Ubuntu 8.10 and loving it

ok, maybe the opinion of someone only a week into linux isnt a considerable addition to this forum, but i wanted my 2p, since im seeing a lot of much more experienced users really hating this Intrepid Ibex.

Im still green behind the ears from the usual life of XP, but i feel my computer is performing better, im not reliant on resource hungry virus/spyware/firewall products, which aint cheap nonetheless, proudly, with a great deal of advice taken from this forum, i got wow running. must admit, the experience so far is daunting, but its been exciting to learn this new OS, and the feeling of pride i get from learning the new ways of computing with wine,the terminal and the plethora of open source applications is great - what can i say, I love this operating system! tomorrow, the same distro is going on my fathers computer - because as long as im the one with that root password, i know even he cant break it :lolflag:

i highly recommend the ubuntu experience, its a fair challenge, but so rewarding, you get out what you put in, and i love that

Good post! You know, you tend to get people with problems in forums and that tends to make one think that Intrepid has had a rough start. I think there's a pretty happy silent majority out there though (not to sound Nixonian). I've been using Ubuntu since Dapper (6.06) and I love Intrepid Ibex. There are some great new features (a tabbed file browser that rocks), it's fast and stable.

i would imagine that this new release isnt as stable as the previous ubuntu versions, of which i would have no experience with, so i wouldnt be able to comment of the opinion of the long term linux user.

all i can say to anyone who wants to escape microshaft, give it a go, its worth it, especially if you like tinkering with things you dont fully understand :D

either way, i ran into very few problems, a quick update of the video drivers, which was basically done for me via UI when i jacked up the appearance settings - and changing the common icons such as folders, doesnt seem to work after i set it in appearance, which is barely an issue, just considered it worthy of note. The other thing was the easy eve online install, which looked great until i tried running the game :P might just have to run it through wine since its proving excellent with everything else :D

ambidextrousone said: i would imagine that this new release isnt as stable as the previous ubuntu versions, of which i would have no experience with, so i wouldnt be able to comment of the opinion of the long term linux user.

Well, I've used five previous Ubuntu releases. Dapper kicked ***. Edgy was the as the a name implies, flaky as hell (I'm glad that Edgy wasn't my first Ubuntu experience; it might have been my last). Fiesty was a little better than Edgy. Gutsy was a big step forward. Hardy was a huge step up and was the most stable out of the gate. At first, I had a video problem on Intrepid, but it was easily fixed, and now my video is better than at any point previous in terms of 3d rendering and Compiz stability. The network manager is awesome and the wireless manager beats the tar out of XP.

since i have your knowledge here on tap, id like to see your opinion on something vgr, sorry if the questions are weak, or well documented, i just prefer a proper opinion ^^

since im still really new to this whole linux way of things, i was wondering if kubuntu would be worth a look in the near future, visually, KDE looks very appealing, but my main reason behind my move to ubuntu was security and stability, and remains the case, am i on the right distro?

and also, im not a huge fan of transmission, is there any other torrent clients that you might be able to suggest, based on speed and again, stability :lolflag:

finally, would you know of any resources i could look into that would bestow me with a greater understanding of terminal commands, although i feel achieved with what ive managed so far, its all been copy/paste :D thanks again for keeping my thread bumped, man :lolflag:

anyone know if I need a firewall when running linux ? are there any viruses that attack linux?

well morph, im no more experienced than you, i went and picked up firestarter, super easy to pick up add/remove :) and its been a joy to open and close ports with.

theres alternatives ive used such as lokkit, but firestarter has been real nice for me :) i can say with confidence that ubuntu doesnt seem to be a virus/spyware magnet like xp, but, i myself am not running virus protection, we might need to look into that :biggrin:

morph999 said: anyone know if I need a firewall when running linux ? are there any viruses that attack linux?

Are you behind a router? If so, you have a hardware firewall and I wouldn't bother with a software firewall. If you decide to, Firestarter is great (especially if you want to share your Internet connection with others computers on your network). I have never heard of a virus that attacked Linux. There are a couple of antivirus programs for Linux (clamav and avast I think both have them). I think they are cheifly for Linux servers so that they catch anything that might attack clients running Windows.

nope, no router

this is the future right here...Open source...

Unless big business comes in or Govt comes in, this is the future. This is only the beginning. I can see people in the future making awesome 3-D Video games, too. Just imagine what it will be like. I guess I'm a dreamer.

