Allen D

[Ozwynn]

gotcha, I'll try tomarrow ........ after dis infecting Teffie's computer ...... I swear it has cyber aids.......

 

[rboyer]

alright, but i want to buy a copy, i am not going to trust a down loaded copy....... so what distro do you recomend where I can go to (insert lame big box store here) and buy a packaged copy that had might would have tech support?

You should have no fear at all in downloading a linux distro. If you're thinking that you're going to get a "hacked" copy then don't worry because i'm pretty sure that no such thing exists. Alot of people are running Ubuntu these days and i've heard alot of good things about it. As soon as I get a bigger hard drive for my laptop I actually planned on ditching Fedora and trying out Ubuntu. If you do a dual boot then you will still have support for windows applications by just rebooting the computer and when your windows OS gets all messed up and filled with viruses, spyware, etc. you can just boot to linux where most if not all spyware has no effect.

 

[Ozwynn]

after I install it, windows will never see the light of the internet again except to get updates for my GPS, its the only thing that needs to be updated.

 

[CJREX]

BDAB, is your notebook a Compaq or HP?

Ubuntu doesn't like many of those computers because of their proprietary video.

It will run from the Live CD because it's using a generic driver, but will crash when you try to install.

They won't even run properly with Windoze until you download their video drivers from their website.

I get to work on everybody's broke computer, and I now refuse to work on Compuke or HPs 'cause they are the computer equivalent of an A4LD. They're OK until they break, then might as well trash 'em.

If your computer isn't one of the evil twins, the current version of Ubuntu comes with a built-in program called Wubi. It will be one of the choices presented at installation. It is a great way to try it. Once again, if your computer is built by the evil twins, it likely won't work. (I know that it can be made to work on them, but usually requires a lot of tweaking that most people don't want to deal with)

HERE is a Wubi How-To.

Basically, it will install a complete copy of Ubuntu into a folder on your HD and give you a dual boot menu. Choose Ubuntu at startup and you're running full Ubuntu. If you find you don't like it, start Windoze and go to Add/Remove programs. It will be listed there. Select it and uninstall. You are back to your original Windoze installation.

Typing this on Ubuntu 8.10 right now. At home, I only surf the web with Linux or my Mac.

Good Luck!

 

[Ozwynn]

yep, HP pavilion. what can i say, it was the best price for 2 gigs ram and a 160 gig Hd 2 1/2 years ago when I bought it....... that and the 17" screen and AMD proc, perhaps the coolest feature of having an actual 10 key pad built in like a regular keyboard............ but I have an ATI 256 mb video, I always update my driver through ATI instead of HP.

 

[CJREX]

With that higher end video card it may work.

Try it with the Wubi and you'll know for sure without wrecking your current install.

Although I need to point out that Nvidia has much better Linux support than ATI, so it still may have an issue.

Good Luck!

 

[Ozwynn]

yeah but nvidia doesn't support their (IE updated drivers) laptop applications, went through this with Teffie's Laptop when The Simms 2 kept locking up and stalling the Video...... we begged and begged for 9 months before we got an updated driver and their hasn't been one since.

 

[jon_herr]

Allan? Please check my PM!

For what it is worth, I'm an Ubuntu guy... been using it for years now, works so well that my mom even uses it - and little old ladies can sure find all sorts of strange media to try and email to each other. Anyway, Ubuntu is my linux distribution of choice.

Windows XP still is my platform for games but even that is going linux too... just takes time.

 

[jon_herr]

AllanD?

Ping? Hello?

 

[MAKG]

But Allan, not to try to force it on you, but these are all MINOR tasks that have been handled by FREE linux apps for years. I have no trouble ripping, editing, or creating audio tracks in ANY format, nor burning them to a CD with CD-TEXT, or mass tagging tracks. I have over 3400 MP3s created mostly from CDs. I play some windows games if I feel like it(don't do it much anymore). I think you could learn a lot from linux and never have an issue again.
To each his own.

This has been my experience as well.

EXCEPT, insisting on MP3s is going to require going around apt-get and installing manually, due to patent issues. It's doable, just a PITA.

But OGG works better anyway.

BDAB, try out Debian Lenny. Ubuntu is a Debian (Etch) derivative, and it's getting a bit stale. Lenny has much more up to date drivers. And there is nothing wrong with a download as long as you get it from the authoritative source. http://www.debian.org .

The days of diddling with command-line cdrecord scripts are long gone. Mercifully.

 

[fastpakr]

Mike - the more recent versions of Ubuntu simply give you a pop-up offering to install the pieces needed to handle mp3 files, and giving you a warning about the patent issues. No command line needed at all.

 

[bmacsys]

Linux anyone???

Ubuntu runs just fine on my 9 year old 900 mhz old laptop...and you should see how fast it makes my brand new 1.6 ghz netbook run, when compared to xp.

OSX anyone? Though I do run Ubuntu on a few old P3's and P4's.

 

[Simple_serf]

I'm thinking quad boot soon on my netbook...What Can I say, It's my "tinkering" machine.

How's this sound-

XP, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Knoppix STD.

I have used Ubuntu on my old laptop since 6.06 first came out, I think it's one of those things that you just get used to and stay with, though I have used Knoppix for about the same amount of time to do some, uhh, special things.....

 

[Mark_88]

I'm going to try a dual (triple, actually) boot at school soon...xp, 2003 and linux (rh5)...and if I can pull that off without destroying the MBR I will do it at home too...I like linux...was advised to get ubuntu by my instructor...

Any advice on what is best for a desktop...AMD K7 mobo...2200+ with SIS chipset...

 

[jon_herr]

Best PC to build or buy?

Best PC to build or buy?

I build my own... I triple boot XP, Vista and Ubuntu

Just built three machines for myself and two friends with these guts from newegg.com - you can plug these numbers in to their search box. Now this is not a gaming rig without an additional video card but for general computing and watching movies it's more than enough. You can get a lower end processor but why? : ) If you would want more part number advice for a case, etc I'll help out - or if you want me to shut up...

Memory:
N82E16820227298

CPU:
N82E16819103249

Motherboard:
N82E16813138113

Go with Ubuntu - Fedora / Red Hat is sooo 1980s... Ubuntu's package management system makes life much easier.