Anybody Ubuntu?

[bananahamuck]

So after giving up on my 2003 built machine to ever be able to keep up with the modern internet,,i just got a couple upgrade desktops and i loaded W 8.1 on one ( about a month and a half ago)  and i really dislike the layout,, as it seems it is more for a hand held device than PC ,,ei, the calculator that is in seperate window ( WTF) ,, and how you access files and such. I understand coming off of XP it will be a learning curve but the features you seem to have to use make using it harder than it should be.  

 

Sooo what i'm asking is has anyone loaded Ubuntu on their desktop and what was your experiance ,, smooth? Glitchy? Hard to repair if it boinks??

Is the ethernet drivers and such built in ?

Could i start the machine up from no OS or should i load 8.1 then load Ubuntu? As the surplus ones have no OS on them when you buy.

 

My new machines are state surplus ,, so the specs are going to be.

HP

intel core 2 duo  2.33GHZ

ram,  2.00 gb

64 bit

[DanielC]

I am running Ubuntu, on my desktop.  I like it.  I started using it with a free (sweat equity) machine I got from FreeGeek in Portland.

[Draker]

It works well. However, if things don't work as expected and you are not familiar with Linux, you will struggle.

 

If you want to try it.. download the live CD. Toss it in and run it. It won't make changes to your desktop and you can demo the OS within a few minutes.

[Draker]

Hard to repair if it boinks?? It's much different than windows. Hard is a relative term, I would say for someone that's never used it. Yes, it will be tough. 

Is the ethernet drivers and such built in ? Yes, hardware compatibility is great.

Could i start the machine up from no OS or should i load 8.1 then load Ubuntu? No OS. Download live CD and try it.

 

Hardware specs are fine.

[bananahamuck]

 

Hard to repair if it boinks?? It's much different than windows. Hard is a relative term, I would say for someone that's never used it. Yes, it will be tough. 

Is the ethernet drivers and such built in ? Yes, hardware compatibility is great.

Could i start the machine up from no OS or should i load 8.1 then load Ubuntu? No OS. Download live CD and try it.

 

Hardware specs are fine.

 

 

 

 

I looked for Live CD and couldn't find it.. So are you saying no to windows 8.1 first or load Ubuntu straight into hardware? I have the OS loaded onto a CD and Zip drive for safety sake.

 

  I would be putting it on a extra PC for now so i thought it would be better to go all in rather than poke in just the tip ,, so to speak... It's not that i'm not willing to struggle a while,, i am just tired of buying "updated" windows that other than faster start-up is dumbed down to the point of being actually harder to use ( navigate around inside of )  on the desktop,, if that makes sense.

 

 

 

Thanks for the pointers man

[bananahamuck]

I am running Ubuntu, on my desktop.  I like it.  I started using it with a free (sweat equity) machine I got from FreeGeek in Portland.

 

 

Yes that is what i'm asking ,, day to day,, do you like it type advise..  I have read quite a few of your posts on here and i can tell you are very low buget,, but still working in the best way possible type of thinker.

[DanielC]

Ubuntu pretty much runs trouble free.  Having said that, I do not game on my computer.  If I have enough time to game, I should be working on a Datsun, or something else.

 

I am running 12.04.  Use Comcast for internet hook up. but I have retained my actual e-mail address from when I started with Spiritone.com, using a dial up internal modem.  That was when I was running windows.

 

My version of Ubuntu uses LibreOffice, the prior version of Ubuntu I ran used OpenOffice.  I like the fact that the versions of Ubuntu Office would open the latest version of whatever Microsoft was doing, without having to buy a new software package every time MS decided to upgrade.

 

As far as the cable modem hookup, I just plugged the Ethernet cable into the computer, and the computer recognized the modem, no assigning names, entering any numbers, or any other messing around.  It just works. 

 

Every so often, I get an icon that pops up, telling me I need to upgrade some software.  I click it, tell it to install the programs, and it does that.

 

When I did make the switch from Windows, to Ubuntu, I kept both machines running for a while.  An Ubuntu machine will read files made on a Windows machine just fine, I used floppys for a few files, then soon I switched to a USB thumb drive.   You may lose or change some formatting on documents, or spreadsheets, but most of that has been minor things,  An Ubuntu machine will ask if you want to change documents to its native file type, or you can also leave files as Windows files.  An Ubuntu will generate PDF files, but you need additional software from Adobe to edit PDF files that already exists.

 

I was running Firefox for a browser on the Windows machine, and just kept running firefox on the Ubuntu machines.

 

You tube videos run just fine.  Music plays on the computer just fine.   I did have an Ipod, but I had to load songs on to it, with a laptop, that was running windows, but the loaded Ipod would play on the Ubuntu machine.   I later lost the Ipod, and chose not to replace it.  To me the Ipod was kind of high maintenance.   

 

I do not have to deal with virus protection software.  It takes my computer about 45 seconds, to a minute to tun on.  I have my computer on a power strip, and completely shut it off, at night, or when I am away for longer periods of time.

 

That is about all I can offer, I am not a computer geek, but all in all, Ubuntu works pretty good for me, without a lot of hassles,

 

Ubuntu runs on old machines just fine, sorry, Intel.

[Komeuppance]

Windows 8 is for kids these days.

