Ubuntu 11.10 Is Released! Come Get Some OpenSource

[jandrusk]

Tired of viruses invading your PC all of the time? Wish you did not have to shell out cash for software upgrades? Look no further. Ubuntu 11.10 has been released and is completely free and is developed by millions of volunteer programmers across the world in order to enjoy the freedom of OpenSource software.

Homepage | Ubuntu

 

[Rich Koster]

A quick question from a dinosaur like me. What would I do here? Do I boot up the pc in dos and bring up Ubuntu instead of Windows?

 

[jandrusk]

You have a couple of options;

1) Download the ISO and burn it to a CD-R or a Flash Drive.

2) Boot your system with device in (1).

3) Choose the option for trying it and not installing it.

4) Use it and when you feel comfortable, backup your data and repeat the process and just choose Install Ubuntu.

Hope this helps. I would also recommend just browsing Ask Ubuntu - Stack Exchange for some of the normal questions that are presented.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I've been playing around with Ubuntu on a Flash drive. It's really cool.

 

[Edward]

I prefer Puppy - you can boot from a CD or a stick, save files to your hard drive, all without having to partion and set up a dual boot or losing your existing OS. Plus, it's a lot more compact and much quicker than Ubuntu, which is about as bulky as Windows these days.

 

[littlepeople]

I use crunchbang linux. Its super snappy.

 

[jandrusk]

Glad to see reformed folks using Linux of some flavour

 

[Edward]

Glad to see reformed folks using Linux of some flavour

Well, I'm currently using XP. I used Puppy when I traveled a lot so I didn't have to wait for the long boot times with my Vista laptop.

 

[VictorBravo]

I've used Puppy too and had fun with it. Also, like Rich, I've used Ubuntu on a flash drive on and off for a while. For me, when I have time, it's an interesting hobby.

But, when I need to get work done and deal with stodgy things like essential legacy programs and third parties, I'm still using XP or Windows 7. I haven't had a virus problem in 4 years, nor have I paid for an upgrade.

I'm happy for open source and glad it's out there. But I'm stuck with needing my Adobe software, case management software, and MS Office on my Windows machines to get along with everyone else I have to get along with.

 

[Edward]

and MS Office on my Windows machines to get along with everyone else

I'm with you on everything but this. Open Office is more compatible with all versions of Word than the new versions of Word are with the older versions. At work, we skipped the whole Vista generation of operating system and MS Office, so it's not always a clean conversion when I get a DocX (or equivalent Excel) and have to work with it in 2003.

 

[VictorBravo]

Open Office is more compatible with all versions of Word than the new versions of Word are with the older versions.

I keep trying Open Office, and I keep going back to Word 2007. I'm so used to it now that OO seems like a step back. I have never gotten it to consistently format pleadings or form-type documents. There's always some tweak I have to do. And then there was the time when it just ran away with memory and locked everything up when I was trying to compile a table of contents. Auto-save didn't work--just a bust. (That was an earlier version, but it still haunts me).

I'm a stick in the mud. I hated Word 2007 until I spent probably 8 to 10 hours really studying it. Now I've got all my macros just right. My pleadings are consistent and have nice merge fields that work. It took a lot of effort and now I like it and don't want anything else. . . . I'm not even looking at Office 2010. Probably won't until 2014, and by then maybe OO will be my choice after all.

Except I do admit typing notes on Notepad or Wordpad just to remind myself of the good old days.

 

[Rich Koster]

Someone please verify or nix this. I'm led to believe that I can download this on my Mac, burn it to a disc, and then boot my old laptop from this disc and it will run a different OS that is virus immune.

Also: Maybe i missed it, but I didn't find a minimum system requirement of ram & processor speed.

 

[jandrusk]

Ubuntu 11.10 System Requirements
The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 11.10 is 384 MB of memory for Ubuntu Desktop. Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used by the graphics card. If your computer has only the minimum amount of memory, the installation process will take longer than normal; however, it will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed.

