Got my new Ubuntu 7.10 CD yesterday

[Chuck57]

all I can say is WOW!!! I spent all day yesterday playing with it, trying out printing, sound, and some things I have no idea what they are.

Every single thing works flawlessly on this box. I won't go as far as to say Linux has arrived, but if Windows folks want an OS that needs no command line, or very minimal command line interfacing, this Ubuntu seems to be it. I never once had to open the command line for any reason.

And, to add a little eye candy, the default desktop is beautiful, in my opinion.

[Kerodo]

Yep, Ubuntu 7.10 is very nice overall, it's one of the few distros that I had absolutely zero issues with. In Linux, the command line is there if you need it, which you will eventually, but for the most part, you can do without it till you want to tweak something. Linux has certainly come a long way in recent times.

[Chuck57]

Until this past year, my last linux distros were Calders 2.x and Red Hat 6. Don't recall all the numbers. they drove me nuts and turned me off to Linux for a long, long time.

Really, even with WinXP there are times when you need to bring up their command line to check or do something. Based on a couple of days only, I'd say Ubuntu is very near being ready for prime time.

[Mr. Y]

Firefox appears to come "built" into Ubuntu.

Options submenu is missing if I go to Firefox Tools menu- Y?

[cortez]

-{ Quote: "... Based on a couple of days only, I'd say Ubuntu is very near being ready for prime time." }-

Is that to say that only Ubuntu 7.10 is the only Linux distro that is "very near" ready for prime time?

I'm a XP user and am not too keen on Vista, so I was hoping that some Linux distro can be an alternative when the time comes. Am I being too optimistic?

[Kerodo]

There are many Linux distros that are now quite good and easy to use out of the box. Ubuntu is one, PCLinuxOS is another one, even Fedora 8 is pretty good now. SuSE 10.3 is quite nice as well. There are many to choose from. Have a look at the top 10 on Distrowatch.com and try a few of the live cd's and see which ones look best to you. It takes some time to wade thru all the choices, but there are many good ones nowadays.

[Chuck57]

Actually, I think kerodo is right. I've tried a lot of them in the past few months, and some are better now than the live cd's I have from a few months ago.

the only disappointment I've had is Freespire which came with almost nothing installed and I couldn't make their installer work to add more programs.

PClinuxOS, SimplyMEPIS and Knoppix, along with Ubuntu, are my favorites. The latest Ubuntu just has that tiny edge in my opinion.

The others may have made up the difference since all were downloaded a few months ago.

The only real issue I had with any of them was configuring my printer, since I absolutely must have it daily. Ubuntu 7.10 found it instantly and it worked. There are little things, programs this or that one has that I prefer, but those can all be downloaded easily - meaning even I can download and I'll tell ya, if I can figure it out anybody can.

The main thing to overcome, I think, is the fear of trying something different. It's a different operating system, and that scares some people who get comfortable with 'the Windows Way of Doing Things.' Linux is faster, more stable in most distros, and has developed into a great OS. One can only imagine where it will go this year. MS better be watching its back. Something might be gaining.

[zapjb]

Glad you like Linux.

Pssst check out my sig. ;)

[cortez]

Kerodo and Chuck57:

Thanks for the much needed shot in the arm. I am looking forward to checking your suggestions out--cortez

[Chuck57]

cortez, remember, you can download and run the live cd without having to install onto your HD. It'll be slower than the installed version but you can spend days and days checking things out and getting a feel for it before installing. Plus, at least on my pc, you'll notice that even live CD, linux is fast.

[iceni60]

-{ Quote: "Firefox appears to come "built" into Ubuntu.

Options submenu is missing if I go to Firefox Tools menu- Y?" }-
it's in a different menu. maybe Edit>Perferences

[Riverrun]

I've become really interested in Linux in the past few months. I have a stack of distros and yes, I have been distro hopping but I keep coming back to Ubuntu because I think that it's a little bit more usable than the others that I've played with.

