# What to do in Ubuntu ?



## wolf2009 (Aug 14, 2008)

I'm new to this Linux and its variants.

For the first time I'm stepping out of coziness of Windows . What do you guys use Linux for ?

Also I'm in college, will be doing Computer Science Engineering (Programming) . Anything to learn you guys can suggest ?

Already know a bit of C++, Photoshop.


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## xfire (Aug 14, 2008)

Same thing you use windows for(except gaming).


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 14, 2008)

xfire said:


> Same thing you use windows for(except gaming).



Indeed, it's the OS. You run other applications on top of it. Which can be anything.


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## Egneil (Aug 15, 2008)

games seem to be the weakest aspect of linux, but it's a lot safer online than windows


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## pagalms (Aug 15, 2008)

It takes some skills, but gaming is also available in linux. GeForce overclocking too


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 16, 2008)

Egneil said:


> games seem to be the weakest aspect of linux, but it's a lot safer online than windows



It's not a weakness of Linux itself. Developers usually simply don't bother with it since the market is too small compared to Windows. Similar to a Mac, they're perfectly capable though developers usually don't bother.


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## theJesus (Aug 17, 2008)

Top uses for linux that I've seen/done:

Hacking/programming
Server (any sort)
Networking in general
To be 1337


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## Snipermonkey2 (Aug 17, 2008)

Unreal runs in Linux and more games are slowing coming to the market for linux. For the time being run Wine most games will run through that.


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## MilkyWay (Aug 18, 2008)

Unreal Tournament 3 should be out on linux this year, its possibly a gem for those that want to make a dedicated server since linux is the best for that, plus it might be faster


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## iamajunky (Aug 18, 2008)

+1 I've been using linux for years for dedicated server setups, I mean it barely uses any resources my servers run so smooth with no studders even on a single core processor, and command line is insane you can do anything you want with linux through terminalx not too mention kde or gnome, I perfer gnome, but kde makes for a easire transition from windows to linux. Try finding a free ebook site or tutorials. Terminal is very important to know how to use for like updates with software and hardware.


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## xfire (Aug 18, 2008)

The terminal is very powerful in linux. Emule a p2p client run on the terminal(afaik) meaning even lesser resources are used. I sure there will be a torrent client that can run only on the command line making it ideal for low power download machines.


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## zithe (Aug 18, 2008)

WoW runs good in linux. Linux also is good for servers and junk. Another good thing : Free.

Love bad grammar I do.


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2008)

wolf2009 said:


> I'm new to this Linux and its variants.
> 
> For the first time I'm stepping out of coziness of Windows . What do you guys use Linux for ?
> 
> ...



i use ubuntu to frustrate myself.
I've had fun with my laptop lately...
Ubuntu: installer freezes
xubuntu: works, but so many missing features. media playback didnt work
Kubuntu: Works for everything but unstable. Random app crashes that only a restart fixes - sleep and hibernate dont work either

So what i'm using it for is a holdover until i find my XP disk...


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## zithe (Aug 18, 2008)

Mussels said:


> i use ubuntu to frustrate myself.
> I've had fun with my laptop lately...
> Ubuntu: installer freezes
> xubuntu: works, but so many missing features. media playback didnt work
> ...



8.04 is crap. Get 7.10 (ubuntu). 

Best I'd say is Fedora Core 8.


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## Wile E (Aug 18, 2008)

Mussels said:


> i use ubuntu to frustrate myself.
> I've had fun with my laptop lately...
> Ubuntu: installer freezes
> xubuntu: works, but so many missing features. media playback didnt work
> ...



Grab Fedora instead. I like it infinitely better than Ubuntu. I find Ubuntu to be highly overrated.


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## johnnyfiive (Aug 18, 2008)

Don't forget about SuSe!


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## blueskynis (Aug 18, 2008)

I had a good experience with Fedora too


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## zithe (Aug 18, 2008)

blueskynis said:


> I had a good experience with Fedora too



It's nice. I'd like to replace ubuntu but I half filled my HDD. =P


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## mab1376 (Aug 18, 2008)

personally i like the apt package manager in debian based distros way better than the yum package manager in fedora.

other than that their capabilities are equal for the most part. 

i think fedora is a little more up to date on their kernels too, but usually if the system is fully functional that's a menial update.

not to mentions ubuntu's restricted driver manager which makes video card driver installs a snap.


