Ubuntu Linux - Best desktop linux today IMO
kryyst
Ontario, Canada
Feeling the itch again to test out linux as a desktop replacement I decided to try another flavor. I've been more then happy with debian linux on my servers but debian linux doesn't advance fast enough to really make it suitable for a typical desktop. It also relies on steady and secure patches, which is great for a server but again with the speed at which desktop hardware changes it doesn't really work.
I've tried Xandros and Mephis in the past and I've been generally happy with them but they each have little quirks in the way they modified the debian kernal that created problems when installing software that wasn't from their repositories. Xandros also is a pay thing which I'm not really into using anyway.
I've also used Suse and Fedora before but don't like the RPM back end as much as the debian one so they were out.
Next on the list Ubuntu. It's debian based has very good support and they have made a goal of releasing a new version every 6 months. For the most part they've hit their deadline and have consistently been releasing stable versions for awhile now.
The install is very bare bones. It asks you a few questions creates a user account and it's up and running. You don't have to answer a tonne of questions about what packages you want to install. It also simpley creates 1 big hard drive partition and 1 swap partition. Normally linux installs create a couple partitions and you can do this if you want to. But as this is for a desktop computer and I already have another partition set aside for Windows I figured the stock setting was more then sufficient for my needs.
After about 20mins of installing I was greated with the login screen. The big difference between Ubuntu and most other flavors is that they have gone with Gnome as their stock GUI. Infact they don't even install KDE as a choice.
Gnome is pretty clean, lean and is a little faster then KDE however it doesn't have all the cool effects that KDE supports and also has les custom apps then KDE. Though most of those custom KDE apps are some games and FX style widgets. In addition to the GUI it's pre-installed with Firefox, Open Office 2, The Gimp 2.2, some games, music palyer, vid player, calculator....typically everything that you would need for a general desktop environment.
Root is dissabled and everything is done through the user account. However unlike linspire your user account isn't an admin account. So if you are needing to do things through root it goes about it by using sudo to pass the functions. What that means to you though is that it'll just ask you to put in your password before doing any sort of 'admin' style of commands.
My system all set up I could happily hand something like this over to my parents and they could surf, email, IM, do Office work etc... .everything they would need. I however am not my parents and always need more. So I wanted to see what the Ubuntu repository looked like.
Now knowing debian I'm familiar with apt and after login into a root shell I started browsing apt in the same maner I'm acustom to. I checked out Blender (3d rendering program) some more things to pretty up my desktop. Few more games etc... The usual. Ubuntu's repository installed all the software as I was expecting and automatically included any dependencies.
Very bland but works (my geeks side is pleased). But apt isn't for the unkowning. Ubuntu has a program called synaptic which is their GUI based front end for apt. You open up synaptic and they have all the various types of software neatly broken down into games, utils, system, desktop etc... They have an excellent search feature and it shows you all the apps you currently have installed and gives good descriptions of everything in their repository. Installing new files is as simple as check marking it and applying it. Everything installs quickly and correctly.
Their list isn't as large as the default Debain repository so there were a few things that I was looking for that weren't there. Wine was one, I can't remember the other. However this is very stock debian back end so generally speaking if it works in Debian it'll work in Ubuntu, that's not something that Xandros and Mephis can claim.
So everything is up and going peachy keen. But I'm not loving Gnome. It works does everything it's supposed to do and does it well. But, I'm a KDE guy. So back to synapcits. Search for KDE and install KDE-base, KDE-toys, KDE-Games and a few other packages here and there. Hit apply and let the fun begin. 20 mins later KDE is installed and it asked me which login maner I'd like as my default (GDM - Gnome's, or KDM KDE's) I picked KDM and when it was done I rebooted. Didn't have to I could have just done a log out but well windows has me well trained. It's also got an updater reminder that will triger itself and tell you when updates are ready.
So booted back up to my now beautiful KDE system. One thing I did notice is that their KDE, branded Kubuntu is much cleaner looking then the ones that I've seen with Xandros, Mephis or even Debian's KDE. But now with KDE up and going I don't need Gnome anymore....so what do we do? Fire synaptic back up again and go through and deselect everything gnome based. Now you may be woried. Especially if you don't know what you are doing that you may remove core files. The possibility is there. But if you are careful and take your time you should have no problems. Do a search for Gnome and everything Gnome based pops up. Now go through and mark them. Gnome is just a gui so core functions won't be effected. It also is intelligent so that as parts of Gnome get removed it removes other files that depended on it so garbage isn't left behind. It will take awhile to go through and remove stuff, probably 10-20 mins depending on how cautious and familiar with the files you are. But once everything is selected removing it all is quick.
With Gnome stripped away I'm left with Ubuntu er Kubuntu and a nice clean version of it. All that's left is to play with my themes and do all the fun, tedious job of customizing my desktop.
Now to suggest that Ubuntu is a god send and can replace Windows is not true. It is a very nice clean and stable version of Linux. Infact of all the versions I've tried so far this has, without a doubt, been my best experience yet. But *BUT* it's still linux. Which means for a game machine don't bother. If multi-media dvd burning projects is your thing, well don't bother. But if you want a nice stable friendly system. That will server for a home office type of computer Ubuntu is great. If you want to make a machine for family memebers that just need internet, email, and word it's wonderful. You have almost no fear of them every picking up a virus. It's practically guaranteed to never crash due to software issues. The OS is free and you can run it on half the system that it would take to run Windows on.
