A week with Ubuntu

Ok geek blog time.

I got an urge, thanks Jeff, to try out a different Operating system on my computer at the end of last month.  I chose to us a Linux Os called ubuntu.   It seemed like it should be easy to install, work with, and would not take up much space.  Everything I read about it also said it will install in a partition on my hard drive shared by XP.  I wanted this option so  I would not have to do a full reload of XP after I was done messing around with ubuntu.  I made plans for an easy experiment with something new. My first mistake was thinking anything I would try would be easy.

I download and burned the install live cd in about 30 mins.  From there it went down hill fast.  I assumed that any cd burning program would work to get the live cd correct. This is wrong.  Imgburn  and Infrarecorder
both burn cd images for live cds and bootable images.  Imgburn does not play well with ubuntu.  I usually use Imgburn.  So the live cd did not work the way it should.  For about 3 hours I loaded, removed, reloaded and fought with the cd  trying to get it to work.  I was going to give up but decided to try burn  a new cd and used the burner on ubuntu's web page, infrarecorder.  Low and behold the cd worked like it was supposed to.  But I still had issues.
The cd gave you the option to run ubuntu like a program or load it onto your computer.  I got the program option to work on the new cd.  I went into unbuntu and looked around.  I found a very easy interface that is very close to windows but did remind me of the old Mac Os I had to use with Holiday Inn's old training programs.  I spent about 30 mins working on the desk top and going to the web.  It seem to be very stable and easy to use.  It was late and so I headed to bed thinking I would add it to the hard drive and try to be able to boot into both Os on the same computer the next day.  Again thinking gets me into trouble everytime.

The next day starts out ok.  I run the install form the live cd and answer all the questions.  Ubuntu said it was done installing, had made a partition on my hard drive and need to reboot without the cd in the cd drive.  I followed the easy instructions and restarted my computer.  Did I say that nothing in this process was easy?   On reboot I get a black log in page asking to boot into Xp or ubuntu. I choose ubuntu and then I get ......
Nothing.
A blank screen flashing cursor and no response from my key board or mouse.  No Xp no ubuntu, no way to do anything.   I reboot and try again.  I know trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results is the definition of insanity.  I now had a computer that would not boot at all.  I restarted it and selected Xp on the boot menu screen.  I also went and got Beth's laptop to get back on the internet looking for help.

I found a great web sight about all things Linux,  Linuxquestion.org.  It has a place for new users and ubuntu.  I joined started a thread and got answers and suggestions very quickly.  I also sent messages to Jeff and Roger on Facebook looking for answers.  Thanks to everyone for the help.  I figured out with these suggestions that ubuntu had decided to install itself on my external hard drive not the internal drive I wanted it to use.  It was decided by those who know more than I that ubuntu did this because the external had a lot more space.  Since the external is a USB drive ubuntu never gets a chance to boot because the computer never sees the drive until after its running.  I disconnect the external and reload ubuntu onto the internal.
All of this takes a couple of hours of messaging, texting and emailing.  I have now made a few new online friends and are feeling a little since of accomplishment. 

Again any little step of progress leads to more problems.  I get into ubuntu and start looking around like I had done the night before in the application version.  My web browser of choice is Firefox.  Ubuntu has a built in version and it work really well in the application version.  It needed my add-on loaded but no big deal.  In the booted version of ubuntu, Firefox would not run.  The system gave me an error of not having enough space to complete the action.  So back to the web on the laptop and looking for more answers.  I now have a dual booting computer that will only surf the web in Xp.

Come to find out that ubuntu needs very little hard drive space to load, 2.3 gigs, but it needs more to actually run any program. Back to Xp and delete the partitions on the hard drive.  Ubuntu is removed and the external hard drive disconnected.  Re load ubuntu giving it 50 gigs to play in and back we go.  Everything goes much easier this time and I am back to a dual booting computer and I can now surf the internet in both Os.   I blame most if not all of these issues on myself.  I did not do enough research and really was not paying attention to everything I was doing.  I now come to the reasons I do not thing I will keep using ubuntu.

The main reasons I wanted to use ubuntu, or any linux Os, were its cost and use of hard drive space.  I have been using it for a week now and I can say the cost is still a plus.  The Os itself does not use a lot of space but the mounting of hard drives and the swapping feature use a lot of memory.  It runs out a virtual memory very fast and I am still not sure why.  The programs I run everyday, Firefox, Thunderbird, Blackberry and Aim etc. all run a little bit differently and seemingly slower because of this.  Add ons for Firefox have crashed Firefox.  Aim just plain does not run.  Converting Thunderbird to ubuntu's client was harder than bringing in Outlook to Thunderbird.   Blackberry does not support any Linux.  I did not even try to play any of my games in ubuntu.

I have decided that with all of the flaws and issues with Windows I know why it is still the most used Os.  It works.  Pure and simple it works.  It is expensive. It takes up a ton of space. Lots of people try to hack it and make viruses to crash it.  But it works. 

Now when does Windows 7 come out?