When I tried Zenwalk in VirtualBox it ran flawlessly, but once installed, the screen resolution was all wrong and it seems that there isn't a lot I can do about it except wait for the next version and that's such a pity because it's a snappy little OS with a simple but attractive interface.

Virtual technology is a good way of trying various distributions but beware, because once installed the results may not be what you expect.

The really great thing about Linux, apart from the stability and security (funny how I've begun to take those for granted) that it provides is that it makes computing fun. If you like to play with your OS, give Linux a go.

[poirot]

Having recently used a Vista notebook,i had the same thoughts Cortez wrote about,and i thank Chuck for the great encouragement to try Ubuntu..i will do that as soon as i finish this damned Vista machine which provoked repulsion for MS after two reinstalls in two weeks!

[Chuck57]

All thanks ought to go to Mrkvonic and the other Linux fans here. I began reading their posts and finally started downloading or ordering linux CD's a few months ago.

I have Ubuntu 7.04 and now 7.10 and the little improvements are surprising.

Whether it's Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS (I have 2007) or any of those I mentioned, I don't think you can go wrong. I also tried Kill Bill and loved it (Slackware based) but printer and sound never worked. Wolvix is another I liked.

I'll also admit that there were a couple I downloaded that just wouldn't load.

[Kerodo]

-{ Quote: "
I'll also admit that there were a couple I downloaded that just wouldn't load." }-
Yeah, I got that a few times too, it's not uncommon..

After distro hopping for a little more than a year now, I have found maybe a half dozen distros that I feel I could use on a daily basis with little to no issues. Just recently I decided the current Ubuntu was the best overall. PCLinuxOS runs a close 2nd for me too.

Fortunately for us, and for those considering trying Linux, there is a trend nowadays toward making the distros do it all out of the box with little or no tweaking. This is what it will take, in my opinion, for Linux to become more accepted and popular in the home user and desktop market.

I still like Win too, in fact I'm running XP right now, but Linux has come a long way. I enjoy using it too.

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "I've become really interested in Linux in the past few months. I have a stack of distros and yes, I have been distro hopping but I keep coming back to Ubuntu because I think that it's a little bit more usable than the others that I've played with.
" }-

Yes, although I think the KDE version, Kubuntu, is probably more suitable for most users switching from Windows - it's simply more "Windows-like". But everyone to his/her taste.

[Chuck57]

I've considered keeping XP on my machine and loading Linux on another partition. In fact, I started to a couple of weeks ago but looking at the info presented concerning partition stopped me cold. I wasn't sure whether to say yes to this, no to that, or what I was doing, so quit.

I'm glad I did now, since Ubuntu 7.10 came along a couple of days ago. I'll have to do some reading on partitioning before I try it again. This goes back to the old days (10 yrs ago) when I tried it and wiped out Win98 in the process.

[Kerodo]

Some of the distros will actually offer to "shrink" your Win partition and make room for Linux in a pretty automated fashion. When I dual boot, I just use 2 drives. I install XP in the first drive and then install Linux and let it use the 2nd HD. Linux then sets up the boot loader/menus etc. Easiest thing to do is try to plan it ahead of time and wipe everything clean and start fresh. Partitioning is pretty simple. Most of the time in Linux you just need a root partition (/) and a swap partition, I usually use 1 gig for that, and a /home partition. That's about it.

If your distro will do it all automatically for you, then that's the easiest way, but if you want more control over the details, then a manual partitioning/install is needed.

[Chuck57]

Use Linux on my second drive?? I've asked about that on two linux boards and was told it shouldn't be done. No reason why it shouldn't, and I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. Nobody bothered to explain. I guess they knew they were talking to a linux newbie and didn't want to be bothered.

I have quite a few saved programs on my second drive, but think the more important and the novels and stories I'm working on could be put on one of my sandisk flash drives, saved, and put away in a drawer.

