Feisty

Yes, I'm a bad blogger . . . Deal with it . . .
I'll get around to further chronicling my ventures to date, but first I'd just like everyone to know how much I love Ubuntu 7.04 - Feisty Fawn . . . Oh, it's nice. Sings along on my laptop . . . new features:

• Come with freakin' Flash 9 pre-installed (nice)
• Makes it super easy to get those pesky "Non-Free" codecs like mp3, wmp, etc. through "Add/Remove"
• Beryl desktop effects come pre-installed, and when I went to play with them:
• Went and found my specific Nvidia drivers on its own!

I'm sure there's a lot more, but as I've said, I'm no super-user . . . the mere fact that I'm clearly such a dolt of a user, and yet I can so effortlessly use Linux is ringing testament to Ubuntu's awesomeness . . .

Now . . . go play with it!

Noobuntu's Lament

All right, I'm going to be totally honest with you all: When I started using Ubuntu, I was pretty much clueless . . . I had a pretty good understanding of how things work in window$, but no real concept of how computers work. Ubuntu kinda forced me to "mature" in my basic computer knowledge . . . And i am glad of it! But that's not to say there weren't some frustrations at times. Here are some links to a few of my earlier plea-posts on the Ubuntu Forums:

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(This is a great place to check out some term definitions such as Breezy, Dapper, Edgie, etc.)

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(Don't laught, but I couldn't figure out how to minimize applications to the Panel . . . sad, I know.)

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(Balloon messages . . . they continue to plague me!)

Fun, right? But don't worry! If you're struggling as I did with such seemingly silly issues as these, I want you to always remember this:

Though it be not Easy,
It be Worth it!

Next week we'll talk about the big one for me: iTunes. Look to it!

The Ubuntu Family . . .

Now, let's quickly describe the different members of the Ubuntu family produced and maintained by Canonical Ltd. I'll be quoting directly from the Canonical's Ubuntu website (again: lazy,) so please bear with me . . . I promise, this will be the last post like this:

Ubuntu is a free, open source Linux-based operating system that starts with the breadth of Debian and adds regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should "Just Work", TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release (and with 6.06 LTS you get 3 years on the desktop and 5 on the server!). Ubuntu ships with the latest GNOME release as well as a selection of server and desktop software that makes for a comfortable desktop experience off a single installation CD.

Kubuntu is a user friendly operating system based on KDE, the K Desktop Environment. With a predictable 6 month release cycle and part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu is the GNU/Linux distribution for everyone.

Edubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with community based support.

The Edubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Edubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

These freedoms make Edubuntu fundamentally different from proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you, and thousands of developers around the world, have the right to modify and build upon your software until it works exactly the way you want it to.

Many people around the world exercise this right. And you can expect many improvements with each new release of Edubuntu.

Xubuntu is a complete GNU/Linux based operating system with an Ubuntu base. It is lighter on system requirements and tends to be more efficient than Ubuntu with GNOME or KDE, since it uses the Xfce Desktop environment, which makes it ideal for old or low-end machines, thin-client networks, or for those who would like to get more performance out of their hardware.

Xubuntu is shipped with top quality packages from the Ubuntu archives. Xubuntu will use, as far as possible, GTK2 applications, ensuring maximum efficiency. If you wish, you can install any KDE or GNOME application on your Xubuntu desktop system, as it shares the Ubuntu main and universe package selection.

The Xubuntu community makes use of the Ubuntu wiki, a collaborative environment where the community can edit all pages as needed. Important wiki pages are listed at the right.

Ok, so that's the lond and short of it . . . oh, and one final thing:

The word "ubuntu" is concept word too beautiful to translate into English . . . it is a Zulu word, literally meaning “humanness.” Ubuntu is a social and spiritual philosophy serving as a framework for African society. Its essential meaning can be conveyed using the Zulu maxim “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”—meaning, in essence, “a person is a person through other persons.” The practice of ubuntu is fundamentally inclusive, involving respect and concern for one's family and one's neighbors. It also implies respect for one's ancestors, in a deeper spiritual sense. ...

