Fresh First Install of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

I'd thought I'd share my first experience of using Ubuntu.
Installed Ubuntu 9.10 gnome 2.28.1 32bit
System:

Pentium III 733mhz
512mb SDRam PC133mhz
Gefore2Ultra 64mb 4xAGP
Soundblaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1
TrendNet TEW-229UB USB Wi-fi adapter
Standard USB keyboard
Standard USB laser mouse
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Followed the instructions. Boot to CD...Install...Partition (All Default)..Set Encypted Home.

It was a breeze. It was an install under an hour and fully functional. Then on with the system updates. But that was quick and painless. (After taking care of what is mentioned below)
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I did run into "trouble" with my TrendNet USB wifi adapter. Simple fix though. I used Network Manager, ndiswrapper, ndisgtk, and Windows XP Driver - sis162u.inf.

Use in that order. ndisgtk will prompt you to select the driver to use, in which case you select the Windows driver (in my case, the Windows XP, but you can use 2000, Vista, etc). Apply and then go back to Network Manager and select your wireless connection.
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Primary programs I use right now, please take in consideration I'm still a newb.
These programs were either already installed or readily available via Ubuntu Software Center under the Applications Tab. Very convenient.

Firefox
Thunderbird
Seamonkey (for when I get serious)
Pidgin
Deluge
VLC Player
Adblock Plus plug-in Firefox
Gimp
OpenOffice
Firestarter
ClamAV
BOINC Manager
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Through the network manager and setup PPTP VPN to work within seconds.
As well as my browser is configured through a proxy. Again, all within a short amount of time.
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What I want to do next is familiarize myself with the file system, commit to a long-term relationship with the terminal, and encrypt my network traffic to keep the ISP at bay. I have a lot of work to be done but its work I look forward to.

If you are considering giving up on Windows and trying something a little less ordinary..then I say go for it. If your just web browsing, watching vids, music, office - homework, then you'll be happy to know Ubuntu 9.10 works great almost out of the box for that.

So yeah...I'm diggin it.

Nice! i just put it on my 700M very nice

I used to be a massive ubuntu fan however im becoming less so, it seems to always be looking for the next killer feature which was easy in the early days as all this took was to fix generic issues with the Linux desktop, now its becoming more of a task that they put more effort into this than they do into anything else.

I think they should extend the time between releases to allow each release to mature more, the bug list grows bigger with each release as they still have bugs which have not been fixed from the previous release.

Ubuntu is fast loosing its way imho

I really like 9.04, it's better then 8.10 and 8.04 IMO. 9,10 i haven't tried in stock Ubuntu, only in Xubuntu, i find it frustrating but i think that is mostly due to the desktop manager more then the kernal.
I haven't upgraded my home box (9.04) to 9.10 because 9.10 doesn't have anything i need/want, and some people have had issues with stuff.
I may go for 10.4 if it looks tasty.

I do really like ubuntu though. Now that i'm a fan of rosetta@home more then FAH (though running FAH now for a contest) i could use windows without a performance loss. I've thought about it, but XP pales in comparison. Though i do have to use it for watching movies sometimes, or overclock the balls off my CPU.

Check out "lm-sensors" for monitoring your cpu/etc, and Gkrellm as a program to read lm-sensors. It's a great combo, i like it a lot.

i'll always have a soft spot for ubuntu. first due to its philosophy and second is 'cause it was my first distro ever.

UnseenMenace said:

I think they should extend the time between releases to allow each release to mature more, the bug list grows bigger with each release as they still have bugs which have not been fixed from the previous release.

Ubuntu is fast loosing its way imho

Click to expand...

That's why I prefer Debian stable, not "exciting" but then that's what Testing and Sid are for.

@op: sorry for the threadjack, Ubuntu has served me well over the years as well.

UnseenMenace said:

I used to be a massive ubuntu fan however im becoming less so, it seems to always be looking for the next killer feature which was easy in the early days as all this took was to fix generic issues with the Linux desktop, now its becoming more of a task that they put more effort into this than they do into anything else.

