ubuntu

buffalobulletin.net

We recently purchased a Microsoft Windows XP home computer system to house and run our site builder
application. Buying used computers is great until you have a run in with Microsoft's Authentication process.
Truth is at Microsoft, you are guilty until proven innocent when it comes to authentic operating system software.
The Authentication process was designed to stop pirating of Microsoft Operating Systems and Office software.
In fact, it prevents you from reformatting your hard drive and re-installing your Microsoft operating system and
Office software. We at Buffalo Bulletin have experienced this many times. It is frustrating to pay hundreds of
dollars for software that you can not use without jumping through hoops. These incidents lead us to research
alternative Operating Systems. We were drawn to Linux ubuntu. This page was designed to share our
experience from the download to install and operation of a Linux system.

Linux
ubuntu

Ubuntu (pronounced
oo-BOON-too) is an open
source Debian-based Linux
distribution. Sponsored by
Canonical Ltd., Ubuntu is
considered a good
distribution for beginners.
The operating system was
intended primarily for
personal computers (PCs)
but it can also be used on
servers. The word "ubuntu"
is from the African Zulu
language and translates as
"humanity to others."

We will begin with some of the facts about the download and install process. We will
continue this page with screenshots and information about programs included with the
install CD and what we accomplish with the use of this system and software.

OK, the single most important thing that sticks in my mind about the downloaded CD is the fact that it is a LIVE
cd. This means that you can "test drive" ubuntu by simply placing the CD in your computer optical drive, restart
your system having it boot from the CD rom and load the Operating System. After the very impressive load
time, you can surf the web with FIREFOX web browser. The CD contained enough information and drivers for
the proper operation of our Network Card. It was almost Plug "N" Play. The download was slightly less than
700mb, so it fits on a CD-R. We downloaded to a hard drive, clicked on the file using Windows Vista, and used
the simple on screen instructions to burn the LIVE CD. We then popped the live CD in the Windows XP machine
for a test drive. It was so smooth compared to Windows anything. We immediately decided to go ahead with a
full format and install.

THE INSTALL: After a re-boot we were presented with a menu of options. We found the option to format the
drive, partition, and install ubuntu. It was bye bye Microsoft XP home and Hello ubuntu. After what seemed to
be about 30 minutes, I had a feeling XP was gone forever. I had no lump in my throat or no tears in my eyes. I
was prompted to remove the disc and restart to boot from the hard drive. Almost immediately a colorful status
indicator popped up on the screen, shortly followed by an interesting jingle over the speakers. Then, I was
prompted for a username and then password which was set up in the previous on screen instructions including
the selection of the keyboard layout. I couldn't believe that my on-board sound was working. My mouse
worked, my keyboard worked. I was already falling in love all over again. Next, is the screen shots:

ubuntu desktop

ABOVE : you can see the nice clean ubuntu desktop. No icons and NO BS! By BS, of
course I am referring to "bull shit." I have purchased 4 new laptops this year, 1 Dell, and
3 Acer machines. They were so preloaded with Bull Shit like America Online, Earthlink,
and anti virus offers. It didn't take long to clean it out, but it should be a choice to the
consumer in my opinion. You don't have to worry about BS with ubuntu. Now, don't worry
about ICONS on the desktop. You can still drag and drop the Icons on the desktop that
you use on a regular basis.

At this point, I had a fully booted system up and running ubuntu. It was time to explore this
baby inside and out. I will list a few of my goals for the first day of exploration. I use Excel
and Word on a daily basis. So, those were at the top of the list. I also have mp3 files to
listen to while I explore, so that was on the list. Surfing the Internet is also important, so a
web browser came to mind. My next click was on the top menu bar APPLICATIONS tab. I
was presented a nice little drop down including accessories, games, graphics, Internet,
office, other, and sound & video. I hit the Internet tab and was presented with Ekiga
softphone, evolution mail, Firefox web browser, pidgin Internet messenger, and terminal
server client. A click on Firefox and I was in a browser window. After a few changes in
Firefox, I had my Google home page just like always. The only thing left to do was drag
Firefox onto the desktop, and BINGO, I had my icon ready to go.

NOTICE the icons?

OK, with internet out of the way, it was time to find something to write a letter or build a
spreadsheet in. On the applications tab, I clicked Office. Much to my suprise was
openoffice.org spreadsheet and openoffice.org word processor. Below are screenshots with
the programs open.

openoffice.org word processor

openoffice.org spreadsheet

Yes, I do like the occasional game of SOLITAIRE! So, it was back to the APPLICATIONS menu
under the games tab to see what suprise was next. Your right, BINGO, a solitaire game for
me. Without all the fancy bells and whistles, there was a nice, simple game to play.

I went on to find Pidgin Messenger, a standard on screen calculator, and a built in Dictionary.
I also found a Rythmbox Music player. It took a couple of hours to be able to listen to mp3 files
on the machine, but was worth the effort using Amarok media player. I have included a few
more screenshots below:

on screen dictionary!

on screen calculator!

Pidgin Messenger!

We will post more information on this page as we put this ubuntu system to the test. Next, we
will share the experience we had using Evolution Mail. Just a little hint, it was very easy to
configure. In less than 1 minute, we checked our mail, and had our confirmation from
ubuntuforums.com