What is Digg?173 Comments
- Roger, on 11/12/2007, -33/+221More like 13 things you SHOULDN'T have to do.
- crossmr, on 10/12/2007, -9/+59It takes me just about as long to configure linux as it does setting up things after installing Windows XP (flash, java, etc)
- hello2usir, on 11/12/2007, -4/+42Yes do these things immediately. Do not hesitate for even a second. If you have to go to the bathroom -- tough. Hold it in. Adobe Acrobat Reader cannot wait.
- Narwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+40OS for native African tribes. Duh.
- modestmelody, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35How about my list of thirteen?
1) Read. If you know about Linux, what it is, how it's different, some of the challenges people face when using it, etc before hand, you will have a far better experience with Linux. It's been a while since you first used a computer, but the way you felt first using Windows, getting accustomed to it's metaphors, controls, structure, etc is exactly how you'll feel with Linux. To lighten this gap, take the time to know what you're getting into before diving right in.
2) Check for compatibility. Almost everything common is compatible with Linux. Somethings will work out of the box, some may require some tweaking. Know before you boot is the motto here. If you are installing on a laptop, check to see what support there is for your wireless card. Does it work out of hte box? Will you need to use something like ndiswrapper or another program to set it up once you've already booted? These are things you should know before you install and shouldn't bitch about post install. It's very easy to check components or even entire computers (by product number if it's bought) for compatibility issues and how they were worked around, so as in the first point, if you know about it'll be easier to work with.
3) Install Automatix and choose whatever you want/need.
4) Customize the visuals-- check out sites like gnome-look.org and mess around with Metacity (or Emerald) themes.
5) Make sure you are comfortable with alternatives for programs you used to use. There are plenty of great sites around that will show you choices of software equivalents.
6) Check out Ubuntuguide.org and start learning how to use the Terminal. While Linux is just fine without much Terminal use, I feel that knowing even the basics of the Terminal will make the Linux experience unique and worthwhile compared to other OSs.
7) Find a LUG nearby-- Linux User Group. The community is one of the best parts about Linux-- when you need help there is an army of geeks waiting for you and anxious to help out and teach you.
8) Join Ubuntuforums.org. Same as above.
9) It's not Windows. Get over it. After you spend a lot of time feeling your way around Linux you're going to find things that work differently to accomplish the same task as Windows. Sometimes you'll think the Linux way is brilliant, sometimes you'll be wishing you were in Windows. Like anything else in this world, different isn't better or worse. For some people this is the hardest part-- accepting Linux for what it is, accepting it has limitations like any OS, accepting that there are going to be things you wished worked differently, just like any other OS.
10) Brag. You're a part of a too small group of people that cared enough to learn a little more than the point-and-click ins and outs of Windows. You're going to be a better informed, more efficient, and more adaptable computer user for it. While Linux is a lot easier to use than it used to be, it still takes some patients and a desire to learn-- whether that comes during the install/initialization or through daily use.
I guess ten is all I need. - Ellsass, on 11/05/2008, -28/+55"Linux is only free if your time is worthless."
- wickedtribe, on 10/12/2007, -8/+32I keep hearing about the "Ubuntu" I don't know what it is. I am not into Pokeman.
- Szandor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Is that /really/ your sig?
- latova, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25I don't agree with the "install adobe reader" since it just takes longer to load and isn't as simplistic.
- Imusion, on 10/12/2007, -9/+30Ads? What ads? Oh thats right... heh forgot I had Adblock on ;)
- tallonx, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27EXTREMELY helpful for the ubuntu-terrified such as myself :P
- strangeion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19I don't think your signature is long enough... not enough detail there.
- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18So you run a plain, out-of-the-box Windows install with no other apps, codecs, etc?
- gcauthon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19Nice of you to join the discussion, God.
