Desktop Linux For The Windows Power User

[Guest]

I skimmed over the key parts and think its a good article, I do disagree with your partitioning though:
10-30GB seams excessive, i fit my system in 4 and I'd be amazed if you could end up with >10GB for desktop programs perhaps 10-15GB would have been a better recommendation (with 5 for normal use)
Swap should never be more than 1GB unless you plan on hibernating in which case 75% should be enough (1473M with 951 swap hibernates fine).
also using a seperate mount point for media is often a good idea as chkdsk/fsck is slow and if you want to use your computer you don't want to wait while it checks 200GB of movies/music

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

[citation][nom]ap90033[/nom]I agree.... Also, this Article is wrong, I dont care what hassle you go through getting current games like Crysis working fully is basically impossible. Gaming in linux is useless. I have been trying to get my ATI 4870X2 working in just about every major linux distro INCLUDING Ubuntu 9.04 for about 2 months now and it DOESNT WORK... Linux=Useless currently...[/citation]
ATI's fault for the drivers not supporting the x2 cards decently, and not dedicating enough developers to make their drives keep pace with X.org developments. Also, your setup is a lot different than most other Linux box setups (most don't have those top-end cards in them), so your declaration of "useless" is, well... useless.
Seriously.

 

[Guest]

ap90033: ATI cards can be a rough patch. My machine came with one and had all kinds of problems. Luckily, I happened to have an Nvidia card so that all worked out well. Driver problems are not the OSes fault, but it is like when Windows blue screens due to a driver: it is the OS that gets the blame.

The KDE version of Ubuntu is called Kubuntu. It is officially supported and you can get it from kubuntu.org. (I've never liked KDE, even way back when KDE and Gnome looked almost identical. YMMV though.)

Insofar as 1% market share, think of it this way: Apple has spent billions on marketing and they have 10% or so market share. Linux just has word of mouth, so the only people that are going to hear about it are people who know some pretty hardcore computer geeks (the ones that they ask to come over to fix their computers for free.)

One problem, I believe, is the Windows fixation of so many Linux developers. Instead of trying some innovative methods which simplifies app development, a LOT of the programmers will respond, "but that's not how Windows does it". Case in point: the Compiz 3d cube: there was an app a LONG, LONG time ago (close to a decade) that did something very similar. I was very much in the "THIS!!!" but a most others were more "but Windows doesn't do that and we need to do things like Windows." Its damn frustrating when you see the future and are told "no" because that is not how somebody else did it in the past.

Like redbullmonsta, I was once a heavy gamer, but once that came to an end (due to frustration with DRM) I just bought a console. Thus Windows simply had no appeal to me at all. Ironically, I first started using Linux because I wanted to play Quake without the OS (Win95) crashing every half hour, so gaming got me to Linux in the first place.

 

[cferthorney]

[citation][nom]cferthorney[/nom]I'll put my hands up and say I am a linux fanboy, however I also run a small business[/citation]

Stupid me - caught tab and enter! Where was I? Ah yes I also run a small business. Linux is not quite ready for the business (I still use it mostly because I'm more comfortable in Linux these days than Windows) however I do think that for all the hype and fanfare by us Linux users, serious work needs to be done to get Linux truly ready for a business desktop. Support needs to be there for more than just some wireless cards, it needs to be the vast majority or all. Graphics are improving greatly as people convert but the biggest problem these days is the lack of a single usable sound system. The Linux community can not get this right. They have got close on a number of occasions (When it worked ALSA was great - it just didn't work often enough) And we need a real alternative to MS Office - Open Office and Thunderbird/Evolution do not quite cut it. Again close but no cigar.

At home Linux is as good as I need. I have my Xbox 360 for games I have to say Windows 7 looks amazing and I think it will attract back a number of refugees who refused to drink the Vista Koolaid and decided not to replace their machine with a Mac. It's a shame but the world's desktops predominantly run on Windows and I can not see that changing any time soon.

