Ubuntu and Thinkpads

i haven't tried or used Ubuntu before... so what's with ubuntu?

how can i maximize the use of ubuntu? what benefits/advantages do i get from ubuntu? i'm currently downloading ubuntu 6.10 and ordered the 6.04 LTS... just in case

do i run ubuntu from CD or do i boot my laptop to CD?

thanks

 

To start with, it is free. As far as running it you would boot up from the cd. This will give you a feel for what it has to offer and let you decide if you like it. It will run slower from cd vs. istalling it.

 

What exactly is Ubuntu?

 

Ubuntu is a Linux OS that comes with a variety of sofware... productivity suite.. email, games etc. It is open source so it is no cost. If you go to http://www.ubuntu.com/ you can learn more about it and also order CD's of it if you want. By default they will send 5 cd's to you and this is also sent at no charge.

 

How is the interface? Simple to use like Windows?

 

Does it take up less space and also load faster then Windows? Can I put MS Office on it?

 

The interface is fine. It is a gui like windows but is different. On the website it does show screenshots of what it looks like. Also you can boot up from the cd since it is a live cd and try it out without effecting what is loaded on your hard drive(windows). As far as loading Office on it. It won't happen by default since office is meant to be loaded on windows. Maybe in the future Microsoft will make a version to run on Linux. As of now if you really need to run microsoft applications you may be able to use something like Wine to run them under linux. http://www.winehq.com will give you an overview of wine.

 

As far as how much space it uses... It is perfectly happy with an 8GB hard drive. That is enough space for the OS and a lot of applications. One of my desktops is fully loaded with everything I need on it plus quite a few games and I still have a fair amount of space left on a 8GB hard drive. I guess with todays systems with large hard drives it will be real hard to fill one up.

 

Yes I agree. The screen shots look nice, a clean desktop. Sometime in the future I may give that a try. It is popular for it's reliability no? Not being flakey like Windows is occationally...?

 

I believe it is popular due to being reliable and the support that you can get. Pretty much any problems that you may have there is someone out there that can help guide you through correcting it.

 

That is good to hear. Good support. Are you referring to various forums dedicated to this subject, or trained employees for a company? (Although open-source, not sure how they can afford to do that).

 

i think they get some funding...or donations and the such (dont count me on that). A lot of the major support is done by the wider community eg forums. Guess you would just have to make sure all your hardware is supported. I know it can be a problem with newer systems, but eventually i think everything is ok if u look hard enough. Im always impressed with the various GUI mods and stuff they have.

eg . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ZtcxHUSDQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawkc3jH3ws

theres a tonne of them on youtube ehhe...im thinking of using Ubuntu when i get my new laptop if i can find proper driver support.

Oh, and you will probably need to boot from CD, if you are unsure of using ubuntu i might want to check out the Live CD. You will find that windows applications will not work on it unless you get a llinux version. Though i also think you can get emulators or something similar to enable some applications and games to run.

 

Yes there are forums out there for support. The main support is form http://www.ubuntu.com which is all users and developers that help out. You can also check it out and find laptops that people have installed it on and if they had any issues. They do also have paid support. As far as how they do that it is from donations and also from paid support.

 

If you want to try a Linux with a "professionnal" support, you shoud go with SuSE Linux from Novell (rpm based) or Xandros (but Xandros is considered ill suited for a laptop) (debian based). They come with pretty much anything you need: from Blender to the Gimp, Eclipse etc...
with SuSE, everything worked out of the box on my VAIO (except video: you must get yourself the codec)


PS: the number of multimedia rpm for SuSE x64 is pretty weak(still didn't found a way to put Mplayer on my desktop)

 

hmm...

so how do i install this thing on my lappy? i cancelled my download earlier as i don't have that fast connection (not dial up, DSL, but kinda slow)

i ordered 5 cd's... will try to download this thing once i have the time... my lappy's still having this blue screen after a some time with internet...

hmmm... i guess i have to alot 10GB of space for this baby also, i'm happy i know how to use openoffice

other softwares recommended for use? so if this is a live CD... then i do not need to worry about my lappy's drivers etc. right?

 

well if you run it on live CD there will be a "install" icon on the desktop, just click on it and follow the instructions

well depends on what you are looking for :
If you need to type some big reports with mathematical formulas then get Kile or Lyx
if you want a Photoshop wannabee you can try The Gimp.

Most of the software can be downloaded via a command in console mode:
this an exemple for Debian

Code:

apt-get install [I]whateversuitsu[/I]

but i'm pretty sure that now Ubuntu comes with a graphical interface for that stuff like YaST2 for rpm based distribution

Zum Beispiel: my linux partition (SuSE10.0 SLED but anyway) is 15GB. I've done a full install of SuSE (everything from Japanese kanji dictionary to diverse LaTeX frontend with support of japanese charaters and a few IDE) i still have 3gb of free (data are stored on an external hard drive mind you).
10Gb ought to be enough.