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## Wile E (Aug 18, 2008)

mab1376 said:


> personally i like the apt package manager in debian based distros way better than the yum package manager in fedora.
> 
> other than that their capabilities are equal for the most part.
> 
> ...



Add the Livna repo to fedora, and all the restricted goodies are there for the taking. You don't have to use actually use yum itself, you can just go to add/remove programs. Everything is a one click install. Yum handles dependencies just as well as apt.


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## zithe (Aug 18, 2008)

mab1376 said:


> personally i like the apt package manager in debian based distros way better than the yum package manager in fedora.
> 
> other than that their capabilities are equal for the most part.
> 
> ...



For some reason in ubuntu WoW works and compiz-fusion doesn't while it's the opposite in Fedora 9. I heard F9's 3d acceleration doesn't work yet.


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## panchoman (Aug 19, 2008)

the main reason that games dont run in *nix (os x is unix based btw) is because it doesn't support microsoft's propietary directx. the only games that run natively in *nix are opengl games, which feature inferior graphics compared to games built in directx. also, seeing that directx is propietary to the windows operating system, they also use propierary windows binary files, which are superior to the wine-alternative binaries. therefore to make a game that runs cost-effectively and legally in *nix , you must use opengl and code for both types of binaries.. the other way is to use windows-dlls in wine, to run directx games in linux illegally.


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## Mussels (Aug 19, 2008)

panchoman said:


> the main reason that games dont run in *nix (os x is unix based btw) is because it doesn't support microsoft's propietary directx. the only games that run natively in *nix are opengl games, which feature inferior graphics compared to games built in directx. also, seeing that directx is propietary to the windows operating system, they also use propierary windows binary files, which are superior to the wine-alternative binaries. therefore to make a game that runs cost-effectively and legally in *nix , you must use opengl and code for both types of binaries.. the other way is to use windows-dlls in wine, to run directx games in linux illegally.



exactly right pancho. *IF* other OS's could use directX, we'd be able to game on any OS (Except macs. screw macs  )


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## panchoman (Aug 20, 2008)

Mussels said:


> exactly right pancho. *IF* other OS's could use directX, we'd be able to game on any OS (Except macs. screw macs  )



os x uses darwin linux as its code base(2 outta the four components that power os x are open source) and therefore anything that runs on linux will be able to run on os x with ease.

os's are split 2 ways:
windows-
*nix (unix[solaris is a good ex.] and linux[open source unix])


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## Mussels (Aug 20, 2008)

lol i meant it as a joke. I am aware that the intel macs definately used a unix base as its core.


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 20, 2008)

panchoman said:


> os x uses darwin linux as its code base(2 outta the four components that power os x are open source) and therefore anything that runs on linux will be able to run on os x with ease.
> 
> os's are split 2 ways:
> windows-
> *nix (unix[solaris is a good ex.] and linux[open source unix])



Darwin has nothing to do with Linux, it's derived from BSD.


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## panchoman (Aug 20, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Darwin has nothing to do with Linux, it's derived from BSD.



BSD= unix so its all good  

seeing that darwin is open source tho, made me call it linux..


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 20, 2008)

panchoman said:


> BSD= unix so its all good
> 
> seeing that darwin is open source tho, made me call it linux..



BSD is not UNIX, BSD is BSD, it's UNIX-like though. And being open source has nothing to do with being Linux.


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## panchoman (Aug 20, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> BSD is not UNIX, BSD is BSD, it's UNIX-like though. And being open source has nothing to do with being Linux.



its a branch of unix/unix derivitive. and i know its not linux.


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## mab1376 (Aug 20, 2008)

anyone have any good documentation on starting with BSD?


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## EnglishLion (Aug 20, 2008)

Well, back to topic.  I used ubuntu to see if I could.  Then I used it to create a media server for my network.  Then just for fun I decided to install Ubuntu onto a 4GB USB flash drive so that I could take ubuntu with me where ever I go.  As for real life uses, not really found one yet, the only advantage I've found over windows is that it's free.

I like the way you get a long list of software that you can install and you just tick the ones you want, it's like on-line shopping without the checkout section.


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