Ubuntu 9.10 - anybody using it?

[joydivision]

Been using it on my laptop for a couple of weeks now, its brlliant. I still need Windows on my main machine but my business machine when it gets built will run Ubuntu and won't have Windows installed on it.

I am very impressed because its so damn fast even on my basic laptop and its extremely reliable. Shut down takes two seconds.

Its so good I am tempted to recomend it to clients who want a very basic email/word processor/web machine.

 

[Skyhooker]

I installed it on my laptop as a dual-boot with XP the day it came out. What I've seen I really like. I think for someone who just wants a basic browsing/email machine, even someone without a lot of computer savvy, it would be great. I'd take a survey with them and make sure that everything they're likely to need is pre-installed, teach them how to use it, and have them demonstrate to you that they've got it down cold.

 

[JosephLeo]

I'm using it- so far no problems with it. *crosses fingers*...I hate linux troubleshooting

 

[coolnezz]

not yet, haven't had time to mess with it.
although my main PC is on Mint 7 and Ubuntu 9.04 via VirtualBox.
Figured not much difference between the two except the new Software/Package Manager, and faster boot.

 

[JosephLeo]

not yet, haven't had time to mess with it.
although my main PC is on Mint 7 and Ubuntu 9.04 via VirtualBox.
Figured not much difference between the two except the new Software/Package Manager, and faster boot.

Basically like Snow Leopard minus the decrease in disk space

 

[MobileTechie]

I've been messing around with it. I already use eeebuntu on my eeepc which is based on an older version. I don't see it as a seachange in Ubuntu but a nice progression.

I'm not totally convinced by linux for home users. Troubleshooting is too hard and I'm missing all the little tools I like to use to get what I want in Windows. I don't think Open Office is as good as MS Office and there are various other apps I like that I can't get on linux.

I know it's trendy to hate Microsoft but I like Windows!

Linux is great for my weedy eeepc. It has a cool Netbook Remix and all I want is surfing, blogging and a bit of word processing. But I don't see myself making the switch for my main PC just now.

 

[JosephLeo]

I've been messing around with it. I already use eeebuntu on my eeepc which is based on an older version. I don't see it as a seachange in Ubuntu but a nice progression.

I'm not totally convinced by linux for home users. Troubleshooting is too hard and I'm missing all the little tools I like to use to get what I want in Windows. I don't think Open Office is as good as MS Office and there are various other apps I like that I can't get on linux.

I know it's trendy to hate Microsoft but I like Windows!

Linux is great for my weedy eeepc. It has a cool Netbook Remix and all I want is surfing, blogging and a bit of word processing. But I don't see myself making the switch for my main PC just now.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix looks REALLY interesting. However for netbooks I always recommend gOS. For desktops and linux newbies I always recommend Linux Mint

 

[NickCat11]

I tried it and ran into a problem when trying to install a program, lol. I quickly got frustrated and ditched it.

 

[JosephLeo]

I tried it and ran into a problem when trying to install a program, lol. I quickly got frustrated and ditched it.

What were you trying to do. Get flash to work? For flash you need to download a couple repositories if it doesn't work after downloading and installing it...don't get me started on flash audio....you need to download repositories to support the repositories sub-repositories.

 

[DanB]

speed

Boot times are great. I already installed it on a customers brand new desktop via wubi. She had just bought a new pc with vista on it and was having problems. She saw me using 9.10 to test her hardware and she liked it so much she had me install it. So now she has both.

Can't wait for the Mint version to come out. I use Mint on my shop Laptop. I realized today that I only have one computer running windows as its primary OS. Every other version of windows is running in Virtualbox or VMware on a linux machine. This all happened after virut escaped in my shop network last year.

Valuable lesson that. Never let a infected machine on the shop network unless it is isolated.

 

[NickCat11]

Lol that's one of the things I was trying to get working. I read something about the repositories but soon realized I really didn't want the hassle. Like you said, it takes way to much effort to find a solution when something doesn't work. More than I'm willing to put in.

 

[JosephLeo]

Lol that's one of the things I was trying to get working. I read something about the repositories but soon realized I really didn't want the hassle. Like you said, it takes way to much effort to find a solution when something doesn't work. More than I'm willing to put in.

To tell the truth I still don't fully understand what the word "repository" means yet. To put it in simple terms to our understanding, it's linux' version of drivers...but you need them to run SOFTWARE instead of hardware.

 

[MobileTechie]

To tell the truth I still don't fully understand what the word "repository" means yet. To put it in simple terms to our understanding, it's linux' version of drivers...but you need them to run SOFTWARE instead of hardware.

