Jaunty Jackalope: Findings

One observable improvement on my IBM Thinkpad R50e is that KDE 4.0 appears to run smoother than before. I used to be on Gnome Desktop previously, but now I've switched to KDE because it is running fine.

Nothing more that I could find interesting to report, one that of a Linux newbie.

God speed,
Schumi

Ubuntu 9.04 - Jaunty Jackalope

Version 9.04 is out! Codenamed Jaunty Jackalope offers better boot times, greater productivity and an improved user experience. What are you waiting for? Go, get it! Web links are given below for the appropriate user groups:

Fresh Beginners

• Torrents - Better speeds, resume download facilities
• Direct Download - From a server near you.

Existing Users (Only 8.10 users)

• Upgrade

Good. Once you have 9.10 installed on your desktop, tell me how it feels.

God speed,
Schumi

Moving On

Well well well.. there has been a long delay since my last post. My work timings have taken the toll on my ability to post not only on this blog, but also on Wikipedia. Oh, maybe, I have not mentioned it here previously. Nonetheless, let me get to directly get to the stage after the installation. Installation Linux distros has never been easier. Check out some of these web links for detailed instructions for installing Ubuntu on your computer.

• Ubuntu Screencasts
• Ubuntu Clips
  

Here on, I'll assume that you have installed Ubuntu successfully. Moving on, let me start suggesting you with a few things that one could do to make it more appropriate for one's usage.

The Looks: Ubuntu comes, by default, with a Gnome Desktop. To explain what this means, I'll direct you to the concept of Graphical User Interface. Remember, Linux distros are customization products from the standard Linux Kernel. Whether it is Ubuntu, Red Hat or SuSE, each has it's own way of functioning and offer features for its user. The programs and commands are compiled in the standard Linux Kernel though. Coming back to the Gnome Desktop, I would suggest the fashionistas to go fetch some eye candy at Gnome-Look.org.

After customization, here is what my desktop looks like. Do you have one of yours to share?

God speed,
Schumi

Live CD

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

Why Ubuntu?

The last time I wrote, I left it a point where most of us are usually left wondering – the red or the green pill. The red pill, in this case the Linux Penguin, appealed to me all the more. And why? With more than 10 years of my marriage with Windows, I was getting disgusted and frustrated at how my dear ThinkPad was being smacked and whacked internally by Windows. On a funny note, it gets as crazy as the following in Windows.

Getting back to the real reasons, I think the most compelling of my grievances about Windows was about how slower and weaker my system became over the years. I really could not just stay patient for Windows to load up programs or even boot and stabilize despite feeding it with 1.2 Gigs of RAM! It was more like a an old hag that hung on to my life, while I was left to fend for myself. I decided to venture out of this relationship and explore the most viable Linux OS available.

Ubuntu happens to be the most-popular Linux distribution available at present. Considered to be top the list of best Linux releases of 2008, Ubuntu 8.10 is suggested to be the best-available distribution for beginning Linux users. In one of his interviews, one of Samba software's key technologist had to say the following when asked about what Linux distribution is popular worldwide:

SUSE was created in Germany and is very strong there. Red Hat is from North Carolina, on the east coast of America, and is very strong in the US. Ubuntu seems to be more third world; I don't know. Then of course there's Red Flag in China, so maybe you're seeing the beginning of national distros, or wider geographical areas. I'm not sure about that, though, because Ubuntu seems to have transcended it.

-- Jeremy Allison in the Linux Format magazine

Furthermore, he said, "Ubuntu has the strongest chance to take Linux mainstream". These subtle pointers were sufficient for me to get into trying it out. My next post will take you through how one can try the Live CD. Until then, here's a preview of the Live CD Cover to get you geared up!

God speed,
Schumi

About Ubuntu

What is Ubuntu? For this, let me refer to the Ubuntu documentation, which is produced here in verbatim:

Ubuntu is a South African ethical ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Ubuntu (pronounced "oo-BOON-too") is seen as a traditional African concept, is regarded as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance.

A rough translation of the principle of Ubuntu is "humanity towards others". Another translation could be: "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

-- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

As a platform based on Linux, the Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of ubuntu to the software world.

Pretty interesting, eh? To begin with, one can refer to this documentation for details about:

• Why is it a free software?
• How is it different from other Linux distributions?

Now, I had a fair idea about it's background. Just to make sure that a newbie like me doesn't find the Windows-to-Linux transition repulsive, I checked out the internet for the most-popular (easiest-to-use) Linux distribution. Here is a random list of the 3 most-popular distributions.

1. Fedora
2. OpenSuse
3. Ubuntu
   

All was well.. until, I had to make a choice - Linux/Windows! Maybe, you'll need to as well! :-) My next post will delve into a few reasons why I chose Ubuntu over the others. Until then, here's something emulating the dilemma of Keanu Reeves' character, Neo, in The Matrix.


God speed,
Schumi

The Struggle That Went Behind

I was not quite sure what I'd call myself when I start using a Linux distribution. I'd a few options at hand:

• A simple Linux User
• A whoever, why should I care?!
• A Linux Junkie

Though I don't smoke pot, the word "junkie" seemed to draw my attention many a time ;-) Anyways, that's the story behind my blog title. Since some of my friends are quite interested to see how Ubuntu performs over a period of time - my laptop is sort of their guinea pig. I hope to scribble some of my experiences while using, configuring and customizing Linux every once in a while.

