getting started "install Ubuntu Linux -- try 1"

One of the things that steered me away from the Knoppix Distro was that there were several warnings on the web about not expecting knoppix to be well behaved when installed. Plus the install procedure was not as straightforward as using the "install" button on the Ubuntu desktop.

Even so, It took me several tries to get all the way through an install with which I was Happy! I tried the automatic install into the largest available free space and it found/made(?) a 2.3gb partition into which it installed ubuntu. I discovered that the space was as small as it was and that it was insufficient only after I started downloading and installing additional applications (Which I will discuss in a future entry and was informed that I was out of space. This surprised me as I thought the install had used the (much larger) free space from my windows partition. So much for assumptions....

getting started "boot the 'Live CD' "

Like several other linux Distributions, Ubuntu comes as a "Live" CD. This means that you can boot from the CD and run the Linux as though it was installed on your machine. the downsides are: performance asnd persistance (or lack there-of).

• Performance: Since you're running from the CD which is may times slower than the typical hard drive, the response of the system will be somewhat more sluggish than from a fully installed system. That said once booted it seemed to run pretty well to me...,
• Persistance: Any Changes you make to the settings of the operating system will be gone after the next reboot of the Live CD.

Issues aside, You can get a pretty good feel for linux by running the live CD.

Getting Started "select, download and burn"

Unlike the small set of OS Coices of Windows, there are a wide variety of Linux Distributions (aka "Distro's) so the first step is to determine which one you want to use. There are a wide variety of factors which may influence this decision.



(*)-I won't go into those, unless asked...



Step two is to go to the website for your chosen Distro and download the software. In my case the URL www.ubuntu.com. I downloaded an .ISO file which can be burnt directly to a CD. There are many tools (some free) which can be used to do this from within Windows (*). One can also request a free CD, in some cases, or buy a CD.

Why Ubuntu??

I *had* been leaning heavily towards Knoppix, mostly because it has a good "live CD" implementation and was among the first to support NTFS, which is the file system I use in Windows XT. My recent research pointed out that Ubuntu is the most popular Linux Distro(bution) and has built in NTFS support. It is also easier to install on the hard drive compared to knoppix which is (apparently) better suited for use as a "live disk", where it is run from the CD and does not use the hard drive.

To Summarize, Ubuntu:

1. Is Popular -and-
2. has a correspondingly large pool of Community Support.
3. Has a good "Live CD" implementation -and-
4. has a good install process a -and
5. is suitable for running from he hard drive.

Why Linux?

I've been pretty fed up with Windoze. The reliability, though it has gotten better, is still not what I would call "good"! Plus Linux is something new to learn to keep my aging mind from going entirely fallow. I am considering switching to a Mac (maybe, eventually) and that is Linux based...

I want to see for myself if the Linux Hype is true...

Who Am I?

Tis is a Placeholder for a Bio...

Why this Blog?

This Blog is meant to journal my first excursion into the world of Linux (Ubunto 9.04). It will serve as a storehouse of problems I run into, solutions and my opinions and hopefully help other linux newcomers to overcome some of the hurdles with which I have had to deal. I will give a fuller Bio in a subsequent entry[edit: or in the profile, I guess you could say I'm a newbe at blogging, too!]. But suffice it to say, I am reasonably competent with computers, but am a novice at Linux.

I hope this Blog is useful to someone (besides just me)!