Linux

LFS (Linux From Scratch) & Kubuntu FWIW

+1 on LFS for extra geek points.

@ Smithchild

I'd use Xubuntu it will run faster.
make sure you have burned the disk properly (IE not just dropped a .iso file onto a disk)
Set the computers bios to boot from CD as 1st device (I sometimes disable the hard disk here just in case)

If you downloaded the full live CD then it will boot straight into a live session of Xubuntu and there will be a desktop icon for installation. Follow the steps and bingo.

Enjoy.

ubuntu is prettier, xubuntu faster.

go with xubuntu unless you're a shalllow (ex-mac) user who likes pretty, but pointless GUI tricks like this*:

• me
  

just to confuse things, you do realise it's technically possible to run OSX on a PC?

My Xubuntu laptop has desktop effects like those above.
You'd need better hardware to run it though. (Just as you would if you wanted to run OSX)

Just booted from the CD and I already have problems.. Screen all split up. Searched the interweb and it's a common problem with dell/xubuntu.

Any changes I try to make won't do much since I'm booting from disk every time, so do I have to install before I can try to correct problem?

Works fine in safe-graphics mode.. internet suggests "adding" a couple of lines of code to the display settings under 'monitor'. I can find this but I am unsure as to how exactly I add these lines (is it just a case of moving the cursor and typing in the lines??)

I'm quite happy to install and have a play around but will I be able to get back into xp once I've installed xubuntu?

lots of boring garbled questions, apologies. thankyou for the help so far

@smithchild,

Grub lets u boot into whichever OS when u restart and works with Windows XP quite nicely and XUbuntu should set this up for you.

As for the problem with the display, u need to modify the X configuration file. this is located at /etc/xorg.conf. You'll find better instructions on this than I can ever give you on the ubuntu forums.

can't remeber off hand what the settings are, but you can also add parameters at the boot prompt to specify different screen drivers. Search for framebuffer in ubuntu forums.

"dual boot" is the phrase you need to search for if you want xp and linux on the same machine.

If you can have two computers (borrow one if you don't have a spare) running at the same time, one to install linux onto and one to have connected to the internet to search for problems rather than rebooting all the time. It will save you alot of hassle.

@ Smithchild

In Ubuntu based distros the Xorg config is located at: /etc/X11/xorg.conf

You will need to run a text editor as root, if you're running Xubuntu the command will be...

sudo mousepad /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Run that from the terminal (Menu > Accessories > Terminal

Look through the document for the section that your tutorial tells you to modify.
It is easy to fuck up your X config so you should make a note of the following command. It will let you reconfigure it if it breaks.

*sudo dpkg-[I]reconfigure xserver-xorg
*[/I]

@ Smithchild. If you are based in London and want to do the install with someone who's done it a million times before you are welcome to come by my office one evening and I'll help you with it. Between me and Google we'll have you up and running pretty quickly.

PM me if you're interested. I always like to convert new people to Linux.

@ Smithchild. If you are based in London and want to do the install with someone who's done it a million times before you are welcome to come by my office one evening and I'll help you with it. Between me and Google we'll have you up and running pretty quickly.

PM me if you're interested. I always like to convert new people to Linux.

Cheers Brain-Flick, I currently reside in, whisper it, halifax so can't take you up on your generous offer. I'm back at the coal-face of ubuntu forums as we speak, your advice above seems fairly straightforward. I don't really have much to lose with the install, it's my secondary PC so i don't rely on it. Think i'll press on with the full install and go through each problem as it occurs. the display thing seems a uniquely dell related problem and there's quite a bit of discussion over the various forums.
Thanks all for advice so far, i'm going dark for a few hours, see you on the other side, godspeed.

I've just downloaded Intrepid Ibex and will be writing it to a CD this evening most likely.. I intend on a dual boot (keeping XP) and was just wondering whether or not I should partition my hard drive before installing or will there be an option to do this in the installation itself?

I don't know the distro you have downloaded but in general the installation will beable to partition your hard drive for you. However if you want to partition beforehand with partition magic go ahead. Just remember to back up before you start playing round with had drive partitions e.t.c

Muchos Gracias!

Intrepid Ibex is the latest version of Ubuntu

then it does have a partition manager. but back up - it's easy with a different UI to install over the wrong partition.

No probs.. I'm only using about 10GB of my hard-drive at the moment and that won't take a second to ship onto my external as back up

And if you want to run full disk encryption, do that before installing.
Bear in mind that when installing Intrepid Ibex it's best to keep your /swap unencrypted and then setting it to use a random key rather than a passkey as it's only temporary data. Otherwise you'll have to enter two passkeys on boot. This tutorial helped me with the last stage of encrypting the /swap after installation, steps are pretty much the same with 8.10.

I have a system rescue CD that I use quite a bit when I'm installing a new OS.

Have been using Ubuntu almost exclusively for about 5 months now.

I just set up a Ubuntu machine to sit in the corner as a download-box, no screen, keyboard/mouse, to take the strain off my laptop.

The best thing about Ubuntu for me is that straight away it has a bit-torrent client(Transmission) built in and is easy to VNC into(unlike my Mac which was a bit harder to get the PC-to-Mac VNC running).

For those who have 'Intrepid Ibex', how much better is it than 'Edgy Eft'?
Thinking of doing an upgrade soon and replacing main disk in the process and would welcome opinions.

Cheers.

I'm now on Ubuntu 8.10 at home. I had a bastard of a time getting Flash to run in Firefox, and when it did eventually work, after working and then not working, none of the buttons or menus on Firefox worked, and I did a complete reinstallation. And now the screen resolution is wrong, so I'm going to have to fix that. Arsecandle!

Chris - if I were you I'd upgrade to Hardy but leave Intrepid for a while. Hardy's LTS (Long Trem Support) and is fairly stable at this point. Intrepid's great (I've been using Kubuntu I fo rthe last few months now) but Hardy's proven and supported.

If you do decide to upgrade, do a fresh install - the dist-upgrades tend to be a little flaky.

If you've got the room and want to try something a ilttle different, consider putting Kubuntu Intrepid on your machine. KDE4 is awesome (if a work in progress) and will only get better.

Make sure you check this site out - http://ubuntuguide.org/ it'll help you get up and running with all sorts of simple things (flash, multimedia codecs, samba etc...)

Guy - this should solve your flash woes:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

Alternatively, if you're in the majority that don't care about "free as in freedom" and just want "free as in beer" you can get a lot of codecs and other such stuff Ubuntu is otherwise missing with...

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted extras

In terminal. This will give you flash, java, MP3 and a few common video codecs. If you're having screen resolution problems, then that might take a bit more fiddling. You've had a look in

System > Preferences > Screen Resolution

I take it? :-)