Ubuntu Operating system

Dark Matter

Dark Matter

Active member
I'm tempted to try out the Ubuntu linux operating system, does anyone else use it and are you using the very latest version released? I'm looking for some feedback about it.

My biggest concern is drivers and compatibility.
 
Linux has come a long way with compatibility. Especially for new users of Linux. I like Debian which Ubuntu is based off of.

Give it a try, before you know it you will be compiling your own kernels :D
 
You should run the live cd like harmor linked to. You will know whether it will work with your system or not. Unless you have chipsets or hardware that just came out within the last month they more then likely have drivers that will work with your system.
 
I used Debian for a while. I liked it. It has good package management. I personally used the stable release.

Ubuntu is simply a relabel of Debian unstable. They fork every release of Debian unstable and call it Ubuntu.

The Ubuntu forums can be a good support resource. I used their forum when I was running Debian. But there is also a lot of bad information there; not everyone on their forum knows what they are talking about.

Dark Matter said:
My biggest concern is drivers and compatibility.
Click to expand...

If you will be playing games then you should have an nVidia graphics cards. nVidia has the best driver support in Linux. Their drivers are closed source which offends some Linux users, but the performance gains are worth it.
 
Debian is the best Linux Distro out there. Stable is stable and reliable... And if you need more recent versions, go testing. Testing isn't as stable as stable would be - according to the devs - but it's a lot more stable than several other distros.

And apt just rocks.

PS: and if you want to have some fun, give sid a try. Sid is like the alpha version. Most current versions and sometimes some funny bugs.
 
Ubuntu, imo, has the best eye candy out of all of the other distros. It is also the easiest to install and use. Like others have said, try it first and see if you like it.
 
Ubuntu is the way to go if you've never used linux before. Very user friendly, plus it's based on Debian, so there is a lot of overlap in how both work and are installed.

If you can get the hang of one, you will be able to use the other without any problems.
 
Something I've noticed with most people who convert to using Linux is that they rarely learn to use the command-line, as you can do most things through the graphical interface.

While Ubuntu is great as an alternative OS (Replacement for Windows or Mac), it really is one of the worst for learning how to use Linux (if that is what you wanted).
 
Forsaken said:
Something I've noticed with most people who convert to using Linux is that they rarely learn to use the command-line, as you can do most things through the graphical interface.

While Ubuntu is great as an alternative OS (Replacement for Windows or Mac), it really is one of the worst for learning how to use Linux (if that is what you wanted).
Click to expand...

This.

Arch > *

I run it on my laptop and my server, and as a VM on my desktop (which runs Windows mainly for gaming purposes). Amazingly it's almost always been flawlessly stable, and because everything is bang up to date I actually have less issues than with standard distros like Ubuntu etc.
 
Darkimmortal said:
This.

Arch > *

I run it on my laptop and my server, and as a VM on my desktop (which runs Windows mainly for gaming purposes). Amazingly it's almost always been flawlessly stable, and because everything is bang up to date I actually have less issues than with standard distros like Ubuntu etc.
Click to expand...
Arch is a good one, but it tends not to be one that isn't user friendly for new users :p, but once you try making Linux user friendly, you get into the same issue as you get with Ubuntu, with it being to easy to use and people never learning to properly use the command-line.
 
There is nothing better then learning to use cli on a linux box at home. You don't have the worries of messing stuff up like you trying to work on your web server through ssh. I personally don't game, I have in the past but I have A.D.D. and loose interest very quickly in a lot of things.

To the OP, you could setup a virtual machine also and run linux inside of that to have more fun with it. If you run it from a live cd you will get to experience it but it will be slow compared to being installed on your system so please don't let that detract from your experience if you do try the live cd.
 
Also if you ever wanted to get an idea of all the distros out there at a quick glance check out distrowatch.com
 
Don't forget LinuxMint. Even easier to use than Ubuntu. I say this since it comes with most things that you would need to install yourself on Ubuntu.

Give it a look.
 
DroidHost said:
great OS try openSUSE
Gnome 3 (y)
Click to expand...
You know, Gnome 3 is pretty nifty, but I'm torn. I'm currently running it off a default Fedora 15 install. It's pretty nice, but... I really don't like the "you must use this one window... or go over here to see the others" approach. I like knowing that I have 3 Firefox windows, or 4 terminals open. I wish it provided multiple displays on the top for each program by default.
Forsaken said:
Something I've noticed with most people who convert to using Linux is that they rarely learn to use the command-line, as you can do most things through the graphical interface.

While Ubuntu is great as an alternative OS (Replacement for Windows or Mac), it really is one of the worst for learning how to use Linux (if that is what you wanted).
Click to expand...
Eh, yes and no. My parents currently have Ubuntu on their lappy and have had no real need to use the terminal. On the other hand, it depends on why people are using it. If you're going by the Torvalds approach: use what gets the job done the best for you. If you're using the Stallman approach: flip the bits using a F/OSS magnet!

You can learn GNU/Linux (oh snap, I went there) using any distro. It's just how much work do they make you do to get to that point. Ubuntu holds your hand and says, "let's go farther when you feel comfortable". Slack says, "if you want to take my hand, you better learn my geneology and the name of my pet when I was 5".
Darkimmortal said:
This.

Arch > *

I run it on my laptop and my server, and as a VM on my desktop (which runs Windows mainly for gaming purposes). Amazingly it's almost always been flawlessly stable, and because everything is bang up to date I actually have less issues than with standard distros like Ubuntu etc.
Click to expand...
:O Another Arch user!!!! I love Arch! I really do :D But I haven't had the success you've had with stability. For some of it, it's because I'm using AUR. But then I run into other issues and dependencies that won't go away. ldconfig was complaining after every pacman call about having 2 links pointing to the same .so file while being a different type. And I still have not had the same success with wine and some windows apps that I had on my ubuntu partition. But yes, Arch + KDE 4 is the nicest thing I've come across in a while :D My own stability issues aside, I still love it :D
 

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