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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Ubuntu - a friendly intro to Linux
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Russell Oaks is an IT professional who has been a guest moderator here before. Feel free to leave questions or comments for him. And, if you’d like to try your hand at the controls as a guest moderator for a day or two, just send me an e-mail at bhusted@ajc.com and tell me briefly about a topic you’d like to take on. Also tell me a bit about yourself. If there’s enough interest out there I’ll try to use a guest moderator once or twice a month. -Bill Husted
Ubuntu is a Linux Operating System that has won more accolades and appreciation from the IT world than any other platform.
It has a user base that is growing faster than any other desktop Linux distribution on the market today, and there is good reason for it. Ubuntu is very user friendly and has a very attractive, intuitive interface that doesn’t take a rocket scientist’s knowledge level to get up and running.
I’ve found that most Linux desktop distributions are easy to use, but the latest version of Ubuntu, also known as Dapper Drake 6.06, is by far the easiest. There are both Mac (PPC) and Intel (i386) versions available for download as disk images that you can place in your CD drive and boot into.
That’s the quickest way to find out if your system is compatible, without damaging or losing any information. If you choose to go ahead with the installation, you double-click on the “Install Ubuntu” icon on your desktop and follow the simple instructions. You’ll have a few opportunities to change your mind if you want to back out of the installation.
One of the biggest advantages to Ubuntu is in fact, its overall popularity. This popularity makes searching for almost anything related to Ubuntu very easy. Whether you are searching for problem resolution or have a “can I run my iPod on Ubuntu” type of issue, you’ll find plenty of information from others who have had similar issues and questions. Ubuntu comes standard with the Gnome Desktop and Gnome applications, but you can add any of your favorite K-based programs at will.
There are other releases that can also be reviewed here. You’ll find Kubuntu, the KDE Desktop-based system, Edubuntu, which has more educational applications and is free for any educational institution, and Xubuntu, which uses the very lightweight XFCE desktop, which is good for performance gains and runs well on low-end and/or older computers.
Here’s the kicker - it’s free, and if you use this website to get yourself started you’ll have a Linux desktop environment that will outperform Vista, Windows or Mac installed on the same system.
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