# Going to give Linux a shot for a while, anything that I should know?



## JC316 (Dec 10, 2007)

I have decided that since I am switching to Vista after Christmas and I am really not playing any games, that I would give Linux a shot for a while.

So far, I am going to go ubuntu 64 bit, with WINE for games. Is there anything specific that I should know? The user guide for ubuntu seems really simple, just like windows, but I don't want any surprises.


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## craigwhiteside (Dec 10, 2007)

ermm , the settings can be a bit fiddly and the ui needs some getting used to. oh be careful when installing it as it can mess up your windows partitions , so make a back up, other than that its pretty straight foward


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## Basard (Dec 10, 2007)

Yeah, there are lots of surprises hehe.  Ubuntu is pretty simple though man, its for real people they say.  I used it before, supposedly they fixed their ATI drivers.  I played diablo in wine though, worked almost perfectly, somewhat scaled back audio though.  Not many people work on support for diablo though, I hear guild wars and WoW work with wine though.  My girlfriend's been using only ubuntu on her dell inspiron, it's been working out alright.


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## JC316 (Dec 10, 2007)

craigwhiteside said:


> ermm , the settings can be a bit fiddly and the ui needs some getting used to. oh be careful when installing it as it can mess up your windows partitions , so make a back up, other than that its pretty straight foward



I am not concerned with my Windows, I am fixing to do a complete format anyway, so it doesn't matter.


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## ChaoticBlankness (Dec 10, 2007)

Don't go Ubuntu X64..   you will see zero good come from it.  Less stable, and harder to get things setup.  with zero reward for effort.  Just stick with Ubuntu x86 (32bit).

Trust me I've been down this road with both 7.04 and 7.10..  it's just not worth it.

*Edit:  As a matter of fact you might be best off with Linux Mint x86 ( http://linuxmint.com/ ).  It's based off Ubuntu 7.10 and thus is software compatible, but it makes setting graphics drivers up allot easier with Envy built in.  Plus an assortment of various tweaks Ubuntu doesn't offer.


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## unsmart (Dec 10, 2007)

I would try a liveCD first to check for any issues, I think Ubuntu has one. I know Linux has some problems with WIFI and 56k modems. I tried a few liveCDs and none would work with my WIFI.


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## Fitseries3 (Dec 10, 2007)

unsmart said:


> I would try a liveCD first to check for any issues, I think Ubuntu has one. I know Linux has some problems with WIFI and 56k modems. I tried a few liveCDs and none would work with my WIFI.



Most distro's have a live CD now. Mint is very good and now comes with compiz/beryl installed at load. linux does have problems with wireless cards...but if you have a name brand card it should work. i DO recommend a high speed internet connection for sure. run the update manager after you install. ALSO... i would suggest using Cedega for windows emulation instead of WINE. good luck, don't give up, and.. have fun. linux is great once you learn how it works.


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## btarunr (Dec 11, 2007)

It would be unwise starting off with a Live CD because as you already know what live CDs are and how they work, you'll find the OS crawing on your system, things taking too long to load, etc. Instead I'd suggest that you maintain your Windows installation, repartition your hard-drive and set out a single 8 GB extended partition. Don't format it. Now start-off with the easiest and most inviting Linux distriution, Ubuntu. Unlike other free distributions like OpenSuSE and Fedora, this is a very slim and easy to install distribution. Install this on the new partition, get a feel of it and use the package manager to download and install from a wealth of applications and games. This is how your love-affair with Linux should begin, slow, intutuve and steady.

Good Luck!


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## btarunr (Dec 11, 2007)

...And if you're going to use Linux for a while, and not playing games, I'd suggest you remove one of your 8800 GTS cards and keep it aside for a while, just to save power. Use the NVidia Xserver driver from its website and be extra careful while installing the driver. Read online documentations and visit as many Linux forums as you can. There really aren't any Linux games that would require the power of two video cards. The best you could do is Unreal Tournament 2004. And even a 8400 GT can give you the best experience.


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## btarunr (Dec 11, 2007)

Ubuntu and unstable? Kma. Ubuntu 64-bit is _the most_ stable Linux distro you can find.

ChaoticBlankness, listen to me buddy, Ubuntu is a really nice piece of software, it's the Firefox of Linux distributions. Slim and no-bullshit.


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## FatForester (Dec 11, 2007)

hey btarunr, the Ubuntu mainstream install disc is both a LiveCD and Install. The main use for it is to see what problems you'll be running into, and what drivers are going to need messing around with.


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## btarunr (Dec 11, 2007)

FatForester said:


> hey btarunr, the Ubuntu mainstream install disc is both a LiveCD and Install. The main use for it is to see what problems you'll be running into, and what drivers are going to need messing around with.