A Little His'tray . . .

Just for the sake of context, here's a seriously brief history of Linux (I'm talkin' abridged):

The history of Linux is closely tied to that of GNU. Plans for GNU were made in 1983 and in September of that year they were announced publicly when Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project. GNU was to be a complete Unix-like operating system composed entirely of free software. Software development work began in January 1984. By the beginning of the 1990s, the project had produced or collected most of the necessary components of this system, including libraries, compilers, text editors, and a Unix shell. Thus the GNU mid-level portions of the operating system were almost complete. The upper level could be supplied by the X Window System, but the lower level, which consisted of a kernel, device drivers, system-level utilities and daemons, was still mostly lacking. In 1990, the GNU project began developing the GNU Hurd kernel, based on the Mach microkernel, but development proved unexpectedly difficult and proceeded slowly, and to date has only been marginally usable.

In 1991, work on the Linux kernel began by Linus Torvalds while attending the University of Helsinki. Torvalds originally created the Linux kernel as a replacement for the non-free Minix kernel. Although dependent on the Minix userspace at first, work from both Linux kernel developers and the GNU project allowed Linux to work with GNU components. Thus Linux filled the last major gap in running a complete, fully functional operating system built from free software.

Today, Torvalds continues to direct the development of the kernel. Stallman heads the Free Software Foundation, which in turn develops the GNU components. Finally, third-party non-GNU components are developed by individuals and corporations. These third-party components comprise a vast body of work and may include both kernel modules and userland applications and libraries. Linux vendors combine and distribute the kernel, GNU components, and non-GNU components with additional package management software in the form of Linux distributions.

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All right, look, I totally stole that from Wikipedia, (because, I'm lazy,) so I hope it's accurate . . . it gives you the basic idea anyway . . . I urge you to go check out the entry, though, it's all very interesting how GNU/Linux and the different distros came to be . . .

Fate, thy name is Ubuntu . . .

All right, kids . . . I'm Ubuntu Joe. That's not to say I've always been Ubuntu Joe . . . in fact, until I grew tired of viruses, spyware, costly programs to deal with viruses/spyware, poor system performance, and ZERO customer service, I was micro$oft Joe. Let's talk about that . . .

"Raised" on micro$oft as I was, I developed a kind of theological passion for the window$ operating system. I'm sure many of you can relate . . . Oh, don't worry, this blog isn't about bashing Gates or his crappy software, no, no . . . they get enough press . . . No, this blog will be something more like a chronicle of my ventures into the world of Linux via the Ubuntu distros from the perspective of a recovering window$ user . . .

I first heard of Ubuntu last year from a guy name Leo Laporte . . . perhaps you've heard of him . . . Impresario of the TWIT (This Week in Tech) podcasting network and my own personal Guru of Gadgetry . . . I took his advice and requested a copy of Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake,) from the Shipit - Free CDs link on the Ubuntu home page. They actually send you a live CD fo' free! Wild . . . A couple of weeks later, I had my live Ubuntu CD.

And, I put it in a drawer! I guess, I was deterred by "all the work" I'd have to do in order to learn this new Operating System . . . And, what would happen to all my files? My favorite programs?! My iPod?!?!

I assure you my worries were unfounded and untimately unrealized . . .

After a week or two of dabbling with the OS, I took the plunge . . . It was a real Red-Pill-Blue-Pill moment. None of this dual-booting nonsense (not that there's anything wrong with that!) On October 14th, 2006, I wiped my Dell's hard-drive clean and broke my window$ disk in twain. With the help of one of the hosts on the UbuntuOS podcast, Sal, awesome guy, I had a fresh install of Ubuntu 6.06, Dapper Drake at my command . . . And, I've never looked back.

Care to see how deep the rabbit hole goes?