Page 1: Intro To Installation
Intro:
What flavor of ice cream do you like? That question is a great analogy to how fragmented Linux distributions are. Each distribution is a different flavor and some of those flavors are built upon others. When someone mentions Linux, they are usually referring to a distribution of it because Linux is only a kernel after all. Ubuntu is based on Debian and the newest version includes long term support. Consider it a cross between Windows 2000 and Mac OSX. It is one great operating system.
Ubuntu:
What is Ubuntu? "Ubuntu (ooh-BOON-too) is an African word that has been described as "too beautiful to translate into English". The essence of ubuntu is that "a person is a person through other people". It describes humanity as "being-with-others" and prescribes what "being-with-others" should be all about. Ubuntu emphasizes sharing, consensus, and togetherness."
You should not worry about the meaning of the word, just the fact this it is one of the best operating systems to date. Ubuntu thrives on "Just Works." That does not mean that everything works out of the box like a Mac does. I had a bit of a time to get a Broadcom based wireless card to work. Do not fret on my problems, most things just do work.
Live CD:
Previous releases of Ubuntu had two different CDs to download. The Live CD was different from the install CD. Starting with Dapper Drake (the codename for 6.06), a single CD serves as both the live CD and the installation CD. Would you like to get your feet wet with Linux? Pop in the CD and boot off of it. You will have a fully functional Linux desktop running entirely off the CD. No messing with your computer required to see if everything works.
This is what you will be greeted with upon successful boot. Go ahead and poke around. The examples folder shown below contain some useful videos and other media for testing. Very useful to determine if your hardware is supported.
Enough playing around, install the operating system on your computer. Get rid of Windows for good and get a REAL operating system of that computer. If you are not able to run Mac OS X (who says you need an Apple
), Ubuntu is the next best thing.
Installation:
To begin the installation, just double click the "Install" icon and the installation will begin asking you a bunch of questions. The thing that really impresses me is the fact that EVERYTHING is GUI based (meaning it is not text based). Even in Windows, the installation requires disk management to be text based. Macs also have a GUI based total install. Next best thing, just like I said.
The first question is the language. I bet most of you will be picking English. There are many language choices to pick from.
What time is it? The installation is pretty straight forward so far.
American English for my layout. You can chose whatever you want and test it out.
This one requires some thought. You need to pick your username and password. I suggest you remember them both because you need both to log in. Unlike Windows, Ubuntu is setup to not display a default username. Make sure you have a strong password. Do not leave your computer wide open to attacks because you cannot remember a password.
You can chose to have the entire disk used or to have Ubuntu resize the current partition (if you have enough space and there is an OS loaded already). Just click next.
This is the final part before the installation begins. Click Install and stuff will start to happen.
After about 20 minutes of installing and copying files, you will need to restart the computer and everything will be installed. It is at this point that you can stop if you want the base install. I suggest you keep reading and get the most out of Ubuntu.
What flavor of ice cream do you like? That question is a great analogy to how fragmented Linux distributions are. Each distribution is a different flavor and some of those flavors are built upon others. When someone mentions Linux, they are usually referring to a distribution of it because Linux is only a kernel after all. Ubuntu is based on Debian and the newest version includes long term support. Consider it a cross between Windows 2000 and Mac OSX. It is one great operating system.
Ubuntu:
What is Ubuntu? "Ubuntu (ooh-BOON-too) is an African word that has been described as "too beautiful to translate into English". The essence of ubuntu is that "a person is a person through other people". It describes humanity as "being-with-others" and prescribes what "being-with-others" should be all about. Ubuntu emphasizes sharing, consensus, and togetherness."
You should not worry about the meaning of the word, just the fact this it is one of the best operating systems to date. Ubuntu thrives on "Just Works." That does not mean that everything works out of the box like a Mac does. I had a bit of a time to get a Broadcom based wireless card to work. Do not fret on my problems, most things just do work.
Live CD:
Previous releases of Ubuntu had two different CDs to download. The Live CD was different from the install CD. Starting with Dapper Drake (the codename for 6.06), a single CD serves as both the live CD and the installation CD. Would you like to get your feet wet with Linux? Pop in the CD and boot off of it. You will have a fully functional Linux desktop running entirely off the CD. No messing with your computer required to see if everything works.
This is what you will be greeted with upon successful boot. Go ahead and poke around. The examples folder shown below contain some useful videos and other media for testing. Very useful to determine if your hardware is supported.
Enough playing around, install the operating system on your computer. Get rid of Windows for good and get a REAL operating system of that computer. If you are not able to run Mac OS X (who says you need an Apple
), Ubuntu is the next best thing.Installation:
To begin the installation, just double click the "Install" icon and the installation will begin asking you a bunch of questions. The thing that really impresses me is the fact that EVERYTHING is GUI based (meaning it is not text based). Even in Windows, the installation requires disk management to be text based. Macs also have a GUI based total install. Next best thing, just like I said.
The first question is the language. I bet most of you will be picking English. There are many language choices to pick from.
What time is it? The installation is pretty straight forward so far.
American English for my layout. You can chose whatever you want and test it out.
This one requires some thought. You need to pick your username and password. I suggest you remember them both because you need both to log in. Unlike Windows, Ubuntu is setup to not display a default username. Make sure you have a strong password. Do not leave your computer wide open to attacks because you cannot remember a password.
You can chose to have the entire disk used or to have Ubuntu resize the current partition (if you have enough space and there is an OS loaded already). Just click next.
This is the final part before the installation begins. Click Install and stuff will start to happen.
After about 20 minutes of installing and copying files, you will need to restart the computer and everything will be installed. It is at this point that you can stop if you want the base install. I suggest you keep reading and get the most out of Ubuntu.