Linux Information/Help

[Flashlight Aficionado]

I am interested in using Linux, but know practically nothing.

I know it can be customized and I am a tinkerer until I get the system the way I like it. There are also a thousand versions to choose from before customizing.

I want to run MS software, like Word, Excel autoCAD and a few others. I use Firefox, and Internet Explorer (My E-Mail doesn't like Firefox, otherwise I wouldn't care about IE)

It is supposed to be more stable (assuming my tinkering doesn't get too crazy)

It is supposed to be more secure.

I just don't know where to start. How do I choose the best version for me? Where do I go? What do I need to know?

Sorry if my questions are confusing, but that's because I am confused.

 

[Helstar]

I would say Ubuntu or Mint if you want to run Debian. If not just grab a copy of SUSE. As far as the office products. just drop MS and grab open office it is free and it is great. Firefox is standard along with a few Linux only browsers.
You can use "wine" if you really need the office suite, it should work ok. Or you can run a windows box virtually. What email do you use that does not like firefox?

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Ubuntu is currently one of the most active distros and is good for a beginner. Distrowatch.org has tons of different options and brief descriptions of most of the distros. There are a lot of distros which offer live versions. Meaning you can try it out without installing or making any changes to your computer... except for maybe your boot order in BIOS.

 

[choombak]

Firstly, welcome to the land of Linux, and I am sure your journey will be more intellectually satisfying and rewarding here. Since you are beginning Linux, I will highly recommend Ubuntu Linux (http://www.ubuntu.com/). Grab the desktop edition, and check its "live-CD" feature -- boot through the Ubuntu CD, and run it from your memory, which will not touch your hard disk drive (HDD), but will still show you a complete OS.

Linux, sharing a lot many similarities with traditional UNIX OSes', had a steep learning curve -- the command line interface, odd-looking UIs' (for those who are accustomed to Windows). This was the biggest "barrier to entry" for almost all non-techie users. Ubuntu tries to remedy this problem, and so far I would say it has made an impressive progress.

I'd recommend trying the live-CD feature, followed by an install of the OS. Note that Ubuntu does detect Windows running on the same machine, and can help you make it dual-boot box. This is probably the best way to start, till you are ready for a full cutover to the Linux world.

Ubuntu bundles all applications that a typical Windows user needs -- firefox browser enabled for flash, Evolution mail client, which looks and feels similar to outlook and talk with exchange servers, OpenOffice, the suite of applications that allows you to read and edit Microsoft Office file (word, ppts, excel). Everything nicely fits in a single CD. The latest version of Ubuntu has been released about two weeks ago, and is phenomenally good.

If you land into any installation/configuration or usage trouble, drop me a pm and we can work it out over mails. Once again, welcome to the Linux world, and I am sure you will never look back.

-Amarendra

 

[bobisculous]

Welcome to Linux indeed.

I have run a few different distributions in past years. Hated Linux each time and went back to Windows. Then 2-3 years ago I tried Ubuntu. Haven't booted the computer back into Windows since.

It may have been the advances in Linux in the time I went back to Windows, but everything worked for me that second round. I am still running Ubuntu (just upgraded released as they came out), but wouldn't mind trying another distribution sometime.
I love the command line. So many simple programs that you can use from it without loading a huge program.

I have had so much help from the Ubuntu Forums. They will help you no matter what the question is. But remember, SO much is on the internet already. I promise you are not the first to have "whatever" problem you may run into. Google it and take the time to read some results. You will find the answer there, almost guaranteed.

As far as stability goes. Heck yeah. I had my desktop computer on for 180 days and a few hours, running Ubuntu. Six months of Literally NO restarts, NO shutdowns. Nothing. I had to skip on some updates and releases, but I wanted to see just how far I could go. And I went that far. It was outstanding.

If you don't want to mess with burning CDs, you can get the Window/Linux program "Unetbootin" that will load the downloaded distribution onto a USB drive and make it bootable. Try a bunch if you'd like, without burning a single CD. You will want a 1GB+ USB drive for this.

