Setting up Ubuntu

So, tried the live CD and liked it. Next step was install. Now, this SHOULD have been fairly straightforward, as my disk was already partitioned to allow for Libranet (so I naively assumed it would install over that).

Not as straightforward as that though. Oh no. Googling revealed there is an issue with installing on a partition that already exists, but I persevered and eventually got this working (can't remember exact error messages now).

However, install did then run smoothly, and the Ubuntu desktop turned up in all its glory. The next step was to follow the "13 things to do after installing Ubuntu" guide. This was very helpful, and all worked well aside from the Flash install, which continually brought up error messages. Again, this is a known bug, and I managed to remove this eventually (once again, I should have noted down where - oops).

However, I was very impressed that my Windows drives were recognised immediately, unlike Libranet. And the ntfs-3g install meant I could delete or modify files on those drives as well - this was a real essential for me, as my primary hard drive is only 15GB, of which 6GB is Windows.

Other distinctive pluses:
* Recognised my internet connection (via ADSL modem router) straightaway - could access Firefox immediately
* Connected devices (printer, digital cameras, MP3 player) recognised immediately
* DVD burner worked immediately

No fuss, no mucking about - brilliant!

I then did some further customisation:

Installed Thunderbird and removed Evolution (purely so I can use same e-mail client on Windows and Linux)
Installed F-Prot virus scanner
Installed iPodder (I use Juice, so works exactly the same way!) and set it to run at start-up
Looked at the Add/Remove Programs area and just snuffled around the programs available
Installed WINE and then used it to install uTorrent
Set up GAIM for instant messaging (not working with gmail yet though)

I've also experimented with system clean-ups and clearing TMP files at shutdown, and used Mplayer and LAME to capture streamed RAM files and convert to MP3 (for those times when podcasts are unavailable).

So, anything NOT OK?

Well, I was shown by someone at work the Beryl window manager. Very nice. However, after trying lots of ways to get my ageing NVIDIA card to work, it's pretty obvious that it cannot. So, I suppose I should be philosophical and say I haven't missed what I never had, but it WOULD have been nice!

The other thing is not so much a Linux thing, but does impact, and that's getting a torrent client working effectively. I'm now delving into the complex world of port forwarding, as mine currently don't do this. They probably have never done it in Windows either, so all this time I've been bemoaning torrent speeds was time I should have been fixing this.

So, that's a work in progress!!!

Next post - what happened in setting up Ubuntu on son's much more recent PC (funded courtesy of Amex!)