The secrets to success with Ubuntu OS

Ubuntu is an impressive operating system and can be incredibly rewarding once you’re comfortable using it. People keep asking me for suggestions on how to get started with this OS so I’ve decided to write up my suggestions, which will hopefully ease a few more people towards adoption.

The points below assume that the reader has at least an intermediate level of computing skill. If you’re not quite at that point yet, then it might not be worth the effort.

Install the 64 bit version
Unless you are installing Ubuntu Netbook Edition or your computer is more than five years old you have no excuse to use the 32bit version.

Download and burn the 64bit Ubuntu desktop iso to disc and boot it. It will take a while for everything to load to memory but eventually the installation screen will show up and give you two options “Try Ubuntu” and “Install Ubuntu”. I definitely recommend trying Ubuntu before installing it, however there is one thing that you should keep in mind when using this option — at this point, the whole OS is running off the CD and that means things are going to be noticeably slow. Once Ubuntu is installed it’s very fast on most PC’s.

I’m not going to go through the installation process, Marius Nestor wrote a fantastic tutorial for that here.

But there is one thing I want to mention about the installation; don’t select the “Log in automatically” option when asked. Firstly it is counter-intuitive to Linux security and secondly it will cause issues with the Gnome keyring later on.

Suggested apps/drivers to install

• Proprietary graphics drivers

The proprietary graphics drivers still out-perform the open source alternatives in most cases so this is highly recommended. Ubuntu should suggest installing them in the notification area otherwise you can get to them via: [System > Administration > Additional Drivers] Allow it to search for available drivers. If the list is empty then Ubuntu is already using default drivers and there is nothing more you need to do. Otherwise select the one that is marked as “Recommended” and click “Activate”.

• Ubuntu Restricted Extras

You may have noticed that Ubuntu now offers the proprietary MP3 codec during installation, Ubuntu Restricted Extras includes a whole lot of other audio and video codecs, as well as other proprietary “nice-to-haves” like Microsoft fonts and Adobe Flash.

To get this package, open the Ubuntu Software Center (under “Application”), search for “extras” and install “Ubuntu Restricted Extras”

• Google Chrome

This is obviously preferential. Chrome is still faster than Firefox and it’s nice to know that there is a competitive alternative for web browsing in Ubuntu. Go here to download the 64bit .deb file. Once downloaded double click the file, it should open the Ubuntu Software Center and give you the option to “Install”. Once installed, you will find it here: [Applications > Internet > Google Chrome] while you’re here right-click on it and click “Add this launcher to panel”. You might also want to pick up the Ambiance Chrome theme so that it fits seamlessly into Ubuntu.

• Gimp

Gimp is a professional image manipulation package similar to Adobe Photoshop. It has recently been removed from the list of default apps in Ubuntu because it is targeted towards industry professionals rather than casual computer users. Nevertheless, I am completely dependent on Gimp as I was on Photoshop before it, so it’s one of the first apps I install. As usual you can find it in the Software Center.

• Games

You can find numerous free games in the Software Center but if you’re like me and want to play something that’s more than a “free alternative”, then here are two good options:

Heroes of Newerth – An excellent tactical, multiplayer game based on the popular Warcraft 3 custom map; DotA. An account will cost you US$30 once-off and is well worth it in my opinion.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent –A single player survival horror with amazing graphics and interactive physics, it’s one of the most terrifying games I’ve ever played. This title goes for a modest US$20.

A few additional suggestions

• Use the Ubuntu Software Center or .deb files only

Explore the Software Center as much as possible and if you resort to downloading software off the web, then always get the 64bit .deb package file.

Stay away from .sh files, .run files and “sudo make install” unless there is a good tutorial or step-by-step wizard that accompanies it. Once you’re comfortable with Ubuntu specific packages then you can move onto applications made for any Linux distro.

• Don’t try install Windows apps with Wine

When I first installed Ubuntu, I made the mistake of thinking that I couldn’t do much on it and that resulted in me experimenting with Wine. Wine is an open source replacement of the Windows core libraries. It is an important project and should definitely be experimented with… but not when you are new to Ubuntu and Linux. As I mentioned above; get comfortable with using Ubuntu specific applications before moving to broader options.

• Install VirtualBox

Virtual Machines are the simplest and most effective way of running have-to-have Windows apps like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office. However, you will still need a full Windows license to install it on a virtual machine as you would if you were installing it on a physical machine. You can get VirtualBox from the Ubuntu Software Center.

