tegwin
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 11:22 AM |
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Ubuntu...Anyone else using it?
Having got fed up with my sisters/parents getting viruses on their PCs I figured its time to look at alternatives...
So I downloaded Ubuntu and have been having a play with it...
For basic web viewing and typing etc it seems to work really well...
There seems to be plenty of apps out there for it...including some pretty good free photo editing apps
But has anyone been using it for a while? Care to comment how stable it is?
Is it fairly bullet proof to inexperienced users? I dont want them breaking it all the time!
Anyone with experience think its a good idea to start using it on home/home office PCs as an alternative to windows....or am I being overly
optomistic?
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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donut
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 11:24 AM |
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I used 'Mint' which i found very good. worth a look if you wanna go that route.
Andy
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andywest1/
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Peteff
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 11:27 AM |
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I haven't used it for a while but I have a backup computer with Ubuntu for when my main box fails or is being replaced. I've thought of
installing it on here as a dual boot system but never got round to it.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Humbug
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 11:29 AM |
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A friend/colleague of mine set up an old laptop with Ubuntu for his mother to use for email, internet, etc. and it seems to work fine for that. Every
now and then he goes and checks the setup, updates a few bits of software, etc.
I looked at Ubuntu and generally liked it except for:
- there isn't a Linux driver available for the printer I've got - apparently this can be a problem with a number of printers
- depending on what sorts of things you want to do, some programs don't have a Linux version or close equivalent, so to use the Windows version
you would need Wine or something to run Windows programs on the Linux PC
- in Linux it is still a bit difficult to do some things for someone who has been brought up on Windows; more difficult than gettign started with Mac
OS, for example, frmo what I've seen.
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Spyderman
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 12:23 PM |
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I have Kubuntu installed on an old very slow PC for the kids to use.
It has proven bullet proof so far. Not even my daughters have managed to mess it up like they do my XP machine if left unattended.
It has been very stable. Is better than some of the other versions of Linux as it installs software itself. Vista copied it here.
If they are getting viruses why not install AVG it is free.
[Edited on 18/12/08 by Spyderman]
Spyderman
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tegwin
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 12:31 PM |
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quote:
installs software itself. Vista copied it here.
If they are getting viruses why not install AVG it is free.
[Edited on 18/12/08 by Spyderman]
I have a very expensive Mcafee suit... It protects my PC with XP on it just fine.... but it doesnt seem to prevent them from sxcrewing their machines
up....
Would be nice to find a version of linux that just plays music, browses the web, watches DVDs and organises/edits photos... NOTHING MORE....lol
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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Rek
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 12:35 PM |
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just installed it yesterday under vmware. im going to make an honest attempt to use it at work and see how i get on. I was impressed to bit with the
install and the support for all the "work" things I need so far..
I'd be interested to see how you get on in comparison
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bartonp
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 12:52 PM |
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I installed Ubuntu about 4 months ago on an old IBM T42 laptop. Made the install CD, installed it, it worked. Done updates sinces, but no other issues
at all.
Phil.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 01:25 PM |
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At home my main machine runs Ubuntu. I would never consider going back to using any Windoze product, even though the latter are a bit more bomb-proof
than they used to be.
2 main reasons - I can get all the software I want for zero cost (Open Office, and GIMP are the 2 I use the most.). Also, although not 100%
virus-proof - it'll happen one day - the whole philosophy of Linux is that the ordinary user has very few admin rights, so if you do get hacked
only the one user gets trashed (unless you're foolish enough to log in all day as the super-user called 'root' ).
Other people have chosen Mint, which is a version of Ubuntu that comes with multimedia support built in (you may have to do some sorting out with
vanilla Ubuntu).
The only caution I'd throw in is that when Linux decides not to work in some way, it can be an absolute bar-steward to sort out if you're
inexperienced. This sort of botheration happens very rarely though.
Try it out, see if you like it, THEN start to do important stuff on it once you're confident.
[Edited on 18/12/08 by David Jenkins]
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tegwin
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 01:35 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
At home my main machine runs Ubuntu. I would never consider going back to using any Windoze product, even though the latter are a bit more bomb-proof
than they used to be.
2 main reasons - I can get all the software I want for zero cost (Open Office, and GIMP are the 2 I use the most.). Also, although not 100%
virus-proof - it'll happen one day - the whole philosophy of Linux is that the ordinary user has very few admin rights, so if you do get hacked
only the one user gets trashed (unless you're foolish enough to log in all day as the super-user called 'root' ).
Other people have chosen Mint, which is a version of Ubuntu that comes with multimedia support built in (you may have to do some sorting out with
vanilla Ubuntu).
The only caution I'd throw in is that when Linux decides not to work in some way, it can be an absolute bar-steward to sort out if you're
inexperienced. This sort of botheration happens very rarely though.
Try it out, see if you like it, THEN start to do important stuff on it once you're confident.
[Edited on 18/12/08 by David Jenkins]
Chears for that... thats very useful...
Do you think it a bad idea to simply replace 'windoze' with ubuntu on my sisters laptop for example and expect her to just take it away
and for it to run flawlessly..(or as flawlesly as windows!) ???
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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AndyGT
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 01:41 PM |
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Been using Ubuntu for nearly 3 years.
At first it takes a while to get used to its "quirky-ness" and how to run updates and install certain software e.g. codecs etc. It may
take extra time to read up if you want to do something special.
But otherwise I've had no problems to speak of. As for printers, most printers use the CUPS system so there should be no problems unless your
damn unlucky. Plus most peripheral manufacturers are ow supplying linux drivers with their software.
I still haven't managed to get my scanner working but everything else is great. Well worth a try. If you get annoyed at it, just leave the
problem for a short while then come back to it.