 

[matt_b]

[citation][nom]powerbaselx[/nom]Unfortunatelly VirtualBox (or VMWare) doesn't solve the problem of playing state-of-the-art games available for Windows, without loosing 70% performance.While the software houses stick to Microsoft pressure and rules, Linux won't grow in that important slice of users. IMO this is where it all starts for the consumer market and Microsoft knows it well.I'm pretty sure if software houses developed Crysis, Far Cry, Burnout, etc, for Linux platform with a good graphic support, i'm pretty sure the number of Linux users would grow a lot. Do you remember Doom on Linux? Wasn't it great?[/citation]
Hopefully OpenCL will bring about a change to this. Also remember the quake and unreal games on Linux? As soon as OpenGL began to lose it's foothold somewhere around DirectX 7 (If I am remebering right), the war was lost from then on. Linux and Mac started losing the possibility of being a decent gaming platform. Linux has still come a long ways, but as long as we live in a Windows world, it will be hard to switch to alternatives. Gaming is the only reason I still have Windows. Music, web browsing, watching movies, office programs, email, and so on I can do all on Linux without a hitch.

As far as the comment about .exe extensions running on Linux, get a clue - .exe is the executable file format for Windows (which programs are also written in). It is also the top infection method for spreading that viral joy on the operating system! Linux has it's own packages and set of extensions.

 

[nighthawk4900]

is it okay to make the /home partition as NTFS so that i can access it from Windows?

i currently have a 300gb NTFS partition i share between windows and ubuntu for data and neither OS seems to have any problem reading from or writing to it....

 

[Guest]

Why is this split over 17 pages? Stupid. No point in reading this crap.

Oh, and your e-mail address validator doesn't work. What's with this website?

 

[Guest]

Informative tutorial! Unfortunately, it's still not going to work. It looks interesting to us techies, but you know, most people lose interest when you start talking about mount points and file systems and what-not; you can see someone's eyes glaze over. People want to use the computer to do things, and they just ain't into "how" or "why" or any of the things we love to discuss. Technical education is not what most users want, and that's why MS is where it is. That's why they call us to fix their stupid problems. They ain't interested in learning; they just want to use.

 

[ap90033]

[citation][nom]johnsalchichon[/nom]ap90033: Yes there are 64bit version of KDE. Everything there is for 32bit, there is for 64bit in GNU/Linux. Kubuntu is Ubuntu with KDE. You can also try Mandriva, which used to be a KDE-centric distro.captaincharisma: just because someone does not like something in particular is hater?[/citation]
I am guessing you havent seen my ealier posts, tried Fedora, Suse, Mandriva, Kubuntu NONE work in 3d w ATI 9.4...

 

[ap90033]

[citation][nom]WheelsOfConfusion[/nom]ATI's fault for the drivers not supporting the x2 cards decently, and not dedicating enough developers to make their drives keep pace with X.org developments. Also, your setup is a lot different than most other Linux box setups (most don't have those top-end cards in them), so your declaration of "useless" is, well... useless. Seriously.[/citation]
[citation][nom]johnsalchichon[/nom]ap90033: Yes there are 64bit version of KDE. Everything there is for 32bit, there is for 64bit in GNU/Linux. Kubuntu is Ubuntu with KDE. You can also try Mandriva, which used to be a KDE-centric distro.captaincharisma: just because someone does not like something in particular is hater?[/citation]
I am guessing you havent seen my ealier posts, tried Fedora, Suse, Mandriva, Kubuntu NONE work in 3d w ATI 9.4...

 

[Casper42]

@Adam: Overall I think this was a very nice article to introduce those very familiar with Windows to Ubuntu. I just wanted to point out a few clarifications and an alternative to something in your article.

1) Make sure you mention the case sensitivity back on the Name/login pages of your article. I installed Jaunty last night and had to remember that typing the name Casper into the Name field translater to casper in the login field. If I was prompted to logon after the first reboot and typed in Casper for the username, I could be sitting there a long time before realizing what went wrong. Since your article caters to existing Windows users and Windows is NOT case sensitive for usernames, I think this is worth mentioning.

2) After doing some pre-reading on the net myself last week, I found for Dual Booting between Vista/7 and Jaunty, there is a very nice alternative to letting Grub take over the MBR. Grab a program called EasyBCD (get the 2.0 beta if your using 7) and install it into the Windows side of the house. When installing Ubuntu, rather than letting it take over the HD, (hd0) in your example, you can install grub into / and then let the Vista/7 Boot loader keep control. In your example on Step 7 of the install, you would drop down the box and choose /dev/sda4, where sda = primary HD and 4 = 4th partition for root. AFTER Linux is installed and you reboot, you can only get to Windows for a short time. Here you launch EasyBCD and Add a new Boot Menu entry for Linux and just choose the partition containing / before hitting the Add button. Now when you reboot, you will have options in the Vista/7 boot menu for Windows and Ubuntu.

