Ubuntu Linux

[Replicant]

Well I thought I would start this thread here as we had a pretty good and informative thread going before.

I have recently turned my attention away from the main Ubuntu releases and started using Linux Mint (based on ubuntu)and I have to admit that I like it very much and that it looks a lot nicer 'out of the box'.

I would definitely recommend it to those who wish to try it out.

[BinnsY]

Uses ubuntu a few times but it doesnt actually do anything more or anything better than Vista does for me and none of my games work so didn't really see the point.

[Johnmcl7]

What are the main advantages of Linux mint over the main distro aside from looking better?

[DaveG]

I think their main two selling points are that they have their own Start menu design, and that Linux Mint comes pre-installed with all the proprietary codecs that you get from the extra Ubuntu repositories. Oh, and they say they have "rapid community driven development".

[EviL Ras]

I know only one thing about linux...

[Bryn]

I was thinking while on my fagbreak at work earlier about what helpful threads i could do and thought about maybe a list of linux distro's saying 'this is more lightweight', 'this is for more advanced users' et yada et al, but i'm not that well versed in Linux, might be a job for somebody willing?

[Replicant]

What are the main advantages of Linux mint over the main distro aside from looking better?

There are 2 primary versions Linux Mint and Linux Mint Light, they are basically the same, the main difference is that the Light version does not contain the proprietary drivers such as those required to watch DVDs etc.

LM is Ubuntu in most respects and is based on Gnome it has also been optimised in certain areas to provide maximum usability 'out of the box'. I havent had the chance to fully explore it but it seems to work really well on my XCT.

[Replicant]

Just an update for everyone - the new Ubuntu version 8.10 was released today.

Downloaded my copy this evening and will install over the weekend. Been away from Ubuntu a bit too long I think.

[Advocate]

Been running 8.10 for about a month now on my work development machine - few issues getting Apache running smoothly easily fixed though and all in all it seems fairly polished - There was a MASSIVE update the day before it went "stable". I'm happy with it

[DaveG]

I'm going to do a Wubi install of 8.10 this weekend because a super-kind-&-lovely friend of mine has gotten me an Alpha invite to Boxee. I read a review of 8.10 tonight which said there are no binary drivers for nVidia/ATI cards that work with the version of X.org that Ubuntu uses. Can anyone tell me if that information is still current, or has it been patched now?

Also, is there anyone reading this who got the webcame of the Xtreme CT/CTX/Pro to work under Ubuntu? I've got the Xtreme CT, and as of 8.04 everything in the laptop seemed to work fine, apart from the webcam.

[Replicant]

I have never had my XCT's webcam working in Ubuntu. I did do a bit of searching and found a project that was looking into it but wasnt sure if it had been abandoned. I havent checked back for ages now.

[Replicant]

Version 9.04 has now been released for those that might want to know.

[DaveG]

Yep, I was seeding it on Bittorrent for 24hours

I'm debating with myself today, do I use Ubuntu as my primary system by means of:
A) Running via Virtual Box (FLOSS Virtualisation app)
B) Completely wipe windows once and for all and hence throw myself into having to exclusively rely on Ubuntu.

What would you guys do?

[Replicant]

I too have been considering that some conundrum although I have the added benefit of 2 spare machines.

I like using Virtualbox and find it works very well so I might give it a bash AFTER taking an image of my current drive!!

[DaveG]

I too have been considering that some conundrum although I have the added benefit of 2 spare machines.

I like using Virtualbox and find it works very well so I might give it a bash AFTER taking an image of my current drive!!

What I've been thinking on that score, since I posted, is that I am just about at the point where I can't be bothered to run two OS's. I think if I were going to run Linux in some coexistence with Windows (e.g. virtualised or Wubi), I would probably try to regain some hard drive space by removing almost all of my Windows applications. Because why should I have two sets of the same apps?

As you say, it's a conundrum. I want to run Linux, a little afraid of going all the way, yet, but with all the options I have thoroughly confused myself on the most straight forward course of action.