- carrett, on 10/12/2007, -9/+26@roger, judsond: these are, for the most part, things you have to do to a fresh winblows install too. windows doesn't come with flash player, it sure as ***** doesn't come with DVD support, you have to do windows update, you need to go get acrobat, blah blah. in fact, one might argue that it's actually easy (not to mention cheaper (unless you resort to illegal means)) with ubuntu since most of the stuff comes from one source called apt-get.
- justinf951, on 11/12/2007, -22/+37Why does everyone want their linux distro to look like OSX?
- Renton, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Step 2: Install some other program that doesn't exist anymore
- Sepeteus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1723 Things to do immediately after installing Windows.
1. install antivirus
2. reboot
3. install updates
4. reboot
5. install more updates because all updates couldn't be installed at the same time
6. reboot
7. install firewall
8. install adware remover
9. install video card driver
10. reboot
11. install sound card driver
12. reboot
13. install printer drivers
14. install flash, office, acrobat reader, codecs
15. reboot
16. install other drivers you need and numerous other useful apps
17. reboot just for the heck of it
18. use Windows
19. crash the system
20. reboot
21. fix the problem
22. reboot
23. go to 18. - goatrandy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20 All thirteen of those steps could be replaced with one.
1) Install Automatix.
"fdisk /dev/sda1"
Dude, if you'r gonna give people bad advice at least give them bad advice that would actually DO something. like 'rm -rf /', of 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda'. :) - Sanchez, on 10/12/2007, -17/+30Wow, a troll against linux on digg. How refreshing, dugg up. I'm not sarcastic.
- ibis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13With respect to that guy, it's a pretty ***** guide. Why install Acrobat? Why install a command line mp3 player? As for getting windows system setup nicely compared to a Linux system, I personally can get Linux running how I want it more quickly, because I'm not having to go to the nvidia website to get fresh drivers, I'm not downloading Firefox, I'm not digging out my Office CDs from whereever I left them, and things like that. I can do it all using apt. But I'm not saying that would be true for everyone.
A further example, I install windows, then I need to install say, as a base, Firefox, Thunderbird, Winamp 2 (or foobar2000), Nero, Acrobat and Office, that would get me started. But that stuff (or the equivalent) is already installed in a new Linux install so I'm good to go. Again, that's just me. - zeptobyte, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1614. Posting on Digg about how much better Ubuntu is than "Winblows" despite only have a few hours of experience with it.
- ggko, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14> More like 13 things you SHOULDN'T have to do.
I haven't really gotten into the Linux world, (yet,) but according to the website, Ubuntu is "free in the sense of giving you rights of Software Freedom".
http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
Despite being free (as in beer,) I'm guessing some of the things they recommend installing have licenses behind them. Thus they're not installed by default.
*Macromedia* Flash player, *Microsoft* Tyue Type Fonts, *Adobe* Reader, I suspect aren't free (as in speech.) - noamsml, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13You're joking, right?
Time to install Ubuntu: 20 Minutes.
Time to configure stuff: 40 Minutes.
Overall: 1 Hour.
Time to install Windows XP: 45 Minutes.
Time to configure Windows XP: 40 minutes.
Overall: 1 hour, 25 minutes.
Time to install Windows XP from OEM disks: 20 minutes.
Time to clean up the ***** that comes with it by default: 2 hours.
Time to configure Windows XP: 20 minutes (no need to install drivers).
Overall: 2 hours, 40 minutes. - binaryspiral, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12And don't forget removing the Microsoft badging from your case or laptop and replacing it with your free Ubuntu stickers:
http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/53_64?osCsid=93f2b1a6531973deb8f0235d6e91ef19#us - simmonsdd, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18I don't even have to install ubuntu to know that it is at least *Morally* Superior to windows.
- Disease, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13That's what Automatix is. Unfortunately the site's down for now.
- scottevans, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Just get LinuxMint. It's Ubuntu, with most all of this crap already installed and taken care of for you.
http://lm.ltv2.nutime.de/ - cdmarcus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Automatix = bad. Don't use it. I'm actually happy that it's down.
- cdmarcus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Please don't promote Automatix... it can majorly screw up systems, especially if you're planning to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu release when it comes out. Otherwise, your list is great.