I meant I can see people in groups of two or 3 making entire video games....when those kind of things were only possible with corporations. The people are going to take over the internet, completely. Corporations like Valve, Nintendo, SEGA, will be just memories. There's no way they will be able to compete with free open source video games in the future. It just won't happen, they'll go out of business or they will adapt.

1st the firewall question.... pickup firestarter... thats a great firewall.. i use my laptop at school and it blocks all sorts o people who think they are hackers on the network.

also im with OP... i love ubuntu.. ive used it about 2 yrs off and on... and ive been using it as my primary computer in the house for 1.5 yrs.. I LOVE IT... i will never go back to a MS product. Why would i? yes i use vitural box.. and crossover pro.. somethings i cant live without.. but overall i am a linux household.

one thing i love about 8.10 (aside from the tabbed file browser :guitar:) is the archive mounter! man .ISO files were kicking my rear... blah mount this... blah mount that there... now an iso and its files are but a right click away..

ubuntu is soooooooooooooo far ahead of the curve.. i feel sorry for the rest of the world! yay linux and ubuntu!!!!!

tusken

looks like firestarter for you then morph, and if what im reading is correct, it looks like we got clam antivirus included in our 8.10 install, looked around and it seems we can get a UI front end for it too :) with clam and a router, am i pretty secure, Vgr? or is it worth me looking int0o avast too?

hehe, thanks for reinforcing my thoughts, tusk :)

anyone know how to increase the font size in firefox ?

morph999 said: anyone know how to increase the font size in firefox ?

maybe hold control and use the scroll on your mouse... that might work....

and ambidextrousone your welcome..

tusken

ambidextrousone said: since i have your knowledge here on tap, id like to see your opinion on something vgr, sorry if the questions are weak, or well documented, i just prefer a proper opinion ^^

since im still really new to this whole linux way of things, i was wondering if kubuntu would be worth a look in the near future, visually, KDE looks very appealing, but my main reason behind my move to ubuntu was security and stability, and remains the case, am i on the right distro?

and also, im not a huge fan of transmission, is there any other torrent clients that you might be able to suggest, based on speed and again, stability :lolflag:

finally, would you know of any resources i could look into that would bestow me with a greater understanding of terminal commands, although i feel achieved with what ive managed so far, its all been copy/paste :D thanks again for keeping my thread bumped, man :lolflag:

Man, you went straight to the KDE vs Gnome issue didn't you? :lolflag: To avoid getting flamed, I have to say that it's a matter of taste. If it's a visual thing, you can make either look like the other. I have tried both, and I like the Gnome interface better. There are others that feel that KDE is great too. And just because you run one doesn't mean you can't use applications from the other. My favorite music player is Amarok (1.4) and my personal finance software is KMyMoney (which is the best PF software on any operating system). Both of those are KDE applications. Having said all that, Gnome seemed far more stable to me than the times I've dabbled in KDE and in the Ubuntu world, gnome Ubuntu seems to get more focus development wise and has a larger install base (which means more people to help new users).

KDE Counterpoint in five, four, three, two...

As far as torrent software, bittorrent for linux works fine (though I have to say I like the simplicity of transmission).

Lastly, I got acclimated to the terminal by doing what you're doing (copying and pasting as needed) and also by, gulp, reading the books Ubuntu Hacks (O'Reilly) and The Official Ubuntu Book.

tuskenraider said: maybe hold control and use the scroll on your mouse... that might work....

and ambidextrousone your welcome..

tusken

We need a you're welcome button, don't we?

ahaha :D the CTRL+scroll works! not with the left one mind, only the right does it for me, well, its been a productive night guys, learning a bit more everytime i come in here! ):P 5:30am, its time to hit the deck, ill be back tomorrow to pester ya'll for ubuntu knowledge, cya :D

P.S im reading conflicting opinions of KDE/Gnome, ill just stick with what i have until i have a real reason to move over and as for them books, wish i could ask where i could get them in an electronic format, but i dont wanna break some forums rules :D lol, ill have to buy them, god forbid, im already turning into a cheap skate, and ive only been using open source a short time haha! cya folks

vgrisham said: We need a you're welcome button, don't we?

agreed!!!!! :lolflag:

we've got the thanks "down pat" wheres the welcome? lol

p.s i hate to say this... well 2 things 1. i downloaded all kinds o linux books via bittorrent two days ago... im at work or id post the link.... mininova is where i found em i think... the one i downloaded i needed poweriso it was a .daa(why?? dumb people) anyway... and also.... i totally didnt know that clam was in 8.10:confused:... i need to look into that... lol

learn something new everyday...