Hope this helps,
Casper42

 

[ap90033]

[citation][nom]WheelsOfConfusion[/nom]ATI's fault for the drivers not supporting the x2 cards decently, and not dedicating enough developers to make their drives keep pace with X.org developments. Also, your setup is a lot different than most other Linux box setups (most don't have those top-end cards in them), so your declaration of "useless" is, well... useless. Seriously.[/citation]
Oh sorry didnt know they were lying on Wines Site about Crysis and COD5 and a host of other games not working.... My bad..
I agree ATI needs better Linux drivers, but Windows works great and until linux gets more than barely 1% market share cant blame them to much.
I really think, no I know you are missing the point of all this, I would elaborate but its like talking to a wall. Been trying for years to get one of you Linux guys to see my and Many Others point here.

No applicationos worky good in linuxo go fix make good then we use u c?
I is stupid I not like type in evryting like u smrt guyz. plz mayk it wurr regulur peepl can uze it duhhh..... skuze me while I wipe the drool opf mie mowth.
Oh sorry I dont have an old pc. Didnt know I should be punished for it.

 

[Guest]

Actually there is a version of Flash 10 that is fully 64-bit, you just have to do some digging in the 'Labs' section of Adobe's site. I have a "standard configuration" for Firefox that has the plugin included. And I also, currently, have a copy of Google Earth installed and functional. Admittedly, I am currently running Debian, but I see no reason why it would not be capable of functioning in Ubuntu.

 

[socalboomer]

I've got 9.04 running on a machine in my office and it is sweet.

Unfortunately, [citation][nom]jgv115[/nom]An easier way of installing programs is in the terminaltype:sudo apt-get install *app name here*[/citation], while it is true, it's not easier since you have to know the app name to do it.

That's actually the main criticism of any Linux distro - the lack of RELEVANT software. It's not the lack of software - there's tons of it. It's the lack of software that I want - OR the lack of ability to figure out what software I need.

Look at the list of software and try to see what does what - most of the description is still couched in "Linux-geek-speak" instead of verbiage that the rest of us can figure out. That is, if we want to scroll through pages upon pages of things that are incomprehensible.

And yes, it's Windows software that I will miss. No - it's not because it's Windows software. I don't expect Linux to be Windows. But the functionality of OneNote is something I depend upon with my little laptop. OpenOffice's spreadsheet program is not a match for Excel, yet; same for it's document program. They're good, but not yet a match.

Hardware support is awesome, this time around. I agree! 9.04 is loaded for bear. I haven't tried my multiple-monitor setup (I run 4 monitors on my primary work machine, 3 at my main home machine) and would be curious to see how that works.

(and yes, I know I could run a VM and use Windows Apps that way, but ummm, what would really be the point? )

 

[knickle]

Linux in the home is best suited for the hobbyist with lots of time on their hands. It's not for people that have a busy lifestyle, or have little interest in living on their PC for more than 15 minutes per day.

I haven't tried Ubuntu myself. I have used Mandrake (and later Mandriva) in the past. The installation was not complex, and I was able to get it running fairly easily. But overall I found it too tedious to use over the long term as a dialy operating systen. Now that Windows has many of the same open source apps available for it, there is less of a reason to go Linux.

The reason people prefer "how Windows does it" is because Windows put a lot of thought into how things are presented to the user. In the case of open source software, most of the time it's a developer's concept of how things should be done. The result is something which is very powerful, but not user friendly.

And finally, I Linux is for the hobbyist with lots of time on their hands.

I haven't tried Ubuntu myself. I have used Mandrake (and later Mandriva) in the past. The installation was not complex, and I was able to get it running fairly easily. But overall I found it too tedious to use over the long term.

The reason people prefer "how Windows does it" is because Windows put a lot of thought into how things are presented to the user. Not all, but much of the open source software is typically a developer's concept of how things should be done. The result might be something which is very powerful, but completely un-user friendly.
Linux is for the hobbyist with lots of time on their hands.

I haven't tried Ubuntu myself. I have used Mandrake (and later Mandriva) in the past. The installation was not complex, and I was able to get it running fairly easily. But overall I found it too tedious to use over the long term.

