RT61 chipset because it was one that was recommended for new Linux users who wanted WiFi.....but it turns out nearly the entire *nix community is honestly unable to get over themselves and will not take the time to help a new guy, i went through the Ubuntu support crap, the Wiki crap, here i asked too......people would start with crap like "create a directory named______ using the Terminal".....

problem is, WTF is the terminal, where do i find it, how do i create a directory...etc......

to which you would get responses like, "go read this 18 page thread on Ubuntu" or "go buy this 200 page book on how to get around Linux, then come back"

BS, i can install XP and everything works...so go f-yourself with your "you didn't try first" crap, i did try, Ubuntu is for people with lots of disposable time who give a crap about learning a new programming language and interface.....not for everyone, and guess what, yes, believe it or not, sometimes an OS is faulty.....LOL
 
infornographer said:
aka Hobby OS.
Click to expand...

you know what man, thats a great way to put it....i used to be into that, i did all the command line interface stuff, back when a fast PC was running 4.7Mhz and had a whopping 640K ram and a 3.5" floppy drive was an awe inspiring and expensive upgrade, before Windows and before the world wide web...been there done that, i am grown now though with responsibilities, i dont have time nor desire to learn a new OS front to back

which is why i am miffed about it all.....and i apologize for derailing the thread guys, but if the idiots that love Ubuntu would just stop acting like it's a no brainer simple replacement for Windows it might be better.....it's a "hobby OS", something a former Windows user should be prepared to study, research and spend a crap load of time to just get it to work like Windows
 
I don't get it to be honest. I've toyed with Linux distros for years but never extensively used them. I installed Ubuntu 8.0.4 last night on my older PC (AMD 64 3200+, 512 MBs of RAM, 6800 GT) and I was astonished at how far linux has come in terms of user friendliness and ease of install. I had some issues with accessing network shares on my windows system but that turned out to be more related to Windows networking issues. I don't understand some of the frustrations you're complaining about, nobody_here.
 
Daggah said:
I don't get it to be honest. I've toyed with Linux distros for years but never extensively used them. I installed Ubuntu 8.0.4 last night on my older PC (AMD 64 3200+, 512 MBs of RAM, 6800 GT) and I was astonished at how far linux has come in terms of user friendliness and ease of install. I had some issues with accessing network shares on my windows system but that turned out to be more related to Windows networking issues. I don't understand some of the frustrations you're complaining about, nobody_here.
Click to expand...

i researched and bought the wireless card i did because it was a good one to get for running Ubuntu, after getting it i find there are no drivers for Linux on the disc, nothing on Gigabyte's website either, so i go searching, get told to try the repository and other such things, nothing turns up...so i do more digging...i use the Ubuntu support pages, the Wiki, and ask here too....find out that i have to "compile" the driver myself to get it working but it will work, then they start with the "you have to go to the terminal and login in as "super user" and create a directory and download this and that and this...etc..etc...

i dont know how else to put it, it was a mjor time consuming PITA

i only have limited time to use the PC, i want to turn it on and want it to work, i dont want to spend hours upon hours having to beg for answers from people who assume everyone who asks already knows all the basics like how to use terminal and how to compile a driver..etc...and get a smart ass attitude when you ask how to do the simplest things man...

its like this

if i cant turn it on, and it work, outside of double clicking a .exe installer file and rebooting...i dont want any part of it, been there, done that, dont care to do it again, the craptards that write this crap cannot even make a simple double click-click next-click finish executeable file to make a simple piece of hardware work....f-that

i installed XP and what do you know, it worked, first time, right away, i did not have to learn any programming language, i didnt have to put up with elitist tards and their "you gotta spend hundreds of hours learning this stuff before you can install a friggin wireless card on Linux: crap....nothing, plug it in, double click a .exe file, reboot, and bam, it works

like i have said a gazillion times before, when Linux gets as user friendly as Windows, i will switch to Linux, unfortunately i dont think the holier than thou *nix tards will ever allow that to happen, so they fail
 
nobody_here said:
like i have said a gazillion times before, when Linux gets as user friendly as Windows, i will switch to Linux, unfortunately i dont think the holier than thou *nix tards will ever allow that to happen, so they fail
Click to expand...

Sometimes capability/stability comes at the cost of user friendliness. The "tards" who dedicate their time to working on open source stuff aren't working for you. Nobody is forcing you to use open source software.
 
Carloswill said:
I love when people can't read man pages or do simple searches to resolve simple known issues and then blame the OS.
Click to expand...

While a lot of issues can be resolved this way it does take a lot of getting use to. This is something a lot of people don't want to deal with. Where linux still fails is that a lot of things require the comand line. Products like ubuntu have come a very long way in making it easy for people to use without knowing the ins and outs but it isn't there yet.

