An easier way of installing programs is in the terminal

type:

sudo apt-get install *app name here*

... i'm a n00b in LINUX, but UBUNTU... it iz a nice start... the GUI iz easy to pick up... the rest iz reading forums... i got even crysis to work in Ubuntu... just the problem waz, that there waz no textures... with WINE and DX instaled the need for speed series runs pretty fine... all OpenGL games, that i played, run fine too... the interesting thing where you can consider using Ubuntu iz a old computer for internet browsing... if tha CPU iz approx 1Ghz, tha RAM 256Mb, and a 5 series GeForce or 9 Series Radeon to do the COMPIZ eyecandy... then YOU have a better-than-Vista visual and browsing experience...

Meh, I've killed my XP install and I use Windows 7, which I actually like. Ubuntu doesn't cut it for me due to the lack of games.. otherwise I'd be all for alternatives.

Great article. Really like that you outlined how to install all the "good little stuff" and not just the OS it self. Thumbs up!

as soon as ubuntu can run .exe without a hitch, windows is out the...ugh...window.

Sir you are wrong. GoogleEarth and AdobeFlash is fully 64-bit compatible.

One issue that you may encounter is GoogleGears that is 32bit only, but you can easily find Gears for 64 bit (without Google trade mark).

Ya, I have multiple games that will not work no matter what i do. I have tried configuring WINE manually and Play on Linux and Steam games will not function properly for me, neither does Trackmania. Im not sure if its becuse i have SLI or what but it simply doesn't work. I would love to use Linux as my primary OS, but when i install Windows 7 and ALL of my drivers are installed and working correctly automatically without any hassle, even nvidia video drivers, that is something that Linux is not capable of yet with alot of systems. Until the majority of programs and drivers work natively with Linux, it will just be a niche OS on desktop computers.

Well, let's get this out of the way first: Linux is my primary OS. And I realize it's a kernel, so piss off you pedantic bastards.

@thepinkpanther: Linux ain't Windows. Linux is Linux, so if your goal is to run Windows apps all day, I don't think choosing Linux as your primary OS makes the most sense.

@fordry06: That certainly is a problem. Now, most hardware manufacturers don't disclose all the information about their hardware, so it's quite hard to write perfectly working drivers for OSes other than Windows. Although it's not Red Hat/SuSE/Ubuntu/(Insert Linux vendor here)'s fault, as a user, you don't really care about that, do you? Basically, for a lot of hardware out there, you have to fight to get it to work in Linux. For me, I got a bog standard laptop. In Ubuntu 9.04, pretty much everything I use worked out of the box. Now, certain things aren't working as well, such as my card reader only reading SD and MMC cards in Ubuntu... but I don't use anything other than SD cards. So for me, it's working just fine. For others... not so much. And regarding your games in Linux, see what I said above to thepinkpanther. Linux ain't Windows.

Well, having gravitated away from games, and not being particularly loyal to any company or OS or anything, I really honestly don't care if I'm on *gasp* a Mac or Windows or Linux. So it all works out for me. Hey, if you really want me to get philosophical then let me just say that I think you can enjoy life best when you stop caring about all the trivial things. Why should I care what Microsoft has to say about Apple or vice versa? Why should I care when a Linux zealot declares the start of the nineteenth Crusade against Sata- er, Bill Gates?

Flame on! or not.

Great article Adam! You are a man after my own heart! I rule over my computer with an iron fist and judiciously gut every MS OS I've own. I also drink no one's kool-aid (XP: 1.5GB Disk space, 19 running processes; Vista: 10GB Disk Space; 30 running processes). Ubuntu 9.04 is my primary OS and I absolutely love the amount of control I have. I now have no use for vista except for games. (Still working on that).

= Epic Win!
Summed it up quite nicely

Good! Er, well, not perfect, but good.

Linux (the kernel) has built-in 32-bit compatibility when running in 64-bit: I mean, you could perfectly run the rest of the system (including the GUI) in 32-bit, or actually have both: I merrily cut and paste between my 32-bit browser and 64-bit office suite - well, I used to: since Adobe unveiled the 64-bit build of Flash 10 and Sun published a 64-bit Java plugin, everything runs 64-bit.

Google Earth is 32-bit only, true; but if you install the 32-bit counterparts to its required libraries, it works like a charm in 64-bit. It may be a bit difficult (it's like trying to guess which version of .Net a Windows program requires), but then you can bypass it by adding a third party repository: it's like installing packages manually , but it also resolves dependencies.

For example, if you add the Medibuntu repositories, you'll get Google Earth on your 64-bit OS. No glitch.

