This is the first post on Randomn3ss that I am writing from my first install of the Linux distro Ubuntu. I’ve been playing with Linux here and there for the last 8+ years, starting with early versions of Mandrake and then moving to Red Hat, however they never did what I wanted them to, or at least not without a lot of configuration. The nice thing about Ubuntu is that is everything most Internet users want and need all on one CD and can be installed in less then 15 minutes.

Most computer users need to:

• Browse the web
• Use email
• Store files
• Create text based documents
• Edit images
• Chat on instant messenger

Ubuntu does all of this, right out of the box. It includes some of the most popular applications:

• Firefox
• Open Office (very similar to Microsoft Office)
• Gaim (chat client, similar to AIM)
• Gimp (similar to Photoshop)
• +even more fun stuff

I won’t bother linking you to the Wikipedia pages for each of those items, you can find the information on all of them on the Ubuntu homepage.

In the last 30 minutes of playing around I’ve installed most of my favorite Firefox extensions, played with Gimp and been browsing the web. I should also mention I am on computer that is nearly 5 years old, an AMD 1.2ghz box with 256mb of RAM and everything is running smoothly. This box is my test bed and over the next week or so will become my PVR.

So why am I not running Ubuntu as my primary operating system? Simple, there are still many Windows based applications that I need that are not yet available to Linux based computers, such as Photoshop, which is essential for post processing RAW files from my DSLR camera. My mother wants a computer to pay bills online, surf the web and look for recipes, a prime candidate for a Ubuntu as she isn’t computer savvy. She is getting a similar setup that I have laying around and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be installing Ubuntu on it instead of Windows 2000. I won’t have to worry about her getting a virus or any of the other things that can be quirky in Windows. At this point, I am extremely pleased with how it runs and the functionality that it provides.

I’d recommend that anyone looking for a Windows alternative check it out, download and burn a CD, you can run it on it’s own without installing it (called a Live CD) and play around with the setup. There are a few quirky things once it is installed, however the documentation is amazing and there are a good number of forums dedicated to Ubuntu fans.

Ubuntu Desktop
Ubuntu Forums