tusken

ahaha :D the CTRL+scroll works! not with the left one mind, only the right does it for me, well, its been a productive night guys, learning a bit more everytime i come in here! ):P 5:30am, its time to hit the deck, ill be back tomorrow to pester ya'll for ubuntu knowledge, cya :D

hahaha i stumbled across that just the other day.. by mistake... i was like what the heck??? my fonts [SIZE="7"]HUGE[/SIZE] :lolflag:

anyway.. have a good one.. i gotta work 3rds tonight..so ill be lurking about all night..

tusken

ambidextrousone said: i would imagine that this new release isnt as stable as the previous ubuntu versions, of which i would have no experience with, so i wouldnt be able to comment of the opinion of the long term linux user.

all i can say to anyone who wants to escape microshaft, give it a go, its worth it, especially if you like tinkering with things you dont fully understand :D

either way, i ran into very few problems, a quick update of the video drivers, which was basically done for me via UI when i jacked up the appearance settings - and changing the common icons such as folders, doesnt seem to work after i set it in appearance, which is barely an issue, just considered it worthy of note. The other thing was the easy eve online install, which looked great until i tried running the game :P might just have to run it through wine since its proving excellent with everything else :D

I spent fourteen years learning Windows by breaking stuff every time I wanted to do something new. Same with Ubuntu; I've re-installed this OS more times than I care to admit, usually after I bork something so badly that I can't even get it to boot up anymore. But each time I do, I learn something - even if it's simply learning *not* to do something.

Ubuntu is pretty awesome. Needs a little work still, but I think I'm resigned to the fact that Ubuntu will never be "finished". I'm pretty sure it'll always be a work in progress, and that's cool with me. :cool:

BTW, welcome to the light! :P

The last I heard there were no viruses for linux "in the wild". I have heard of 6 "proof of concept" ones. In my understanding to be infected with a virus running Ubuntu you would pretty much have to do it to yourself. Before you can install or change things you have to put in your password.

As to the text question you can go to View > Text size > increase.

jrock612 said: Same with Ubuntu; I've re-installed this OS more times than I care to admit, usually after I bork something so badly that I can't even get it to boot up anymore. But each time I do, I learn something - even if it's simply learning *not* to do something.

:lolflag: Well i have been trying to get Ubuntu to work with my video card since 7.10. I got it working many times, but every other day it would reset to 640x480. Had the same problem with 8.04. The xorg reconfiguration utility never asked me my video card!. Kept reinstalling after the system got messed up each time.

jrock612 said: Ubuntu is pretty awesome. Needs a little work still, but I think I'm resigned to the fact that Ubuntu will never be "finished". I'm pretty sure it'll always be a work in progress, and that's cool with me. :cool:

Yea i guess its a WIP. But now with 8.10, :guitar: I haven't had this problem (till now:P) I can finally use Ubuntu with a good resolution, and I hope it stays that way. But even if it does not, i'm not giving up that easy. :guitar:

isaidnosmoking said: :lolflag: Well i have been trying to get Ubuntu to work with my video card since 7.10. I got it working many times, but every other day it would reset to 640x480. Had the same problem with 8.04. The xorg reconfiguration utility never asked me my video card!. Kept reinstalling after the system got messed up each time.

I doubt very much that all the video issues will ever be fixed. My ATI X1300 hasn't worked fully in the last three or four releases. Before that, I had to edit xorg.conf just to get a *picture*, much less proper resolution.

But we're getting there. Hopefully more problems fixed in next release. :)

isaidnosmoking said:

Yea i guess its a WIP. But now with 8.10, :guitar: I haven't had this problem (till now:P) I can finally use Ubuntu with a good resolution, and I hope it stays that way. But even if it does not, i'm not giving up that easy. :guitar:

Yeah 8.10 isn't as bad as a lot of people have made it out to be, but then again I've got really generic hardware, so I imagine I just got lucky with the hardware stuff. :P

I can tell you this, though: likely buying a new PC with income tax refund, and it will definitely be filled with "Linux Friendly" hardware. :)

An added note for the OP from Middle Tennessee (gotta nice ring)...

There is another solution to KDE vs. Gnome--have both at the same time.

All you have to do is pop a terminal and code:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

It'll install and from then on you can choose which desktop environment to log into (click Choose Session from the login screen's lower left hand corner). Then you can be gnome or kde depending upon your mood.

Now that's something you can't do with either a Mac or Windows.

stalkingwolf said: The last I heard there were no viruses for linux "in the wild". I have heard of 6 "proof of concept" ones. In my understanding to be infected with a

virus running Ubuntu you would pretty much have to do it to yourself. Before you can install or change things you have to put in your password.