I promise that one day you will not go back to the windoze system.
Best of luck, and U2U me if you have any issues...
Andy
PS Not using megasquirt or mega-jolt but does anyone know if these would work on a linux laptop etc? - sorry not meant to hijack your question....
[Edited on 18/12/08 by AndyGT]
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cd.thomson
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 01:57 PM |
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Hey, I use ubuntu on my desktop as i mainly use it for file storage, have been using it for 4-5 years.
Don't let anyone tell you there isnt a learning curve, but this is generally down to a shift in thinking from windows rather than any major
difficulty. If you ever dont know how to do something, what something does, or what something is saying just type it into google and you'll find
some helpful chap will have produced a step by step guide to get you through it.
The system itself is incredibly stable, and if it does crash at all it tends to be an isolated problem (i.e. close the running process rather than
rebooting the whole computer). Using a standard distro shouldnt cause any problems.
Emulating windows using WINE to run windows software can be a little tricky depending on the program. Linux distros often come with the facility to
dual boot, so I'd probably recommend this first.
As you get more proficient you'll realise the system is putty in your hands to do whatever you want with and virtually everything can be changed
and customised to suit you. Although this sounds scary, it really isnt, even for a modest computer user. Trust me, online quides will be your bible
once you start using it!
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 02:05 PM |
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The other bonus is that it is less resource-hungry than Windoze (although it's not as lean as it used to be).
I suggest that you try Kubuntu as well as Ubuntu. Ubuntu uses a wwindowing system called Gnome, which is rather plain but very useable, and Kubuntu
uses KDE, which is a lot more glitzy and flashy. Both use the same core software - it's just the windows manager that's different.
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 02:10 PM |
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I put it on my parents pc, and told them that their computer might look a bit different.
I put links for openoffice and hotmail on the desktop and they're happy as Larry.
Build Blog
Build Photo Album
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cd.thomson
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 02:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
I put it on my parents pc, and told them that their computer might look a bit different.
I put links for openoffice and hotmail on the desktop and they're happy as Larry.
love it 
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Micael
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 03:03 PM |
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I have used Lixux in diffrent flavors on and off for like ten years. All i can say is that it generally works. The 3 main thing that might be a
problem for a home user is.
1. diffrent gui (Graphic user interface). It take some time to get used to it
2. Windows program/games. There is a couple of tools to get windows program running under linux, but there are both difficult and it does not always
work
3. Bankservices. Some banks only supports Ineternet explorer for doing you bank stuff.
Micael Moose Åman
Petrolhead and all around nice guy
"Don't leave the duck there. It's totally irresponsible. Put it on the swing, it'll have much more fun." //Sleep Talkin Man Dec 23
2009
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BenB
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 03:37 PM |
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I've been dual-booting Mandriva for a while. Works fine though there are still a few gripes (printer support, scanner support, only one
application can access the sound card at a time etc)...
I'm sure there are work-rounds but life's too short..... I still use it intermitently but usually the boot-loader gets left to default to
XP.....
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trogdor
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 03:53 PM |
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If you just want to have a program to run web browsing, play music and dvds etc have you thought of using a media centre?
I am installing XBMC to my xbox which runs on linux, you can run it from windows too. Maybe worth a try?
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britishtrident
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 04:05 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
I've been dual-booting Mandriva for a while. Works fine though there are still a few gripes (printer support, scanner support, only one
application can access the sound card at a time etc)...
I'm sure there are work-rounds but life's too short..... I still use it intermitently but usually the boot-loader gets left to default to
XP.....
Mandriva used to be Mandarake Linux which was so awful it nearly put me off Linux I can't see Madriva being much better.
I eventually discovered a lot better linuxes than Mandrake ----- I now run Mint which is really a fully sorted Ubuntu with the Gnome interface
EVERYTHING WORKS and it looks superb.
It isn't the only good Linux apart from Ubuntu you wiil find Yoper, PCLinuxOS and loads of others.
[Edited on 18/12/08 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 04:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Micael
I have used Lixux in diffrent flavors on and off for like ten years. All i can say is that it generally works. The 3 main thing that might be a
problem for a home user is.
1. diffrent gui (Graphic user interface). It take some time to get used to it
2. Windows program/games. There is a couple of tools to get windows program running under linux, but there are both difficult and it does not always
work
3. Bankservices. Some banks only supports Ineternet explorer for doing you bank stuff.
You can actually run Internet Explorer 6 in linux --- which I found strange experience.
Also of course you can run any versionn of IE on Windows running as a virtual machine within Linux --- even stranger experience
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 05:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
Do you think it a bad idea to simply replace 'windoze' with ubuntu on my sisters laptop for example and expect her to just take it away
and for it to run flawlessly..(or as flawlesly as windows!) ???
Yes, to be honest. If she's already handing over the computer to you to sort things out on windows, you're likely to be seeing a lot more
of her until she starts to find her way around Ubuntu.
I like Ubuntu, i'm one of two people soldiering on with it in a (Windows using) company of over 100. But it still isn't as ready for the
masses as Windows. I've had to spend a little bit of time researching and trying fixes before everything on my laptop works as it should, and it
wouldn't have been easy if I wasn't already fairly confident about these things.
If you're going to do it, go for Hardy (8.04 LTS). It's nice and stable and most things work on most laptops. Intrepid (8.10) was a world
of pain, got it all sorted now and some things actually work better than Hardy, but it wasn't easy getting there.
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 07:40 PM |
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I run linux on my laptop as well as ubantu on several machines.
If you are looking for a tamper free machine go for it. You might even fine customising the apps to look like windows helps.
good luck
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