I think they should extend the time between releases to allow each release to mature more, the bug list grows bigger with each release as they still have bugs which have not been fixed from the previous release.

Ubuntu is fast loosing its way imho

Click to expand...

if they extend the releases, there's less to distinguish them from Debian

call me shallow, but my biggest bone to pick with ubuntu has always been that the default theme is friggin' butt fugly.

omgz the brown...

They need to fix the depmod when updating the kernel. Graphics drivers continually break with new kernels on 9.10. I have gotten a few phone calls "my screen went black after an update" (meaning they are kicked out to a tty)

Tserrof said:

call me shallow, but my biggest bone to pick with ubuntu has always been that the default theme is friggin' butt fugly.

omgz the brown...

Click to expand...

I hates it, i switch to the blue/gray/black theme immediately.

Stratus_ss said:

They need to fix the depmod when updating the kernel. Graphics drivers continually break with new kernels on 9.10. I have gotten a few phone calls "my screen went black after an update" (meaning they are kicked out to a tty)

Click to expand...

Same here, I think ubuntu needs to fix things such as this before looking towards killer features. If anything gives people the wrong impressions of Ubuntu and linux it is when it breaks due to things such as this..

UnseenMenace said:

Same here, I think ubuntu needs to fix things such as this before looking towards killer features. If anything gives people the wrong impressions of Ubuntu and linux it is when it breaks due to things such as this..

Click to expand...

I totally agree. I have determined to start pinning packages or simply turn off the updates in general on the htpcs I build for people so that they dont end up messing something up or breaking graphics drivers due to a kernel update

I could probably write some sort of ugly work around to reinstall the drivers on a new kernel install but really, if you dont need the new packages why bother?

I'm hoping that sometime soon they do another .06 LTS release and spend the extra two months fixing bugs instead of adding features.
Ideally, they'd do a .08 release and spend those two months making ATI drivers that work well.

I think this may also contribute towards the positive feeling towards the ubuntu based Mint distro as the Mint release is usually slightly behind Ubuntu as such by the time it is released some of the most disruptive issues discovered with the latest Ubuntu release have usually been fixed which makes Mint look good

I switched from Ubuntu to Mint yesterday.

I'm happy I did, mostly because I tend to break my installs over time (just trying stuff, like running firefox from the RAM for a few months, than went back to normal for stability, swapping drives around too muc also gave the OS some hiccups, mostly when it tried to mount a partition that i'd deleted and never bothered to edit the fstab)

So far I really like Mint, color scheme is darker, which I like. It's nice for first timers, because it also looks a lot like windows. Though I quickly add a standard GNOME top taskbar.

Been using Ubuntu since 6.04 and while it usually works well, whenever Firefox gets upgraded the fullscreen video breaks, if you go fullscreen it closes firefox. So, I usually reinstall whenever that starts happening.

I'll have to give it a whirl on one of my work computers, probably the one the monitor/mouse/keyboard is plugged into. Hopefully setting up internet connection forwarding in mint is similar to ubuntu.

Yeah, Mint waits a month or two before releasing in order to fix everything that got fouled up in Ubuntu.

UnseenMenace said:

I think they should extend the time between releases to allow each release to mature more, the bug list grows bigger with each release as they still have bugs which have not been fixed from the previous release.

Click to expand...

I agree. Every release should be an LTS, and they should be released every 2 or 3 years, and supported for 5. That would let the said release mature, and would also give them enough time to make a more stable OS for the next round.

It SEEMS like Canonical is cranking one out like every 6 months though...... It's like they're trying to appease the Windows users with their new features but at the same time doing what they beat MS up for, releasing stuff that isn't stable, whereas MS's stuff is normally stable just not secure.

Sir Barton said:

I agree. Every release should be an LTS, and they should be released every 2 or 3 years, and supported for 5. That would let the said release mature, and would also give them enough time to make a more stable OS for the next round.

Click to expand...

Your describing debian