• Insist on using the GUI

Linux guru’s on various forums like to give advice in terminal speak but 90% of that advice can be done far easier using the graphical user interface. The reason you are encouraged to use the terminal for basic tasks is so that you can perform the same task in any Linux distribution. I’ll repeat the same advice again; once you are comfortable using Ubuntu then you can play around in the terminal, in fact I encourage it. Before then, insist on the Gnome GUI-based solution to your queries.

• Office Applications

If you just can’t bring yourself to use LibreOffice/OpenOffice.org or even Google Docs, there are ways to use Microsoft Office. As I mentioned above, VirtualBox is a good way of using MS Office in Ubuntu but the high price of a Windows license makes this option difficult to digest. A cheaper option would be Crossover Linux which uses Wine at its core, but simplifies the process of installing and running Windows applications and is relatively user-friendly.

This is certainly not a definitive guide for new Ubuntu users but hopefully it’ll get you closer to that point where you can feel comfortable using it.

Don’t Waste Money on a New Computer for College

Heading off to college? Here’s my suggestion: buy a used laptop from Craigslist and install Ubuntu onto it. Seriously. You don’t need a new computer for college. If you’re pursuing a liberal arts degree, you really don’t need a brand new computer just to write all the papers you’ll write. If you’re pursuing an engineering degree, the chances are high that your department’s computer labs are better than anything you can buy for yourself.

The value of computer labs should not be underestimated, even for liberal arts students. In addition to hopefully beefy hardware with properly installed and maintained software, there’s a very important social component to using computer labs. This is not to say that’s just an opportunity to watch lulz videos on YouTube with your pals, of course. The people you meet in your classes and your degree program are kindred souls, and you should get to know some of them. Whether it’s a team project, or help with a tough assignment, or simply making smalltalk, the interactions you can have in the computer lab are an important component of the social college experience, and you should not avoid them by locking yourself in your dorm room to plug away on your fancy new workstation.

That janky old laptop you buy from Craigslist will not be as attractive a target for theft as a brand new computer. If it does get stolen, you won’t be out as much cash. No, it won’t be a speed demon, but what do you seriously plan to do with it? Type some papers, read some emails, Facebook, maybe watch some Internet pornography? It’ll sit unobtrusively on your desk, under a pile of papers, until you need it. Even if the battery doesn’t work, you can still lug it with you to plug in at the library or the coffee shop when you need a change of scenery.

You’re not going to play games on your college laptop. Your roommate, or someone in your hall, will have an Xbox 360. Someone else will have a PS3, and there’s a strong chance that there’ll be a Wii somewhere, too. Make friends with these people and play their games. Save yourself the grief of soda spilled into your own precious gaming console. Save yourself the trouble of kicking people out of your room when they want to play RockBand every night during Finals Week. Take the time to learn a couple new card games, too: Euchre, Golf, whatever. Going old school — you know, without electricity — can be a fun and super portable way to enjoy games and meet new people, too.

You’re also not going to use your used laptop as a media PC to stream movies in your room. Oh sure, you can, but you’ll be watching those things alone: none of your friends are going to want to crowd around your 14″ laptop screen to watch anything. For more social viewing opportunities, rely on those friends with XBox 360s and PS3s and big TVs. You can, however, load up your laptop with MP3s so that you can rock out (with headphones on if you have a roommate) while cranking out that paper on Plato’s Republic.

The used laptop you buy from Craigslist should be used to help you get some schoolwork done, and little else. Ubuntu provides everything you need. OpenOffice can open and save files in Microsoft Word format, so you’ll have no real trouble integrating with most of the campus systems. In the event that your school uses a classroom management system like Blackboard or Desire2Learn, you may have the occasional situation that requires some goofy ActiveX control, or proprietary shim component. See the paragraph above about the computer lab.

Ubuntu will keep you safe from the Wild West that is a dorm network. You can be absolutely sure that a good many of the computers on the dorm network are compromised by malware. There’s also a slim chance that some miscreant in your building fancies himself a hax0r, and will probe and poke at every device he or she can find. Your Ubuntu laptop will not easily become a victim, and it might even become a conversation starter.

1. Download the latest version of Ubuntu and burn it to a CD.
2. Search Craigslist for a decent, moderately priced used laptop.
3. Buy that laptop.
4. Boot that laptop from your Ubuntu CD and follow the instructions.
5. Enjoy your college experience.

