It’s only been in the past year that this open source OS has
really come into its own as a truly desktop-worthy contender. Apart from high-end
gaming, there’s little Linux can’t do, and do well. Most major distributions
come preloaded with all the software typical users are likely to need (as well
as instant-download repositories to find any extras), so getting up and running
with Linux can actually take less time than installing all your apps in Windows.
While the number of choices in Linux distributions is staggeringly large (there
are about 200 English language distributions) we recommend only one
for the new user. Ubuntu is the most user-friendly distribution we've tested,
with the most hardware support, the most intuitive menu interface, and the most
widespread support from the PC industry of any other free distribution. So
popular has it become, that even Dell now offers pre-installed Ubuntu systems to
its customers.
Writing a comprehensive Linux guide is a daunting process, and largely
unnecessary. The Linux community does a great job of documenting most of its
software, whether it’s the developers actually writing docs, or the end users
figuring things out, and sharing the acquired info with their friends. All the
information you need to get running is out there, if you know what to search for
on Google. That’s where this guide comes in. Books have been written with solutions for all the
potential pitfalls the Linux switcher faces. However, those books are outdated
the moment a new version of Linux is released. Instead of just telling you what
to do, we're going to tell you how to do things and explain why you’re doing
them. We're going to focus on the things that are truly a challenge (and poorly
documented), but still give you a head start on the easy stuff.
Before you get started, you need to be prepared to be your own support system.
While you can usually get help with Linux problems on different message boards
on the web, before you do that, you need to make the effort to solve your own
problems. Linux Do it yourselfers don’t have much sympathy for people who don’t make an
effort to help themselves.
With its modern installation tools, getting Linux on your hard drive is
simple, compared to the old days. Ubuntu's install
process is about as streamlined as Linux gets.
Like a lot of people who try switching to Linux, you’ve probably installed a
distribution or two, mucked around with it for a few hours, changed the theme, and
maybe browsed the web a little. Then, when it was time to work, you jumped back
to Windows, and all was right with the world.
Things are much easier now than they were in the early days of Debian, Slackware,
and Red Hat. Modern distributions such as Ubuntu and openSUSE install with
crucial applications (web browser, photo editor, email client, word processor,
etc.) and support for most hardware out of the box. With Ubuntu, you can boot
off the CD to determine whether or not your rig will work with the OS before you
make a single change to the hard drive. You can tell if you’re going to have a
problem before you mess up your system, which is always a good thing.
Before we get started installing Ubuntu, you’ll need to download
the appropriate ISO file from the Ubuntu downloads page and burn it to disc. For
neophytes, we generally recommend starting with the x86 versions, even if your
CPU supports AMD64 extensions. The proper file name for most people will be ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso. It
was
ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso at the time of this writing, so some things have
been improved and are
even easier, and appearances changed.
To burn the disc, you can use commercial burning software (like Nero) or
download and install the
free ISO Recorder software. It’s also a good idea to run a backup before you get started (or anytime you
mess around with your
drive partitions, for that matter). If you're interested
here's a peek at the similar Karmic Koala Install
(ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso).
You can delete an
unused partition, install another hard drive, or let the Linux installer resize
an existing partition. If you have an unused partition on your hard drive that
you want to use for Linux, it’s a good idea to remove that partition before you
start the install process, since Linux can’t install to an NTFS partition. We
recommend dedicating at least 20GB of space for your Linux install. To get rid
of the partition, open the Computer Management tool in Windows and delete that
partition. In Linux, you’ll have a tough time telling which partition is which,
so to avoid heartbreak, do your deleting in Windows. If you don’t have an unused
partition, we’ll talk about resizing your existing partition during the Linux
install portion of this Guide.
Once you’ve burned the ISO, you’ll need to boot your PC from the Ubuntu CD,
which will involve either manually selecting the optical drive or changing the
boot order in your BIOS. After several minutes, you should see the basic Ubuntu
desktop. You should already have access to most of your hardware, including
network, sound, and graphics. Some typical gaming components simply don’t have
good Linux support (Drivers) - notably the X-Fi series of soundcards and "brand-new" video cards.
We’ll talk about them later in this Guide.
Assuming you booted into the live desktop properly, starting the install process
is as simple as double clicking the Install icon on the desktop. The install
program will prompt you for your language, location, and keyboard layout before
you get to the hard-disk partitioning section.