 

Use Windows 7 or XP, I run many machines with either, almost never a problem besides viruses/spam/adware, though those are easily countered.

 

-Robert

[Draker]

Just burn the CD, toss it in, and there should be a try option. I believe it will just boot right into the OS that is running from the CD/DVD. You can fiddle with it for a while.. see what is working and what is not working. If you like it there is a icon on the desktop that will install it to the drive. Install is very simple.

 

You do no need to install windows on the machine prior to installing Ubuntu. It will nuke anything on the drive and take care of prepping the drive for installation, then install. 

 

Ubuntu makes it simple.

[pwrcat4000]

I am a fan of Linux lite os personally it is ubuntu based and it will run on an old P4 with 512 of ram perfectly.  I also like Linux mint MATE its prudy IMHO if you are coming from XP you will like the way it feels. (I am not a fan of Unity the default Ubuntu DE) I understand it look pretty but at the cost of performance no thanks you can still boot to Gnome from the log in screen though. Xubuntu and Lubuntu are also lighter choices.  The greatest thing about canonical and Ubuntu is the  forum support much like fixing an old datsun it is good to have a community for help and there are alot of people on their forum so it is pretty easy to get help.

Like Draker said just burn a live cd and try it out. keep in mind the performace will be alittle better on the hard drive mainly you want to test how the hardware is working.  Even if you do install it (you can form the Live CD) you can choose to keep your other OS'es that are on the drive.

cheers

Bill Graves

Mr Bills Computer service

1971 521

[Draker]

+1 for Mint.

[Laecaon]

There are ways to turn off windows 8 theme almost entirely... And windows 8 has 2 calculators... you are using the metro one, the annoying one/one that is suited for touch screen devices.

 

I like Windows 8 on my tablet. I dont like it on Desktops.

[millican]

What's interesting is that both Windows 8 and Ubuntu are developed with a common goal: to create a similar experience whether you are on your phone or on a desktop. The downside is that this is done by making the desktop more like a hand-held device. There are alternative desktop environments for Ubuntu if you don't like the default. It's very customizable - like old Datsuns.

The link in my signature is Debian (net-install minimal) running on an old Via C3 board in my shop. :-)

[Draker]

Update?

[bananahamuck]

The new computer wouldn't read the set up disk or zip drive we loaded. i think some of it has to do with the fact we are unfamiliar with windows 8 and the cd on the old XP machine hasn't worked correctly for years...  i had to run to teh coast to return some luggage we borrowed for my sons trip to D.C. a few weeks ago,,  because my niece is headed to Columbia University in a few weeks... And it was to beeeeuuutiful not to work on cars yesterday........ Soooo we gave up for right now ,, My son loaded 8.1 on the machine to make positive it wasn't something inside PC that was problem , ( as they are state surplus you never know for sure) , and i will probably try downloading it right onto machine tomorrow as my wife wont need our main ethernet cord for her Facebooking.

 

:)

 

To be continued.

[bananahamuck]

We aren't completely inept at computers but we went from XP to 8.1 and the windows that have to be opened when you think your doing something routine is weird..

 

Words,, i want words,,,, i ,,, need,,,  words ,, and all i get is icons,,,,,,,, endless pages of icons.

[Fat510]

The new computer wouldn't read the set up disk or zip drive we loaded. i think some of it has to do with the fact we are unfamiliar with windows 8 and the cd on the old XP machine hasn't worked correctly for years...  i had to run to teh coast to return some luggage we borrowed for my sons trip to D.C. a few weeks ago,,  because my niece is headed to Columbia University in a few weeks... And it was to beeeeuuutiful not to work on cars yesterday........ Soooo we gave up for right now ,, My son loaded 8.1 on the machine to make positive it wasn't something inside PC that was problem , ( as they are state surplus you never know for sure) , and i will probably try downloading it right onto machine tomorrow as my wife wont need our main ethernet cord for her Facebooking.

 

:)

 

To be continued.

 

 

Computer wouldn't recognize it from zip drive or from a cd burned DVD type and rewritable type...I'm confused

 

Windows 8.1 loaded fine 

[Laecaon]

There are certain CD-RW and DVD-RW that I have never had luck running in any computers, specifically maxell brand. Also, havent seen it in awhile, sometimes flash drives dont mount correctly, and you need to go into computer management under administrative tools in order to assign a drive letter.

[pwrcat4000]

I hate to bring this up on the ratsum forums but If you could not boot to what ever CD, jump. I wonder if you made the common mistake of just copying the image file to the media.

The *.iso file is the software and the instructions on how to assemble it.

If you just copied it to media it will not boot. It has to assembled to tell the computer how to handle the media.

it would be like buying all the parts to a motor and then punting all the parts and the box they came in under the hood and expecting it to work.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/create-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-flash-drive-the-easy-way/

[Draker]

I hate to bring this up on the ratsum forums but If you could not boot to what ever CD, jump. I wonder if you made the common mistake of just copying the image file to the media.

The *.iso file is the software and the instructions on how to assemble it.

If you just copied it to media it will not boot. It has to assembled to tell the computer how to handle the media.

it would be like buying all the parts to a motor and then punting all the parts and the box they came in under the hood and expecting it to work.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/create-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-flash-drive-the-easy-way/

 

This could be the issue.