Ubuntu; free of charge

[btiffin]

Just an old guy prod;

Anyone on compsci.ca that doesn't have a GNU/Linux install, you do know that you can get Ubuntu absolutely free?

Mark Shuttleworth has funded Canonical to the point where they will send you a CD completely free of charges. They pay the shipping. https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ Last I looked, you could even request more than one; the idea being you give copies to your friends. Umm, but play nice. If you have a burner; a download of the installer is more cost effective for Canonical, but as a prod ... there is no excuse to not have GNU/Linux running on your PC.

Just so ya know.

Cheers

[Aziz]

And then you can try less n00by distros!

I'm actually running ubuntu for a server - takes about 45 minutes to set up with a bunch of good stuff.

I have an Arch CD burnt and ready to go when I have some free time tomorrow.

[btiffin]

Right you are. I'm a Debian fan. I found Ubuntu just a little bit too much like a GNU/Linux for kids. But that is personal experience from freenode IRC chats. #debian; you get very technical (and snide) advice. #ubuntu; you get friendlier (and less technical) advice.

Ubuntu is maturing rapidly. It is only 3 and a bit years old, but with a userbase large enough now to cover the gamut of noobieness to old hacks.

Still; as a prod, FREE is pretty cool.

Cheers

[apomb]

I'm old school Ubuntu user already... been using since Warty. back when it still had the stereotypical graphics/wireless/support issues that are inherent in emerging Linux distros.

Like you btiffin, i also am a Debian fan at heart.

[Aziz]

I do love ubuntu for ubuntuforums and the support community.

Arch, for being a bit more complicated, does have good support. ArchWiki was great helping me set it up the first time round, and of course I have my friend and distant cousin Shaun D who knows the answer to anything. (We once out of nowhere asked him "What is love?" and his response was "Baby don't hurt me". See?)

I'm actually pretty excited but I have to wait until tomorrow morning as I need the active intarwebs and my girl friend lives in the boonies with dial-up.

[r691175002]

btiffin @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:33 am wrote:

There is no excuse to not have GNU/Linux running on your PC.

Until, after using it for 6 months, you build a new computer and discover that it wont boot on your new hardware.

[Aziz]

I had an easier time setting up Arch on my laptop then I did windows XP. I took my 2 months to find opengl driver damnit.

[btiffin]

r691175002 @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:37 pm wrote:

btiffin @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:33 am wrote:

There is no excuse to not have GNU/Linux running on your PC.

Until, after using it for 6 months, you build a new computer and discover that it wont boot on your new hardware.

Yeah; that can kinda suck. But, I trust in your abilities to make things work. Or like we used to say when we discussed usability;

"Put it a box, and shoot the box".

On a more serious note; a lot of the distro's newer live boot CDs are great for verifying things before the paint hits the corner. I do wish you the best of, and will just add; don't give up. GNU/Linux gets better and more robust every day. Though sometimes it takes awhile for things to catch up; sadly sometimes too long. But that is less and less a problem in my not overly experienced experience.

One thing I have been noticing or late; after a fair amount of convergence, the distros are starting to fragment on what works and what doesn't. Which is sad; just as GNU/Linux is getting to a point of "grandma usability" the popularity and "openness" is coming back to bite the OS right where it hurts.

Cheers

[Aziz]

[quote="btiffin @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:08 pm"]

r691175002 @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:37 pm wrote:

One thing I have been noticing or late; after a fair amount of convergence, the distros are starting to fragment on what works and what doesn't. Which is sad; just as GNU/Linux is getting to a point of "grandma usability" the popularity and "openness" is coming back to bite the OS right where it hurts.

I don't quiet understand what you're saying here. What do you mean by the distros are starting to fragment on what works and what doesn't?

[btiffin]

[quote="Aziz @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:16 pm"]

btiffin @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:08 pm wrote:

r691175002 @ Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:37 pm wrote:

One thing I have been noticing or late; after a fair amount of convergence, the distros are starting to fragment on what works and what doesn't. Which is sad; just as GNU/Linux is getting to a point of "grandma usability" the popularity and "openness" is coming back to bite the OS right where it hurts.

I don't quiet understand what you're saying here. What do you mean by the distros are starting to fragment on what works and what doesn't?

Some things that used to be taken for granted with POSIX is fragmenting. Versions of libc6 are less and less compatible between distros. Fonts are all over the map instead of converging on a standard. Too many kernel versions are being pumped out. Many distros follow the Linux File System standard mappings, some don't. Etc, etc. Carl Sassenrath (a super smart and very productive developer) is having a tough time keeping REBOL as easily cross platform as with previous years. He's had to modify his build environment with more special cases than he would prefer (as one real world example). Linus may step into the fray and put a stop to it, dunno. I don't know if he has the time or energy to reign in the very active development he has spawned. Both a blessing and a curse.

Cheers

[Aziz]

I see what you mean. Basically, Linux distros are eating more as they grow, and filling their metaphorical diapers with more crap. At least we know it'll grow out of it. Windows has an adult-diaper.

(we really messed those quotes up didn't we)

[btiffin]

[Epic Tissue]

I actually just installed Ubuntu again on my laptop today. Installation went much better than previous times (Dell laptop).

Unfortunately, this experience wasn't as good. I think I might be too used to the way I have Vista set up and the way I use it. Also the windows crashing/freezing wasn't a highlight. Something that hasn't happened since I used Windows ME.

[Aziz]

My Inspiron 6000 was easy to set up with an distro I put on it. I tried Kubuntu, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, and Fedora 8, and the drivers were all pretty easy to come by (except I had to hunt a bit for 3D drivers for OpenSUSE). PC BSD, now that was a different story (just ask rdrake - he may remember).

I've now got an Asus (F3Ka) and it might be a bit harder to get drivers for. I didn't have too much trouble last time I did it though with Arch, but I didn't go very far with it (almost had GNOME up). It's got a Radeon HD graphics card, which i couldn't get to work properly, but I think there's a 'radeonhd' driver anyways. It has been 6 months, so I wouldn't doubt things have improved.

[rizzix]

btiffin, I recommend you to try ArchLinux. It's not just another distro