I know what people are talking about with things like wireless card issues. If you really want to go digging yes it is not that hard to figure out. Problem is time. Last time I delt with magor wireless issues was with ubuntu 6 or 7(can't remember). I was setting up a notebook for a friend who just does nothing but screw up her machine. She played with linux on my notebook and wanted to use it. The issue I had was that the instructions didn't work. It was due to the fact that something was upgraded on the install since the instructions were written and each step was met with yet another error. After messing with it for an hour I figured out it was a bug with the ndis wrapper and something. I ended up useing Linuxant's wrapper(paid for it) to get it working.

The issue is that unless one can get all of their stuff working they can't even start really working with the system. Linux still has a very long way to go here. If someone can't even get their network adapter to work they have to either use another network adapter or use another machine. Having to fight pretty much the entire way through is not the way most people want to go.

In my case I had the wireless driver issue resolved without wasting but so much time because I got lazy and took a short cut. An inexperienced linux user would have been at it for hours.
 
nobody_here, I don't think it's fair to judge the entire linux community because of a hardware support problem for a piece of hardware that may or may not be obscure? On the same note I can point out that my most recent install of Ubuntu has worked flawlessly right out of the box, and I haven't had to touch a terminal window yet to get anything working. Everything from software updates to new software installation to simple computer tasks have worked perfectly. Hell, installing new software from the Internet has been easier in Ubuntu than it has been in Windows! I go to the package maanager, do a search for what I want, and tell it to install, and it goes out and downloads the required files and everything.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Sometimes capability/stability comes at the cost of user friendliness. The "tards" who dedicate their time to working on open source stuff aren't working for you. Nobody is forcing you to use open source software.
Click to expand...

swatbat said:
While a lot of issues can be resolved this way it does take a lot of getting use to. This is something a lot of people don't want to deal with. Where linux still fails is that a lot of things require the comand line. Products like ubuntu have come a very long way in making it easy for people to use without knowing the ins and outs but it isn't there yet.

I know what people are talking about with things like wireless card issues. If you really want to go digging yes it is not that hard to figure out. Problem is time. Last time I delt with magor wireless issues was with ubuntu 6 or 7(can't remember). I was setting up a notebook for a friend who just does nothing but screw up her machine. She played with linux on my notebook and wanted to use it. The issue I had was that the instructions didn't work. It was due to the fact that something was upgraded on the install since the instructions were written and each step was met with yet another error. After messing with it for an hour I figured out it was a bug with the ndis wrapper and something. I ended up useing Linuxant's wrapper(paid for it) to get it working.

The issue is that unless one can get all of their stuff working they can't even start really working with the system. Linux still has a very long way to go here. If someone can't even get their network adapter to work they have to either use another network adapter or use another machine. Having to fight pretty much the entire way through is not the way most people want to go.

In my case I had the wireless driver issue resolved without wasting but so much time because I got lazy and took a short cut. An inexperienced linux user would have been at it for hours.
Click to expand...

Daggah said:
nobody_here, I don't think it's fair to judge the entire linux community because of a hardware support problem for a piece of hardware that may or may not be obscure? On the same note I can point out that my most recent install of Ubuntu has worked flawlessly right out of the box, and I haven't had to touch a terminal window yet to get anything working. Everything from software updates to new software installation to simple computer tasks have worked perfectly. Hell, installing new software from the Internet has been easier in Ubuntu than it has been in Windows! I go to the package maanager, do a search for what I want, and tell it to install, and it goes out and downloads the required files and everything.
Click to expand...


all great posts and very true, Ubuntu is great for some people, maybe when i retire and have tons of disposable time i will jump back on it...LOL

sorry guys about the rant:D
 
To be honest I just reinstalled XP Pro back in my laptop. I left a 20gb partition for Ubuntu Hardy though. I just couldn't take the overheating, especially with summer coming where it can get 90-100 degrees in my room. I will reinstall Ubuntu this weekend, then install my APTon-CD and be good to go though :D. I still want to play around with it and learn more about because eventually I plan on getting a EEEpc which will most likely run a Linux distro. Waiting for the Atom versions to come out.
 
Ubuntu reminds me of the time i jumped from a point and shoot camera to a dSLR. Sure, both do the same thing, but the SLR let me tweak and manually change things. In short, it let me customize. XP is great in hardware support. It supports practically everything. Ubuntu, not so good, especially with wireless. BUT..if you have the time and patience to go through the hurdle of installing drivers so things work again, it's WELL worth it. Everything else is a walk in the park in terms of OS customization.