As far as running the Microsoft Office Suite, I have never done so. OpenOffice gets most of what I need done. And if it doesn't, I sign into a remote desktop computer I have access to do whatever it is in Microsoft Office. IE? [shivvers]. Try Google Chrome? Does your email work there? If so, that's what I use in Linux and runs fairly well.

More questions? Ask away.

 

[Flashlight Aficionado]

First, thanks for all the help and encouragement. There are some Windows programs I must have. I won't know everything until I switch and think, where is that... Another program that comes to mind is Adobe Illustrator.

Helstar - Huh? In my first post I said everything I know or think I know about Linux. Everything except for Ubuntu I never even heard of or know what they mean. I am not exactly sure what Ubuntu is.

PhantomPhoton - I will check out Distrowatch.org. I assume that distro is a term meaning different versions of Linux?

choombak - I will try out the temporary Ubuntu.

I guess my main question (besides where to start and how) is can I get Linux to run those Windows compatible programs or must I switch back and forth between Linux and Windows, which I really don't want to do. I rather not have Windows on there at all.

 

[jamie.91]

i know its a pain but i have a seperate hard drive and i just slide the side off my PC and switch the HDD.

i also have ubuntu and know absoloubtly NOTHING so i am intrested to see this thread develop!

jamie

 

[Th232]

I guess my main question (besides where to start and how) is can I get Linux to run those Windows compatible programs or must I switch back and forth between Linux and Windows, which I really don't want to do. I rather not have Windows on there at all.

There's an application called Wine that emulates Windows on Linux and other OSs, it allows you to run quite a few programs, but expect there to be some quirks or some programs not working at all. Think they've got a database somewhere with what works and how well.

 

[greenLED]

Check out the Free Services Thread; there's a few fellow CPFers who could advise you on the technical minutiae of Linux.

 

[matrixshaman]

Linux is open source - which is to say anyone can add to it, modify it to make their own version etc. Ubuntu is just one of hundreds if not thousands of Linux versions. Linux does NOT support directly running any program coded for Windows XP, Windows Vista etc. But there are many nearly identical free programs written for Linux that do the same thing as the original Windows programs. As some have mentioned there are emulators and virtual machines that run under Linux which CAN run some programs coded directly for Windows. But don't expect things to run fast (and not always correctly) if you use the emulator/VM's. You are better off to switch to programs coded FOR Linux. Documents and such can generally be converted over for use with Linux programs. One of my favorites is Puppy Linux for a number of reasons including it's small size and the fact that it can be set up to boot and run on of a fairly small USB Flash drive.

 

[Benson]

But he mentioned autocad, and alas, there's really no good autocad clone for Linux. One member of the intellicad consortium (Bricscad, iirc) did release a WINEified version specifically for Linux, but it was somewhat broken, and so almost nobody bought it. As a result, it seems they don't really care about porting more recent versions -- for the last five years or so, they've been continually throwing out expected dates for a Linux port of their current version, and it's not shown up yet. Latest word, I believe, is that they hope for a beta release by the end of the year, and a final release 2010Q1.

Another option is linuxcad, an independently developed autocad clone. I tried this around 2001, IIRC, and it promised near-complete autocad 10 compatibility. It was very, very far short of its promises. It's apparently been upgraded since then, and the insane pricing structure reformed, so it might be a perfectly decent option by now. But given the dishonesty in advertising initially (not to mention use of spam), I've never cared to give it another try.

YMMV, of course, but my tendency (if I still did any significant AutoCAD work, and if I wasn't keeping a Windows machine around for MathCAD anyway) would be to try running R12 or so (which really has all the features I need) under virtualization, and hope Brics can get a release out eventually.

 

[HarryN]

Hi - hope you don't mind another linux question.

A few years ago I installed and played with a copy of Suse Linux (prior to the buyout). It seemed to work fine, but I was sort of stuck with some windows aps, so I went back.

