Ubuntu

[login123]

OK, here goes. Using an Ubuntu Live CD right now to connect to this forum via Firefox, the browser which is native in the Ubuntu live CD.

Couple of observations, if I may.

- Downloading the .iso was the single most time consuming step, maybe 25 minutes ??? don't remember for sure, using a DSL connection.

- Used BurnCDCC from here to create the live CD, maybe 3 or 4 minutes.

- Restarted with the live CD in the tray, boot up was not fast, but not slower that WXP.

- Very nice feature is an option to connect or disconnect to the 'net using an icon at the top of the screen. Not available in SLAX before, might be now.

- The CD can serve as an installer or a live CD (for that read free external operating system).

- There is a way to boot it from a USB drive, haven't fixed that up yet, that's next.

- BE CAREFUL. Ubuntu ignores some of the file protections used by windows.

 

I like it, and started this thread to thank ishan_rulz for posting about it originally. The original thread, here, was shut down, and rightly so, by Hazelnut, so don't let's quarrel.

 

What it amounts to for me is that I now have another option in case old HAL here goes blooey. And maybe some advantages which are not available in WXP. Might be that everyone already knows about Ubuntu, but if not, its worth a look.

[redhawk]

You should also be aware that Linux can read NTFS partitions fine but it's generally considered unsafe to write to NTFS partitions.

NTFS has been reverse engineered because Microsoft will not release the specs for their NT file system.

Live Linux CDs are useful for people with dead OS or just want to play around with something new that's not Microsoft.

Linux cannot run Windows apps natively although there is Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) but it's limited and has a tendency for crashing.

 

Richard S.

[ishan_rulz]

 

I like it, and started this thread to thank ishan_rulz for posting about it originally. The original thread, here, was shut down, and rightly so, by Hazelnut, so don't let's quarrel.

 

What it amounts to for me is that I now have another option in case old HAL here goes blooey. And maybe some advantages which are not available in WXP. Might be that everyone already knows about Ubuntu, but if not, its worth a look.

 

I tried the USB Tool, it works just fine.

And you're welcome.

 

There is a new Linux based OS - Fedora 13 that just released today. I shall make a new Topic on that. Maybe someone will try it out.

[hazelnut]

I have always liked using live cds and have quite a collection of them!

 

The latest one I have used is Puppy 5, it's quite a small download (about 100MB) and packs a real punch for it's size. Because it's so small once it's loaded and running I can just remove the cd and it will run in ram.

 

Using a live cd such as Ubuntu, Mint or Puppy for the first time can be scary. At the back of your mind you think ''what if it goes wrong and tries to install itself''?

 

But rest assured it won't, live cd's burnt from iso files give you a great opportunity to try something new without the hassle of installing and uninstalling.

 

By the way login I use Ashampoo to burn my iso's, never had a coaster yet.

 

Enjoy yourself with Ubuntu login

[login123]

You should also be aware that Linux can read NTFS partitions fine but it's generally considered unsafe to write to NTFS partitions.

NTFS has been reverse engineered because Microsoft will not release the specs for their NT file system.

Live Linux CDs are useful for people with dead OS or just want to play around with something new that's not Microsoft.

Linux cannot run Windows apps natively although there is Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) but it's limited and has a tendency for crashing.

 

Richard S.

 

Thanks for that...I should have said that Linux will allow me to change "stuff" (the technical term ) that should not be changed.

 

I also find Wine to be buggy. And, after having sung Ubuntu's praises, I cannot get my sound to work while using it.

[DennisD]

When Ubuntu was being talked about on here yonks ago, I emailed them and they sent me an installation CD from Canada by return of post. All free of course. Very commendable.

 

I didn't get into it because at the time (and probably the same now), getting it to work with a USB modem was a real pain.

 

Now I'm using an Ethernet Modem\Router, I think I'll give it a spin. It'll be way out of date probably, but I'm curious. I also have Puppy on a CD, and left it gathering dust for the same reason.

 

I hope you're not in danger of adding "Linuxaholic" to the "Downloadaholic" tag login. I'm content with just the one affliction.

[login123]

Thanks, Hazelnut, am off to find Puppy 5. And buy a dedicated USB stick, maybe. :-)

 

I used BurnCDCC because it is light and simple, no installation required, and I couldn't get the OEM Sonic app to behave. My ignorance, not the app.

[ishan_rulz]

I use Ashampoo too, after this I have never looked for an alternative. Much better than Bloatware NERO!

 

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, I have posted a new topic on Fedora 13, please do give it a try!

[login123]

 

I hope you're not in danger of adding "Linuxaholic" to the "Downloadaholic" tag login. ....

 

Its a very real danger, DennisD. Long time ago I chose a path which led away from computer geekery (If that isn't a word it should be). Now that I have more time, may just pursue the road not taken. And, nowadays, you don't have to program everything, sooo much is already done for you. Kewell.

[DennisD]

Edited by poster. Change of mind.

[login123]

I'm downloading Puppy 5 from within Ubuntu / Firefox. Awfully slow, is that normal?

 

edit: Done. Did seem a bit slow.

[Anomaly]

You guys running the live CD should get an external USB HD and run from it. It will run at almost the same speed as if you installed it. The CD or USB thumb drive won't be nearly as fast.

[rridgely]

I installed the newest version of ubuntu to try it out. Its ok, but I cant use it for my primary OS.