I totally agree: Ubuntu/linux is a huge disappointment and a frustration when that one thing (wireless access..to the internet...where you need help!) isn't working.

Another word of warning: if you ever find an "XP vs ubuntu which is better" thread...avoid it. It's a big waste of time :)
 
So I tried out Suse, FreeBSD, and Ubuntu recently. Which version of Suse and FreeBSD I don't remember. Initially I very impressed with Suse but the install was sometimes ridiculously long. FreeBSD was interesting but definitely not for the casual user - me. Ubuntu 8.04 out did them all. When I stuck with repositories everything went fairly smooth. Sometimes the description of what I was installing was not clear to me. My sound card wasn't completely supported so it took some effort to find the fix for it. WINE was surprisingly easy though there were a few things I didn't understand. Much like any other OS, if you do manage muck something up reinstalling may be the only real option. Lots of good suggestions in this discussion should encourage anyone to at least try some flavor of Linux.

I also have XP and Vista. Other than I think they're expensive I am pretty happy with them too.
 
If you have to ask how to find the terminal and how to create a directory using CLI, then you can expect to get the responses you did. I am not going to go on a Windows forum asking how to edit the registry and then ask how to I click on the "Start" button or how do I reboot the OS. These are basic things expected of you if you're on a technical forum trying to load device drivers or loading modules for hardware. Sounds like you're simply flustered & annoyed. I myself have never seen Ubuntu not recognize any piece of hardware I throw at it but then again, thats me. People with patience and who have the drive to look up and work through problems will stick with and enjoy GNU/Linux. I don't think Ubuntu or GNU/Linux is a "hobby OS". A hobby OS in my opinion is one where I need to spend $100's in software to keep it running stable and clean. I don't have time to run all these tasks on AV cleanup / updates / definitions etc etc etc...

I am not bashing any OS. Linux / OSX / Windows all have their faults. Its what works best for you...
 
mtrupi said:
So I tried out Suse, FreeBSD, and Ubuntu recently. Which version of Suse and FreeBSD I don't remember. Initially I very impressed with Suse but the install was sometimes ridiculously long. FreeBSD was interesting but definitely not for the casual user - me. Ubuntu 8.04 out did them all. When I stuck with repositories everything went fairly smooth. Sometimes the description of what I was installing was not clear to me. My sound card wasn't completely supported so it took some effort to find the fix for it. WINE was surprisingly easy though there were a few things I didn't understand. Much like any other OS, if you do manage muck something up reinstalling may be the only real option. Lots of good suggestions in this discussion should encourage anyone to at least try some flavor of Linux.

I also have XP and Vista. Other than I think they're expensive I am pretty happy with them too.
Click to expand...

FreeBSD is not for the casual user. Really it is more of a server os then a desktop os although it can be both. I use to run freebsd as my main os. It is a very good system and its ports(software repositorie) is one of the first and is still one of the best. I want to say it came out in like 94. Pretty much every other one is based off it.

Carloswill said:
If you have to ask how to find the terminal and how to create a directory using CLI, then you can expect to get the responses you did. I am not going to go on a Windows forum asking how to edit the registry and then ask how to I click on the "Start" button or how do I reboot the OS. These are basic things expected of you if you're on a technical forum trying to load device drivers or loading modules for hardware. Sounds like you're simply flustered & annoyed. I myself have never seen Ubuntu not recognize any piece of hardware I throw at it but then again, thats me. People with patience and who have the drive to look up and work through problems will stick with and enjoy GNU/Linux. I don't think Ubuntu or GNU/Linux is a "hobby OS". A hobby OS in my opinion is one where I need to spend $100's in software to keep it running stable and clean. I don't have time to run all these tasks on AV cleanup / updates / definitions etc etc etc...

I am not bashing any OS. Linux / OSX / Windows all have their faults. Its what works best for you...
Click to expand...

People do ask how to create directories and do proper reboots in windows. Considering it is different in linux it makes sence that people have to ask the questions in it.
 