It might be worthwhile to write about how my tryst with Linux began and how I ended up being its user.

Given that I had about 10 years of experience at using a computer with the Operating System (OS) being (yeah, you guessed it..) Windows! Here's a chronology of my experience:

1995 - 1999: Windows 95
1999 - 2003: Windows 98
2003 - 2004: Windows 2003/XP
2004 - 2008: Windows XP Professional

December 2005: I bought my first laptop - IBM Thinkpad R50e - Pentium M 725 (1.6 GHz), 768 MB RAM (customized), 40 GB 4200 rpm HDD, 15" 1024x768 LCD, Intel Extreme Graphics, CD-RW/DVD-R, Intel 802.11bg wireless, Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 6c Li-Ion battery, WinXP Professional.


Now I'm like any typical user of Windows. Here are some of my grudges against it.

• Adjust. Whatever its look/feel be, I had to be contended with it. Why? Because I didn't have a choice. If I tried out some themes like WindowBlinds, etc., it added to my memory load and it didn't serve my laptop well.
  
• Slower and Weaker. With every passing day, I always felt that my Windows OS got slower. I never knew why. Alongside, I felt the need to constantly upgrade my RAM. I somehow attributed this to growing complexity of modern-day applications, which is true in many case.
• Virus attacks! Yes, this is one thing that I learned to be cautious about. Though Norton Antivirus was "fed" to me since 1999 or so, I was never completely satisfied with its capability. It, somehow, had minor chinks in its defense mechanism that led me to suffer from viruses/malware/trojans. Luckily for me, while at the University, I had the option of purchasing McAfee Antivrus at a student price. I felt a little bit relaxed with this, however, a really bad, bad attack in the Spring of 2006 led me to install AVG Antivirus Free alongside it for my-personal-foolproof-system. However, an experienced user will realize that running two anti-virus software programs will be severe on the computer's memory.
  
• Reinstallation. This was a nightmare. Though my ThinkPad had a recovery partition, which formats, installs the OS and drivers, the whole process takes about 1 hour. On top of that, I have to install each and every software program to customize the laptop to my liking. For all of these software programs like VLC Player, Azureus BitTorrent Client, AVG Antivirus (of course!!), MS Office, etc., to be installed, it took a few more hours. I reckon that anyone will vouch for this!

It was the Summer of 2006. I was pursuing my Master's degree in College Station, TX at that time. The Summer Semester was quite laid-back as I did not take any credits. My roommate and good friend was at his geeky best during that Summer. He had downloaded/ordered Live CDs from the internet and was trying out one such Linux distribution. Whenever I was around, he used to showcase how superior it was compared to Windows. He even offered to give me some Live CDs. I somehow was quite reluctant at that time due to many inhibitions such as

• It appears to be Unix-based OS - What do I know about Unix?
• I'll probably take a lot of time to get used to it. Why take the trouble?!
• What if I have issues with it? There is no toll-free number for me to reach out to.

Soon I got busy with my thesis and time flew. Towards the end of the 2006 Fall Semester, I'd acquired Live CDs of the Ubuntu Linux Distribution. I went for it with the recommendation of my roommate. The best part was that I probably shelled out just $5-10 for the postage and I had at least 5-6 Live CDs along with Ubuntu vanity stickers. Not that I was going to try it out, but I wanted to have them with me in case I happen to try it at a later stage.

Fast-forward to present: Time flew and it was 2008 - a little more than 2 years since I purchased my laptop & exactly 2 years after I reinstalled my OS after the Spring 2006 Virus Attack.

I did not really like the amount of time my Windows XP OS took to boot. I got used to the habit of powering my laptop on, completing my morning rituals, and then come back to see it ready for any use. I have a fair bit of an idea about how systray (System Tray) functions and one can customize it. On several occasions, I attempted to remove applications that hogged the RAM, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.


I installed an application called as the FreeRAM XP Pro, a free Windows-based utility, that frees up the RAM (through an optimization algorithm??). It has a nice visual icon in the systray that showed the amount of RAM available for your applications. As I got used to this tool, I realized as to how Windows kept using my RAM on a constant basis, over a period of time. I thought that Slower and Weaker meant that my laptop configuration was about 2.5 years old and hence needed additional impetus.

I ordered and installed an additional 1 GB RAM for my IBM ThinkPad. Though I have not upgraded it fully to the maximum 1.5 GB, the effective RAM in the current stage is 1.2 GB on my laptop. Despite the additional 512 MB RAM, my laptop's behavior was the same - only that I offered Windows additional memory for supper. I felt disgusted and irritated.

The Day of Reckoning!
It was December 17, 2008. While I was flipping my CD pages, I found the Ubuntu Live CDs that I ordered way back in 2006. I chose to try it out and see how it felt. Here's a short preview of Ubuntu before anything else.


More later in the next post. Now, you'll believe that I'm not really a Linux Junkie. In fact, I'm just teething now!

God speed,
Schumi