Ubuntu

[bluemonkmn]

So I'm here running on Ubuntu directly off the CD.  Very interesting.  Glad durnurd mentioned it.  I'm curious where it puts all its files.  I just installed Flash so I could watch YouTube videos... I wonder where I installed it -- to RAM?  It all worked, and I watched the beginning of the Pangea Day video on YouTube.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be running on my other system so well.  That system only has 128 MB of RAM and a rather slow CD drive.  It gets to the point where there's a graphic background and then nothing for at least half an hour.  I've tried it from CDRW and CDR.  I get the same result whether I'm trying to install or run from CD.  The same disc works in my main machine.  I guess I'll have to check the ubuntu web site and look for troubleshooting.  Still, looks like a pretty cool OS.  I sit in awe of an OS that can run directly from CD.  I've seen Knoppix, but I'm still amazed that it works.

[durnurd]

I've yet found the need to boot into windows since I installed it. The only problem is with the WINE windows emulator... it doesn't like my graphics card, so I can't play 3D games.  Other than that, everything I do in Windows I've been able to do in Ubuntu at least just as well if not better.  I can play DVDs full screen, and since I have four workspaces, I can map those four workspaces to a 3D cube which I can rotate around so that one of the faces is a full-screen movie while another is a full-screen game and a different one is a web-browser.  Pretty cool.  Not that I'd be playing a video game while watching a movie, but still.

[bluemonkmn]

Thanks to the Ubuntu forums, I've been directed to the alternate CD, which should allow me to install on a system with less than 192 MB of RAM.  I'm optimistic.  Not quite optimistic enough to buy another wireless adapter before I know if this will work, though .  (I'm planning on moving the system to a location where I'll want to use a wireless adapter with it instead of a network cable.)

[Jam0864]

I installed kubuntu today, which is basically ubuntu but with a KDE desktop instead of GNOME.

runs fast, don't even have proper drivers for anything yet and it's working faster than windows.

It doesn't fancy my wireless card, said linux ships with drivers, but without firmware due to legal reasons. I have found a tutorial which explains how to use an application that extracts firmware from the official windows drivers and installs it onto linux
Apparently that works, but I need internet access to get the program, which I can only currently get through an ethernet cable hooked up to the router.
Unfortunately I have only one ethernet cable and my brother currently needs it for the other pc, so I will do it when he isn't using it I guess...
I am currently back on vista since the internet works. Unfortunately I cannot download the app with windows since you have to use the kubuntu update program to get it.

But I actually quite fancy kubuntu, and when it's working properly I will probably use it more than windows, and just switch back to windows to play games. (I assume WINE isn't as efficient as actual windows, since it's just emulating windows, but I could be wrong.) (also lack of graphics drivers is never good)

EDIT:// lol spellcheck, sweet.

EDIT2:// btw bluemonk, I found burning to a DVD-R made the live cd function operate much faster. That could just be my drive though.

[durnurd]

It's not any less efficient, in fact, since it is not emulating Windows.  It's just a rewrite of all of the Windows DLLs compiled natively in Linux so that Windows apps can work under Linux.  It's not emulation (Wine: Wine Is Not an Emulator), it's natively running the program.  There are some issues with things like the .NET framework and certain 3D games, but most popular 3D games work just fine under WINE with no noticable problems.  Currently, I'm playing KOTOR and I don't see any problems at all.

[Jam0864]

hmm... I'm excited to get home from school today, I wanna get this working. xD