| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/8/2006 7:41:21 PM | As a computer novice and one who runs and really enjoys the new distro for the "non geeky" crowd, I'd like to get some other users perspectives.
Having started with a WebTv settop box and used it for 5 yrs before getting my 1st PC which used Windows 2000, then quickly steppin up to XP, I ran it for about a year before opting to Linspire & now onto running Ubuntu/Edubuntu 6.06.
For the $$ it's a steal, except it's really hard to steal anything that's free :>) I like the simple functionality, versatilty, security and speed of this OS and find it very easy to get around in and play with.
What I'd like to know is who else out there is runnin it and hear about others experiences with it too.
So ......... is anybody out there ??
Kim | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/8/2006 7:55:53 PM | I haven't tried Mandrake, but I've heard a lot about it.
My earlier Linspire OS was pretty much like a bad joke! Without the help of a good friend I've have canned it and reloaded my old XP, but he sorted out the bugs and fixed all the broke $hit till it worked pretty well. I still never was able to get it to run XMMS and play videos at the same time without lockin up which sucked HARD !
After installin Ubuntu (a simple 30-40 minute install BTW) it took about 30 minutes worth of finding/fixin a few bugs here and there and it was off to the races baby ! It took about a weeks worth of tweakin it here and there to get everything set to my own preferences, which was pretty easy all in all and ever since all I do is enjoy it :>)
Kim | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/8/2006 9:23:08 PM | mandrake, you install, install ati drivers your done...usable after that
I started by installing redhat over the internet via a 33.6 modem on my new smokin hot 486dx4 100 '''''lol (totally textbased - horrible) no kde/ no gnome just xwindows (shiver). ran a dual boot using system commander linux and dos/WFWG (windows 3.1 for work groups.) next tried slackware had a graphical interface kde i think...never got it to run thoug had a none mainstream video card. back to redhat, mandrake, suse, corel, beOS (not linux but). the latest mandrake is so windows like...simple to use. until you get to playing in text of course.
it installs about 15-20 minites.. mind you i have a pretty quick unit...i mean not my unit, the computer (just incase any ladies are reading this... )  | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 6 | |
| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 2:38:09 AM | I tried kubuntu for a month or so and it was pretty nice. Unfortunately, I'd upgraded the hardware at the same time and the PSU was pretty flakey, causing all sorts of weird issues. I went back to Debian to eliminate that variable and a week later found it was the hardware. I think it's very nice for the new user. For an ole' skool, it takes a bit to remove some of the safety checks (sudo'ing is the one I remember), but it was fine after that.
I have an ubunutu server install that's been running for about 4-5 months. | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 6:17:00 AM | Just thought I'd add my 2 pence worth...
I run Ubuntu on my personal machine, and like it. I'm not new to Linux, as I've been using various flavours of *nix for about 8 years now, and find (just like with any other flavor) that if you're an 'advanced' user you can customise to your hearts content. One thing I'd recommend running though on a fresh install is EasyUbuntu (http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/).
As for removing sudo, IMHO you'd be nuts to do it - it's there for a reason, and if you find it's getting in your way to much, you probably need to look at how you're working. Any system is, after all, only as secure as you make it.
:-)) | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 8 | |
| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 7:23:59 AM | As for removing sudo, IMHO you'd be nuts to do it - it's there for a reason, and if you find it's getting in your way to much, you probably need to look at how you're working. Any system is, after all, only as secure as you make it.
It depends on the application. Yeah, it's nice if you have inexperienced users that need root access. But if you're working with trusted and well seasoned admins it can be counter-productive. | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 10:18:17 AM | the state of linux.
well i think it's come a long way from when i started playing with it. supports a ton more hardware, there is a usable gui now, some distros you can kiss compiling goodbye and just run it. it's user freindliness has increase about 80 percent. the only bad thing is that you can get anti-virus programs now, i remember when you really didn't need to worry too much about them in linux.
imo anyway the penguin is alive and ready to kick some M asS | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 11 | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 12 | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 9:43:53 PM |
Are you sure you're not referring to anti-virus like clamav that's designed to protect MS users when a linux mail server is in the chain?
Nope i mean ...F-Prot Antivirus for Linux Workstations , Panda Antivirus for Linux, vexira linux anti-virus, Sophos, Kaspersky® Anti-Virus for Linux File Server and Workstation and the list goes on. Unfortunatly. | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 11:11:34 PM | I did a search for compatibility with my current hardware. There are 3 computers running various flavors of Windows on a wireless network in 2 apartments.
We have D-Link gear for the wireless, and the only iteration of Linux I have seen that handles wireless seems to be Suse 10.
Any comments?
I would like to go Linux for the many obvious reasons.
My system is a 1 gig processor, with half a gig of 133 ram on board. | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/9/2006 11:58:42 PM | | i had wireless running on my mandrake. think it was a dlink or linksys one. drivers are hard to find but mandrake askes for my windows driver disk and after that it worked. I use a ethernet bridge instead of a wireless NIC (network interface card) now, thta way my system doesn't know about wireless. an ethernet bridge is a small device that bridges (converts) the wireless signal to regular cabled networking. but i'd try mandrake, find the iso for i586 i know i had my wireless nic runnin on that. | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 16 | |
| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/10/2006 6:09:03 AM |
Nope i mean ...F-Prot Antivirus for Linux Workstations , Panda Antivirus for Linux, vexira linux anti-virus, Sophos, Kaspersky® Anti-Virus for Linux File Server and Workstation and the list goes on. Unfortunatly.
