Yes thats right, I've finally took the plunge and gone hardcore with Linux! My first encounter was with
Red Hat 6 in 2000 (I got free install CDs from somewhere) while I thought the installer was good i didnt like RH itself or what Linux was back then. But 6 years later taking a fresh-no-preconcieved-thoughts-look at
Ubuntu (and
Fedora Core) I feel the difference.
So much so that my now-ancient
Inspiron 8600 I bought back around this time in 2004 is now running Ubuntu 6.06 which was previously booting Windows 2003 (for work purposes). Another workhorse (
Inspiron 6400) is still running Windows Server 2003. I'm finding more and more that I tend not to use the Windows dual-boot on the 8600 (unless its at uni - Wireless/VPN etc) and instead happy enough with Ubuntu + WINE if i really need to run anything. Main desktops are still happy chugging along to Windows XP Pro and probably wont change.
So time to start blogging about Ubuntu and my adventures...
First of all why Ubuntu? Why not Fedora or another distro like - ewww - Lindows?I've found the neat packaging system useful and the fact that its based off Debian (which i've used for a while as a "toybox" in the past) I'm used to the feel. Ubuntu's like the "hot new distro" (not new!) this year (like Gentoo was a year or so ago). Currently i'm using GNOME (didnt like KDE) and just got XGL running natively on a desktop box yesterday (not that hard at all
following this guide!)
First things first, after the lovely installer handles all the hard work partitioning, installing and maybe fixing GRUB to dual boot the first thing you should do is to go ahead and have a good look through the
Ubuntu Guide for Dapper. Heres a rough outline of what I did (dont forget I'm still a Linux-n00b) with my 8 or so installs (keep in mind that all the machines/notebook are powered by ATI cards) so far:
- UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!
Greatest thing I enjoy about Ubuntu (and debian) is the updating, its so seamless! Goto System > Administration > Update Manager and download all the updates you need for your box!
- Get Easy Ubuntu
Previously I went through and manually installed most of the apps that this beauty will automate for you. Installs (taken from Ubuntu Forms post):
- Add extra repositories for installing a lot of additional software.
- Install multimedia codecs for reading all videos, musics and DVDs.
- Activate the "audio preview" feature in Nautilus.
- Install the most needed Firefox plugins: Flash, Java, Real, videos. Adds Microsoft fonts, GNOME's Firefox buttons, officials Firefox icons.
- Install archiving support for RAR and ACE.
- Install the most used peer-to-peer softwares: aMule (a clone of eMule) and Azureus (for Bittorent).
- Install the Skype voice-over-IP software.
- MSN: Install AMSN cvs with webcam support.
- Num lock: Active the num lock at system startup.
- Replace the GNOME foot logo with Ubuntu's logo.
- Install the NVIDIA or ATI driver for 3D support.
This alone will get you the basic necessities you'll need.
I cant recall if hte ATI driver installed is the Messa one or the ATI one, but make sure if your running an ATI card you use the latest ATI release (v8.27.10 as of writing) by running 'fglrxinfo' at terminal:
thushan@NOTEBOOK04:~$ fglrxinfo
display: :0.0 screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON 9600 Generic
OpenGL version string: 2.0.5946 (8.27.10)
thushan@NOTEBOOK04:~$
Check its using the accelerated version of the driver by running:
thushan@NOTEBOOK04:~$ glxinfo | grep -i direct
direct rendering: Yes
- Make sure your using DMA where possible!
Edit hdparam.conf:
# sudo gedit /etc/hdparm.conf
Make sure you enable DMA, this is whats in mine:
/dev/hda {
io32_support = 1
dma = on
}
/dev/hdc {
io32_support = 1
dma = on
}
- Get a copy of SwiftFox
Dapper comes with Firefox by default (and its the default browser installed) but you'd want to try SwiftFox, an optimised (and always recent) builds of Firefox for Linux (much like Moox was for Windows - no longer maintained!) aimed for several CPUss, theres also a neat Installer script to set it up for you! I always add these extensions
- Get Build-Essentials and manuals
sudo apt-get install build-essential manpages-dev
- Get WINE
WINE has matured so much since I last touched it.
sudo apt-get install wine msttcorefonts
- Get Skype
I'm a VoIP junkie...
sudo apt-get install skype
- Install some cool apps from 'Add/Remove'
There's an abundant amount of apps in the Add/Remove list (tick 'Show unsupported applications' & optionally 'Show Commerical APplications' to see stuff like Adobe Acrobat viewer etc and go nuts! I've got too many apps to list but some small selection of handy tools:
- AbiWord
OpenOffice is tweakable (Tools -> Options -> Memory, Steps=40 | Graphics Cache: 128Mb | Memory Per Object: 1Mb) but i prefer AbiWord
- Acrobat Reader
Theres lots of alternatives but I went with Adobe's v7.x (I use ePDFViewer too)
- Alacarte Menu Editor
Cool tool to add/remove/change stuff in the menus in GNOME
- Configuration Editor
Configuration Editor
- Ethereal
Best network traffic analysis tool around!
- GAIM
Probably like all companies, at vividas we use alot of IM to talk/spam you-tube videos etc..
- gDesklets
Applets on your desktop
- GKreIIM
Monitors your system
- Klipper
Clipboard history tool!
- PuTTY
Its small, its fast and its so damm cool!
- Text Editor
I seem to like this one
- VLC Player
Its either totem or VLC, VLC has more options
- Wireless Assistant
No need to say why!
- XMMS
A WinAMP for Linux
- UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE take 2!
Do another update to make sure you've got everything!
I also added a launcher on my toolbars which by default run nautilus with root privellages (command is 'gksudo nautilus')... i'll post a screenshot of my desk later.
XGL baby yeaH!
If your in for some sweet sweet eye candy try out XGL, its deliciously smooth! Theres a guide on
Compiz that worked for me (too many HOW-TOs but most fail!)
Good Resource Sites
Two of the best resources (theres lots if you google but these tend to be where I go) for Ubuntu:
Phew, this was a long post... More later...