What is Digg?79 Comments
- frontporsche, on 11/12/2008, -0/+37dpkg –get-selections
...should be...
dpkg --get-selections - oblique63, on 11/12/2008, -0/+21Linux hater of the day...blah blah blah...buried.
- NixiePixel, on 11/12/2008, -3/+21Great tips, they really help those of us who aren't Linux experts. Thanks!
- UcIc, on 11/13/2008, -0/+17Better method: Move your /home directory to its own partition. You can clean install ubuntu all you want, and all you have to do is set that partition to /home when you reinstall (just remember to make sure it doesn't format it.
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2006/01/29/move-home-t ... - megamod, on 11/12/2008, -0/+16who said anything about formatting?
You can install it within windows. It basically sits in your C drive like a virtual partition. - weizbox, on 11/12/2008, -4/+18'Common wisdom would suggest that a clean install would probably be better..'
Perhaps with Windows... but this is Linux. Whats the reason to do a clean install instead of an update? I've been running the same Linux install for about 6 years now and have never had anything slow down,mess up, etc because of it.
The article explains the steps well, but I disagree with it's suggestion that Ubuntu users should do a clean install every 6 months instead of upgrading if they wish to keep current. - Rothbardosaurus, on 11/12/2008, -0/+14Elegant solution. But why not just have /home in its own partition? I certainly hope the more recent Ubuntu releases provide this option.
- smotpoker, on 11/12/2008, -3/+14@unknow
www.ubuntu.org is where most people begin these days. Simply download iso, burn image/burn iso in your favorite cd-burning app and reboot. This will allow you to try Linux without making any changes to your computer so you can just try it out/get familiar.
If you like it, reboot again and install (either over windows or beside it) so that you can save files and make changes permanent. If you don't like it, eject the CD, reboot to windows and repeat the same steps with a different version of Linux or give up on it entirely.
For most users, Linux is equally or more easy to use/maintain than Windows but some people are easily frustrated/impatient to the point they would rather endure Windows' problems than have to learn anything different. Others have really new or uncommon hardware that isn't fully supported in Linux yet.
I cannot guarantee everything you own will work or you will be happy with it, but IMO *everyone* should at least give it a shot considering Windows' shortcomings and MS's business practices. - megamod, on 11/12/2008, -0/+10Try just burning Ubuntu CD and put it in while you have windows loaded it should present you the option to install it within windows. No re-partitioning needed.
- jmkiii, on 11/12/2008, -0/+8You read my mind
- dignews, on 11/12/2008, -4/+11��������}{s�H��ߓ��=J���X�+�q�Iv�p��
is all I get - uknowwhoibe, on 11/12/2008, -0/+6Thanks for all the help - I'll try this out this weekend.
- Syphon0928, on 11/12/2008, -0/+6Great, you're an *****.
- smotpoker, on 11/12/2008, -1/+7Err... ubuntu.com, sorry. (Still not used to the notion of Linux as a commercial venture yet I guess, heh)
- rtaibah, on 05/22/2009, -1/+6Well weizbox, you do seem to be a Gentoo fan, and updates on Gentoo are done differently, you don't really need to upgrade every once in a while. Personally I never felt right with just upgrading Ubuntu, something always feels amiss. Maybe it's just me, thats why I wrote that guide :)
- archiesteel, on 11/12/2008, -0/+5Download the Ubuntu LiveCD, burn it and reboot your computer with the CD in the drive: you'll be able to try Linux without installing it on your PC.
- trogdoor, on 11/13/2008, -0/+5That's the aim of Pulseaudio ( which is not a sound driver ), to allow all applications made for all sound servers and drivers to be able to use a single sound server without conflicts.
- jjustin01, on 11/13/2008, -0/+5Unless I am reading it wrong, there is an easier way to keep your settings as you go from one version to another in Linux (not just Ubuntu). Create a separate partition for you /home folder. Next time you upgrade or reinstall Linux, flag that partition as your /home partition, just don't format it. When you boot up your fresh install, all your settings are there.
As I said, I might have read that article differently (A.D.D. kicked in after a while). I was unclear if the article was geared more towards keeping the applications you've installed or just the user preferences for everything. - zip000, on 11/13/2008, -0/+5It's more like Linox I think.
- wakingrufus, on 11/13/2008, -0/+4after i discovered how easy a reinstall is if you have your /home on a separate partition and use aptitude to track installed programs, I decided i would never go back to windows.
- ePlus, on 11/12/2008, -2/+6I'm still waiting for an overall unified sound driver. Fed up with different drivers such as ALSA, PULSEAUDIO and whatever else is included.