 

1. Font rendering sucks. The fonts look gray instead of black and are no where near as sharp as true type under windows.(this is true even after installing the windows fonts.)

2. drivers still blow for graphics cards.(HUGE performance drop out of my 5770) No games to play anyway I guess.. maybe linux will get Steam if Mac is successful.

3. Not even in the same league as Win7 when you compare the software available for it.

 

Its just not as good as windows, It doesn't matter that its free. Only way I would use linux is if I was using something like mythtv on a htpc but even then I would have to get rid of my already better alternatives( DVR and ps3/xbox360 which I connect to through media center.)

[login123]

Got Puppy 5 up and running now from a live CD. It seems to install to RAM, is that right? It booted and runs faster than Ubuntu, all the sound and video stuff works (couldn't play flash nor sounds in Ubuntu). Seemed to download faster, but maybe that was just me. Installed Firefox for Puppy because the Puppy browser just looked too strange.

 

I will certainly try installing to an external USB HD at some point, but not right now.

 

Nothing will probably replace windows as a primary OS for a while, windows is just too pervasive, and familiar is always more comfortable. But I am having a good time using these alternate operating systems.

 

Stop me before I download again..........

[redhawk]

It might be worth taking note that you can run an OS inside Windows with no need to burn CDs or to reboot your computer.

All you need is virtualisation software such as Virtual Box, WMware or Microsoft Virtual PC.

Speed of execution is near native although you may experience performance hits with intensive graphics operations like video playback.

Having said that there are several advantages in using virtual machines over a real machine such as:

 

- fast CD-ROM emulation because ISO images are accessed from your IDE/SATA hard drive.

- snapshot mode for instant shutdown or reload of operating system state.

- networking, sound and graphics compatibility guaranteed, Linux with new hardware can be problematic.

- VMware supports USB passthrough so devices connected in Windows will appear the same in Linux.

 

Richard S.

[login123]

Thanks for that again, redhawk. MS Virtual machine is not available to me, I have wxp home, it needs wxp pro or one of those high end w7 OSs. That is, as far as I know???

 

Of the remaining two (Virtualbox and VMWare) which do you think is better? I used vmware maybe a year or 3 ago. it was OK but cumbersome, maybe has gotten better since. Never have tried Virtualbox. I'm not too lazy to try them for myself, but If you already have a clear choice, let me know. Thanks.

[redhawk]

Of the 3 I would recommend VirtualBox it's easy to install and I think it has the best user interface.

WMware Player does run slightly faster and has better USB passthrough but it's a real pain to download.

 

Richard S.

[hazelnut]

Richard

 

Login 123 has said he cannot have Virtual PC.

 

Did you mean Virtual Box?

[redhawk]

Oops, I made a typo yes I meant VirtualBox not Virtual PC :\

 

You can still get Virtual PC for XP but you need version 2007 though the latest version seems to be for Windows 7 only.

If you're using XP Home Edition the installer will say "Host OS Not Supported" just ignore it and continue the installation.

 

FYI: VirtualBox supports 2 different sound cards, I would strongly recommend using ICH AC97 over Sound Blaster 16.

 

As for bootable Linux CDs I would like to add DSL (Damn Small Linux) to the list, it's only a 50Mb ISO and packed with lots of useful programs. :)

 

Richard S.

[ishan_rulz]

I just ran into this

Save Windows using a Ubuntu Flash Drive

[Anomaly]

I just ran into this

Save Windows using a Ubuntu Flash Drive

 

There is a bunch of bootable rescue CD's out there like Bart PE, Hiren's, UBCD, and the major AV companies all have rescue CD's that you can boot from but all you really need is a live Linux distro on a CD or USB. With it you can do just about anything you would with the other CD's plus learn a new OS while your at it. That link you provided is a good example of what can be done.

[login123]

Thanks again redhawk. I have the MS Virtual PC 2007 ver 6.0.156.0 installer stored on an external usb drive. I also read elswhere that one could just ignore the warning and continue the installation, but if I recall, I couldn't get past it. Or maybe chose not to.

BTW, the best purchase I ever made was that external USB HD.

 

ishan_rulz, that is a nifty tutorial on how to boot Ubuntu from a usb drive. Lot to read and do...there goes the rest of the day.

[ishan_rulz]

I used the following Tool Universal USB Installer to install it on my USB Drive.

 

If you cannot select the .ISO file when you search for it, use the "Other" option in the drop down box instead of Ubuntu 10.04.

[login123]

Right now using Firefox, in Puppy 5, from a USB stick to log on here. Have also tried SLAX and DSL. Kind of fun trying out new OSs. Thanks to both Hazelnut and ishan_rulz for the recommendations. Puppy seems a bit better explained for the non-tekkies like me.

 

I see that there are lots of linux users looking for a "CCleaner-like" app for linux. CCleaner seems to be the standard they are all trying to reach.

 

Linux Forum

 

Linux Appfinder

 

Ubuntu Forums

 

and even

Piriform Forums

[hazelnut]

Login, Mint will always be one of my favourites. Linux Mint 9 Isadora is the latest one.

 

Also PCLOS was another that worked for me.(I tried the KDE version) Sometimes a certain distro just won't work well no matter how hard you try!

 

I can go a couple of months without using one and then get the bug again.