Partitioning your hard diskis the only step of the install process where a
mistake will do serious harm. If you install to the wrong partition, you could
accidentally Overwrite your Windows drive and all of its contents-that’s why we
recommend running a full backup before you start the installer. The safest way
to install is to add a new hard drive, or just create free space on the
disk: Unfortunately, that’s not always an option.
If you want to resize your existing partition, select the “Guided - resize”
option. Then use the slider to decide how to divide the drive and press OK. We
suggest giving your Linux partition a minimum of 20GB; more if you plan to use
it as your primary OS.
If you have free space for a new partition, or have already created an empty
partition on your drive, select Manual and then choose which partition to use. If
you’ve installed a second hard drive to install Ubuntu on, choose “Guided - use
entire disk” and select the appropriate disk from the list.
Next you will be prompted to import data from your Windows Partition. The Ubuntu
installer will pull your Gaim (Now
Pidgin) settings, browser bookmarks, music, photos, and
documents over from your Windows install if you select the options. We had
mixed results with this tool in Feisty, it crashed the installer on a few Vista
machines that we tested, but your results may vary. Gutsy Gibbon!
The final step is to confirm your installer’s settings and Click Install to
finish the process. Wait, it will take about a half hour for the installation
to complete. When the Install is finished, reboot your computer and select the
Ubuntu entry from the boot manager that was installed during the installation.
Using the Alternate Installer
If your machine won’t boot from the graphical install CD, either because you
have a new videocard that’s not properly supported or you have an older
unsupported chipset, you’ll need to use a non-graphical installer. This
installer is
called the alternate installer, on their web site. Choose the appropriate
installation for your computers architecture. Download the correct alternate
CD for your System from
Ubuntu's download page, and follow the
prompts.
Getting your machine on the network is simple with Ubuntu, whether you use a
wired connection or Wi-Fi. When you first boot, the only icon in your system
tray at the top of the screen should be for networking. Simply click it, For
Wirelsee, enter
your SSID and WPA or WEP key (if necessary), and you’ll be on the network.
Finding and Installing Software. Some Wi-Fi cards, particularly ones with
Broadcom chipsets, aren’t natively supported in Linux because the companies have
foolishly refused to open source their firmware. Fortunately, Ubuntu now
includes a utility that will walk you through downloading and installing the
closed source firmware for most of these cards once you run a software update.
To Change The Network Workgroup in Ubuntu: Open up a
Terminal Window by clicking:
Applications>>Accessories>>Terminal
At the prompt
Type (Or Copy and paste):
sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
Then Press the "Enter" Key.
Enter your password, and Press the "Enter" Key.
Gedit will open with the smb.conf File loaded for editing.
Scroll down until you find the "Global Settings" section, and look for: workgroup =
WORKGROUP
Replace text "WORKGROUP" to the right of the = with your workgroups name.
Click Save to save the smb.conf file.
Reboot the computer for the change to be effective.
The simplest
method is to use the Add/Remove panel, which lets you see all the software available to
you from Ubuntu software repositories on the Internet.
Most apps include a
useful description, so if you search for Photo Manager, you’re sure to find some
worthy candidates. Here's a Video showing the process.
Sometimes you’ll need the more powerful Synaptic Package
Manager:
You’ll find
Synaptic Package Manager in: System > Administration
Enter your password Click "Reload" to make sure the list of available apps is up to date.
Synaptic provides a powerful search, and easy filters that will help you find all
the details of the applications installed on your system. You can see what apps
are installed and which have updates available. If you want to update a single
program to the latest available version, Synaptic is the easiest way to do
that; just search for the software package, Right Click it, and select “Mark for
upgrade.”
You’ll occasionally need to add a new repository to your Linux install. A
repository is just a server that contains software that’s configured, and ready
to run on your machine. If you want to install apps that aren’t included by
default with Ubuntu, you’ll need to enable other repositories. To add a
repository, you’ll need its apt line, which gives the software manager all the
info it needs to access the repository. I’ll include some throughout this
Guide.
Open Synaptic and click Settings > Repositories. Go to the Third-Party
tab and click Add; then type the apt line, exactly as it appears, in the window. Click Add Source, then
Click Close.
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the use of closed source drivers for
graphics hardware, but they’re the only real option for 3D acceleration in Linux
right now. The procedure for Nvidia and ATI hardware is a little different.