Linux isn't hard, its just different

My nice shiny gentoo setup (nice and fun to play with) is very nicely setup just the way me and my wife likes it (if she finds something hard todo she tells me and I tweak things)

Does she need to go near the command-line for everyday stuff? no, shite she can barely use her mobile phone (but she does now prefer the little things that linux, and linux apps do when compared to using windows)
What does this mean? a fully configured Linux desktop is a VERY easy thing to work with, once you get use to the differences (be it in /home instead of C:\docume... or be it with applications)

The problem? getting said configured linux desktop. I use GNOME and it basically worked as I expected after an emerge gnome. Drivers all work (cause I chose hardware I knew that had very good linux support and I know my way around the kernel menuconfig and such)


Should everyone use Gentoo? na, it can be a pain (but fun :D)
Ubuntu however is doing a FANTASTIC job of getting linux for the general user. Their out of the box hardware support is FANTASTIC (and to those that had issues, sort yr hardware). Out of the 10machines I had drop this Ubuntu release onto (ranging from Dell, HP, laptops, desktops, home build) I have had no problem in getting it all running and a quick use of the GUI package manager finished of the install (prorprietory drivers and all).
In fact the Ubuntu setup at work I use in the lab I have never opened the command prompt to admin the system (I open it due to I use python and well... getting a terminal dump of my apps are needed)


People just don't like a change and faced with a possible change that they really don't want todo they will find faults FACT
 
How about instead of insulting a user, you point out what a man page is to start with. Google isn't much help if you have no idea what to look for. Linux adoption will suffer if people do not feel welcome to this "exclusive little club."

Here's another way to look at it. I've gone to google and typed in "Ubuntu" and "My piece of hardware." I click on the first couple hits. It might as well be greek as far as I'm concerned. Someone on day 1 of their linux experience has no idea about things that we take for granted, you were there once, as was I. So said user comes to a forum and asks a question. Their thread is ignored for days. Then someone finally pops in and screams RTFM! A few others jump in and instead of the question being answered, everyone is flaming back and forth about what should and shouldnt be answered in the forum. Then out of the other side of their mouth, those same people rave about the community in other threads.

So what is my point after all this? We were all that user that didn't know what to do with our fresh linux install at one time. So maybe, instead of mocking someone who dare give it a try and ask for help, we can give an answer, or even just help them figure out where to look. And if you can't do that, maybe, just maybe, you can resist the urge to post off topic flames in the thread.

People don't hate Linux. People hate Linux users.


 
I have tried a few live cds in the past, none of them really did anything for me. One of the database admins at work mentioned Hearty Heron had been released, so I gave it a shot. I have not gone back to XP since... I also installed Xubuntu on a coworker's 600Mhz celeron machine that her kids had crippled with trojans and that box runs more or less like a snappy, efficient, modern pc. I booted gOS space on my work laptop using a flash drive to show some of my other coworkers at our monthly poker night and they were all captivated. If you can t live with ubuntu's auto hardware detection and the synaptic package manager, then by all means, go running back to your unsupported 5+ year old operating system. Better yet, switch to the system hog that replaced it, you deserve each other =P

in the name of helping new users, here is a YouTube video showing how to drill down to the terminal: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9Zt1SZaA0g
 
burnin8r said:
I have tried a few live cds in the past, none of them really did anything for me. One of the database admins at work mentioned Hearty Heron had been released, so I gave it a shot. I have not gone back to XP since... I also installed Xubuntu on a coworker's 600Mhz celeron machine that her kids had crippled with trojans and that box runs more or less like a snappy, efficient, modern pc. I booted gOS space on my work laptop using a flash drive to show some of my other coworkers at our monthly poker night and they were all captivated. If you can t live with ubuntu's auto hardware detection and the synaptic package manager, then by all means, go running back to your unsupported 5+ year old operating system. Better yet, switch to the system hog that replaced it, you deserve each other =P

in the name of helping new users, here is a YouTube video showing how to drill down to the terminal: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-9Zt1SZaA0g
Click to expand...

You were impressed with a Live cd? When i first tried a linux on liveCD, i found it far too slow and unimpressive. It was only after installing it on a desktop that I really started to give it a shot.

I'll have to try gOS. Never heard of it, but given you were able to run it from a flash drive, that's pretty cool!

I'd have to admin that I like win98 and w2k for basic web access/tasks. Both OS's are very snappy, very fast on even old machines (with as little as 64-128mb memory). Problem is, they're fast before trojans get to it :)
 
well thanks for all the advice, I have everything running great. Auto-recognized the wifi and the network printer I have set up at home. everything runs pretty well. It will be used as a college/paper writer so no heavy stuff. I feel its pretty amazing how close a free OS is to being just as good as commercial OS's
 
All I can say for the new ubuntu user (being one myself).

Google is your best friend. If you can't get to google, give up or bribe a linux geek with your girlfriends boobs.

Bring lots of time (for google), theres a good chance at least half of the stuff you need/want will need a solution from google in order to work.

____WHEN____ (the key) it works, Linux is godly awesome. But many many things DON'T work "out of the box" and the solutions you find on the web don't always work.

For the users of Linux:

Saying read the man pages or buy book x or type "obscure command x" without an explanation, is like saying read the works of Homer in the original greek.


For the makers of Linux:

Buy stock in google before every release.
 
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