I haven't investigated whether Ubuntu will do an automatic install. If so, that will be the way to go. Me trying would be a ticket to disaster.

[steve161]

I installed Ubuntu 7.10 on my comp that already had PCLinuxOS. The resize and install were automatic and, so far, no problems whatsoever. Ubuntu did install its bootloader, but if you download startup manager from the repo, it is very easy to customize the grub menu and choose the default OS.

[Kerodo]

Ubuntu will try to handle things automatically like most of them, but I'm not sure if Ubuntu can shrink a Win partition to get more space. I usually do manual partitioning, so I'm not sure on that. There is no reason why you can't put Win on 1 drive and Linux on a 2nd. I have done it many times. Best bet is to save any important data, and then give things a try when you're ready, but always be prepared for the worst in case you run into problems. ;)

[Chuck57]

Okay, gang, question. Off topic, but I started the thread so.......

I use OpenOffice 2.3 in XP for my writing. I've noticed that when running linux live CD, the OO in linux won't open my writing files. They're all saved in OO's standard format. Any reason for this, or has anybody else run into it? I'd think OpenOffice files saved in OpenOffice should be available regardless of which OS is running, even if saved in Word, since OO will save in Word format.

Might just be a live CD thing and nothing to worry about.

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "Use Linux on my second drive?? I've asked about that on two linux boards and was told it shouldn't be done. No reason why it shouldn't, and I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. Nobody bothered to explain. I guess they knew they were talking to a linux newbie and didn't want to be bothered.
" }-

I also have Kubuntu installed on my second drive without any problems, and I don't see any reason why there should be any. I guess the responses you got are nothing but a myth.

[Riverrun]

-{ Quote: "Nobody bothered to explain. I guess they knew they were talking to a linux newbie and didn't want to be bothered." }-

Don't know about that Chuck, I've found the Ubuntu community at Ubuntu Forums and Launchpad to be really friendly and willing to help Noobs like myself.

[Kerodo]

Yes, the Ubuntu Forums are quite good actually.... usually very helpful.

[farmerlee]

-{ Quote: "I've considered keeping XP on my machine and loading Linux on another partition. In fact, I started to a couple of weeks ago but looking at the info presented concerning partition stopped me cold. I wasn't sure whether to say yes to this, no to that, or what I was doing, so quit.

I'm glad I did now, since Ubuntu 7.10 came along a couple of days ago. I'll have to do some reading on partitioning before I try it again. This goes back to the old days (10 yrs ago) when I tried it and wiped out Win98 in the process." }-
Why don't you just install it in a virtual machine inside windows? Its safe and easy. I'm hoping to make the switch to linux one day however the fear of change and leaving my microsoft comfort zone hinder me. So i've been running ubuntu inside windows, gradually trying to use it more and more and hopefully one of these years master linux :).

[ChrisBUK]

I decided to install Ubuntu after reading this read -- I used it last year and did love it, but in the end found it too complicated and didn't have the time to learn how to use it properly.

So I have had 7.10 installed since yesterday and I am dual-booting with Windows XP -- no problems there whatso ever.

The only slight issue I have at the moment is not being able to see, or mount, my external HD which is encrypted with Truecrypt (the entire device). The truecrypt forums are down so I cannot ask for help.

Apparently they are going to released a proper GUI for Truecrypt on Linux this month, but I haven't been able to get that confirmed. I hope it is true though.

Does anyone know how to mount a truecrypt volume in Ubuntu?

Apart from that, I absolutely love it so far. It just feels so much quicker, stable and smoother than WIndows -- and safer!

[Pedro]

One of many hits upon searching the Ubuntu forums:
does truecrypt has a graphical interface for the ubuntu because i cannot find one...? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=635979&highlight=truecrypt)

[iceni60]

you mount a truecrypt volume like this -
truecrypt truecrypt_volume mount_point

so if the volume is called hello and you want to mount it at /mnt/ you do this -
truecrypt hello /mnt/

there's a GUI somewhere on the ubuntuforums, maybe the thread already given and there's another program that acts as a frontend too, it's called scramdisk i think??