Desktop Linux: Ready for the mainstream

Organizations can adopt Linux for many users, and save the high upgrade and possible hardware costs of Vista or Windows 7

Desktop Linux is a worthwhile option for both public organizations and private companies. Those who standardize on Linux would save serious money on the new equipment needed for Vista or Windows 7, not to mention OS and Office upgrades as well. Your business could, too.

Moreover, Linux-based shops would require significantly less training than they would to teach staff Vista or Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007.

Let’s face reality: Most people use just Microsoft Office, e-mail, and the Web at work. For that, you don’t need an expensive, resource-hogging suite like Office or a piggy operating system like Windows Vista, Windows 7 or the other known alternative OS, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Plus, adopting Linux will solve some of IT’s headaches when it comes to PC management.

Even Microsoft admits it. After years of denial, the software giant’s latest SEC filings acknowledge mounting competitive pressure from Linux, and not just in the datacenter. Addressing Microsoft investors in February, CEO Steve Ballmer went as far as to suggest that the open source OS could be a greater threat to Windows than Mac OS X. That same month, Microsoft began actively recruiting a director of open source desktop strategy, a position whose responsibilities will include “influencing multimillion dollar marketing campaigns.”

Let me explain.

An easier transition from XP than going to Vista or 7.

When choosing Linux, one can retain any proprietary operating system and or application  via the use of Virtualbox, virtual machine

It booted like a real OS, with the familiar GUI of Windows XP and its predecessors and of the Mac OS: icons for disks and folders, a standard menu structure, and built-in support for common hardware such as networks, printers, and DVD burners.

Yes, I know that a running virtual machine is not a real PC, with all the variables per PC model that can make Linux not work on some models. But that’s beside the point.

Dell and others offer Linux-equipped PCs if you want that assurance. If you have a standard desktop configuration in your business, you’ll find out quickly if it’s Linux-compatible.

I was struck by how XP-like Ubuntu is. And that’s a good thing. It took me very little time to find where standard functions are, given the similarities. In fact, it’s a much easier transition. The menu structure is clear and not hidden. There’s none of the “I’m so complex I must hide myself in gewgaws” nonsense that Microsoft has convinced itself, in Vista and Windows 7, makes a good UI but in fact further complicates an already hodgepodge user interface. (Gluing feathers on a platypus won’t make it fly.) Users can get to work without guessing what Microsoft thinks they ought to do.

Adding Hewlett-Packard and Brother network printers was trivial — easier than in Windows and about the same as on the Mac. But I did have to install drivers for the Brother’s fax and scanner capabilities, and these required command-line installation via the Terminal. Using an external USB media card drive was also no biggie; Ubuntu detected both the drive and the SD card I inserted, saw it contained photos, and asked to launch a photo management app. You can expect to come across compatibility issues with more exotic hardware, but most business PCs don’t typically include that class of consumer-oriented gear.

Well-suited for office workers, but not specialty users
After basic compatibility with PC hardware, the big criticism of desktop Linux is the state of its apps. There’s good news and bad news here. Ubuntu comes with the Mozilla Firefox Web browser and the Evolution Mail client pre-installed, as well as OpenOffice.org’s office productivity suite.

Firefox is my preferred browser, but if you depend on ActiveX controls for your company’s Web apps (which you should not in this multibrowser, multiplatform world), the lack of Internet Explorer could be a deal killer. The Evolution Mail client is fantastic; it easily connects to Exchange Server for mail, calendar, and contacts, using LDAP and Outlook Web Access. The UI is similar to Outlook’s but simpler. And in a move that should shame Microsoft, the Evolution Mail client is more compatible with Exchange than is Microsoft’s Mac client, Entourage. (One example: I could set an away notice, which I cannot do with Entourage.) You can also run Mozilla Thunderbird if you’re POP-oriented, though Evolution Mail also supports POP and IMAP.

OpenOffice is a sound alternative to Microsoft Office, but I spent most of my time with the free IBM Lotus Symphony, which is a slightly better productivity suite than OpenOffice, in the InfoWorld Test Center’s evaluation. It’s simply more refined and will be easier for Office users to adapt to, even though it lacks the database and drawing applications that OpenOffice has. I’m sure there are features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that Symphony and OpenOffice can’t match, but you can bet that for 80 percent or more of your “knowledge workers,” sales staff, and so on that Symphony or OpenOffice will do the job.

Adobe has made its Reader, AIR, and Flash Player apps available as well, so you can work with PDF files, AIR apps, and Flash media just as Windows and Mac users can. In addition to Symphony, IBM offers a Linux version of Lotus Notes.

