New to Linux/Ubuntu

[goatflyer]

After getting tired of seeing perfectly good gaming computers being obsoleted due to forced upgrades of OS, I decided I *had* to try to see what Linux could offer.

Of all the LiveCDs I tried, I like Ubuntu best.

Not everything went smoothly, but the Ubuntu community seems very much alive and full of helpful information - which I so dearly need - once you get the hang of it.

To get an existing hi-speed Sympatico internet working, I had to learn my settings and figure out pppoeconf.

Once I got enough practice with the LiveCD, I decided to get brave and convert my Win2000 machine to dual boot. (I have lots of stuff on my Win2000 machine and am not ready to let go of any of it.)

To prepare, I backed up and compressed all my existing data and repartitioned the drive using fdisk on the live CD, creating spare partitions for linux, boot, swap, and a small FAT16 transfer partition to work between the two OSes. Then I made sure Windows still worked. Then I made copies of all the boot records and master boot records since I'm a paranoid type of guy.

The Breezy install went perfectly, I told it which partitions I wanted for what, and my system now dual boots (Ubuntu by default) and Windows 2000 has no complaints.

After installation, I had to re-teach Ubuntu how to use internet. This is when it is VERY handy having a second computer (yes, windows) still connected to the internet while you scramble around reading helpfiles!!!

Finally all is good.

On Frefox, I had to learn how to get Sun Java working to play online games like yahoo chess. Other extensions/plugins work just like the Windows version of Firefox, so there weren't any problem there.

I was surprised to see that GAIM works pretty good with my previously exisitng MSN account.

I can heartily recommend XMMS as a great workalike for Winamp, I listen to SHOUTCAST stations constantly and XMMS works beautifully! :)

Presently I'm reading up on how to get my Canon IP8500 working.

Then I'll learn up on SAMBA, so I can share files with the other windows computers on my home network.

Games is still a big issue to me. I can see there are some commercial titles that work with linux, but I suspect there isn't as good a selection as for Windows machines.

Is there any free public downloads for linux games and demos, like download.com, or zdnet?

I'll probably have to keep some sort of Windows alive, because of flight simulator and other microsoft games.

[TeeAhr1]

That's one of the things I dearly love about this distro, and what I think really makes it great for beginners - it's easy, but not too easy. It's not Linspire, it's not going to do everything for you. We've already got an OS for people who like that sort of thing, it's called Windows.

Ubuntu is easy to get around in, but you do need to use the command prompt every so often, and you need to know (or learn) things like how to set up your network config. And that's good. It's not too much of a challenge, but it's enough that a beginner can walk away from it feeling good, like they've learned something and accomplished something. And I think that's the best thing that can happen for the Linux user base.

[tageiru]

Is there any free public downloads for linux games and demos, like download.com, or zdnet?
No, not really.

Linux distributions typically does not work that way. You can not just go and download something from some site and expect it to install smoothly. The complex web of dependencies and library versions requires extensive understanding of how the innards of the distribution look.

Instead the distributor has already taken care of packaging the software. The ubuntu repositories contain over 17.000 different software packages.

With that said there are sites that come pretty close. www.gnomefiles.org is a good resource for getting an overview over the software landscape for GNOME.

[Lord Illidan]

1st of all, I like your approach to Linux. Taking it slowly, and learning as you go along. Excellent, not a whining post over "Linux is not ready for the Desktop".

About the games...

www.happypenguin.org (http://www.happypenguin.org) offers a great list of games which you can try out. Also, you can browse the Games section in synaptic.

[Norberg]

To find games available under linux take a look at http://www.linuxgames.com/ and http://www.happypenguin.org/

[goatflyer]

Thanks for all your gaming and gnome links, I'll check them out.

Going slow and staying dual boot for awhile is the only way forward for me.

As far as any linux being 'ready for the desktop' you'd have to ask: could my gf or mother do any of this? I'd have to honestly say no, they wouldn't be able to do it, but then, they wouldn't be able to fix their Windows machines when they go wonky either.

I just know that Ubuntu is the closest linux I've seen that I'm ready for.

Thanks for being part of a living community!

[poofyhairguy]

As far as any linux being 'ready for the desktop' you'd have to ask: could my gf or mother do any of this? I'd have to honestly say no, they wouldn't be able to do it, but then, they wouldn't be able to fix their Windows machines when they go wonky either.


With honest insight like this, you are always welcome here!

[lotusleaf]

In addition to the sites referenced above for Linux gaming, check out:

http://icculus.org/lgfaq/gamelist.php
http://www.linux-gamers.net/modules/news/

[hashimoto]

If you are interested in flight simulators, you could also try the free Flightgear.

http://www.flightgear.org/

Runs on linux too, and if I recall correctly it should be found in repos so you can install it with apt-get/Synaptic.