Installing Nvidia’s closed-source 3D-accelerated drivers is easy with
Ubuntu. Go to System > Administration > Restricted Drivers Manager. Right
Click the selection and select “Mark for installation.” You’ll be
prompted with a list of dependencies, which you’ll need to approve for the
application to work. Click Apply to download, and install the app. Then
open a new terminal: Applications > Accessories > Terminal
Now Run this
command: sudo nvidia-xconfig –add-argb-glx-visuals Then follow the prompts, and
reboot.
Installing ATI drivers is a little more complex. First, you’ll need to disable
the Composite option in your xorg.conf. Open a terminal, and type: sudo gedit
/etc/X11/xorg.conf. In the gedit window, scroll to the section labeled
Extensions and change the Option “Composite” line from “Enabled” to “Disabled”. Then in your already opened terminal window, type the following six commands:
You’ll need to reboot your system to enable the driver.
ATI has recently released updated drivers to the open source community, but
at the time of this writing these drivers are largely experimental on Ubuntu,
and we don’t recommend them for primary use yet.
Even in Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, getting your monitor to display its native
resolution was frequently frustrating and cumbersome, but with Ubuntu Gutsy
Gibbon comes improved support for LCD displays, including the latest and greatest GeForce 8800 cards from Nvidia.
In most cases, your system should boot into
its native resolution right away. If you’re using a newer ATI card, you may
still have to tweak the resolution manually.
To set the resolution manually, you’ll need to edit the X configuration file at: /etc/X11/xorg.conf The easiest way to launch, and edit it is to open up a
terminal window by clicking: Applications > Accessories > Terminal
Next, at the prompt type: sudo
gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf You’ll be prompted for your password,
and then the editor will open.
Look for a line labeled Section “Screen” or Section “Monitor” and find the line
labeled Modes. It should include a few screen resolutions. If your display’s
native resolution isn’t listed, add it to the end of each Modes line in the
section in this format: “1920x1200” (including quotes).
This will install support for Flash, Java,
some closed audio and video codecs, and TrueType fonts. On older versions of
Linux, installing this stuff was an absolute nightmare that could take several
hours, with no guaranteed of success. In Ubuntu, it has become very simple: Open the Applications menu
Click Add/Remove Change the Show: dropdown to read “All available
applications”. Search for “Restricted” and check the box next to the package
called “Ubuntu restricted extras”. Get Commonly Used Restricted Packages
Here if necessary. Here is
a site with packages of Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions that cannot
be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons. Another Site for Ubuntu
software.
If you’ve tried other distributions in the past, you’ve probably spent more time
installing Linux than actually using it. Here’s what you need to know to get
started on a permanent switch to the penguin.
The good news about Linux is that there’s an unbelievable amount of information
available on the Internet to help you learn to use the open source operating
system. The bad news is that it can be crushingly difficult to find said
information. There are a multitude of reasons for the search problems, but most
of the time the problem is that you’re not searching for the right thing. A
normal person wouldn’t know that you need to edit the fstab to mount new drives
or edit xorg.conf to adjust your resolution. Fortunately, most Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
users won’t have to do these things anymore, but some might. Here’s the info
you’ll need to get started.
Forget Windows Aero. Linux has pioneered some of the most amazing special
effects you’re bound to see on any operating system. Wobbly that wobble when you
move them, workspaces that turn into a three dimensional cube that you can
rotate at will, painting fire on your screen (for whatever that’s worth), and
more are possible in Linux, as long as you’ve got a supported graphics card.
Until Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon came along, getting these effects on your Linux PC was
usually an arduous process. But now you can simply turn them on in the
Appearance menu by clicking: System > Preferences > Appearance Choosing the
Visual Effects tab Then you can select the level of effects you like. Try ‘em
all.
Choosing Extra will give you window wobble and transparency, but you'll have to
go a little further if you want the full complement of Desktop Effects. To
get them all, you'll need to install a couple of things from the
Synaptic
Package Manager like this: Cick System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
Search
for “emerald.” Install it, and then search for “compizconfig-settings-manager.” Install this one, too.
Now you'll have Emerald Theme Manager and Advanced Desktop Effects Settings
listed in your Accounts > Preferences menu. Use Emerald to install a variety of
desktop themes for Compiz. Be sure to follow the instructions at the bottom of
the Repositories panel to get the Non-GPL themes. There are no GPL themes
available. The Advanced Desktop Effects Settings control panel is your one stop
shop for configuring all of the features in Compiz, such as the desktop cube,
painting fire on the screen, and other useless but entertaining bits of visual
flair.