All these apps work very much like they do in XP, so your users will need just an hour or two to adjust to accessing them on desktop Linux. Seriously.

Ubuntu has a handy utility to add and remove a broad selection of free Linux apps, from FTP clients to graphics editors, so you don’t have to hunt for them. (But the Adobe and IBM apps aren’t in it, so it’s not complete.) These apps self-install, so you don’t have to switch to the Terminal and use sudo privileges and other arcane commands to install them. Sure, IT techs can manage this, but not your users.

I’m disappointed that Cisco’s VPN client, which my company uses, has the kind of install that gives desktop Linux a bad rep. You have to know basic Linux commands to navigate to the files in the Terminal, use sudo to get admin privileges, and follow the convoluted install script. As is common with these Terminal-installed apps, there’s little documentation, and the Web is full of contradictory and inaccurate instructions on how to install them. Cisco dissuades end-users from getting information at its site, so even after I procured a copy of its VPN client software, I couldn’t find reliable instructions for installing it, so I gave up after 40 minutes. I had similar problems installing Parallels Desktop’s UI tools into Linux. VMware Fusion uses a Terminal script, but the program runs it for you when you first install Linux, so that’s less of an issue. (Note that neither product supports cut and paste between Linux and the Mac, as they do with Windows.)

Let’s face it: The app selection for desktop Linux — especially those designed for regular folks — is very thin. You won’t find BI tools, database apps, media creation apps, and so on, as you would for Windows or the Mac. If you think the Mac has too few apps to be used in business, you’ll downright dismiss desktop Linux.

A successful migration to Linux on the business desktop therefore depends almost entirely upon the ability of the organization in question to weather the disruption that will inevitably result. For some, the pain may be minimal; for example, organizations that conduct most of their business using standards-based Web applications may have little trouble making the transition to Linux. Companies that rely heavily on proprietary products such as Microsoft SharePoint or Exchange, however, will find it difficult or even impossible to switch without major adjustments to business processes.

The cost issue: “Free” Linux isn’t the whole story
Having weighed all that, then, a potential desktop Linux customer’s second question — how much money will I save? — can often be simplified even further: Will it be worth it?

Answering this question, however, can be incredibly difficult. The factors involved in calculating TCO (total cost of ownership) for an entire desktop OS environment, applications and all, are so numerous and complex that you might as well read tea leaves.

Just knowing when to switch can be tricky. Jumping ship to desktop Linux often means abandoning proprietary software licenses that have already been paid for. Depending on where an organization is in its normal upgrade cycle, that license issue could represent a significant hidden short-term cost.

Once the switch to open source is complete, the days of paying license fees will be over, but most enterprise customers will still want to pay for a support contract. How effective such support is at responding to any issues that may arise will determine how much those issues impact productivity — and, by extension, the business’s bottom line.

Some customers may prefer to do a “soft launch” — switching some PCs to Linux while leaving Windows on others, for example, or using virtualization software to run key Windows applications. But this kind of hybrid environment requires IT to manage two OSes at the same time — including user support, software updates, security, backups, and interoperability between the systems. And that drives up costs.

At the end of the day, on a per-head basis, the amount an enterprise spends on proprietary software licenses is insignificant compared to the amount it spends on salaries, health care, phone bills, travel, retirement plans, and other benefits. For a cash-strapped company in a down economy, Windows may be the least of its worries. The harsh reality is that, from an operations perspective, it may be much simpler and safer to cut costs by reducing staff than to implement a radical and disruptive enterprise-wide IT initiative.

Does desktop Linux matter? Here’s how it might
Far from it being a simple case of FUD clouding the waters, the issues surrounding Linux’s failure to achieve mainstream success on the desktop are complex, far-reaching, and diverse. It’s such a thorny problem, in fact, that the chance of Linux taking Windows’ place on the enterprise desktop is virtually nil.

But maybe it doesn’t need to be.

Computing today is in a state of flux. The proliferation of broadband Internet access has made possible new modes of operation that were unthinkable even a decade ago. Increasingly, traditional desktop applications are migrating to the Web, and the rise of cloud computing means their data is going with them. Soon, typical computer users may be able to work almost entirely online, using nothing but a Web browser.

That’s great news for Linux — today’s desktop Linux distributions offer browsers already. But the issue is actually bigger than that. As Jim Zemlin of the Linux Foundation put it at the recent Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, “It’s time to start asking yourselves: What is the desktop?”