Just give us a single one that does it RIGHT! - geekworking, on 11/13/2008, -0/+4This generally works great, but there are cases were settings from one version of an app cause strange, unique, versions with another. At least a few times I had to rename and/or delete the settings folder for an app to make it work correctly after a version upgrade. This is especially true for KDE apps migrating from 3x to 4x.
- kd420, on 11/12/2008, -1/+4Wow great tip. I thought manually making a list and just "apt-get install *paste list here*" was fast, this is even better. I guess the only downside is reinstalling programs I don't use anymore just because they were installed, but I guess that could be worked around too. I'll definitely try this next time I do a fresh install.
- zip000, on 11/13/2008, -0/+3It's pretty much a shot by shot remake of Lord of the Rings
- harisund, on 11/12/2008, -2/+5So these days Linux=Ubuntu ?
- nero147, on 11/13/2008, -0/+3I can honestly say that I have never had an upgrade work for me with ubuntu, but I compile a lot of beta stuff from source. But invariably either my kernel breaks, X breaks, or my video drivers break. But with a clean install I'm fine. I just back up all of my config files and I'm usually fine.
- weizbox, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3'something always feels amiss'
Any specifics on the latest or previous releases? - jjustin01, on 11/12/2008, -2/+4No.
Ubuntu > Linux :D
/sarcasm - Jeffler, on 11/12/2008, -1/+3Its OVER 9000!!!!
- uknowwhoibe, on 11/12/2008, -5/+7I really wish Linux wasn't such a scary monster to me. I'd love to install it on my PC without formatting.
- mllawso, on 11/13/2008, -0/+2��HJb,�����������K�$ڒ2g�; �G7���x���Og��}q.��x$.>�z��L indeed
- wigren, on 11/12/2008, -0/+2Linux is an open source kernel. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
What you hear about are operating systems built with Linux: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution
The most popular of which is Ubuntu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu - AlexRRev, on 11/12/2008, -2/+4While it won't run as well as it would with it's own partition, using Wubi (google it) will allow you to see and explore linux without hurting or modifying your harddrive - it's like installing any other application and can be uninstalled just as easily.
- kimme, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1To have an own /home partition is more cool, though.
- k82l, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1i like starting from fresh every once and awhile. helps remind me of how things work/get done.
- GavinZac, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1as already mentioned, but perhaps in need of clarity, you can install Ubuntu as if it were just another windows program using Wubi, which is provided on the install CD and also available online
- mynameistux, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1no, you are compleatly right, that is the way to go.
- DrDabbles, on 11/16/2008, -0/+1Are you serious?! There's an entire kernel build out there for Xen. Not to mention the virt-builder (or whatever the tool name is) was designed to make Xen, xVM, KVM, and many other VM types.
Canonical has chosen KVM because that is what the default is within the Linux kernel. Xen has its own issues, as does VMware, xVM, and KVM. - DrDabbles, on 11/16/2008, -0/+1You fail. It's already an option. It's also an option when you buy a Mac.
- Lane, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1Im just throwing it out there, xubuntu comes with an .exe you can use to install from inside windows. it dual boots automatically and leaves ubuntu in windows program files which is hilarious but very useful.
- yogiincork, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1kubuntu and ubuntu as well ... works great, currently using it!
- selrahc, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1As a few others have mentioned if you are doing fresh installs, or even trying a couple of different distros it's probably easier to have /home on a separate partition. If you have edited any files in /etc you may want to copy those also. Some config files may not work with newer versions of the program so you may have to delete some of the hidden files from your /home directory if the program is acting weird. You will also want to be careful about copying old configs from /etc over new ones.
- Biznarie, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1Putting /home on its own partition is a good solution when you install again just make sure you specify it to mount on /home, doing this in raid1 would be good too. Adding the package.selections option suggested in this article is a good addition, i hate having to re-install all my apps.
- Biznarie, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1Very true, my new vista install has been great But my computer changes hardware so often its hard to keep cds and everything up to date, with that said its still much easier to re-install ubuntu.
- onefish2, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1I also ran the same install of Linux for years. Started with Red Hat 7.3 and ended with Fedora Core 4. Never ever had a problem.
- midtown, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1As I responded on the blog, this is great for all us alpha/beta testers who might have a crufty install, with some things compiled from source with patches, and otherwise messy setups from toying around / debugging.
- Scira, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1totally
- Megatog615, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1If you don't want to upgrade every six months or so I would recommend switching to something like Debian Sid which is a rolling release.
- eg4445, on 11/13/2008, -0/+1When you install Ubuntu, it will ask you for user accounts you would like to import from windows operating systems and it will import all your documents, if thats what you mean.
- DrDabbles, on 11/16/2008, -0/+1I believe the Ubuntu installer suggests doing this if you ask it to partition your disk for you. If it doesn't, you can obviously choose to do it yourself by creating a partition, and selecting its mount point "/home" from the provided drop-down list.
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