I know. What I was trying to tell him was that he can use it full-fledged with all the device drivers after he installs it. Should he choose to use it as the live-CD, he won't be able to install the drivers as end of each session, changes made should be saved somewhere and that somewhere is the hard-drive and since his hdd has Vista installed and the NTFS file-system, Ubuntu cannot write into an NTFS partition by default. And since we are dealing with a person who's flirting with Linux for the first time, we should encourage him to install it first in on a fresh partition, install all the drivers and then get a feel of it and not a slow live CD that crawls as that could be quite a put-off especially for someone who's using Win Vista.


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## Random Murderer (Dec 11, 2007)

btarunr said:


> I know. What I was trying to tell him was that he can use it full-fledged with all the device drivers after he installs it. Should he choose to use it as the live-CD, he won't be able to install the drivers as end of each session, changes made should be saved somewhere and that somewhere is the hard-drive and since his hdd has Vista installed and the NTFS file-system, Ubuntu cannot write into an NTFS partition by default. And since we are dealing with a person who's flirting with Linux for the first time, we should encourage him to install it first in on a fresh partition, install all the drivers and then get a feel of it and not a slow live CD that crawls as that could be quite a put-off especially for someone who's using Win Vista.



i agree here. when i first tried out linux(it was ubuntu, lol) i tried it using a live cd and was utterly unimpressed because of slowness and lag. i decided to install it on a computer much older than the one i tried the live cd on and was surprised at how smooth and responsive it was.
stay away from live cd's, they'll turn you off from linux, i almost never tried linux again, but i'm glad i did!


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## JC316 (Dec 11, 2007)

I have both ubuntu 64 and linuxmint 32, I will give them both a shot lol. Thanks for the advice everyone.


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## JC316 (Dec 11, 2007)

Gave linux mint a shot on the live cd that I made. It was very nice, but I am going to try ubuntu next and see what happens.


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## panchoman (Dec 11, 2007)

ubuntu is really nice


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## JC316 (Dec 12, 2007)

Posting from Linux mint. I had ubuntu 64 installed and had some bugs, like my ATI driver not working right. Fixing to install the driver for linux mint, see if it does any better.


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## panchoman (Dec 12, 2007)

what version of ubuntu did you use? i think i used either 32 bit or 64 bit(probably) ubuntu gusty gibbon tribe 4, the inbuilt drivers worked great, didn't need to install ccc and all of that.


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## JC316 (Dec 12, 2007)

well, my first linux experience wasn't good at all. Everything worked great, except for those damned drivers. Too bad too, cause I REALLY liked it.


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## Wile E (Dec 12, 2007)

Am I one of the only ones that thinks that Ubuntu is a bit overhyped? I find Fedora just as easy to use.


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## btarunr (Dec 12, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Am I one of the only ones that thinks that Ubuntu is a bit overhyped? I find Fedora just as easy to use.



Fedora doesn't come in a single CD that can start off as a live CD and that you can install with a few clicks. Ubuntu deserves the hype.


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## Wile E (Dec 12, 2007)

btarunr said:


> Fedora doesn't come in a single CD that can start off as a live CD and that you can install with a few clicks. Ubuntu deserves the hype.


Not really. I want all the extra features Fedora has on the disk.

The biggest thing I hate about Ubuntu is how it lacks a true root. Thus, it's folder layout isn't standard. Some programs don't play well with this layout, unless they are custom compiled for Ubuntu, or you have to go thru some other weird workaround.

Ubuntu doesn't deserve the hype in my book.


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## btarunr (Dec 12, 2007)

For people like you who have a good know-how of Linux, I'd suggest Fedora or the superior OpenSuSE. But for Windows users who are just giving Linux a try, Ubunu is the way to go.


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## ChaoticBlankness (Dec 12, 2007)

btarunr said:


> Ubuntu and unstable? Kma. Ubuntu 64-bit is _the most_ stable Linux distro you can find.
> 
> ChaoticBlankness, listen to me buddy, Ubuntu is a really nice piece of software, it's the Firefox of Linux distributions. Slim and no-bullshit.



Ok "buddy", any X64 linux is less stable than the x86 equivalent..  and on top of that it makes software and drivers a pain in the ass as it forces you to compile source if a x64 binary isn't offered.  For someone wanting to just get into linux needing to compile more stuff just to use it is a bad idea.  Think baby steps.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Dec 12, 2007)

For now, stick with 32bit, i've been having trouble with 64bit linux.  Software compatibility = major fail.