There is the beta Wine app that runs many Windows apps, giving desktop Linux wider reach, as well as the commercial CrossOver version from CodeWeavers. But the list of supported Windows apps is not huge. Moreover, supported versions are often one or more iterations behind what’s currently available. But Microsoft Office, Project, and Visio 2003 are all on the list, as are Internet Explorer 6 and Intuit QuickBooks. I tried to install three unsupported apps — Adobe Acrobat Pro 9, Adobe Photoshop CS4, and H&R Block TaxCut 2008 — but had poor results. Acrobat 9 managed to install, but the license confirmation dialog box would not close, so I could never use the software. CrossOver claimed to install Photoshop, but it did not. And it couldn’t install TaxCut. So don’t count on Wine or CrossOver for more than Microsoft Office and supported apps.

Also, though synchronization for Palm devices (as if they matter anymore) is included in Ubuntu, you can’t sync to an iPhone, Windows Mobile device, or other handheld — even though these are increasingly commonplace in business. But Ubuntu can access an iPod’s or iPhone’s photos as if it were a digital camera. (There are hacks out there to support some of these devices for data and music syncing, but IT doesn’t want to rely on hacks.)

Essentially, desktop Linux makes sense as the desktop OS only for those employees who do common work in Office and Web apps. But that’s a lot of people.

Solving some of IT’s control issues
Desktop Linux’s app limitations mean that you’ll still need Windows PC or Macs for users who require specialty apps. But they also provide an easy way to assert control over the desktops you manage.

Think about it: Most of your malware worries go away, as does the constant effort to stay up with the latest anti-malware patches. You don’t need to worry about users installing games, iTunes, or spyware — those are designed for Windows (and sometimes the Mac) — so the need to monitor rogue apps is greatly reduced.

Of course, you won’t have the same kind of central system management options that you do for Windows PCs. So you’ll need to rely on your Linux distro’s update manager, as well as your apps. This automated, client-level approach is also standard on Windows and Mac OS, even though many IT organizations don’t like it and instead want to validate and apply such patches centrally. The more control you want, the less you’ll like desktop Linux (just as you probably don’t like the Mac).

But desktop Linux does support basic Active Directory authentication for user access management.

I’m not suggesting every organization chuck its Windows or Mac OSes for desktop Linux. But many companies, government agencies, and educational institutions can chuck at least some of them. Those based on XP — or Windows 2000, which still has a huge installed base in government agencies — can look to big savings on licensing, hardware, and training costs.

Desktop Linux and its core productivity apps are solid and worth serious consideration for many of your users’ PCs. Try it yourself.

Why switch to Ubuntu?

Most people probably have never heard of an operating system different than Windows. Most of them are not as widely advertised as Windows either. I have completely switched to Ubuntu years ago and I must say I do not regret one single bit of doing so.

I was using Windows XP as my main operating system and I couldn’t help but notice how slow it was at times. Especially when I had all the needed applications installed. It was so frustrating to wait for it to boot up in the mornings when I needed it to boot up fast, because all I needed was Firefox. Right then I found out about Ubuntu and seeing the train wreck that Vista was becoming in 2006 I made the switch.

A friend of mine started talking about how Ubuntu is giving away free CDs and I thought “Hey why shouldn’t I order one as well?” I received my free CDs about a week after the order. I put it right in without any further hesitation and started setting up a dual boot system (Ubuntu and Windows).

After finishing the set up I found Ubuntu faster than any version of Windows that I’ve used before. The boot up time was surprisingly short. I was able to access the web and my mail in a matter of seconds! Ubuntu also came with a pre-installed set of applications, saving me time searching around the internet for software. I thought I will also have to find most of the drivers on my own, but surprisingly Ubuntu already had a pop-up ready for me. It even had a driver for my EMU10K1 sound card. It’s a pretty old card and it does not work with Windows Vista (no 5.1 surround), but Ubuntu managed to pull it off. It had everything I needed – support for all of my hardware and speed.

A lot of people fear Linux, because of the compatibility. People tend to think that Microsoft Office is the ONLY set of office applications out there. Well it’s not. Ubuntu comes with a pre-installed Open Office package. And guess what, it’s compatible with the document formats that Microsoft Office uses. And it’s not just for office applications. Ubuntu comes with a built-in IM client and a built in mail client!

Ubuntu is free, fast, functional, customizable and user friendly!