Who uses Linux? Ubunto ftw.

[Mark.J]

I've toyed with various Linux distributions in the past, but to date none has ever really appealed to me as anything other than a passing fascination or something to aid in my understanding of the OS (after all, ISPreview does run off it). The software has been good, but many Linux distribs typically fall short when it comes to a simple installation and sexy interface (GUI).

This all changed last week when I finally gave the new version of Ubunto a try, one I had previously avoided due to lack of time. Still, with MS Vista being a steaming pile of plop I figured it’d be fun to see how far things have come. Suffice to say Ubunto is the first Linux I’ve enjoyed using and can perceive using more in the future.

It’s easy to install, you can now do all sorts of sexy things with 3D desktops and it’s made two of my older laptops usable again. Better yet, much of the third party Linux freeware (OpenOffice etc.) has really improved since two or three years ago and for the first time I can see it as being a worthwhile OS rather than a niche product.

Just my 2 pence, but considering it’s all free, this is well worth trying.



http://www.ubuntu.com

[Smoothound]

I've heard Sabayon is good, some say better than Ubuntu, SUSE etc but I suppose it's down to personal preference.
Apparently it is a relatively new distro and I hope to try it some time in the future.

[onephat]

my only major gripe with Linux was the fact you'd have to take an afternoon off work to install anything (3rd party apps, that didn't come with the OS), has this improved?

[Mel]

Originally Posted by onephat

my only major gripe with Linux was the fact you'd have to take an afternoon off work to install anything (3rd party apps, that didn't come with the OS), has this improved?

LOL, I know just what you mean I had a particularily annoying time with Unbuntu last year when I was trying to install something and ony managed to get it to install after a lot of googling for how to do it and then only after setting up a root account.

I've currently got SUSE installed on another partition, although only because it installed itself relatively painlessly, my brother swears by fedora and hardly uses XP now, where I spent a while swearing at it because the version he gave me wouldn't install itself properly - the kernel paniced at the prospect of running on my crappy hardware.

[LightningMk6]

I tried out Ubuntu a few weeks back, just ran it of the CD and it worked just fine, picked up all the drivers needed and was on the Internet in no time, much better distro than the earlier ones. All I need now is a spare PC to do a full install and see what it has to offer, but was impressed. For anyone not sure, just run it from the CD and see if you like it, there is no hard drive installation unless you decide to do a full install.

[Old dude]

Im thinking of putting it on my laptop. Whats the chances of it being fine?

What I really want to know is how would the 3D desktop perform on a laptop (1.6 processor - 512 ram) with a plain old integrated intel graphics chip?

[Bob2002]

Ubuntu seems very popular nowadays, though I've never felt really excited by it. Still if it marginalises the multitude of other distributions and tramples all before it that would be a good thing IMHO.

[basingstoker]

Originally Posted by Bob2002

Ubuntu seems very popular nowadays, though I've never felt really excited by it. Still if it marginalises the multitude of other distributions and tramples all before it that would be a good thing IMHO.

that'll will never happen. ever try Damn Small Linux? or DyneBolic?

and anyway , Ubuntu itself comes in 3 distro flavours already: ubuntu , xubuntu , and kubuntu

i hope there's even MORE distros in the future. its great fun just trying them out.

[basingstoker]

Originally Posted by Old dude

Im thinking of putting it on my laptop. Whats the chances of it being fine?

What I really want to know is how would the 3D desktop perform on a laptop (1.6 processor - 512 ram) with a plain old integrated intel graphics chip?

just stick the latest Feisty Fawn cd into your laptop and boot up off it. there's an "enable desktop effects" option in one of the menus. thats the beryl/compiz 3d desktop stuff.

i got an integrated intel in mine - didnt get the spinning cube, but the wobbly windows and shadow effects worked.

the new Xubuntu release has xfce 4.4 and that also has nice desktop effects in it -like transparent windows, window shadows and such like. (no spinning 3d cube though)

[basingstoker]

Originally Posted by onephat

my only major gripe with Linux was the fact you'd have to take an afternoon off work to install anything (3rd party apps, that didn't come with the OS), has this improved?

apt-get install name_of_software_package has been around on Debian for years.

on mandrake it was

urpmi softwarepackage