- tmiller51, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Step 3: Profit!
- jon314, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6To those who are criticizing linux for not working right out of the box for what they want to do, let me just clarify that there is absolutely no reason to go through all the stuff outlined in the blog unless you want your system to be *exactly* like the blogger's.
I use Arch Linux but I installed Edgy on my girlfriend's computer and it didn't take long at all. After the install I went here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats
1. Copy/paste the line "sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-pitfdll...etc" into a terminal.
2. Download the files linked from the page for libdvdcss2 and w32codecs and double-click them (yes, you *can* install software by double-clicking, just like windows), then click "Install package."
3. That's it! There is no three. Anything else is icing on the cake.*
Took what, 10 minutes tops. Now she can watch all the DVDs and listen to all the mp3s she wants and her computer has the same functionality it had in Windows except I now I don't have to "fix my computer because it's slow" every few weeks or worry about her little sister installing CoOL ScreEnsavrS and FREE SMILEYS 4 ur 'cmputer!!!!1111
If she wants more software, all she needs to do is click on "Add/Remove Software" in the menu. This includes (I think) Beagle, gDesklets, and (heaven forbid) mpg123. Might need to Synaptic those three but then it's only slightly more difficult than tying your shoelaces.
Things like TFA make it seem much more complicated to be up and running in Ubuntu. I realize that this was not the blogger's intention but many people in this comments area seem to have come away with that impression. (Maybe the trolls, but whatever.)
*(If you're wondering about flash, think about how Windows users go about installing flash.) - jeffness, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Beryl is nice. I'd count that as a requirement. It's very neat.
- JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8They forgot an important one:
Write letters to Nvidia and AMD (who acquired ATI) telling them they're ***** for not providing Open Source drivers or at least giving the Linux Kernel developers the specs they need to do so on their own . . not forgetting to add "I will only by ATI hardware and use the open source driver provided by the GNU project" in the letter to Nvidia and "I will only buy Intel or Nvidia GPUs until you provide an open driver because at least Nvidia's blob doesn't suck" in your letter to AMD.
If half the Ubuntu users out there did that, it'd have an effect. - Disease, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Looks interesting, I'm gonna check it out
- tylerjames, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8oh *****.... any "difficult" install on ubuntu is about as hard as:
CTRL+C
open terminal
CTRL+V
Enter
oh my *****!! why can't they just make an install.exe
or better yet:
open synaptic
find what you want
mark for installation
done
***** me in ozarks!! i miss the world of double clicking and then just hitting Next about 12 times before the program is installed! - karamba_kid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yeah it's pretty easy setting up this non-free junk if you need it. However I would suggest not following this guide and first try the official guide to installing restricted software on the ubuntu wiki ( https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats ). It worked on my kubuntu setup just fine and I didn't need to add any third party repositories I just enabled the multiverse and universe. On my setup flash has caused some browser crashes so usually I just surf with flash (as well as javascript) disabled it makes the browser more stable IMOE and it's more secure.
- mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Then stop bitching and figure out how to do stuff without typing any commands.
System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
then scroll around all you want, checking packages to install and at the end click Apply on the toolbar. No need to touch the commandline. If there REALLY is something that has to be typed at the terminal, who's stopping you from selecting the command, and copy-pasting it in the terminal? You don't even have to press enter if you copy-paste a line of code.
By the way, did you also use speech recognition to type your comment?? - adfsj, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"/media/ this is just the directory you want to use as a mount point where windows drive would be mounted , you can very well use any drive you like."
/media is used by hal, and devices are automatically mounted as subdirectories within here. Do you really want to mount your ntfs drive right here? (you could, but it would be messy). try /media/windows or /mnt/windows (more typical).
Also to figure out which partition is your windows partition type:
sudo fdisk -l /dev/[hs]d[a-z] |egrep ^/dev - Smills, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Heh, I have Windows XP Home, Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 6.10. And they are all good operating systems. Ignoring prices I personally think that Vista is the superior operating system, but that is why you are wrong... People generally do not ignore prices. Linux is growing in power every day.
