Thinking of Moving to Ubuntu

[RyanLevy]

so I have a 100gb hard drive, vista has it partitioned into C: and D:, each approximately 50gb
how should i rearrange the drive, shirink C: down to what? (contains windows and program files) What should i shrink D: down to? right now it has all of my bitTorrent downloads
Will the extra space be able to be renamed under Vista Disk Management?

 

[BCI]

I put Kubuntu on an Acer Extensa 5220, and it worked well. To make sound work correctly (headphone jack) took some research on various forums, but the rest was okay right after installation.

Bittorrent was already installed, VLC was easy to get as was Skype. There were some issues with the touchpad, the installation of backport drivers helped there, but didn't fully fix it.

 

[RyanLevy]

i just installed Wubi Ubuntu, its alright, haven't spent much time on it, still kinda perfer vista, but once i get some programs on it, I think i'll enjoy it more

 

[Saturn0660]

I recommend you download VMWare player, and install Ubuntu in a vmware image. That way you can play with/experience Ubuntu easily without going through the whole ordeal of resizing your partitions.
I've been using Ubuntu for almost a year now, and I like it very much.
For messenger you have aMSN which is practically identical.
There is Amarok, which resembles iTunes, and of course VLC Player.
Skype for Linux (unfortunately) does not support webcams (yet).
And for torrents, I use the linux variant of Bittornado. But Azareus is also available.

You can get a beta of skype with video for linux... I dunno how well it works.. But i did buy my eee and plan to put in on there..

 

[PsychoPere]

There is Amarok, which resembles iTunes [...]

If you're looking for an iTunes-like experience, Rhythmbox or Quod Libet would be closer.

Is it possible to sync an iPod using any of these programs? I'm not terribly concerned about purchases made through iTunes (if I understand correctly, burning songs to a CD then ripping them back to your hdd removes the DRM), but it would still be nice of course to be able to sync my iPod if I were to switch to Ubuntu myself. (My iPod is the biggest thing right now other than unfamiliarity holding me back.)

 

[Starbreaker]

I hear there's a Civil War going on in that country. I would think about going somewhere else.

 

[Twilight]

I run Ubuntu Gutsy. Beautiful OS - highly recommended. :thumbsup:

 

[Alaedhros]

There is Amarok, which resembles iTunes [...]

If you're looking for an iTunes-like experience, Rhythmbox or Quod Libet would be closer.

Is it possible to sync an iPod using any of these programs?

Yes; there are multiple programs that do this, including Amarok and Rhythmbox, but not Quod Libet (to my knowledge). I don't have the numbers to back this up, but I think the most popular program for GNOME users is Rhythmbox, and for KDE users it's Amarok. I've heard of people using Banshee, Songbird, and gtkpod, as well; as always, wikipedia has more info.

If you have any other questions or want some links on where to get more info, drop me a line.

 

[Sheep]

Reviving a long dead thread...

I recently installed Ubuntu 8.04 LTS on my new machine (to dual boot with XP MCE) and it works VERY well, with no problems whatsoever. This is considering 7.10 wouldn't recognize my ATI HD3450 video card which was pretty much a dealbreaker. Yay 8.04!

I'm getting used to the Linux way of doing things. While it seems to be fine so far, I have to believe anyone who says Linux is ready for primetime with the average Joe user is smoking crack--there's no way the average Joe could handle terminal.

 

[Deleted 2]

You shouldn't need to use the terminal for many things. What specifically do you use it for? Possibly it's something that should be reported on the ubuntu-devel mailing list.

 

[Sheep]

You shouldn't need to use the terminal for many things. What specifically do you use it for? Possibly it's something that should be reported on the ubuntu-devel mailing list.

I'm a noob when it comes to Linux, although I do know some basic Unix commands which came in handy. I was just following the results from Google searches to do things like find a working ATI driver under 7.10 (which admittedly was not a problem under 8.04), remove FF3 and reinstall FF2 (I need my extensions), and find working drivers for my Canon i860 printer (still unsuccessful, though I think I have all the stuff I need...just need some time to get it working). The results I found on Google required the use of terminal to varying degrees for all of those things.

 

[Alaedhros]

The important distinction is that although the directions you found required the use of the terminal, doing those tasks does not; it is simply much easier to write out a line of text. For example, if I wanted you to install a program I could guide you through the steps to do so in Synaptic, or I could have you type 'sudo apt-get install $PROGRAM'. If I want you to add a new repository, I can again do that in Synaptic, but 'echo $REPO >/etc/apt/sources.list' is so much easier. So, in short, there's really almost nothing you can't do in Ubuntu using the GUI, and `date +%Y` is always the year when Linux is ready for "prime time".

 

[Deleted 2]

^ That's a good reason. Another is that many of us who are familiar with linux use the command-line tools almost exclusively. If you ask me a question about installing applications in Linux, I could tell you about Synaptic, but I'd have to look up what menu you can find it under in Ubuntu, or what menu options you'd use to search for a certain application.

 

[CorporalClegg]

And what's so hard about using a terminal anyway?

Any idiot can learn the basic commands if he takes the time (which shouldn't be much, anyway).

 

[Sheep]

And what's so hard about using a terminal anyway?

Any idiot can learn the basic commands if he takes the time (which shouldn't be much, anyway).

Spoken like a true computer enthusiast. You've obviously never dealt with older people (like my parents) who can barely use a Windows-type GUI, let alone a command line.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Nonsense.

I've taught people who've never used a computer in their life to use a command line. Some of whom could barely read at a grade school level.

I don't buy it.

It isn't a matter of ability so much as it is willingness. These people who've never touched a computer before have no standard to go by. Open source was a practical choice for these people. But since they had to learn how to do it, they did.

People who convert from Windows and say it's too hard are simply lazy and not willing to try because it's different.

 

[Iasius]

Will uTorrent work on Ubuntu?

It works under Wine.

I know this from the time a few months ago when I was trying out Linux, but in the end the atrocious support for multiple monitors kept me away.

 

[Sheep]

Nonsense.

I've taught people who've never used a computer in their life to use a command line. Some of whom could barely read at a grade school level.

I don't buy it.

It isn't a matter of ability so much as it is willingness. These people who've never touched a computer before have no standard to go by. Open source was a practical choice for these people. But since they had to learn how to do it, they did.

People who convert from Windows and say it's too hard are simply lazy and not willing to try because it's different.

Command lines take much more time and effort to learn than a Windows GUI--there's no debating that point.

You're forgetting the fact that some people might not see any reason to learn command line stuff when they can do most if not all of what they need to do in a Windows-type GUI. It's like a mechanic wondering why some people can't change their own oil or a chef wondering why some people live on PB&J. To the mechanic or chef, engine maintenance and cooking are painfully simple but to others, they're not necessary skills to learn. Just like command lines.

 

[Hitman]

But you can go without command line in Ubuntu for a couple of versions now.

 

[Sheep]

But you can go without command line in Ubuntu for a couple of versions now.

Somebody should tell that to the Linux experts who post responses to noob questions then.