Now that we are past Halloween, I think our home survived unscathed by the little goblins that roamed the 'hood last night. There were more kids (older ones at that) out last night than we have seen since we moved North Central Tejas a little over 5 years ago. Seeing them out gathering bags of loot brings back a lot memories...
It got very cool last night...much cooler than I expected. It is still cool now (50 degrees F) but with a light wind it feels cooler. I wonder what the natives are wearing today? Parkas?
I got an e-mail from Knightmare the other day asking for some Ubuntu info. I was glad to see he is stepping out of his comfort zone and learning a another OS. Linux is much easier to learn than it once was and the modern OS's are way cool. Ubuntu just happens to be my favorite distro right now. If you want to learn about other Linux variants, you can go to Distrowatch and read up on all the cutting edge Linux flavors.
Knightmare was asking me if I had any info I could share with regards to becoming knowledgeable about Linux. In regards to Ubuntu, there are several great on-line resources that can be helpful. My favorite is the forum (sign up for a free account), but I also enjoy the wiki as well as the unofficial support page. If you have the time, I would suggest reading a few of the threads in the forum each day (especially the beginner sections), even if you are not having any problems of your own. I learned a lot about the OS and I am much more comfortable with the CLI (command line interface) than I was a couple of years ago.
I want to stress that when you are learning an OS, it is usually best to install it on a spare box (as opposed to dual booting) and be prepared to reload it at least once. I know that in my trials of learning what little bit I know about Linux, I have had to reload my "sandbox" (test computer) 30+ times. Sometimes it was just to try a different distro, but many times it was because I FUBARed the install that I just had to start over. Do not lose hope if the first time does not go well. Keep trying.
Well Knightmare, you wanted so info/pointers/tips/etc and I hope they help some. There is a lot to learn but if you can find a "Linux for Dummies" book in the bargain bin (no, I am not kidding...I have one) it will help no matter which distro you chose. It will help you understand the basics of the CLI and how the OS works. Do not get overwhelmed by what you read. Take it a bit at a time and you will get it. This downloadable book helped me as well. You may find it helpful as well as humorous. If you like D&D, then you will enjoy this guide.
I knew it was important to become proficient with the command line and I understood DOS pretty well, so I thought the Linux CLI would be easy enough. If you are proficient with DOS, then a DOS to Unix/Linux chart may be of some help. It helped me quite a bit.
Well, you now have 90% of what I use...when those tools are not good enough, then, Google is my best friend.
BtW, the distros I have used:
Ubuntu (Kubuntu/Xubuntu)
SuSE
Mepis (a local WVU distro)
PCLinuxOS
Debian
Slackware
Knoppix
Gnoppix
VectorLinux
Xandros
Linspire
Redhat
Solaris (Unix)
Mandrake
Caldera OpenLinux
PHLAK
College Linux
Those are all that I can think of on the *nix side. I have used a few non-traditional / non-*nix OS's as well:
AROS
Syllable
ReactOS
BeOS (I really loved this...I hope the open source version, Haiku, gets off the ground)
Menuet
SkyOS
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