To deal with my desire to move toward Linux again in the future, I have been trying to work my way toward Linux supported hardward and aps, such as Opera as my email client. (available in multiple OS versions)

Now for the question:
- Suse seemed pretty strong 5 or so years ago
- The Ubuntu just came on strong

Why? or perhaps more clearly - is it really that much better?

Thanks

 

[Lit Up]

To the original poster, if you have an old PC/laptop around, try installing on that and playing around or you could do a dual boot like suggested. A live CD will give you a sense on how everything is laid out, but you'll want an actual installation for trying out programs and what not.

As far as software companies being reluctant towards Linux, it has a lot to do with the packaging systems. On Windows, it's a straight forward .exe to get things going. On Linux, you have deb package based distros, RPM-based distros, tarball types of files and probably some variations of all three. Linux is free and open, which is great. The problem lies with developers thinking a package system just holds that much more individuality (which it doesn't) and exercises it excessively.
it's just a huge hinderance to gaining a broader acceptance for people looking to make a switch from Windows. And most software compnaies are not going to make sure that 70 dollar software program runs on 56 different distros that may have been just tweaked enough that it won't run said app without problems.

I would also recommend Unbuntu as the distro of choice for getting your feet wet. Just remember you'll have to enable the "multiverse" repository (A repository is an online-based server that hosts Linux software that you can download and use) to get things going like certain codecs and what not. Websites like Adobe flash and Opera browser offer deb (meaning: debian - which is what Unbuntu is based off of.) package files and it's relatively painless to use them, just choose to open in package manager and it will handle the install. A pop-up will give you that option. deb package files on Ubuntu closely mimic windows .exe files as far as installation.

You can certainly also sit around and open up a terminal (It's like the "Run" command box in Windows) and type things like: "sudo apt-get install blah blah," but I have better things to do with my time, so I prefer a few clicks of a graphical interface, myself.

Ubuntu offers you both advantages.

 

[balou]

To deal with my desire to move toward Linux again in the future, I have been trying to work my way toward Linux supported hardward and aps, such as Opera as my email client. (available in multiple OS versions)

Now for the question:
- Suse seemed pretty strong 5 or so years ago
- The Ubuntu just came on strong
Why? or perhaps more clearly - is it really that much better?

I could ramble about the underlying technical and philosophical differences of the the two - but I don't think that it would help you in any significant way.
So lets make it short: Community.
There are Ubuntu forums, chats, and a community site where you can get help fast. And the devs listen to what the users want. This makes it, as far as I can see, the distro with the best support for new hardware and the most consistent user interface.

P.S.: I myself use Debian GNU/Linux, which is the foundation for Ubuntu. No fancy GUIs for me please.. but now I'm rambling

 

[Fallingwater]

I tried Ubuntu, and I certainly recommend it for those who want it as easy as possible. However, do take note that Debian is generally more efficient. Flash videos, in particular, run much better in Debian - though I guess if you have recent hardware the inefficiency is eaten up by the sheer power of your computer. In applications where CPU power is a limit (like netbooks), however, I've found Debian runs everything with significantly more speed.
After trying a specific version of Ubuntu on my EeePC 1005HA I was even thinking of *gasp* going back to windows, then on a whim installed Debian and haven't looked back.

 

[tiktok 22]

Typing this on an Ubuntu machine right now......so far, 9.04 has run without a problem one. I still keep a windows machine for most use but have been using Ubuntu more and more.

 

[HarryN]

After reading this info here, I started looking around a little more. Wikipedia.org has a good starter explanation for linux for the interested. I was caught off guard by the number of variations - not that I understand them at all, but it was an interesting read.

 

[fisk-king]

ubuntu:twothumbs. Ran it for 2 years on a crappy Dell and had no problems. Once you get over the initial switch from Winblows to Linux its quite a breeze. As someone stated earlier, Ubuntuforums is a great asset to its community. One of these days I plan to purchase a System76 laptop if I ever get the money (damn flashlights:devil