It's just a repository of software - a central place where you get your installer files. Instead of hunting around the web, you select s/w from a list inside the OS. You you can use a variety of repositories. There are official ones for the distro and unofficial ones.

I've seen gos but I wouldn't use it for my needs. The NBR makes navigating on a small screen a much nicer experience than peering down to find little icons with the small mouse pointer. Also the eeebuntu distro is tuned for eeepc use including ACPI which tends to be a problem area.

 

[JosephLeo]

It's just a repository of software - a central place where you get your installer files. Instead of hunting around the web, you select s/w from a list inside the OS. You you can use a variety of repositories. There are official ones for the distro and unofficial ones.

I've seen gos but I wouldn't use it for my needs. The NBR makes navigating on a small screen a much nicer experience than peering down to find little icons with the small mouse pointer. Also the eeebuntu distro is tuned for eeepc use including ACPI which tends to be a problem area.

Ahh, okay. So they are basically dependencies, right?

 

[MobileTechie]

Ahh, okay. So they are basically dependencies, right?

Dependency happens when one piece of s/w is dependent on another. This happens in Windows too with dlls required etc.

A s/w repository is a single place where s/w for the distro is held. I.e. it's a server or servers with s/w on it.

With Windows you find your s/w on the net and download it, e.g. from Download.com, which is acting as a "repository" of s/w. But the similarity ends there because there are lots of different places to get s/w for Windows and you d/l yourself.

With linux there are a limited number of repositories, including the official one for your distro. Your copy of linux comes pre configured with the ftp of some repositories. When you use a package manager in Linux (like Synaptic) it queries the repo and presents a list of available s/w downloads. you select what you want and it gets it and installs it - all without you ever browsing the web for it. You can do it via command line too. You can of course also get s/w from sites like you would with windows but this is often more problematic.

 

[JosephLeo]

Dependency happens when one piece of s/w is dependent on another. This happens in Windows too with dlls required etc.

A s/w repository is a single place where s/w for the distro is held. I.e. it's a server or servers with s/w on it.

With Windows you find your s/w on the net and download it, e.g. from Download.com, which is acting as a "repository" of s/w. But the similarity ends there because there are lots of different places to get s/w for Windows and you d/l yourself.

With linux there are a limited number of repositories, including the official one for your distro. Your copy of linux comes pre configured with the ftp of some repositories. When you use a package manager in Linux (like Synaptic) it queries the repo and presents a list of available s/w downloads. you select what you want and it gets it and installs it - all without you ever browsing the web for it. You can do it via command line too. You can of course also get s/w from sites like you would with windows but this is often more problematic.

Oh well in that case my idea of what a repository is completely wrong. I thought a repository was the software itself...like for example, libpng. Now I sound like an idiot

 

[MobileTechie]

Well we've plumbed the shallows of my linux knowledge in a few posts too!

It's a different ball game to Windows and linux users tend to know what they are doing I think so not much of a home repair/support market either.

 

[Rob]

Been using it on my laptop for a couple of weeks now, its brlliant. I still need Windows on my main machine but my business machine when it gets built will run Ubuntu and won't have Windows installed on it.

I am very impressed because its so damn fast even on my basic laptop and its extremely reliable. Shut down takes two seconds.

Its so good I am tempted to recommend it to clients who want a very basic email/word processor/web machine.

I've been using Ubuntu since 6.06, and I'm just in the process of downloading 9.10. It's come along in leaps and bounds in the last few versions, and its worth having a working knowledge of it as a viable Windows alternative, especially for customers running flagged counterfeit XP who don't have the funds for a legit copy.

I only charge a nominal fee for Ubuntu installations, and I have a box of free installation CDs on the counter that people can help themselves to - my little contribution to the open source community. I have 10 Internet cafe terminals in our shop, mostly XP and one running Ubuntu. I have it set up in a way that most users don't realise its not Windows.

It's definitely tricky to get the hang of the Linux way to begin with, but I found by being a 'noob again it was easier to empathise with the frustration my Windows customers were experiencing. Well worth the effort.

 

[Tweak]

I have it set up in a way that most users don't realise its not Windows.

Although I have seen some options for such a thing I like that you mention your clients don't much notice the difference, could you share either here or via PM what you used for this customization as I'd like to have a go at it myself, thank you.

 

[Rob]

A great resource for customising Ubuntu is http://gnome-look.org/. There are hundreds of customised themes and icon sets there that mimic XP, Vista and OSX. It raises the hackles of the traditionalists, but my opinion is do what it takes to ease the transition If that means sticking a blue cough lolly-like icon in the bottom left corner, go for it!