 

I use ubuntu on my Thinkpad R51.
Thinkpads have always had very good Linux support, so you have little to worry about in that regard.
Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice, an office suite compatible with MS Office (and IMO, much better)
If you need any help with ubuntu, head over to ubuntuforums.org, they're a very helpful community

 

Neat. The video effects used on the desktop looks interesting, albiet a bit flashy.

 

yeah nice and clean graphics. that's what interests me

i like openoffice too... but when i open a word document using this, the formatting originally used are all messed up, unless simple formattin was used.

 

that's due to the fact that the OOo people had to reverse-engineer the .doc filetype, but it's usually good enough to get the needed information from the document

 

A couple more things to note:

- Ubuntu allows for higher resolutions than Windows. (This depends on the situation, but typically, the highest resolution available will be higher.)
- A lot of info can be found on the Wikipedia article.


I just installed this over the weekend and I am enjoying it a lot. You might want to think about dual booting. (WinXP & Ubuntu)

Matt

 

so how do i get my lappy to dual-boot on this thing?

i hope i won't get any problems from installing this one.

and by the way, do i need an antivirus on ubuntu?

 

Head over to ubuntuforums.org and look/ask for a howto. It should be fairly easy, put in the install, and set up the partitions

nope, linux is fairly resilient towards viruses/malware

 

Isn't max res defined by you screen and video card rather than you os?

 

Well, most likely but when I was running WinXP Pro, the max res was 1280 x 1024. On Ubuntu, the max res is like 2048 x 1900 or something. Maybe I'm just going crazy... lol.

That and the fact that most virus-"creators" target Windows. I read somewhere that 65% of all hackers are Linux users lol.


Matt

 

Adjusting the resolution to something other than Native didn't blur/pixelate the images/text?

Given most hackers are Linux users, does this make them less likely to go after fellow Ubuntu users?

 

Mturco11x, try calling Lenovo and asking them to install the 802.11n adapter in the machine you order. Someone has already done as far as I know.

 

Well actually, I have not ordered yet. Because I did not know it was available via phone order. So, I have been waiting until they update their site. But are you saying I can order a T60 with a 802.11n adapter over the phone right now?


Thanks,
Matt

 

Should be able to.

 

Awesome. Thanks!

Matt

 

Let us know what they tell you.

 

so this is much like an iLife but with an OS? hehe...

i did not downloaded it yet.. maybe i'll wait for my 5cd's to get here in the philippines...

 

How much did the 5 cds cost? Seems odd one has to run it off of the disk each time.

 

what exactly are you talking about?

The Ubuntu OS can run off the CD as a LiveCD, but it also contains an option to install it to your harddrive...

 

Various forums and other resources of the likes (Wikis, Howtos, ...). There are certain distributions where you can purchase service agreements, (Basically the open source business model). Mainly for Ubuntu which is based on Debian, it is peer support and any question you have, have probably been answered or can easily be answered. Most likely you will have to exit your comfort zone to get this support, perhaps using IRC or something you may not be familiar with.

Consider the risks of using open source software on your productivity too. (Playing devils advocate) Some things arent quite as handy coming from a Windows environment. That is a seperate issue entirely.

 

Ubuntu CDS are free for Dapper Drake - the newest Edgy Eft is for download or pay CDS.

 

It's a free Linux distribution. Distributions are releases of Linux with varying features, software packages, compatibilities, etc.

VERY similar to Windows, but the file system is different. It is not at all hard to get used to.

Consider that Vista takes up (or will take up) around 15 GBs, and Ubuntu takes up around 3GB (more with programs).

The replacement for MS Office is OpenOffice, and it can read MS Office files easily.

 

u can even try openoffice on windows for free

 

Correct. [Link]

Matt

 

Interesting indeed. I'll have to give the open office a try sometime.

 

...vista takes up that much???? didnt think it was that high?

 

That is A LOT of space, wow. Considering some lower end, yet modern day machines come equipt with base HDs of 40GB (some of the ultra-portables), there goes close to 40% of your HD!

 

hmmm... that's why i haven't installed vista on my lappy. i don't think i would need aero glass

i'm going ubuntu first... if i enjoy the time with it, then it's goodbye windows (hello ubuntu, wait for me leopard)

by the way... the CD's are for free, just wait for them maybe about 2 weeks.. i ordered them monday. hope to get them on next two weeks

 

Will they mail to Canada?

 

When I ordered them (im in the US) they shipped from the Netherlands, so I doubt they have a problem shipping internationally

 

Alright, good to know.
Thanks.

 

Vista looks as though it is under 8 GB on my TP.

 

Is that with all features though?