I’m writing this because I installed Ubuntu Linux yesterday for Pekun at Interswitch.

I am a user of Ubuntu, a well-liked Linux operating system distribution that is rapidly expanding in number. Ubuntu, which bills itself as “Linux for Humans,” falls between Fedora Core and Mandriva (previously Mandrake) in terms of usability. Distrowatch ranks Ubuntu as the best Linux distribution, and it was just awarded Best Distribution.

Obtaining Ubuntu

If you are online, your first task should be to visit www.ubuntu.com/download. On that website, go to the bottom and choose a download mirror. Install CD has three downloads available. Get the ISO file your system needs by downloading it. For those of you who own PCs, if you are unsure which one you need, it is most likely the one for x86 systems. Those who don’t worry me at all (haha). Once the ISO file has finished downloading, use your preferred burning program, like Nero, to burn it as an image on a CD.

However, if you have some time and a terrible link, you may purchase a CD from shipit.ubuntu.com, and they will give you free copies of the most recent version. Version 5.04 is what I’m using; 5.10 is out now, and 6.06 is scheduled for release in June.

Setting up

Upon receiving my CDs, I fully erased the Windows operating system from my laptop and installed Ubuntu (5.04, sometimes known as Hoary Hedgehog). The installation process is rapid; in only thirty minutes, I was using Ubuntu. There isn’t, however, a fully functional GUI installation as in Mandriva or Suse. The installation procedure is, however, largely automated. During the installation process, Ubuntu installs a number of apps by default that you are unable to add or remove. For people who want the bare minimum and have sluggish PCs, this might be problematic. However, after installing the operating system, all of that is modifiable. You can add or remove programs as you see fit. Aside from that, installing the system is rather simple. If you have any queries regarding it, you may email me.

After-installation remarks

Gnome, a window manager with two taskbars, is included with Ubuntu. The lower taskbar includes active windows, a display desktop, trash, and a virtual workspace switcher, while the top taskbar has menus and system tray icons. Consider Kubuntu, which has the KDE window manager, if you are more at ease with a Windows-style structure.
The desktop’s cleanliness is what you notice right away. It’s vacant, which is exactly how I want it! I’m used to seeing desktop icons for other Linux distributions cluttered with pointless shortcuts to “home” or links to the distribution’s webpage. With lovely icons and cursors, the user interface is straightforward and attractive. Ubuntu is a robust operating system that comes preconfigured with gAIM instant messaging, Mozilla Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and Gnome BitTorrent, among other applications. For general system chores, Ubuntu runs on my PC far faster than Windows. Ubuntu, like other Linux distributions, searches a great deal before it completes the boot process, which is why Windows starts much faster. When the system is online, it performs quicker than Windows. It doesn’t need to load any fancy visuals and has a lot less to load up. The file explorer, Nautilus, and the menus did not appear to be lagging. I’m still amazed at how well all of my hardware functions. I put in other USB devices just to be sure, and they were all working. This is a huge relief, as I recall the days of Windows when I had to quickly get to the Driver Guide in order to get a number of gadgets to function.

After Ubuntu installs, you should do a system update as soon as possible. The updating procedure is easy. The Update Manager, which you may access by selecting System>Administration>Update Manager, handles everything. It is typical for a window to appear and ask for the user password. It is easy to update; just choose the packages you want to use and click Install to apply them. In my situation, it keeps telling me that Ubuntu 5.10 is accessible, but when 6.06 is made available in two months, I’ll update. You can become the administrator by going to Applications>System Tools>Root Terminal if you require administrative privileges to do any tasks in the terminal.

If you would want to install more applications, you may download an amazing tool called Ubuntu Add-on. Once each has run, put the following in the terminal (root terminal):
cd Desktop/
unzip ubuntuaddon.zip
cd ubuntuaddon/
sh ubuntuaddon.sh 

Install each program by following the instructions. Keep in mind that everything is a decision. Just hit Enter to begin the installation process. To bypass, hit N and then ENTER.

Without an internet connection, Ubuntu Addon Zip installs the following apps on a selective basis: Java, gFTP, multimedia codecs, mplayer (installing mplayer installs xmms), dvdplayback, xine, realplayer 10, thunderbird, gnomebaker, firestarter, nvidia 3D driver, samba server, ssh server, Japanese and Chinese input.

Additional features: 1) universe and multiverse repositories may be added automatically 2) repositories for marillat 3) repositories for backports. Additionally, the Ubuntu CD-ROM is not necessary.

