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epoch 1203997407
Ubuntu'd

Y HELO THAR!

I am posting this from an Ubuntu Desktop box I duct-taped together a couple of days ago. I am a long time Linux dweeb, but I gave it up as a desktop solution years ago after becoming hooked on Mac OS X.

While I've been advocating that everyone I know switch to Mac OS X, I have secretly been courting Ubuntu Desktop 7.10. The verdict so far is good, maybe great... for me. I am loving it. Ubuntu has an amazing level of polish and is over all very usable after you install. The install itself isn't particulary challenging, which is also good news. Some of the visual FX features are very pretty (and some are cool, but totally dumb).

Adding applications is as easy as clicking on Applications -> Add/Remove... and selecting what you want to install. Most of the officially supported apps (under Ubuntu) will then be added to the Applications menu. There is a bit of a gotcha in that you sometimes need to know what you're looking for before you install it. Like for example installing a DVD Player is non-trivial in my opinion, because of some of the restrictions on how DVD software works (the encoding and decoding of DVDs).

The traditional method for installing 3rd party software on your PC is that you either pop in a disk that you have, or you download it from the Internet after searching via your web browser. The Add/Remove utility takes care of pretty much that entire process. You have access to, without exaggeration, hundreds of Open Source applications. An additional cool feature is that the apps are rated, so you can avoid the technically dodgy ones.

There have been problems though. I've had to wipe out my xorg.conf a couple of times now to get it to re-generate after something munged my settings and left my display totally unusable. To do this I had to log in blind so that the Wireless connection would activate, and ssh in (and luckily I had SSHd running) because my screen isn't usable from the command line at all. I've also found that adding a second monitor is difficult enough for me that I've actually backed off and am sticking to just the one. This is a big deal beacuse I'm a dual-monitor junkie.

The above sounds like total gibberish to 99% of the people on this planet, and that's exactly why I can't reccomend Ubuntu to my friends and family yet as a replacement for systems like Windows (or a much cheaper alternative to Mac OS X). This would have been a total show stopper for almost everyone I know save for my fellow sysadmins and propeller-heads.

Overall though, if you're feeling brave, and you want to try something new, Ubuntu 7.10 could win you over. It won't replace my Powerbook yet, but I'm perfectly happy using it as my Desktop until I can afford that iMac I want (h0h0).

   
   
 

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