Linux for Windows Users

[The Radio Geek]

Righto - on the back of a radio caller (thanks Rob in Innisfail!) I thought it might be useful to put a few things down on the subject of linux.

You can google most of this stuff - and you will find 4 billion pages of great info , but it might be hard to find a place to start.  So here is the 30 second intro for people who don't know much about it.

First of all - Linux is a replacement operating system for your computer.  You cannot run it as a program on your windows or mac machine - it is a alternative operating system.  It is possible to load it on to your computer so that both are available as an option when you start your computer.  We call this a "Dual Boot" system.  You must reboot (turn off, turn on) your computer to change from one to the other.

Linux is free - it has been made available to the world under a special licence (GPL) by Linus Torvalds who first invented it.  BUT Linux is the "core" of the operating system and does not do much end user work by itself.  Usually, people get into linux by using one of the hundreds of "distributions" that are available.  A Distribution is a "flavour" that is put together that usually includes the linux core, plus add-ons that include the desktop system, word processing etc..  Distributions are usually are created to be ideal for different purposes by everyday (well, uber-geek) users of the system.

Now - to the nitty gritty...  Once distribution that has proven to be amazingly popular is Ubuntu.  You can find out about Ubuntu and download it for free at http://www.ubuntu.com .   Ubuntu is created by a commercial company which distributes the software package for free.  Support is also provided free via forums (like this) which are mainly visited and answered by other Ubuntu users.  The company makes money by selling some additional products (eg, pre-made CD's) and also by providing phone and technical support that you can pay for.

This is a great starter for linux - it comes free with most of the tools that you need to get started.  It comes with Open Office (an office program), Firefox (a web browser) and other tools such as email programs, image programs etc... There is lots of help on the site which should give you a kick start into the world of Linux!

And YES - linux can read and save most file formats like word documents, excel spreadsheets, powerpoint and other programs!

NOTE - if you are going to download, burn the installation CD and then run it PLEASE make sure that you have a backup of all your important information and data.  "Partitioning", "Formating" and other disk operations will WIPE all your current information... you really want a backup for this one!

Feel free to post any questions you might have, or comments on your experiences.

[Bentree]

Yeah Unbuntu is very good and it supports most computers out of the box too.

[The Radio Geek]

Heya Bentree,

Are you using Ubuntu ?  If so - which version?

:)RG

[Bentree]

No not at the moment I'm using Windows 7 but I have Ubuntu 8.06 on my other hard drive. Works like a charm though and it is very very fast.

[lejam]

Hi all,

Just wondering i have used Ubuntu b4 and got disappointed in how it couldn't use any of my programs i have in windows format.
Is there a way to load windows based programs on a Linux machine and the programs work fine?

Eg: mapsource by garmin and other software they make for windows but not for linux?

otherwise do i have to stay with windows and Vista is slow, cant wait for W7.

Regards
lejam 

[Mick_L]

Some windoze programs will run under a program called 'wine', although they might have various limitations. RG or Fatty will be able to better answer your queries as they have had more experience with other programs that do this task.

Another way to go is set your system up as a dual boot set up. Installing Ubuntu off a live CD you are presented with a partitioning tool which allows you to install into the unused space on the hard drive. This way you can run your day to day programs on Ubuntu, especially your net stuff, due to the superior security. When you need to run your specialist proggies, simply re-start and boot into windoze.

Its what I do here, and works a treat.

Cheers,
Mick

[lejam]

Thanks Mick,

 I might give that a try, what is the latest download for Ubuntu and what is the latest safe software version not Beta.

Thanks again 

[Mick_L]

Thanks Mick,

 I might give that a try, what is the latest download for Ubuntu and what is the latest safe software version not Beta.

Thanks again 

9.04 is the latest. From 8.10 there was better support for wireless network adapters and mobile broadband. In fact I just upgraded a dodgy old laptop to 8.10 last night so as I could get a d-link adapter working - went a treat. The next Long Term Support release will be 9.10 due out in October. The last was 8.04, but in my opinion, 8.10 and 9.04 are far better - for the network support alone.

[Fatty]

Eg: mapsource by garmin and other software they make for windows but not for linux?

Hi Lejam,

If you only have a few programs for Windows that you can't find replacements for for Ubuntu you can try them with WINE (an open source library that replicates the files that applications need to run programs on Windows) or run those programs in a "virtual machine" on Ubuntu. A virtual machine can run another operating system on your desktop like any other application.  My VM of choice is Virtualbox but there our others around including VMWare. Be aware that if some of the apps that you can't leave behind are games or other hardware hogging apps then dual booting is the way to go.