Hardware support: I've installed 9.04 on 3 different machines. All of them detected all the hardware right away. The new Linux wi-fi stack is so good, there's hardly a chipset that isn't recognized. And at least, it has proper support for WPA2 and doesn't disconnect at the drop of a hat like Vista does...

But I'm not using Ubuntu. I use another, more suited to my needs, distribution.

Unfortunatelly VirtualBox (or VMWare) doesn't solve the problem of playing state-of-the-art games available for Windows, without loosing 70% performance.
While the software houses stick to Microsoft pressure and rules, Linux won't grow in that important slice of users. IMO this is where it all starts for the consumer market and Microsoft knows it well.
I'm pretty sure if software houses developed Crysis, Far Cry, Burnout, etc, for Linux platform with a good graphic support, i'm pretty sure the number of Linux users would grow a lot. Do you remember Doom on Linux? Wasn't it great?

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of things besides Windows games which don't work with WINE or have comparable "good" equivalents with Linux. I'm not going to bore anyone with an enumerated list, though.

At any rate, nice article. I'm not sure I really understand the WHY you want to install the OS, aside from cost, but whatever floats your boat. If someone is already running Vista x64 or Win7 x64, then Linux offers them nothing that they don't already have. If all you ever plan to run are common apps, then I guess Linux is a good alternative. If you want to run more main-stream development or business apps, then Linux is a poor choice as you will just be stuck in a VM or dual-booting.

Oh yeah - and I have to really say this:

I was a loyal Amiga user from 1990 until about 1998. I gave up the Amiga for a few reasons. The MAJOR reason, though, as software. Software for the machine had dried up. I looked around me and everything was Windows based. This solidified my decision to start using Windows 95/98.

This is one of the main reasons I will probably avoid Linux. I want to be able to run 99% of the software out there without issues or worrying about compatibility. 99% of the software out there has versions for Windows. I don't want to fight with dual-booting, a VM, or WINE. I did it once with Linux as my primary OS, and I always came to the conclusion that it just wasn't worth the hassle.

i just happen to have tried Ubuntu 9.4 last weekend...please force a restore point before installing as if you decide to uninstall it will not undo the O/S selection screen.

After i did a restore after removing the installation it was all back to normal.

Linux is great for a pc that just will web browse and use open office apps.

Why is it always UBUNTU? EVERY reviewer who "runs" Linux runs Ubuntu! Why don't some one try Fedora or SUSE?

I agree.... Also, this Article is wrong, I dont care what hassle you go through getting current games like Crysis working fully is basically impossible. Gaming in linux is useless. I have been trying to get my ATI 4870X2 working in just about every major linux distro INCLUDING Ubuntu 9.04 for about 2 months now and it DOESNT WORK... Linux=Useless currently...

Becouse Ubuntu it the most popular by far, and most people switching OS will start with Ubuntu, later on with Debian, etc.

For people who wan't to know what games run on Linux, and how to install them. Check out the appdb on http://appdb.winehq.org/
Also, use the latest beta version of Wine, not the stable one, if you want to try some games.

#1 reason linux has 0 market share, lame Linux gurus who scream Linux isnt Windows dont compare it to that and dont listen (LISTEN hello?) to what people are wanting in an OS... Microsoft listened (at least a little), and I think a couple of people use their software... lol

Yeah yeah yeah, a Ford aint a Chevy but they both take you places and can do basically the same thing.

That's a stupid thing to say. In that case I wish Windows would run .deb without a hitch. Oh wait, those files aren't supposed to work on Windows. Do you expect OSX to run .exe as well?



Precisely. Why will Linux never be mainstream? Because People want it to behave like Windows. If you want it to be like Windows, why not use Windows? Strange as it may seem it behaves just like Windows!



Linux is capable of it, very capable. The driver developers just aren't making open source drivers for it. Ubuntu doesn't come with NVIDIA video drivers pre-installed because that would go against the point of using Linux (open source software) and might even be breaching the Ubuntu philosophy. Even restricted drivers are sub-par. Linux is not the problem, it is and always will be the driver developers.

Additionally, a new installation of Ubuntu without you installing restricted video drivers performs smoothly (usually). You can get straight onto the net or into Open Office and write up some documents and spreadsheets. On Windows you'll likely have a few more drivers to install, and then some office software before you can do anything useful.



Given that Ubuntu is the most common distribution, it's just down to probability I guess. Don't forget that most people who have heard of Linux have probably heard of Ubuntu. So it's probably a good idea to start with something that rings a bell. I do think a few articles on other distros would be good. In fact, more Linux articles in general would be nice.

Oh, and before someone calls me a Linux fanboy, I don't even use Linux (although I have dabbled with it a little).