The reason people prefer "how Windows does it" is because Windows put a lot of thought into how things are presented to the user. Not all, but much of the open source software is typically a developer's concept of how things should be done. The result might be something which is very powerful, but not user friendly. Samba is a perfect example.

 

[ap90033]

That's actually the main criticism of any Linux distro - the lack of RELEVANT software. It's not the lack of software - there's tons of it. It's the lack of software that I want - OR the lack of ability to figure out what software I need.

Look at the list of software and try to see what does what - most of the description is still couched in "Linux-geek-speak" instead of verbiage that the rest of us can figure out. That is, if we want to scroll through pages upon pages of things that are incomprehensible.

I agree but I is soo dumm i kan burly reed or rite duh i am liik 99 parcent of the wurld duh uhm duh linuks peopl r soo smurt doh and kul wow they kin tipe wurds in a turminal n everythang!!! duh

 

[knickle]

Whoops. Some copy and paste issues. Sorry about that. Let's try that again.

Linux is for the hobbyist with lots of time on their hands.

I haven't tried Ubuntu myself. I have used Mandrake (and later Mandriva) in the past. The installation was not complex, and I was able to get it running fairly easily. But overall I found it too tedious to use over the long term.

The reason people prefer "how Windows does it" is because Windows put a lot of thought into how things are presented to the user. Not all, but much of the open source software is typically a developer's concept of how things should be done. The result might be something which is very powerful, but not user friendly. Samba is a perfect example.

 

[ap90033]

a lot uv us peoplz doin half tunz uv phree tyme to tipe in terminulz half da nite. Kan we puhleez halv a uzer frindly linucks kauz I aint 2 gud wif apt to git n I dunt no what I kneed 2 git. duh
say huh? duh windowz suks but I kin youz it rite whale as whale as 99 pacent of peopl on de earfth duh y not mayk it so we kan youz it? plz?

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

[citation][nom]ap90033[/nom]Oh sorry didnt know they were lying on Wines Site about Crysis and COD5 and a host of other games not working.... My bad..[/quote]
Get a grip. Are you really surprised that these high-end games geared towards DirectXwhatever do not work under Linux? That doesn't make Linux useless, that makes it ... NOT WINDOWS.

[citation][nom]ap90033[/nom]I agree ATI needs better Linux drivers, but Windows works great and until linux gets more than barely 1% market share cant blame them to much.[/citation]
Again, you're missing the point: It's not "Windows" that works great because ATI has their drivers geared towards Windows, it's that ATI GEARS THEIR DRIVERS TOWARDS WINDOWS. This is like bitching about how awful AmigaOS is because you can't run your Windows 95 version of Myst on it. It's the same deal with hardware drivers. "Windows" can't take credit for "working great" with ATI hardware, ATI makes their hardware work on Windows. And an OS is not useless just because you can't play the latest games on it.

[citation][nom]ap90033[/nom]I really think, no I know you are missing the point of all this, I would elaborate but its like talking to a wall. Been trying for years to get one of you Linux guys to see my and Many Others point here.No applicationos worky good in linuxo go fix make good then we use u c?[/citation]
If I'm having trouble understanding your point, I assure you it's because you can't type for shit. Try sentences, filled with actual words, and pepper them with appropriate punctuation. I'm not a stickler for grammar, just make it LEGIBLE for a change.
And plenty of applications "worky good in Linux." Usually, though, those applications don't require DX10 or .NET (though there is MONO for that one). Again, quit bitching about your Myst not playing on Amiga.

 

[Guest]

"If you need your hand held, then go buy a Mac."

I'm sorry, but this stereotype that Macs are only to be used for the old and ignorant, show that you are just that: old and/or ignorant. I am a senior Linux systems administrator for a web hosting company. My OS of choice for the desktop? Mac OS X. That goes for over half of the rest of the office, including a few of our developers (Ruby, PHP/Web), the CTO and the CEO.

I'm not going to go into details, or try and start a flame-war here, and I'm not going to pretend to be an Apple fanboy (I use all three mainstream operating systems on a daily basis, each for what they do best). However, Mac OS X has it's share of "power users", and the operating system is much like a polished version of the Ubuntu that this article is holding is such high acclaim. Yes, it costs money, yes the hardware can be pricey, but that's no reason to discount it as some overpriced computer for the flamboyant and tech-challenged. OS X does for me during my daily work day what Windows and Linux both failed to accomplish in an elegant manner. So much so, that I was willing to pay for the solution that they offered.