Installing basic apps in Ubuntu, or any other Linux distributions for that matter, usually involves this procedure. On the other hand, connections to apps are placed differently in other distributions with distinct window managers. To add a program to the right-click menu, for instance, you have to update a file in the Blackbox/Fluxbox window manager. If you have ever seen the standard procedure for installing apps on a more intricate Linux distribution, you will observe that a large number of items are built from source. While building the program from scratch takes use of your computer’s unique configuration to optimize performance, For the novice Linux user, it is frequently excessively complex or time-consuming. As a result, Ubuntu does not ship with a compiler like gcc. To get that feature at any point, you must type sudo apt-get install gcc into the terminal. After doing this, you can often extract the file to a folder (tar xjf for.tar.bz2 and tar xzf for.tar.gz) and use the following commands to install a program from source:

cd /path/to/folder
./configure
make
make install

Synaptic, the excellent package manager included with Ubuntu, allows you to search for and locate apps to install or uninstall from a list. Go to System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager to investigate. Packages may be readily sorted by category, installation state, or keyword. When you locate a package that you wish to include, click on it and choose Mark for Installation. Click the Apply button once you’ve chosen every program you want to install, uninstall, or update right now. That is how simple it is. Nevertheless, not all applications will be included in this list, and betas are often not included. In some situations, you’ll need to go download the installer from another location and execute a manual installation. This is the situation if you wish to use Firefox as soon as it is released and want the newest version. The repositories may need a day or two to obtain the most recent versions.

A Few Helpful Pointers

# Your friend is the Terminal. It will give you a back scratch. I recommend right-clicking on Terminal in Applications>Accessories>Terminal and choosing Add this launcher to panel to add a launcher to it on the taskbar.

# The majority of Ubuntu apps are kept under /usr/lib/, which is C:\Program Files’ counterpart.

# If your sound driver is not completely supported by ALSA, which happens very frequently, Linux can only handle one sound stream. A lot of gAIM sounds will often play for a while after you finish watching a movie and exit the movie player since the sound stream was stored for subsequent playing. The sound from Amarok will be audible if you are using it for internet radio streaming and then open a video in VLC afterwards.
# The killall [program] command can be used to cause a program to terminate if it ever locks up. Using top, you may see the running processes and end them if needed. You may end a process by typing k followed by its PID. Because of this, you may need to do killall -9 [cmd].

# You may use the man command before learning about any other commands. Man apt-get, for instance, will display the man pages. Hit Q to return to the terminal and leave the man pages.

With the apt-get command, system packages are managed. These are a handful to have on hand.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install [package name]
sudo apt-get remove [package name]

Use packages.ubuntu.com to search for packages to install.

# Printing the working directory (pwd) tells you what directory you are in; changing directories (cd); going back up (out) a directory (cd); listing the contents of a directory (ls); unzipping zip archives (unzip); tar (a useful decompression tool); executing certain files (*.sh files, for example); typing the name of other programs (firefox, for example).

# Here are a few additional crucial directives.

# If you must move between installations of Java, use

sudo update-alternatives –config java

My Last Observations

Linux enthusiasts vociferously rejoice at Linux’s growing prominence in the software industry. While Linux has come a long way toward being a common component of computers, it has done so much more in the Unix arena than it has in the Windows desktop environment. Still, it’s undeniable that many open-source software efforts these days are focused on the desktop—and Microsoft. These projects are designed, developed, and expanded to rival Microsoft’s desktop software. But, the majority of consumers believe that they are now losing the war.

Linux requires a stable installation system and a standardized platform in order to effectively compete. This way, consumers can make decisions regarding software based only on its merits, rather than having to worry about whether it will run on their preferred Linux flavor or graphical user interface.

To remove obstacles to widespread adoption, open source advocates should first work together to standardize the Linux/GUI combo as a single platform for application development aimed at typical people. This wouldn’t take away from or restrict options for more experienced Linux users. Open source initiatives and vendors would have complete autonomy over whether or not to support the standard. It is not impossible to have freedom of choice and a standard platform at the same time. Applications that adhere to the requirements would:

* be assured to function on the specified standard platform

* Provides an installation tool that sets up all changes to the target computer automatically and offers sensible and smart default settings.

* possess an uninstaller that eliminated the application without affecting any of the data generated by it.

* would work with other common applications, as appropriate

* would enable users to update their apps to the most recent stable release version either automatically or manually.

Any such organization ought to do thorough end-user testing right away and release the findings to the open source community. A project called Linux Standard Base (LSB) might be a suitable place to start because it expands and develops upon the Free Standards Group’s current proposal. Organizations can verify that their Linux application binaries are compliant with a certain binary standard by using the tests and documentation provided by the LSB.

GUI issues are not addressed by the LSB project, and maybe they shouldn’t be. Well, not every program needs a graphical user interface. However, those that do require a means of assuring consumers that the program will function on their computers. Ordinary people are unlikely to become very enthusiastic about Linux or open source until that point.

Credit: Allschoolabs, Nairaland