Linux Ubuntu 9.1

[Iamtweek]

This is not only my first post here, but my first acknowledgement that this forum exists. So first, I'd like to say hello to everyone.

I'm an avid computer user/dork. I take a computer Networking/Technology course in Poughkeepsie NY. I wanted to post about Ubuntu 9.1 and wanted to get feedback as to who has used it and your thoughts on it. I used Linux about a year or so ago and didn't like it, but now I tried it again and it's amazing. Got my printer to work immediately, got the cube to work, everything worked without a problem.

 

[mikee]

Its kind of annoying I ended up messing up the software index trying to follow directions on how to install firefox 3.6. Now I cannot install anything in ubuntu without getting a software index corrupt message. Posting in the forums from ubuntu will not let me have spaces between my words it leaves a * instead of a space. It looks normal when I type it but all the spaces get replaced with *. basically I installed it on my laptop 3 days ago and today my ubuntu is as useless as a brick.

I tried posting about all my issues at the ubuntu forums but my threads go un answered and get burried.

Put simply, I have had a worse experience with ubuntu than I had with Windows ME

 

[foothead]

You really have to know how to use it for it to be good. Despite what Canonical says, it is NOT user-friendly. You will have to bust into the command line to install most programs, for example.

Once you learn it, its a great OS though. Extremely customizable, and does pretty much everything I need with open source applications.

I prefer a straight-up Debian installation over ubuntu. ubuntu is buggy lately, and has cut out too much to make the OS fit on a CD.

 

[berry120]

I assume you mean 9.10, not 9.1?

It's getting there on the user friendliness front gradually, and has been over the last few years. It's at the point now where for most users it's as easy to install and use as windows - sometimes even easier.

However, as pointed out above this doesn't mean it's hit the mainstream and everyone can expect to use it without any fuss, far from it. Things may go wrong less often, but they still do - and in this instance you need to know the ins and outs of Linux (or a community that does) to have a hope of solving the issue!

Still - it's worth remembering how far we've come. 5 years ago the best option I had was Gentoo, where I had to compile everything from scratch with the appropriate flags and install the bits of it manually from the command line. These days I wouldn't even consider that unless I was building something very customised and specialised.

 

[mikee]

I admit it is a decent os but so many things have the potential to go wrong if you do not install something correctly. The last version I used before 9.10 is 7.10 and it has come very far from that point.
If you want to try it for your self without any risks try installing it with wubi.

What that does is sets up a dualboot but it can be completely uninstalled from within windows through add remove programs.

The best way to really find out of ubuntu is for you is to try it.

 

[Szat]

Isn't 9.10 the same as 9.1

 

[foothead]

^ No. The 9 specifies the year (2009) the 10 is the month of release (october)

Big difference because there is also a 9.04

Aaaah I remember Gentoo.... Took like a week to actually install to the Hard drive too....

I used Debian 2 on my digital picture frame project because it only has 32MB of RAM... BIG mistake. I can't even figure out a way to make wireless work on the old OS... it has no networking since its an ancient laptop that was stripped before I got it...

I still havent found a good OS for it. I want it to run a newer version of Debian (or ubuntu idc rly) but I don't have enough RAM, nor does it support enough RAM.

 

[berry120]

I used Debian 2 on my digital picture frame project because it only has 32MB of RAM... BIG mistake. I can't even figure out a way to make wireless work on the old OS... it has no networking since its an ancient laptop that was stripped before I got it...

Try starting with DSL, and hack it around to get the drivers in you need. From memory it'll run in as little as 8MB.

 

[foothead]

DSL doesnt have any of the features I need.

I would rather use an old version of Debian.

If I were to hack what I needed into it, well, I might as well just compile my own installation.

 

[berry120]

If that's the case, then why not work with LFS with the old 2.4 kernel? You should be able to put something pretty minimal together with that.