[ChrisBUK]

-{ Quote: "you mount a truecrypt volume like this -
truecrypt truecrypt_volume mount_point

so if the volume is called hello and you want to mount it at /mnt/ you do this -
truecrypt hello /mnt/

there's a GUI somewhere on the ubuntuforums, maybe the thread already given and there's another program that acts as a frontend too, it's called scramdisk i think??" }-

The problem is that I am not using a truecrypt volume. I have encrypted the entire device and Ubuntu cannot see the device in Computer. If I type sudo fdisk -l I do see the device listed under /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1 (not sure which one to use!).
The second problem is I don't know the command to mount the device. I did try truecrypt -u -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop to try to mount it to my desktop, but it failed.
I then tried truecrypt -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop and it asked for my password to mount it. I entered my password and it mounted all the files inside my external HD to my desktop! I was expected it to mount just "sdb1" on my desktop, not all my folders inside the device! this wiped out all my desktop icons and after I dismounted some of the folders were still there and wouldn't go away until a reboot...

I did try Scramdisk but it keeps coming up with errors when I try to mount /dev/sdb1. I'm not really sure how to do it... I would like to auto-mount devices like in Windows.

[Mr. Y]

-{ Quote: "it's in a different menu. maybe Edit>Perferences" }-

Thankyou, I looked but no dice.

Could you please comment on this post:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196649

[Mr. Y]

-{ Quote: "
The only real issue I had with any of them was configuring my printer, since I absolutely must have it daily. Ubuntu 7.10 found it instantly and it worked. There are little things, programs this or that one has that I prefer, but those can all be downloaded easily - meaning even I can download and I'll tell ya, if I can figure it out anybody can. " }-

I wish I could say the same but I spent many hours installing my Samsung MFP laser printer and even more hours changing from the default graphics drivers to the ATI graphics drivers (My next card is NOT going to be ATI!!!).

Now I am in the proces of trying to switch from the default screen driver to my Samsung LCD screen (Can I let out a primal scream?)

But Ubuntu is a keeper as I like the Malwareproof Security that it offers. I just hope there are'nt any backdoors that would allow Big Brother in- I can't get over the fact that it is free.

[Mr. Y]

The Acronis bootup CD successfully backed up my Ubuntu drive onto the same drive that contains all my Windows images.

This way I can quickly recover from any "Linux" driver configuration mistakes that I make.

[Mrkvonic]

-{ Quote: "The problem is that I am not using a truecrypt volume. I have encrypted the entire device and Ubuntu cannot see the device in Computer. If I type sudo fdisk -l I do see the device listed under /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1 (not sure which one to use!).
The second problem is I don't know the command to mount the device. I did try truecrypt -u -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop to try to mount it to my desktop, but it failed.
I then tried truecrypt -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop and it asked for my password to mount it. I entered my password and it mounted all the files inside my external HD to my desktop! I was expected it to mount just "sdb1" on my desktop, not all my folders inside the device! this wiped out all my desktop icons and after I dismounted some of the folders were still there and wouldn't go away until a reboot...

I did try Scramdisk but it keeps coming up with errors when I try to mount /dev/sdb1. I'm not really sure how to do it... I would like to auto-mount devices like in Windows." }-

Hello,

When you mount a drive, you need to use a mount point. You specified your desktop as a mount point, so ... comes to logic.

Best place to create mount points is /mnt/ or /media or mnt/media.

I use TrueCrypt in Ubuntu via command line. Nothing can be simpler. One command to mount. One command to dismount.

Mrk

[farmerlee]

I decided to take the plunge and install ubuntu not only on a real system but alongside my windows xp installation. The only problem i had happened even before i started the installation, i had lost my 7.10 cd lol. So i ended up just installing 7.04. I couldn't believe how easy it was, the installer did it all for me. Its up and running fine now on my p4 system. It hums along very nicely, apps load quickly and the whole system feels quite snappy. Definitely a much better experience than the vista reinstall i had to perform last weekend.

