My Linux(Ububtu 10.04) Crusade

[Shayd]

I have moved 4 people over to Ubuntu in the last 2 weeks. Last time I tried it it was way to technical and not ready for "prime time". But now it is actually easier to use and "idiot friendly" enough for the average user.

I have moved these folks over due to them constantly screwing their PC's up will malware and viruses.

Anyhow just wanted to send out a shoutout... Mark, Canonical well done boys!!!

Anybody here done the same?

 

[ITCynic]

I like my customers to get malware and viruses....... I make money that way on computer support

So giving them Linux/Ubuntu kinda takes my income away

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Tonight is a true test of how much better Linux is vs Windows for doing a reinstall.

Last month my Ubuntu box got hacked (teach me to have a public dyndns account and root access with password "root"), and my box was compromised. I decided tonight to reinstall after I could no longer do some dev work.

Anyway, pop in the 10.4 disc, select the partition and install. Now my /home is mounted on its own partition so I don't format that. 15 minutes later I'm in Ubuntu working again with my full home directory still as I left it and all my tweaks still here.

 

[Shayd]

I have revived 2 laptops thats were running so slow on xp it's like they had brain damage. Over 45 sec boot time down to 27 sec and programs open in 1 to 5 sec.

Must say even a complete noob will be able to install it, 7 questions and the most difficult one is how do you want the drive partitioned.

It's not how powerful or safe Ubuntu is that makes is a winner, I would have to say their user friendliness is going to get them a lot more supporters. Especially from those who are setting up a PC or Laptop for granny and don't want to constantly have to deal with conflicting programs, drivers, viruses...etc.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

@Shayd Linux gives old hardware new life and thats the winning deal

Must say that the switch from XP -> Vista -> Win7 is such a big jump for many older users that switching them to Linux requires the same learning curve.

 

[milomak]

@Shayd Linux gives old hardware new life and thats the winning deal

Must say that the switch from XP -> Vista -> Win7 is such a big jump for many older users that switching them to Linux requires the same learning curve.

granted i don't do support

but i often wonder can't you just put icons on the desktop with Internet, EMail and Typing for the web browser, mail client and word processor?

And you can easily edit the menu items to have the same things?

You could obviously add Pictures and Video for stuff from your camera. i have done the same (on a Dock admittedly) and my wife doesn't find my computer any harder to use.

What would be interesting is whether OSX has this same issue with people being switched from Windows. And I know people who are not techincally savvy but have no particular issue with a change in interface. People adapt as long as you setup their systems well.

 

[Wikkelspies]

I have moved 4 people over to Ubuntu in the last 2 weeks. Last time I tried it it was way to technical and not ready for "prime time". But now it is actually easier to use and "idiot friendly" enough for the average user.

I use Ubuntu and find it superior to Windows in every respect. Its easier to use for a non-technical person. I have been using personal computers since the Z80 machines of the early 80s, so I'm not a novice but I am a writer, not an IT person.

I would have everyone in our household using Linux but for the fact that we have too much invested in work stations and laptops running Windows and various Windows applications. Windows 7 is faster and prettier than its predecessors and I've had no problems with it so far. Have not run into the problem I had with Vista not wanting to run programs written for XP and earlier releases, but its early days.

One question?

I partitioned the second hard drive (data only at that point) on an XP machine to install Ubuntu and dual boot with Windows. The primary drive is purely Windows so, as a last resort, I can always save data to an external hard drive and format the entire disk.

I want to make more space for data from Windows applications. Do I repartition the disk to reduce the size of the Linux partition and can I use the Ubuntu Live DVD to do this?

Can I boot from the Ubuntu Live DVD, uninstall Ubuntu and restore the entire data disk to a single Windows partition, or will I be left with two virtual drives if I do this?

None of the Ubuntu Wiki material I have Googled describes exactly how to do this because most people are dual booting from the same disk and face a more difficult task if they want to uninstall Ubuntu without compromising their existing Windows installation.

BTW, the best thing about Linux is that its all free. Why pay an arm and a leg for yet another edition of Microsoft Office every time you replace your computer, find yourself using a newer version of Windows and either don't have enough installs left on your Microsoft products to install them legally on yet another computer, or are forced to buy the latest edition of Office to go with the new operating system? Open Office is the way to go.

Oh, and I know that Open Office runs under Windows as well, so I guess one can stay with Windows and avoid the expensive applications, especially when more and more programs like GIMP have been adapted to run under Windows as well.

 

[milomak]

i've resized my windows partition previously using gparted in linux

win7 rebooted without problems. though i think it may have done a chkdsk at boot

 

[kingrob]

I partitioned the second hard drive (data only at that point) on an XP machine to install Ubuntu and dual boot with Windows. The primary drive is purely Windows so, as a last resort, I can always save data to an external hard drive and format the entire disk.

I want to make more space for data from Windows applications. Do I repartition the disk to reduce the size of the Linux partition and can I use the Ubuntu Live DVD to do this?

You can shrink/enlarge partitions in Windows Disk Management (Vista and 7, not XP, before all the old XP ruffnecks run to check), but if you have already installed Ubuntu, might not work. Good luck!

 

[Wikkelspies]

You can shrink/enlarge partitions in Windows Disk Management (Vista and 7, not XP, before all the old XP ruffnecks run to check), but if you have already installed Ubuntu, might not work. Good luck!

Thanks, I think the Ubuntu Live DVD - from which you can boot into Ubuntu and run it from the DVD - is very powerful. It may be possible to do a complete uninstall and restore the disk to NTFS; even reduce it to one partition instead of two. Virtual drives went out with Windows 98, or so I am told.

I believe that, in the event of a Windows crash, you can also use a live Linux DVD to boot your computer and examine the drive to see what needs fixing ... if you know what to look for. Linux is quite happy poking around Windows; the reverse is not true and Windows XP does not know about Linux partitions - just sees a smaller drive without recognising the space allocated to Linux.

 

[milomak]

Thanks, I think the Ubuntu Live DVD - from which you can boot into Ubuntu and run it from the DVD - is very powerful. It may be possible to do a complete uninstall and restore the disk to NTFS; even reduce it to one partition instead of two. Virtual drives went out with Windows 98, or so I am told.

I believe that, in the event of a Windows crash, you can also use a live Linux DVD to boot your computer and examine the drive to see what needs fixing ... if you know what to look for. Linux is quite happy poking around Windows; the reverse is not true and Windows XP does not know about Linux partitions - just sees a smaller drive without recognising the space allocated to Linux.

resizing of partitions, even when not native, seems to be a fairly straightforward task.

generally though if you can see your ntfs/fat32 drive from linux, it means it needs a chkdsk. there is a linux tool for instance called ntfsfix. but personally, i try boot into safe mode and if that doesn't work; use the install disc. if needs be i'll reinstall grub.

much like i would never think of fixing an ext related problem in windows.