Here are the file types that F-Prot Antivirus for Linux Workstations scans:
"The target files of the antivirus are Word documents, Java Applets, ActiveX controls and compressed files (ZIP, RAR, etc.). At the moment, it does not scan the boot sector or the partitions table."
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/linux/linux.asp
I'm not a security expert, but I do keep a presence near the security community and I haven't heard of any recent changes on this front. I'm almost positive the ones you mention are scanning for Windows viruses.
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 17 | |
| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/10/2006 6:15:09 AM | freelancemark, I bought an oronoco silver card in 2001 and used it until August when I sold my last linux laptop (I use an iBook now). The config was just a one-liner.
I moved a year later and they were able to get DSL on the other side of the street, but not on my side yet. So I made a deal with the internet cafe across the street and set up a wireless router there, configured the laptop above to be a router and propped it up at a 45 and pointed it at the cafe. Worked pretty well.
Any flavor of linux should be fine with wireless. I can't remember which distro I was running at the time. Probably was RH - pre-Fedora. Later it was Debian. The important thing is the card; some have more support from the manufacturers. I'd concentrate the search on the different cards. | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 20 | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/10/2006 10:06:38 PM | Oh my God! Good thing this site is not very popular among the geeks! You have invited the flamethrowers over and doused yourself in gasoline by asking this question! :-)
You can't ask a question about an Open Source operating system without been politically correct nowdays and include all varieties and versions.
Anyway, I've been using Fedora Core (Red Hat 9 -> Fedora Core 2 -> Fedora Core 4) for 4 years now and more or less I have been happy. It hasn't been an easy ride, especially when my laptop was a brand new model but I went through the lift-off period of this distro with all the bumps associated with it. Nowdays it has stabilized and solidified.
Ubuntu and Fedora Core are the two major distributions out there. If you are really willing to learn as you go and claim your PC experience back from pesky Windows (Windblows) you should consider the change. You will have a fast, virus free, stable environment with a ton of tools around that once you learn the basics Windblows will feel like a straightjacket to you...
...not to mention that you won't pay a penny ever for it... | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/10/2006 10:34:26 PM | Ah hell, livin in a flame suit ain't no biggee .... once you get used to it 
I was really fortunate in havin a software engineer buddy of mine to get me started in Linux with Linspire & it was a steep learnin curve but, I think anyone startin out in Linux as opposed to Windows will of necessity learn more :>)
This same friend brought me a shiny new copy of Ubuntu Dapper Drake for my 50th birthday last summer. After we had it loaded and I started exploring in it I told him it was a far better OS than I (a major non-geek) had any right to be runnin !
I've been playin back and forth with some of the different desktop environments available in Ubuntu this weekend and have found all kindsa variances between Gnome, Fluxbox, Enlightenment and Kde in what can be done, how to get it done, etc. Interesting fun, though for me, Gnome suits me best I think 
Linux isn't posed to topple Microslush, not even close, but with more (worldwide) govt. agencies demanding open source programming, the worm is at least "kinda" turning. | |
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nause
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Joined: 11/13/2006
Msg: 23 | |
| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/11/2006 6:09:43 AM |
You will have a fast, virus free,
Thaaat's the phrase I was trying to avoid. There have, evidently, been 40 or so viruses over the past ten years. There has been one proof of concept virus that I've been told about in the past 2 years, but never made it into the wild. The latest number I saw on Windows viruses was 60,000, probably in it's lifetime.
I remember someone's sig a few years ago that said something like:
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I am the honor-system virus, please do the following in your command line:
su -;
echo "rm -rf /" > goodbye.sh;
chmod 700 goodbye.sh;
cat ./goodbye.sh | /bin/sh;
===========
Cracked me up.... | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/11/2006 7:26:22 AM | I hear ya. When ever the lack of virii in Linux is mentioned it REALLY gets the blood rushin in Windows users. The difference in system speeds between Linux and Windows OSes is certainly effected by the amount of "safety software" Windows users are required to run when comparing equally matched systems.
One thing I've always challenged my staunch Windows supporter friends to do is : Open their 'puter, turn OFF all the anti-virus, anti-spyware, adware and spamware software and then take a simple 30 minute trip around the net. Then restart, turn all the "safety software" back on and start scans with each of 'em to see what they've picked up in that short trip around the web. Never had one of 'em take me up on it yet 
Kim | |
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| Linux Ubuntu/Edubuntu/Kubuntu, users thoughts on the Penguins progress :>)
Posted: 12/11/2006 7:51:06 PM | I'm not against Linux in the mainstream, I just think there are some major hurdles to jump (hardware support, drivers, and marketing) before mom and dad are running any flavor of Linux without "safety software".
Just for a minute, let us pretend that MS goes tit$ up....ahhhhhhh...anyway, and UburSlackenHat Linux is born, explodes on to the market, and is so easy that mom and dad are using it. Now, how long will it take before the number of viruses reach 60K? How about 30K? Or 10K?
Everyone has a price and programmers are no exception. | |
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