[ChrisBUK]

-{ Quote: "I decided to take the plunge and install ubuntu not only on a real system but alongside my windows xp installation. The only problem i had happened even before i started the installation, i had lost my 7.10 cd lol. So i ended up just installing 7.04. I couldn't believe how easy it was, the installer did it all for me. Its up and running fine now on my p4 system. It hums along very nicely, apps load quickly and the whole system feels quite snappy. Definitely a much better experience than the vista reinstall i had to perform last weekend." }-

Yep, I agree.
Ubuntu is quicker in every sense of the word. It loads up and shuts down MUCH quicker, applications are pretty much instant, graphics are awesome and it has definitely become easier to use than when I tried it last. Last time it took 3 hours to find and install drivers for my unsupported wireless card -- this time as soon as I enable my wireless it detects my network straight away.
I now have Truecrypt running too, thanks to Mrkvonic! :thumb:

[iceni60]

-{ Quote: "The problem is that I am not using a truecrypt volume. I have encrypted the entire device and Ubuntu cannot see the device in Computer. If I type sudo fdisk -l I do see the device listed under /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1 (not sure which one to use!).
The second problem is I don't know the command to mount the device. I did try truecrypt -u -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop to try to mount it to my desktop, but it failed.
I then tried truecrypt -r /dev/sdb1 /home/user/Desktop and it asked for my password to mount it. I entered my password and it mounted all the files inside my external HD to my desktop! I was expected it to mount just "sdb1" on my desktop, not all my folders inside the device! this wiped out all my desktop icons and after I dismounted some of the folders were still there and wouldn't go away until a reboot...

I did try Scramdisk but it keeps coming up with errors when I try to mount /dev/sdb1. I'm not really sure how to do it... I would like to auto-mount devices like in Windows." }-so you're trying to mount an encrypted partition? are you sure linux can even decrypt it? you could try using this -
http://www.gnomefiles.org/app.php/CryptoMaster

i don't know anything about it! it uses LUKS (like most linux disk encryption) but, you'll probably need to install some more extra packages before anything will work, maybe dm-crypt?? you can read about them here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dm-crypt

/dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1 are the second SATA disks in your computer /dev/sdb is the first partition and /dev/sdb1 the second. the command to mount things is mount lol and to unmount you use umount (no n before the m)

ubuntuforums will probably have the answer if you do a search.

[iceni60]

-{ Quote: "Thankyou, I looked but no dice.

Could you please comment on this post:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196649" }-
i would think nothing is safe with a rootkit on the host.

[ChrisBUK]

I managed to get it working now.

I had to type; sudo mkdir /media/sdb1 to set a mount point in /media,
then I typed; truecrypt /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

and it prompted for a password, then mounted my external HD on my desktop as I wanted it to. :thumb:

[Mr. Y]

-{ Quote: "i would think nothing is safe with a rootkit on the host." }-

Thankyou for commenting on my theoretical scenario. I kind of figured this and am wondering why it is believed that virtualization is more secure?

[Mr. Y]

Is it safe and secure to "checkmark" all software entries under System/Administration/Software Sources?

[iceni60]

-{ Quote: "Is it safe and secure to "checkmark" all software entries under System/Administration/Software Sources?" }-
i think it's best to leave one of them unchecked, if you post a picture i might remember which it is.

