Okay. Sorry, I could not get back to writing any further since the past few weeks. Anyways, let me get back to where I left it behind. Since I already had Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake Live CDs, it was imperative for me to try it first. Let me first explain to you the terminology behind the version number and the name following it. It's pretty simple, in fact.
If the version number be 7.04, then the number 7 means that it was a release in the year 2007. 04 refers to the month of April in which it was released. Dapper Drake refers to the code name of the release. The naming also follows a convention. It consists of two words - first being an adjective and the second being an animal, whose first letter is same as the former's. Furthermore, the next alphabet is chosen for the next release. There were exceptions to this, though, but those were quite early on in the Ubuntu project. I'll enlist the previous releases just to be more clear on this.
1. Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog - October 2004 (first commercial release)
2. Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary Hedgehog - April 2005
3. Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger - October 2005
4. Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake - April 2006
5. Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft - October 2006
6. Ubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn - April 2007
7. Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon - October 2007
8. Ubuntu 8.04 Herdy Heron - April 2008
9. Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex - October 2008 (latest release)
Obviously with every release, the developer team keeps bettering either the kernel or several user applications & utlities.
I said commercial earlier. Now those new to Linux, but have heard/read somewhere that Linux is open-source might question me about this. Yes, true. What you've heard still holds good. But there are companies which can still benefit from Linux by offering commercial technical support. This support can be, and is usually, purchased by companies using Linux extensively. Trust me. In fact, you can try downloading any of the Linux releases for free. If you think that you'd rather have the Live CD directly instead of downloading it, then you may order the CDs. Here is the weblink where you can do so for free!: https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ From the FAQ, I guess that this is available for shipment across the world. Maybe you can try if you like!
Okay now, let me get down to the Live CD itself. Bear in mind, this stays good for almost all Linux distributions such as SuSe/Red Hat. Most computers have the boot sequence set with CD/DVD Drive as the first and then followed by the Hard Disk Drive and others. In such cases, you don't have to do anything but insert the Live CD into the drive and boot the system. Your system should automatically read the CD contents and prepare itself for starting up Ubuntu. Once it is ready, it will present you a list of options. The following image shall clearly show you the same.
Select the first option to begin evaluating Ubuntu without any changes being made to your computer. It'll take a few seconds to start up and present itself to you. You'll find the default desktop as the following:
Here you shall be able to explore the GUI and several user applications and utilities. After exploring it to your heart's content, if you think you'd want to give it a shot, then the install option is present right on your live session desktop. If not, then click on the red power button which is rightmost on the upper taskbar. You'll be promptly escorted out and once the closing down sequence is complete, you'll be asked to eject the CD to reboot the system.
In my case, I went ahead and proceed to install Ubuntu on my computer. How to go about it shall form the crux of my next post. Oh, and by the way, happy new year!
God speed,
Schumi
If the version number be 7.04, then the number 7 means that it was a release in the year 2007. 04 refers to the month of April in which it was released. Dapper Drake refers to the code name of the release. The naming also follows a convention. It consists of two words - first being an adjective and the second being an animal, whose first letter is same as the former's. Furthermore, the next alphabet is chosen for the next release. There were exceptions to this, though, but those were quite early on in the Ubuntu project. I'll enlist the previous releases just to be more clear on this.
1. Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog - October 2004 (first commercial release)
2. Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary Hedgehog - April 2005
3. Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger - October 2005
4. Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake - April 2006
5. Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft - October 2006
6. Ubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn - April 2007
7. Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon - October 2007
8. Ubuntu 8.04 Herdy Heron - April 2008
9. Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex - October 2008 (latest release)
Obviously with every release, the developer team keeps bettering either the kernel or several user applications & utlities.
I said commercial earlier. Now those new to Linux, but have heard/read somewhere that Linux is open-source might question me about this. Yes, true. What you've heard still holds good. But there are companies which can still benefit from Linux by offering commercial technical support. This support can be, and is usually, purchased by companies using Linux extensively. Trust me. In fact, you can try downloading any of the Linux releases for free. If you think that you'd rather have the Live CD directly instead of downloading it, then you may order the CDs. Here is the weblink where you can do so for free!: https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ From the FAQ, I guess that this is available for shipment across the world. Maybe you can try if you like!
Okay now, let me get down to the Live CD itself. Bear in mind, this stays good for almost all Linux distributions such as SuSe/Red Hat. Most computers have the boot sequence set with CD/DVD Drive as the first and then followed by the Hard Disk Drive and others. In such cases, you don't have to do anything but insert the Live CD into the drive and boot the system. Your system should automatically read the CD contents and prepare itself for starting up Ubuntu. Once it is ready, it will present you a list of options. The following image shall clearly show you the same.
Select the first option to begin evaluating Ubuntu without any changes being made to your computer. It'll take a few seconds to start up and present itself to you. You'll find the default desktop as the following:
Here you shall be able to explore the GUI and several user applications and utilities. After exploring it to your heart's content, if you think you'd want to give it a shot, then the install option is present right on your live session desktop. If not, then click on the red power button which is rightmost on the upper taskbar. You'll be promptly escorted out and once the closing down sequence is complete, you'll be asked to eject the CD to reboot the system.In my case, I went ahead and proceed to install Ubuntu on my computer. How to go about it shall form the crux of my next post. Oh, and by the way, happy new year!
God speed,
Schumi