I've tried Xandros and Mephis in the past and I've been generally happy with them but they each have little quirks in the way they modified the debian kernal that created problems when installing software that wasn't from their repositories. Xandros also is a pay thing which I'm not really into using anyway.
I've also used Suse and Fedora before but don't like the RPM back end as much as the debian one so they were out.
Next on the list Ubuntu. It's debian based has very good support and they have made a goal of releasing a new version every 6 months. For the most part they've hit their deadline and have consistently been releasing stable versions for awhile now.
The install is very bare bones. It asks you a few questions creates a user account and it's up and running. You don't have to answer a tonne of questions about what packages you want to install. It also simpley creates 1 big hard drive partition and 1 swap partition. Normally linux installs create a couple partitions and you can do this if you want to. But as this is for a desktop computer and I already have another partition set aside for Windows I figured the stock setting was more then sufficient for my needs.
After about 20mins of installing I was greated with the login screen. The big difference between Ubuntu and most other flavors is that they have gone with Gnome as their stock GUI. Infact they don't even install KDE as a choice.
Gnome is pretty clean, lean and is a little faster then KDE however it doesn't have all the cool effects that KDE supports and also has les custom apps then KDE. Though most of those custom KDE apps are some games and FX style widgets. In addition to the GUI it's pre-installed with Firefox, Open Office 2, The Gimp 2.2, some games, music palyer, vid player, calculator....typically everything that you would need for a general desktop environment.
Root is dissabled and everything is done through the user account. However unlike linspire your user account isn't an admin account. So if you are needing to do things through root it goes about it by using sudo to pass the functions. What that means to you though is that it'll just ask you to put in your password before doing any sort of 'admin' style of commands.
My system all set up I could happily hand something like this over to my parents and they could surf, email, IM, do Office work etc... .everything they would need. I however am not my parents and always need more. So I wanted to see what the Ubuntu repository looked like.
Now knowing debian I'm familiar with apt and after login into a root shell I started browsing apt in the same maner I'm acustom to. I checked out Blender (3d rendering program) some more things to pretty up my desktop. Few more games etc... The usual. Ubuntu's repository installed all the software as I was expecting and automatically included any dependencies.
Very bland but works (my geeks side is pleased). But apt isn't for the unkowning. Ubuntu has a program called synaptic which is their GUI based front end for apt. You open up synaptic and they have all the various types of software neatly broken down into games, utils, system, desktop etc... They have an excellent search feature and it shows you all the apps you currently have installed and gives good descriptions of everything in their repository. Installing new files is as simple as check marking it and applying it. Everything installs quickly and correctly.
Their list isn't as large as the default Debain repository so there were a few things that I was looking for that weren't there. Wine was one, I can't remember the other. However this is very stock debian back end so generally speaking if it works in Debian it'll work in Ubuntu, that's not something that Xandros and Mephis can claim.
So everything is up and going peachy keen. But I'm not loving Gnome. It works does everything it's supposed to do and does it well. But, I'm a KDE guy. So back to synapcits. Search for KDE and install KDE-base, KDE-toys, KDE-Games and a few other packages here and there. Hit apply and let the fun begin. 20 mins later KDE is installed and it asked me which login maner I'd like as my default (GDM - Gnome's, or KDM KDE's) I picked KDM and when it was done I rebooted. Didn't have to I could have just done a log out but well windows has me well trained. It's also got an updater reminder that will triger itself and tell you when updates are ready.
So booted back up to my now beautiful KDE system. One thing I did notice is that their KDE, branded Kubuntu is much cleaner looking then the ones that I've seen with Xandros, Mephis or even Debian's KDE. But now with KDE up and going I don't need Gnome anymore....so what do we do? Fire synaptic back up again and go through and deselect everything gnome based. Now you may be woried. Especially if you don't know what you are doing that you may remove core files. The possibility is there. But if you are careful and take your time you should have no problems. Do a search for Gnome and everything Gnome based pops up. Now go through and mark them. Gnome is just a gui so core functions won't be effected. It also is intelligent so that as parts of Gnome get removed it removes other files that depended on it so garbage isn't left behind. It will take awhile to go through and remove stuff, probably 10-20 mins depending on how cautious and familiar with the files you are. But once everything is selected removing it all is quick.
With Gnome stripped away I'm left with Ubuntu er Kubuntu and a nice clean version of it. All that's left is to play with my themes and do all the fun, tedious job of customizing my desktop.
Now to suggest that Ubuntu is a god send and can replace Windows is not true. It is a very nice clean and stable version of Linux. Infact of all the versions I've tried so far this has, without a doubt, been my best experience yet. But *BUT* it's still linux. Which means for a game machine don't bother. If multi-media dvd burning projects is your thing, well don't bother. But if you want a nice stable friendly system. That will server for a home office type of computer Ubuntu is great. If you want to make a machine for family memebers that just need internet, email, and word it's wonderful. You have almost no fear of them every picking up a virus. It's practically guaranteed to never crash due to software issues. The OS is free and you can run it on half the system that it would take to run Windows on.
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Here are some screenshots from osdir.com if you want to get a good idea of what your going to be looking at.
http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=525&slide=1