Running like a Dream. Or is that a Gazelle?

So yesterday was a bit frustrating. I couldn't get the wireless card to work and spent hours trying to edit stuff in terminal and messing about.

So then I did a clean install, enabled the ATI and Broadcomm drivers in Hardware Drivers, installed WICD wireless driver with Synaptics Package Manager (following instructions on Ubuntu community page) (rebooted, inserted information, rebooted. worked.)

Turned off graphic effects in 'Appearance' to remove the flicker on Tux Racer.

Ran the updates. Installed Skype. Installed Flash player - OMG - you just double click the packages and they self install just like on windoze ...

Browser works great.

So far... brilliant. I've installed Wine and will install World of Warcraft though I'm not sure that this poorly-supported graphics card is going to cut it - if not, that's okay. All the rest of my net browsing, chatting and writing I can do right here in a lovely clean Ubuntu install.

No endless popups telling me my identity manager is ready for use and my wireless is on. (duh, there's a blue light....). No security or update programs suddenly activating when I'm in the middle of something else.

My advice to new users is to SEE WHAT UBUNTU DOES FIRST before you go trying to edit and compile and all that good linux geeky stuff - it seems to me that Ubuntu is a very noob-friendly interface.

I think the wireless connection may even be faster than it was on windows...

Happy camper! ):P

when you're a windows person, be careful about doing anything. i know you windows people think you have the advantage. but you don't. have someone set up a linux box for you, just like when you bought a windows box. chances are you didn't install windows yourself.

i have seen several people that said they use linux and love it, yet they set up a computer for the unwashed masses (their family) and installed windows. that's unacceptable. if it was my house, linux would be the the default.(it is, they have no choice unless they want to pay the bills) am i the only person to take control of my household? it seems alot of guys wear the panties because their 2 yr old daughter needs barbie game. and it's only available on windows. the next time i hear someone has to dual boot because of some obscure BS, i'll puke.

wolfen69 said: when you're a windows person, be careful about doing anything. i know you windows people think you have the advantage. but you don't. have someone set up a linux box for you, just like when you bought a windows box. chances are you didn't install windows yourself.

I really don't understand what you're saying here. Do you mean that because I don't yet know what I'm doing with linux, that I shouldn't be using it?

Certainly while making a lot of mistakes yesterday, I learned a lot of stuff. I've used the command line quite a bit before, it's just that some of the functions I don't understand, and I'm still figuring out where everything goes. I grew up with Dos and Windows 3.1

I've installed from scratch several Windows boxes (and installed linux, partitioned disks, and had to run Wipeout to get rid of said partition...)

How is being a windows person an advantage? For a newbie trying to set up, if there's easier ways to do things - a package that will find your wireless for you - that's quite helpful.

I'd be keen to do more in terminal and install things manually, but unfortunately a lot of the how-tos assume existing knowledge and can be really hard to follow.

they'll say "edit blahblah.conf and add the line xyz"

HOW do I edit it??? (google again... gedit... ok... but it opens in a blank box and gives an error mesage....or if you do find it, WHERE do you put that line? at the end? at the beginning?) ... you get the idea... it's often as clear as mud.

Which i might add is not really a complaint as such - I realize if I want to be able to tinker with the nuts and bolts of linux that I have to learn which spanner (wrench) to use.

As always a lot of people are using linux as though it was windows, and finding it frustrating. It's not really an automated 'plug and play' system just yet... but nearly as my experience today shows.

For that matter I find windows mindbogglingly frustrating at times - trying to do a simple task, like moving files around, on Vista - EURGH. XP was okay. I still love my Mac.

wolfen69 said: i have seen several people that said they use linux and love it, yet they set up a computer for the unwashed masses (their family) and installed windows. that's unacceptable. if it was my house, linux would be the the default.(it is, they have no choice unless they want to pay the bills) am i the only person to take control of my household? it seems alot of guys wear the panties because their 2 yr old daughter needs barbie game. and it's only available on windows. the next time i hear someone has to dual boot because of some obscure BS, i'll puke.

What's with this 'wear the panties' nonsense? Are you trying to be offensive?

I'm glad I'm not in your family if you regard them as unwashed masses.

I'll go to the ends of the earth for my family.

If I want to dual boot so I can run a windows game what business is that of yours?

wolfen69 said: when you're a windows person, be careful about doing anything. i know you windows people think you have the advantage. but you don't. have someone set up a linux box for you, just like when you bought a windows box. chances are you didn't install windows yourself.

I completely and totally disagree with this sentiment. I spent fourteen years breaking Windows over and over to learn it, and I've spent two or three breaking Ubuntu. How can you possibly, truly understand things like partitioning and editing GRUB, say, for dual boot if you've never done them?

I know wolfen runs his own business, so maybe that's the businessman in him talking (don't *you* do it...bring it to *me*!).

I say, if you want to learn Ubuntu and at least be competent enough to know which questions are the ones to ask when/if you *do* have a problem, you need to get your hands dirty, and you need to install the damn thing yourself.

It's the only way you truly learn. :P

Just my .02c, anyway. :)