Ubuntu
About Ubuntu
Ubuntu Linux is styled as “Linux for Human Beings”, an appropriate description given its feel-good photography, earthy color schemes, and pseudo-primitive “heritage.” It all works quite well and bespeaks both the importance of unified design branding across all media and of keeping your targeting focused.
It’s also really cool.
Ubuntu on an iBook
Hoary
As of this writing, my experience with Ubuntu has been limited to research and familiarization — last year, however, I did experiment with Ubuntu (Hoary) on an iBook with more or less success. Read Ubuntu (Hoary) Linux on an iBook.
Dapper
Just this week (2006/08) I’ve begun my Dapper experiments which, although not exactly successful, is a good exercise: Attempting to install Ubuntu Dapper on an iBook.
More Ubuntu experiments
That experimental effort continues this year (2006) with plans to convert some PowerPC G4 towers (currently running Mac OS X) into a Linux desktop and a Linux server, using Dapper Drake. Assuming things work out well, which I imagine they will, I will continue later in the year to transition over to Linux for a great deal of my development.
Top Linux netbook trends
After reading this article on working with Linux and a netbook, I’ve been poking around gleaning info on netbooks in general. I am enamored of the idea and am leaning towards getting one of them for my next compy, then throwing Ubuntu or Debian on it.
In timely fashion, here’s a new article by the impressively monikered Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of the Computerworld Cyber Cynic blog with “The top four Linux netbook trends”:
I can barely keep track of all the Linux netbook-related announcements from this week’s Computex trade show, and I follow this stuff for a living. So, I sat down and put together a list so I could a grip on what’s coming up with the Linux netbook for the rest of the year.
Ubuntu Pocket Guide
Download a free PDF, or buy the printed version of the Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference:
Written by award-winning author Keir Thomas, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is a totally unique and concise guide for everyday Ubuntu use. It’s the world’s most popular Ubuntu book, with over half a million readers (and rising!).
Run Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope in VirtualBox
Thanks to Ryan over at moviefoxtrot for this walkthrough, “Installing Ubuntu 9.04 in Virtualbox 2.2.0”. Everything worked fine and as advertised, running the most-excellent (and open-source) VirtualBox on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5. And since Ryan published his article last week, there’s been a VirtualBox update to 2.2.2, so grab that too if you haven’t already.
Performance is surprisingly good so far, though I haven’t run it through anything too intensive. YMMV. So far I dig the 9.04 interface enhancements as well.
The gravitational pull of Linux
A pair of stories on /. today hold a particular fascination for me, particularly when taken together:
“Linux Desktop Distro Shootout”
“War Brewing on the Inexpensive Laptop Front”
They point to a pair of stories:
Infoweek: “Linux Shootout: 7 Desktop Distros Compared”.
We tested openSUSE, Ubuntu 8.04, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva Linux One, Fedora, SimplyMEPIS, and CentOS 5.1. All performed well, and each had at least one truly outstanding feature.
(At the moment, I am veering toward Kubuntu.)
And The Christian Science Monitor: “More computer brands chase the ‘$100 laptop’”.
Bye bye, bulk. New lines of tiny PCs fit both in your purse and into third-world classrooms.
Taken together, I can see my near-future computing needs handled, particularly on the writing front.