By default, Ubuntu 9 installs the F-Spot photo manager, which is fine if you only
have a few images. (F-Spot was updated to
Shotwell in Ubuntu 10) But Google's Picasa is available for Linux users now, so you
can share and edit your photos with ease.
The best photo manager for Linux is the beta version of Google’s Picasa. Download Picasa here, and then install it using the instructions provided. From that
point on, Picasa works just the same as it does in Windows, it’s the same
application!
Rhythmbox is Ubuntu’s default music jukebox. It includes much of the same
functionality as iTunes, or Windows Media Player. It will even mount and manage
music on most MP3 players. including the iPod. If you’re familiar with any
jukebox style software, you won’t have any problems playing music once you’ve
finished the initial music file import. While there are other, more advanced MP3 playback
utilities available, Rhythmbox is the easiest to use and most reliable. Amarok
is another music manager that
delivers advanced library management features.
As part of the install process, Ubuntu should have mounted your NTFS partitions. You’ll find them in the Places menu, listed by the partition’s label in Windows. To import your music into Rhythmbox, just find it in your Windows partition. Click Music > Import Folder >
Next one typically would browse to Documents and Settings/<your username>/My
Documents/My Music, or any other location your music files are. After the import is complete, you’ll be able to
search and play at will.
If you plan to rip music in Linux, you’ll want to make sure the MP3 codecs are
installed. If you installed the restricted extras package earlier (see
Install
Restricted Software above), you should be good to go. To rip your CDs, you’ll
use the Sound Juicer app. If you want to rip in MP3 instead of Ogg, you need to
Click Edit > Preferences > Library > Change Preferred Format to “CD Quality,
(MP3 audio).” Then drop an audio CD into your optical drive, and click the
Extract button in Sound Juicer. If you set Sound Juicer’s preferences to save
your music to the same folder that Rhythmbox is using for the library, Rhythmbox
will automatically see new music that appears when you rip it.
Getting your email to Linux seems like a tricky proposition, but it’s actually
not that hard. Ubuntu 10 includes
Evolution
which is similar to Microsoft Outlook. Give Evolution a chance, it is very good! First, you’ll need an IMAP email account. (Although I use
POP3 in Evolution, which was easy to set up) If you don’t have
one already, See
Best You Can Get Here for a Free Gmail, or AOL Account. There is a
guide to setting up your email accounts in Evolutions here. If your using
both
Windows and Ubuntu, you can configure your email clients to use IMAP, then
changes made to the messages will effect both. For example: for AIM, just point the IMTP server setting to imap.aol.com, then copy
your mail to folders on that account. If you prefer, you may install
Thunderbird (you’ll need to install it via Applications, then Add/Remove) and
point it to the same IMAP account - all your mail will be there
waiting for you. (Like Windows Ubuntu 10 has an email Client built in. You may
optionally add Thunderbird if you wish.) You can drag the mail back down to the desktop, and reconfigure
your client to use your normal servers.
The default app for playing video on Ubuntu is
Totem. Like Windows
Media Player, it’s just a front end that relies on external codecs to play
properly. Remember those restricted packages you installed earlier? They
included a whole bunch of codecs designed to work with Totem; you should have
good support for most MPEG-4-based codecs, including Divx and Xvid. If you plan
to watch movies encoded with AC3 audio, you’ll also need to install the
ffmpeg
gstreamer plugin; search
Synaptic Package Manager for it. Totem won’t play DVDs by default,
so you
should search Synaptic for Gstreamer0.8-DVD, and Gstreamer0.8-MPEG2dec for that
purpose. Try
This Page for
Drivers, Packages, and Plug ins. Use the Find Packages Search feature.
This Page for How To.
About Printing
Most of the the consumer inkjets that everyone uses, don’t
work very well in Linux. I would greatly increase the size of this article
trying to re-invent, and provide adequate support for installing every possible
consumer printer in Linux. Instead of doing that, I’ll refer you to
the Linux Foundation’s guide to printing on Linux.
Keeping OpenOffice Compatible
with Microsoft Office: If you use OpenOffice's native file format, for a text
document, spreadsheet, or anything else, Microsoft Office users will not be able
to open it.
