Live From Linuxville

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Gaius

Well, this is being written from the new Linux box. Or rather, the really old box that has a new Linux installation. I am having a bit of trouble with getting Java installed at the moment. That is because I am a hardware kind of guy. My software skills are very, very old now. (Remember Fortran?) (Um- never mind. I just found it listed in the Ubuntu installers. I missed it the first time.) Eventually, this computer will become a standby system. Let's face it, it is a pretty slow computer for today's world, even with the upgraded memory I put into it. (It's a little bit like hot-rodding a Yugo). But it will work fine for internet access and word processing

This entry was posted in Geek Stuff. Bookmark the permalink.

14 Responses to Live From Linuxville

  1. Quilly Mammoth says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:31 pm

    Good work, Gaius! You’ve plunged in and made great headway. You give me hope that I, too, can break the MS addiction.

    Have you tried any of the spreadsheet or word processor programs? If so, how hard does it seem to be to transition?

  2. Gaius says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    Actually, it comes with Open Office installed. You can try that anytime by just downloading the windows version. It works better than Word, I think. I am not completely out of the woods yet, however. I still have no Flash Player, so the web browser is a little crippled. (The Ubuntu installer did load an older Macromedia set up, but the new Adobe Flash is not backwards compatible).

  4. Gaius says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:00 pm

    Not only did it work, it was easier than all heck. I didn’t have to follow the instructions, all I had to do was execute the file from the file manager.

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news for Microsoft, but Linux appears to be coming of age. It close to being as easy to use as Windows – and it is a lot cheaper.

  5. Gaius says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:03 pm

    Incidentally, Guy, you’re the one who told me about Ubuntu. Thanks. It actually is working rather well. I’m just pretty darn rusty with software, but the Ubuntu interface is easier than I am making it out to be.

  6. guy says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:41 pm

    Heh, glad you’re getting it working. I’m still just putzing with it at work when I get some free time. We use some seriously old software that needs real-mode DOS to run, so I’m playing around with DOS emulation on Linux.

    I’m still running Win2K on my home box because the games I play can be a pain to get working – and keep working as new game patches are released – under Linux.

    But, since Win2K is nearing the end of its service life, and the newest games will start requiring Vista anyway, I’ll wind up having to switch all my computers over to Linux eventually. So it’s encouraging to see the progress they’ve made.

  7. Bwa Ha says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:42 pm

    So, evidently everything’s working. I can read your posts, etc.

    Alright, you’ve piqued my interest. If I were to convert one of my computers to Linux what version of Linux would I want and what’s compatable?

    (This coming from a MS guy who’s rebelling a bit with mozilla, firefox and other simpler programs.)

    Thanks,

    Bwa

  8. Gaius says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:52 pm

    I’m using Ubuntu, thanks to Guy tipping me. It actually works on both my old Dell Optiplex and my laptop (Latitude D400). I had some problems with the laptop getting the wireless configured when running from the live CD, but it Ubuntu actually saw all of the devices on the system. The old Dell is working right out of the gate.

  9. MikeO says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:55 pm

    Gaius,

    Two things:

    1. If you’re going to install Flash player on a machine that old, be sure to install the Flashblock Firefox plugin Flashblock. Otherwise, your browsing sessions may find themselves in lala land on some flash-abusing sites. You can run the animations you want to see by clicking on them.

    2. Please give Linux a try on a newer machine. My primary machine is a circa 2002 Toshiba notebook (2GHz P4M, 1GB RAM, 80GB 7200RPM), and this Slackware Linux setup is noticeably more responsive than a brand new Intel Core Duo setup with XP running at a client site.

    I’ve been using Linux as my primary desktop since 1996. As a former OS/2 user, I cannot for the life of me understand how Microsoft gets away with charging money for their products.

    -Mike

  10. Gaius says:
    February 28, 2007 at 10:12 pm

    Thanks for the tip, I’ve installed it. I have run it on the laptop from live CD, but not as an install – at least not yet (Dell says the laptop was manufactured in 2003). I may make that into a dual boot and see how it works. This old Dell is just a hot rod Yugo, but it is running rock solid with the Ubuntu so far. I have had two add-on applications that don’t seem to want to cooperate, but I’m not sure why yet. It may or may not be something that I can fix, but they were minor “nice to have” things, not vital.

  11. chuck says:
    March 1, 2007 at 12:10 am

    We use some seriously old software that needs real-mode DOS to run, so I’m playing around with DOS emulation on Linux.

    You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of GraphPlus, would you? My dad needs it for an old Textronics instrument from the early 90′s.

    Welcome to Linux, Gaius, I moved over full time in 2000. My needs are pretty basic, though: web browsing and software development. For the latter, the free editors, and compilers are a Godsend. Linux is also multiuser from the get go, at work I can ssh into someone else’s machine, or to my home machine, and run stuff on it, no problemo, and no worrying about licenses and users. Microsoft is really missing the boat on interoperability and networking.

    I run fedora myself, but I would recommend Ubuntu to anyone who wants to have multimedia without jumping through hoops. There is a program (I forget its name) that will set it up for you if the newer versions of Ubuntu don’t already do so.

  12. crosspatch says:
    March 1, 2007 at 2:09 am

    Ah, Ubuntu … the only way to go. The stuff based on the Debian packaging system is the best there is, I use it in daily production at work. In fact, one of my first actions when coming to the company I work for now was to migrate everything on the server side from Microsoft to Debian Linux. I can upgrade servers in Germany from my livingroom in California.

    I am glad Ubuntu produced a “consumer” version for the rest of the people out there. Good luck, Gaius, an many of our employees run Ubuntu on Dell laptops without issues.

  14. BubbaB says:
    March 1, 2007 at 1:00 pm

    Hold on, wait, are you looking for Java, or Fortran, on your distribution? ;^)

Comments are closed.