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## JC316 (Dec 12, 2007)

Tried both 32 and 64, both had the exact same problem with the ATI Drivers. It's so incredibly sad, due to how easy it is to install stuff and get the OS installed, plus everything in my system worked just fine witht eh built in drivers, except for my video card.


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## panchoman (Dec 12, 2007)

jc, are you trying to install ccc? the built in drivers are fine


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## JC316 (Dec 13, 2007)

panchoman said:


> jc, are you trying to install ccc? the built in drivers are fine



No they aren't. The max resolution is 1280x1024 and my monitor runs 1680x1050. I was trying to install the restricted drivers that for the card.


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## DIBL (Dec 17, 2007)

RE: Ubuntu Linux video driver issues - being lazy, I download the Envy script installer from *here*  You want the file "envy_0.9.9-0ubuntu2_all.deb" -- just download it to your Desktop and right-click it to install it. It will do the dirty work of installing the ATI or Nvidia driver for you.

RE: 64-bit "unstable" -- no, that's not true at all, it's just as stable as the 32-bit architecture, for any given Ubuntu version.  There are some cases of 64-bit packages that are still "missing in action", however.  Java Runtime Environment (JRE) comes to mind, and some media players like the one on Rhapsody.com.  There aren't a lot of those cases, but if you gotta have one of them, then maybe you'd rather run 32-bit.

RE: Lacks a "true root" -- I suppose so, although if you enter "sudo su" and give your password, the resulting "user" is a pretty close approximation of a true root, IMO.

If you're not a KDE-hater, you might want to give Mepis 7 a look -- it is to be released later this week.  I'm running the RC2 version and it seems very stable (as Etch should be ....).


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## Wile E (Dec 18, 2007)

DIBL said:


> RE: Lacks a "true root" -- I suppose so, although if you enter "sudo su" and give your password, the resulting "user" is a pretty close approximation of a true root, IMO.


Yeah, it will allow you to perform tasks as if you logged in as root from the get go, but the root folder is still missing, so anything that requires it, has to be tweaked to work in Ubuntu.


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## btarunr (Dec 18, 2007)

sudo wouldn't respond to the init command when changing run-level.

I had problems installing NVidia GLX. 

The installer asks for root, and that the x-server to be not running when installing the xorg driver.

That's what I hate ubuntu the most. I later did a work-around and it worked.


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## DIBL (Dec 18, 2007)

btarunr said:


> I had problems installing NVidia GLX.
> 
> The installer asks for root, and that the x-server to be not running when installing the xorg driver.



No offense, but it sounds like you really did it the hard way.  

Here are three MUCH easier ways:

1. For Gutsy, just use the Restricted Driver Manager.
2. Use Adept or Synaptic to install the nvidia-glx package.
3. Use the Beryl script installer (link above).


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## btarunr (Dec 18, 2007)

DIBL said:


> No offense, but it sounds like you really did it the hard way.
> 
> Here are three MUCH easier ways:
> 
> ...



I did exactly that before and crashed the X-server despite spending hours on ubuntu related forums. After that, I did it in the nice old-fashioned way "The way it's meant to be installed" ....in Linux, came across this sudo roadblock, later worked around.


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## Dandel (Dec 18, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Yeah, it will allow you to perform tasks as if you logged in as root from the get go, but the root folder is still missing, so anything that requires it, has to be tweaked to work in Ubuntu.



only need to type the command... sudo -i to login to root under the sudo based environment, and strangely the folder /root exists on my ubuntu box.


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## Wile E (Dec 19, 2007)

Dandel said:


> only need to type the command... sudo -i to login to root under the sudo based environment, and strangely the folder /root exists on my ubuntu box.



I haven't tried ubuntu's latest releases, so it may have changed, but the last time I did, it didn't have /root, and if yo u created it, it didn't use it like a normal linux distro. Either way, I wish they would go to a standard root. I hate having 2 ways of doing things. The Linux way, and the Ubuntu way. I think it's silly they feel they needed to change it.


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## Dandel (Dec 19, 2007)

I always had it... and i've been using it since version 5.06, with a reinstall at each major release since that.


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## DIBL (Dec 20, 2007)

Ubuntu/Kubuntu does indeed include a /root directory, but it is also a fact that it doesn't enforce the "root privileges" in the same manner as other Debian or Red Hat Linuces do.  Instead, it uses the concept of "Super User" aka "su" to provide one-time root privileges to the logged-in user with the installation password.  I didn't have a ton of prior experience with Unix, so it wasn't a huge adaptation to get used to "sudo" this and that. It's not a bad system for a single-user workstation, IMHO, but I can see that it's not so great for a system administrator on a multi-user network.


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