As to the text question you can go to View > Text size > increase.

That's true and what's funny is that as much crap as Windows gets for being susceptible to viruses, many of their users really hate Vista's new account control prompt which frequently asks users whether or not they really want to execute certain programs and commands (kind of like entering a root password in Ubuntu or OSX). Google "Vista account control" and you'll see how-tos for people who want to turn off this feature. I can't imagine wanting to turn off root protection.

jrock612 said: I doubt very much that all the video issues will ever be fixed. My ATI X1300 hasn't worked fully in the last three or four releases. Before that, I had to edit xorg.conf just to get a *picture*, much less proper resolution.

But we're getting there. Hopefully more problems fixed in next release. :)

Yeah 8.10 isn't as bad as a lot of people have made it out to be, but then again I've got really generic hardware, so I imagine I just got lucky with the hardware stuff. :P

I can tell you this, though: likely buying a new PC with income tax refund, and it will definitely be filled with "Linux Friendly" hardware. :)

for as long as I've been using ubuntu ATI and linux aren't very good bedmates. im using a x1050 which happens to be one of the few cards that ISN'T linux friendly of the 9600 series (i know 1050 is no where close to 9600 right? idiots.) but i've definitely seen improvement since 8.04. haven't tried a go in wow yet, but otherwise its a beautiful tihng

BlackSwordD2 said: for as long as I've been using ubuntu ATI and linux aren't very good bedmates. im using a x1050 which happens to be one of the few cards that ISN'T linux friendly of the 9600 series (i know 1050 is no where close to 9600 right? idiots.) but i've definitely seen improvement since 8.04. haven't tried a go in wow yet, but otherwise its a beautiful tihng

No, they certainly don't play nice together. My next rig will be totally Linux friendly hardware, so I may end up with an (hack!) nVidia card.

I don't care at this point, as long as it works and doesn't give me any grief. :)

Cheers!

vgrisham said: That's true and what's funny is that as much crap as Windows gets for being susceptible to viruses, many of their users really hate Vista's new account control prompt which frequently asks users whether or not they really want to execute certain programs and commands (kind of like entering a root password in Ubuntu or OSX). Google "Vista account control" and you'll see how-tos for people who want to turn off this feature. I can't imagine wanting to turn off root protection.

same here

I liked how vista set it up the ACT thing, though it could get annoying times...

people always complian about virus, glitches, the computer running slow; and it seems 99% of the time its them not taking care of there computer. They don't get that a computer/OS needs a lot of TLC at times(sadly those time are usually when you are a inch away from tossing your computer out of a window)

okay done with a little rant:

I'm more or less new to linux, I've heard of and messed around with it a little but now I'm working on a full conversion, spurred by morality conflifct and a relgious aspect(in simple speak: with windows I've ended up pirating almost everything, and I'm sick of it) so I'm turning to the toatly new world of linux and open source.

though I do wish I could fix my stupid wirless card in ubunto and just know basic commands so I can get around in the OS...

muxenle said: people always complian about virus, glitches, the computer running slow; and it seems 99% of the time its them not taking care of there computer. They don't get that a computer/OS needs a lot of TLC at times(sadly those time are usually when you are a inch away from tossing your computer out of a window)

Yeah...you can't just turn a PC on and use it indiscriminately; you've got to protect against virii, spyware; you've got to defrag, clean out the registry, and so on...

At least, with Windows you do. :P

muxenle said:

...with windows I've ended up pirating almost everything, and I'm sick of it) so I'm turning to the toatly new world of linux and open source.

I know anybody on this forum would say this, but stick with it. Truly, unless you're a video game fanatic, Linux is an excellent OS. Even if you *are* a gamer, you can still dual boot.

But I understand what you mean about piracy. It gets tiring having to run ZoneAlarm to keep all that stuff connecting to the internet and verifying itself, and not being able to update anything. Much easier with FOSS; much less worry.

muxenle said:

though I do wish I could fix my stupid wirless card in ubunto and just know basic commands so I can get around in the OS...

I don't know much about wireless internet in Ubuntu (other than it *can* be fixed) - since I don't use it - but as far as basic commands go, I recommend doing two things: do a google search for command line tutorials in Linux, and do the same concerning shell scripts. Even if you never use a shell script, they teach you a good bit about how the system works, and how to string commands together.

And of course, you always have the forums here. Don't hesitate to ask for help. :)