The secret to keeping OpenOffice and Microsoft Office working happily together,
is for OpenOffice to always save documents in the Microsoft file formats.
The trick to having OpenOffice use the proper file format by default, is as
follows: Go into
the options for each OpenOffice program In the "General" Section under "Load/Save", set the default file format to the most
recent Microsoft Office option Examples: for the word processor, Microsoft
Word 97/2000/XP; for the spreadsheet Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP.
Using CrossOver Linux, we were able to get Steam running. Only a few games
worked!
Sometimes, there just isn’t a Linux alternative to the Windows application that
you need. When you need to run InDesign or Microsoft Project, you’ve got
two options: You can try to trick your app into running in Linux using a
wrapper like WINE or CrossOver Linux
OR You can install a fully functional version of Windows inside
a Virtual Machine by using Parallels.
WINE which is Free, which stands for WINE Is Not an Emulator, serves as
a wrapper for typical Windows function calls. When a Windows app makes a call,
WINE converts that request into a Linux compatible format. It works reasonably
well for apps it supports, but if your app isn’t fully supported, you could have
problems. CrossOver Linux
for $40 is a supercharged version
of WINE with support for more apps. Still, it has its own problems with many
common apps, and it costs money.
Parallels for $50 certainly isn’t free either, but there’s a
substantial difference. Parallels lets you run Windows (and any apps you need)
inside a virtual machine. You don’t even have to reboot to run Windows
applications. The hitch is that you’ll need a licensed version of Windows to
keep things nice and legal. If you switched your rig to Linux, you’ll already have
a spare license. Parallels delivers full compatibility with
virtually every Windows app, but it does require managing a full Windows install
inside the Virtual Machine. Considering everything is typically free in Ubuntu /
Linux, the investment in this is relatively small.
What about Games?
Games have always been and still are the Achilles’ heel of Linux. There are two
ways to play games on Linux: Play a limited number of native Linux games, or
emulate Windows using
Transgaming’s Cedega subscription service, which supports
high-profile titles like World of Warcraft and Battlefield 2, but lacks support
for many newer titles. For the games it supports, it works, but you'll noticed
significant performance hits, as well as serious image quality degradation. It makes more sense to boot back to Windows to play games.
You wont really
shell out big bucks for a GeForce 8800 GTX to play your games at 1280x1024 in
DirectX 8 mode in Linux.
In order to change the default Operating System your machine boots to at start
up, you'll need to edit a text
file. Be careful though, any missteps here could render your PC unbootable!
You’ve installed Ubuntu, but you don’t want it to be the default option in the
boot loader. That’s not unusual! To set your Windows install as the default,
open a terminal and type: sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst. Look for the default
entry. It should read 0. To determine what the new default should be: Count the
number of title lines from the start of the file to the title line for Windows,
starting with zero. Title lines that begin with a # don’t count! If your Windows
install is on the fourth title line, you’ll set the default to 3. Save the file,
and the next time you reboot, your machine will automatically start Windows.
AVG is Excellent, and it's Free! It would be foolish to claim that any operating system is completely secure
against spyware and viruses, but it is actually
pretty safe to run an Ubuntu install without any kind of malware fighting utilities
running in the background. However, you do need to pay attention to the updates. It’s a good idea to get in the habit of updating whenever Ubuntu prompts you to
install any kind of security update. As a general rule, it takes just a second
or two, and it will save you a huge hassle in the long term. Note: If you're planning to use this machine in a business environment,
due diligence suggests running an antivirus even though the risk is very low. Though your Linux machine is
relatively immune to viruses, it can still act as a
carrier for Windows infections. Get Free AVG for Linux here!
By now, you should have a pretty good idea how to get started using Ubuntu / Linux. When
you encounter technical problems, start with Google. Type the exact text of the
error message you receive, along with the version of Linux you’re using (in your
case, Feisty or Gutsy Gibbon should do). Usually, you’ll find your answer on the first
page or two of results. If you don’t, check the Ubuntu forums, and don’t hesitate
to politely request help if your searches are fruitless. There is a great
Linux board filled with knowledgeable, and helpful people at the
Maximum PC Forums. Try
This Page for
Drivers, Packages, and Plug ins. Use the Find Packages Search feature. Be prepared for an occasional disaster, but also be prepared to learn and have a
lot of fun. Becoming an expert at a new operating system isn’t an overnight
process, but if you take the time to master the penguin, you will be rewarded!