- digger1942, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10"... sudo fdisk -l /dev/[hs]d[a-z] |egrep ^/dev"
Yeah... I would never have to google that... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ibis
then you haven't used ubuntu. for most desktop systems out there with reasonably mainstream hardware, you install ubuntu and everything works. if you want things to work *better*, like acceleration and crap, you have to go to the manufacturer's website for drivers. in windows, it's the same story. you'll want nvidia's drivers for XP, not microsoft's ones, if you want acceleration.
in fact, more things worked on my system with ubuntu out of the box than XP out of the box. with XP, i didn't have sound or cd-r, for example. - MWeather, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You mean like ubuntuguide.org?
- anjinash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Linux is not Windows. Windows is not Linux. Neither are OSX. So what? Enough of the pissing contest - each OS has their advantages.
For Linux, yes it would be nice if everything could be done without dropping to the CLI. Distros like Ubuntu are working on that problem and have come a long way towards making an OS that's relatively CLI-free for the standard user. Power users coming from the Windows world will be the most confused, as I was, when entering into the Linux world. We're used to tweaking EVERYTHING in the GUI. I hadn't used the command prompt in Windows since the days of DOS, so having to figure out all sorts of archaic commands and learning which flags to use, learning the directory structure, etc... it was a giant pain in the ass. This is something Linux still needs a lot of work with. I have faith that distros like Ubuntu, Linspire, Suse and Mandriva will keep pushing Linux in that direction. If tools can be made to configure EVERYTHING via a GUI, it can only serve to help the community at large. Even if you're a hardcore CLI freak, the CLI will always be there for you to use... just offer another way to do things for those of us who don't have the time or inclination to ***** around with the prompt all day. - sanguinemoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ok, let's take a look.
1) 1. Enabling/Adding Extra Repositories
Also for installing some apps extra repositories are needed since they are not in the default repositories so go to third Party and add the following there
deb http://givre.cabspace.com/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all
deb http://ntfs-3g.sitesweetsite.info/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all
deb http://flomertens.keo.in/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all
NO! Don't start enabling random repositories that you don't know anything about. This isn't Windows, so my concern isn't virii, but but getting users in the habit of just adding a bunch of repo's and breaking their system. With a broken system, back they go to Windows, bad mouthing Linux because of poor advice.
2-5, yeah ok. Soon you'll outgrow Windows though.
6) I've never used rar in Linux in 10 years
7) Well ok, but its not required in light of #10
8)No. Adobe Reader is bloated and ***** compared the others for Linux.
9)Sure
10) Ok, but for me, xine is better than that gstreamer stuff. But this works
11)You'll actually want to do this first, though. [sarcasm] After you added a bunch of random repos :p [/sarcasm]
12)Sure
13) Ok. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4kkirk, you're a moron
- jake3988, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4'Ubuntu and all the umpteen flavors of Linux will never amount to ***** until they install easily'
If you can't install ubuntu, you need serious help. Its gui-driven and automates the entire install. I could teach my cat to install it.
Flavors are different in only three ways:
A) How easy they are to install (Ubuntu is easier than windows IMO)
B) What they install by default (Ubuntu installs most of this crap that this guy wrote up)
C) What package management it uses. RPM sucks horrendously (The dependency tracking is almost worse than windows). Apt-get (Debian). Emerge (Gentoo).
Besides the fairly obvious benefits to using linux, the main one is package management. Instead of searching around the internet for hours looking for the right program in spyware infested porn advertising 3rd party software sites, I can click on a little box and find my program. Easy as pie. - ROFLance, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12lol, I like this advertisement at the top
"Fix linux.exe
Download a Free Scan Tool & Fix linux.exe Instantly!" - Zaitsevs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5>>More like 13 things you SHOULDN'T have to do.
what??
show me what version of windows comes installed with VLC, new drivers, dvd writing by default, and what else am I missing?... -
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