And for installing Ubuntu on a MAC see ==> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook

 

[Rich Koster]

Ubuntu 11.10 System Requirements
The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 11.10 is 384 MB of memory for Ubuntu Desktop. Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used by the graphics card. If your computer has only the minimum amount of memory, the installation process will take longer than normal; however, it will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed.

And for installing Ubuntu on a MAC see ==> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook

Thanks. I have an old Dell Insp.3800 with only 256MB. I guess that's a wash.

 

[Edward]

Thanks. I have an old Dell Insp.3800 with only 256MB. I guess that's a wash.

For older systems, there are better distros than Ubuntu. They won't have all the bells and whistles of Ubuntu, but they'll be more functional for basic use. Make sure that you set up your old laptop to boot from CD first (or thumb drive first); if the drive you specify for boot first is empty, it will boot from the hard drive by default.

If you have more time than money, spend some of it on Distrowatch. DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. Pick flavors that you can try out from a CD (or thumb drive) without having to install. If you don't like one, ditch it and you are only out the cost of the CD that you burned. Some folks pride themselves on small size, others try to balance size and functionality, others go for functionality at the expense of size (Ubuntu would fall in that group, as would Fedora, Suse, Red Hat, Kubuntu). I'd recommend a look at Puppy for your needs (I've never tried it, but you might also look at Lubuntu). Stay away from Slackware - does not have a reputation as being amateur friendly. I'd also recommend staying with the Linux rather than trying the BSD branch. And stick to free for now.

 

[Rich Koster]

Thanks for all of your tech help, brothers. I guess that I'm going to do two things in the near future:
1) Use my old laptop to exclusively drive my stereo system ( a 60GB Rich-pod )
2) Buy the cheapest laptop I can find the stores clearing out (in December) and dump the Ubuntu disc, that I made this morning, into it.

 

[Whitefield]

I run Ubuntu and various other flavors of Linux in VirtualBox.

 

[Elizabeth]

I d/l'ed the newest Ubuntu this morning. My daughter loves it, so I thought I'd look at it. D/Led the WUBI version, so I could boot into windows or Ubuntu.

The D/L seemd to go all right, but at boot-up got some message about 'no support for locale enus.utf8'. Then it booted up Unbuntu, which worked, but I couldn't get it to acknowledge my wi-fi, so that was that.

This is a Windows 7pro, 64 bit Lenovo Thinkpad. So I don't know. I did uninstall the Ubuntu and reinstalled it. Same problem. Is there some little thing I am missing?

 

[Manuel]

...and MS Office on my Windows machines to get along with everyone else I have to get along with.

I run MS Office on Ubuntu 11.04

---------- Post added at 05:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 AM ----------

I d/l'ed the newest Ubuntu this morning. My daughter loves it, so I thought I'd look at it. D/Led the WUBI version, so I could boot into windows or Ubuntu.

The D/L seemd to go all right, but at boot-up got some message about 'no support for locale enus.utf8'. Then it booted up Unbuntu, which worked, but I couldn't get it to acknowledge my wi-fi, so that was that.

This is a Windows 7pro, 64 bit Lenovo Thinkpad. So I don't know. I did uninstall the Ubuntu and reinstalled it. Same problem. Is there some little thing I am missing?

I would stick to 11.04 (Natty) until those issues are resolved in the latest version. I upgraded when 11.10 came out, but I had to go back because there were some issues with my system.

 

[jogri17]

I could still use Logos 4 without dual booting, I would totally make the switch. Until then I'm happy using Windows 7 for the moment. I'm just too heavily invested in Logos.

 

[ClayPot]

Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, and other Linux variants are great. I do hope that a Linux unification movement gains some traction though. I understand that Linux users enjoy the freedom of choice, but Linux would be more impactful on the consumer side if people worked toward enhancing existing distributions instead of creating another Hannah Montana Linux. I think it will also take a little more interest from 3rd party vendors supplying software for Linux for it to really make it big. e.g., You can't run Netflix (to my knowledge) on a standard Linux machine because there is no DRM software available to do the job to Netflix's satisfaction. Sure, you could switch to another company, but Netflix is the big dog.