I’ve been using Red Hat Linux and more recently its lower cost variants such as White Box and Centos on my servers since 1996 (went Linux in ‘96, was Xenix, a type of Unix, from ‘88 to ‘96). But, last month, I installed the new Ubuntu 8.04 server edition on one server just to see what all the fuss was about.

I LOVE IT! And I’ll be converting more of my servers over.

Once you get used to the sudo way instead of straight root, you’ll never go back. More secure, just plain easier. A lot less work to get a server configured and up and running.

;-)

I’m running the custom Xandros OS (based on Debian) on my Asus EEE, and have been slowly figuring out the basic Linux commands in order to run more than the included software (Firefox and OpenOffice are fine and all, but without GIMP, WINE and DOSbox, it’s a little limited). I learned on an old 286 laptop (which was roughly as heavy and portable as the desktop iMac I’m using now). Since the Linux command line isn’t all that different than DOS, much of the same logic carries over. It’s actually something of a kick to use that part of my brain again.

I’ve been thinking about changing the OS to something a little more user-friendly (the custom Xandros mod is designed to prevent you from fiddling with it too much, meaning that most significant changes either have to be done in the command line—hidden with a macro, not accessible from the desktop—or in the KDE-powered “advanced” desktop, which you can only access after installing it from the command line.

But I could be sold on Ubuntu, since I’m not exactly sure what the differences are. From everything I can tell, the two are very closely related. I’d have to have a pretty good reason to switch over.

right Steve, Ubuntu is also a Debian-based distro ... not a big change for you but was for me coming over from Red Hat distros.

I’m always floored at just how easy it is to install and run new, fun stuff in Ubuntu. It’s a beautiful interface and runs SUPER fast on more modern machines. It’s a pity I haven’t been able to get away from all the other software I really need for work to go fully Loonix-ified.

Big ups to old skool DOS commands!

Graham - 14 May 2008 09:20 AM

It’s a pity I haven’t been able to get away from all the other software I really need for work to go fully Loonix-ified.

Welcome to my sad domain, Graham. Did it really take a Linux thread to bring you here?

Have you tried running WINE for those apps? (I’m assuming they’re Windows-based. There may be a similar program for Mac programs.) Assuming you’re on a reasonably recent machine, I’ve found that the difference in performance is negligible. The only thing I can’t get it to do is run things like the Netflix on-demand player, which requires both Internet Explorer 6 (at least) and Windows Media Player.

Ubuntu forum bringing me here? Pish tosh! I’ve already wreaked some havoc elsewhere.

It’s a pretty brand-spaking-new machine, in fact. While it runs some things just as fast in WINE, some programs just seem to hang it. Then again, even running Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Encore at the same time in Windows can cause some problems.

That’s why dual-booting is not beneath me.

Graham - 14 May 2008 10:50 AM

Then again, even running Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Encore at the same time in Windows can cause some problems. That’s why dual-booting is not beneath me.

Ah, I see your point. GIMP ain’t Photoshop, and I don’t even know what you’d do about the rest. From a print perspective, I have yet to see an open-source program that can compete with InDesign or Quark. Dual-boot (or, in my case, a pair of computers) seems pretty reasonable.

If you ever decide to go anti-dual boot 4gb of ram, a fairly decent processor, and a nice open source application called Virtual Box might do the trick. It does a very good job at memory management and it’s just fun to play with. I find wine to be too quirky however wine was meant to serve an entirely different purpose. Wine isn’t an emulator. Technically speaking you should get native speeds when using wine. You can also get Virtual Box for windows if you’re so inclined. It’s neat to play with random OS’s sometimes or to purposely install viruses and see if you can ‘heal’ your virtual machine. I guess I’m a bit of a geek though.

On a side note, I heard you guys (Graham) on the radio this morning! All about how you started out in a garage in Woodfin. I hope to see your show before the summer is out.

several months using Ubuntu now ... really sold on it and updating some of my other servers. Ubuntu is EASY compared to the Red Hat variants I’ve been using.

I’m thinking about building a Linux/Ubuntu box from barebones, just to have the experience of putting the entire hardware and software package together myself. Apart from Windows, I’m already using a mostly open-source setup already, so very little would change.

Has anyone here messed around with Ubuntu’s NetBook Remix? I have an Asus EEE that I’m thinking of switching over to Ubuntu, and that seemed like a good option.

I’ve been running my Ubuntu strickly as a a server ... don’t even have a GUI on it but use the command line like ghod intended ...

but read about Netbook Remix and it looks velly interestink. ... I think I’ll Ubuntu up one of my spare computers and give it a shot.