Before attacking it, try it. There's a reason there's a huge crowd of people willing to hand over the few extra bucks. Maybe it'll win you over, maybe it won't, but it's important to think for yourself, and try for yourself.

 

[ap90033]

[citation][nom]WheelsOfConfusion[/nom]Again, you're missing the point: It's not "Windows" that works great because ATI has their drivers geared towards Windows, it's that ATI GEARS THEIR DRIVERS TOWARDS WINDOWS. This is like bitching about how awful AmigaOS is because you can't run your Windows 95 version of Myst on it. It's the same deal with hardware drivers. "Windows" can't take credit for "working great" with ATI hardware, ATI makes their hardware work on Windows. And an OS is not useless just because you can't play the latest games on it.
If I'm having trouble understanding your point, I assure you it's because you can't type for shit. Try sentences, filled with actual words, and pepper them with appropriate punctuation. I'm not a stickler for grammar, just make it LEGIBLE for a change. And plenty of applications "worky good in Linux." Usually, though, those applications don't require DX10 or .NET (though there is MONO for that one). Again, quit bitching about your Myst not playing on Amiga.[/citation]
U r so smurt I hoope won day I kin be like you. Not really. You dont have to be a troglodyte. I was just poking fun at some of the "Gurus" who cant ever admit they are even patially wrong. sheesh
I could put a hundred apps that many people use that dont work but that wont get your attention. You like a technical OS thats used by few that gives you the power to show others how awesome you are. Its funny at work when the Unix Servers died they came to me to fix them which I did. I just prefer a simpler more polished OS (keep in mind its just my opinion). Because of the open mindset behind Linux their is the potential to do anything and I just wish it were tapped into more. Its not a huge deal, 99 % of the world will use Windows or OSX I guess and the rest will use Linux or dual boot or something. It is sad though to see something that I would compare to say a Ferrari in terms of potential but everyone says it doesnt need tires and its company X's fault that it doesnt have them so I should shut up and just sit in it and enjoy the awesomeness of the Ferarri. Its cool for a little bit but a lot of us normal folk want/need to go somewhere.

 

[ap90033]

[citation][nom]WheelsOfConfusion[/nom]Again, you're missing the point: It's not "Windows" that works great because ATI has their drivers geared towards Windows, it's that ATI GEARS THEIR DRIVERS TOWARDS WINDOWS. This is like bitching about how awful AmigaOS is because you can't run your Windows 95 version of Myst on it. It's the same deal with hardware drivers. "Windows" can't take credit for "working great" with ATI hardware, ATI makes their hardware work on Windows. And an OS is not useless just because you can't play the latest games on it.
If I'm having trouble understanding your point, I assure you it's because you can't type for shit. Try sentences, filled with actual words, and pepper them with appropriate punctuation. I'm not a stickler for grammar, just make it LEGIBLE for a change. And plenty of applications "worky good in Linux." Usually, though, those applications don't require DX10 or .NET (though there is MONO for that one). Again, quit bitching about your Myst not playing on Amiga.[/citation]
Wow bet you are the life of the party. LOL
Dont take everything so personal. . I had tried to convey a very simple point that eludes all the linux Gurus out there so I just thought I would inject a little humor. Anyway go back to your terminal and have a great day!

 

[Guest]

Interesting... I noticed in the article they state that the 64-bit does not have any Adobe Flash 10 and that Google Earth doesn't work. I have the 64-bit version installed, use it every day, I have Google Earth working just fine, and, though it hasn't been finalized, I am using the Beta version, but it is available, and works just fine. Don't know if it will ever come out of Beta, but that seems to be the case with a lot of software these days.

 

[Guest]

Contrary to popular belief, computers can be use for more things than playing games. I have a Xbox360 and PS3 for playing games. I've been using Linux for 3 years now, and there is nothing that I could do in Windows that I cannot do in Linux, there are a few things that I can even do better in Linux. I think it is pretty ridiculous to try to determine an OS's worth by its ability to play games....

 

[Guest]

Excuse me, toolboxes... the points about being able to run Windows apps... OSX has a solid solution for working WITH windows apps, and its market share took off. Maybe if a linux distribution had a simple way of running windows apps, Linux would take off!

See Fusion, Parallels on OSX.