Two years ago today my family made the switch from Windows to Ubuntu. This wasn't an overnight decision, and it wasn't without complications. At the time we only had one desktop in our home (now we have a couple of laptops as well) and I intended to set it up to dual-boot. Unfortunately, what I didn't know was that the version of BIOS on the desktop didn't recognize USB connections,
so it wouldn't respond to keystrokes from the USB keyboard. And no, there was no other type of port available. By late that evening a couple of years ago we were set up with Ubuntu 8.10 fully installed on our family desktop. Although I did install Windows in Virtualbox for my son's games, other than that we've been an Ubuntu-only household since then.
Perhaps you are considering "making the switch" as well, and aren't sure where to start. Every Linux enthusiast has his or her favorite
distro, and I'm certainly no exception. Let me introduce you briefly to the Debian family.
First, there's
Debian. Recently I moved over to this distro, and then moved back to Ubuntu. It's a lot of work.
Some Linux snobs would say "good!" to that, because they seem to think everyone should become an experienced computer hacker. In any event, the Debian OS requires you to think before you even install it. You need to be pretty familiar with what type of hardware you have, as the install CD you'll burn will vary depending on that information. As you go through the installation there are several steps, certainly not the thing for a complete newbie, and after installation you may have trouble with proprietary drivers that are missing. On that last point I couldn't get the wireless going on my laptop with Debian until I had updated my sources list, downloaded and compiled the proprietary Broadcom driver. Debian is pretty ideological when it comes to "free, open source" software. If you have already used some distro of GNU/Linux, you might like trying Debian just so it will push you a little to learn more.
Debian receives code and other collaboration from a broad, worldwide community consisting of corporations and individuals.
Second, for those comfortable with computers but not too Linux-savvy, there's
Ubuntu. This is easy. Just download and burn the Ubuntu image to CD/DVD and reboot the computer with the CD in. You'll be booted into the live environment and be able to test out Ubuntu without installing. Most things should already work from the live CD. If you choose to install, there's an "install now" icon on the desktop, and the process only asks you the sort of questions you should easily have answers to, like your time zone and language preference. Once installed, most things should work right away, though you may need to download Java and flash plug-ins. The wireless problem I mentioned above with Debian? No problem with Ubuntu. It will prompt you with the option to install the non-open source driver. Only slightly ideological, and very practical.
Ubuntu isn't a "fork" of the Debian project, but is based on, and depends on, Debian. At the same time, some code is provided to the Debian project by Ubuntu developers (including from
Canonical, the company that backs Ubuntu)
Third, for your tech-unsavvy friend or relative there's
Linux Mint. This beauty is based on Ubuntu directly, remixed for ease of installation and use. Video and other features should be active with this distro right out of the box, and Windows users may find the desktop configuration more familiar.
There are many other Linux distros out there, including re-mixes and re-workings of Debian, but these are the three with which I'm familiar. Try them out. Why pay a fortune for Mac or keep suffering with Windows?
See Also: Of Making Many Distros (or Remixes) There Is No End (IgneousQuill.net)
Carl, I vaguely remember burning a cd of LMDE, but I don't remember what I thought about it. I'll have to give it another look soon.
ReplyDelete