[iceni60]

you can use this to make a sources list, by default some soruces aren't enabled in ubuntu-
http://www.ubuntu-nl.org/source-o-matic/

if you add too many package sources it will cause problems if you ever upgrade ubuntu. i'm not an expert, and i don't use ubuntu very much, but i'd not select source repositories, and i'd add these ones -
Ubuntu backports project

Upstream Wine (only if wine doesn't work with a program you need)

Upstream Opera (if you use opera)

Canonical Commercial packages

the Beryl and multimedia repositories aren't working any more, if you need them they'll be a lot of threads showing what to use at ubuntuforums. i'd look for a thread about adding multimedia packages so all your multimedia works. all you need is the repository and then a command that will add all the packages you need.

here's a multimedia guide (the second link is for ubuntu Feisty other ubuntu versions will be slightly different) -
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=413624

making sure you have a good sources.list is important, you can open and edit it with this command -
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

here's another link all about ubuntu sources.list's. make sure the links work before you add them, the mulitmedia ones aren['t working for me, but you can use the one i gave above instead.
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/sources.php

[djg05]

-{ Quote: "all I can say is WOW!!! I spent all day yesterday playing with it, trying out printing, sound, and some things I have no idea what they are.

Every single thing works flawlessly on this box. I won't go as far as to say Linux has arrived, but if Windows folks want an OS that needs no command line, or very minimal command line interfacing, this Ubuntu seems to be it. I never once had to open the command line for any reason.

And, to add a little eye candy, the default desktop is beautiful, in my opinion." }-

Could you let me know please if Ubuntu can handle UTube videos. I have my Wife's machine set up with PCLos and whenever she tries to watch a video it crashes the whole m/c part way through. I have tried FF, Opera and Konqueror browsers and all fail.

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,
It has nothing to do with the distro. You probably have a corrupt flash plugin. Try reinstalling the flash plugin.
Mrk

[ChrisBUK]

-{ Quote: "Could you let me know please if Ubuntu can handle UTube videos. I have my Wife's machine set up with PCLos and whenever she tries to watch a video it crashes the whole m/c part way through. I have tried FF, Opera and Konqueror browsers and all fail." }-

I had exactly the same problem. Try uninstalling or reinstalling gnash. I reinstalled gnash and they work fine now.

[djg05]

-{ Quote: "I had exactly the same problem. Try uninstalling or reinstalling gnash. I reinstalled gnash and they work fine now." }-

Thanks Both - I will try that

[Mr. Y]

-{ Quote: "you can use this to make a sources list, by default some soruces aren't enabled in ubuntu-
http://www.ubuntu-nl.org/source-o-matic/

if you add too many package sources it will cause problems if you ever upgrade ubuntu. i'm not an expert, and i don't use ubuntu very much, but i'd not select source repositories, and i'd add these ones -
Ubuntu backports project

Upstream Wine (only if wine doesn't work with a program you need)

Upstream Opera (if you use opera)

Canonical Commercial packages

the Beryl and multimedia repositories aren't working any more, if you need them they'll be a lot of threads showing what to use at ubuntuforums. i'd look for a thread about adding multimedia packages so all your multimedia works. all you need is the repository and then a command that will add all the packages you need.

here's a multimedia guide (the second link is for ubuntu Feisty other ubuntu versions will be slightly different) -
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=413624

making sure you have a good sources.list is important, you can open and edit it with this command -
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

here's another link all about ubuntu sources.list's. make sure the links work before you add them, the mulitmedia ones aren['t working for me, but you can use the one i gave above instead.
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/sources.php" }-

I'll check it out, Thankyou!

[steve161]

From what I understand, the flash problem is just that; a flash problem. There are some solutions to be found at the Ubuntu forums. I solved it by installing the beta flash plugin that is being used in Hardy Heron, and using the opera 9.5 beta. So far, no problems. Before I completely nod off, props to Iceni60 and Mrk for giving me the reasons to try linux.

[farmerlee]

-{ Quote: "From what I understand, the flash problem is just that; a flash problem. There are some solutions to be found at the Ubuntu forums. I solved it by installing the beta flash plugin that is being used in Hardy Heron, and using the opera 9.5 beta. So far, no problems. Before I completely nod off, props to Iceni60 and Mrk for giving me the reasons to try linux." }-
Yup, definitely props to Iceni and Mrk for their excellent linux support for us noobs :).