Linux Ubuntu LTS 14.04

[The Vulcan]

So I'm a bit tired of windows 8, it eats the internet like you won't believe andjust yesterday I had to do a disk ceanup of almost a 100 GB!

So I'm interested in trying out Linux and saw that a new long-term stable version is out now called LTS 14.04 (Ubuntu)

I feeling a bit anxious doing the dual boot set-up so, I'm not ready to install it right away, I'm basically just trying to read up on what to do. There's this virtual box thing you can download to try out various other OS

Is it worth it to try Linux? There's huge camps on either side damming and praising it and then there's like a lot of  Linux distros and others like BSD and Debian, some say Debian is the best and Linux is totally unreliable.

How do I choose?

[Rigil Kent]

I tried Ubuntu for a while because I like the idea behind it,  but my impression was that it is aimed at people who knew what they were doing when it comes to computers. I could not find a straight forward way of downloading freebies off Sourceforge and getting it to work. To me, Windows is much simpler, and I went back to it quite soon.

Rigil

[The Vulcan]

Yes saw all those crazy command lines they use to download stuff, I'm just scared it will crash or freeze or something horrible will happen and I lose all my files

So it's not a good idea for clueless novices like myself then

[Rigil Kent]

So it's not a good idea for clueless novices like myself then

Well, it's always good to experiment. But do what I did and try it on your kid's computer first.

[Tweefo]

Yes saw all those crazy command lines they use to download stuff, I'm just scared it will crash or freeze or something horrible will happen and I lose all my files

So it's not a good idea for clueless novices like myself then

Put your files in Dopbox, Copy, Google Drive or Sky Drive. It is cloud storage, so your files are a lot saver (you can save the same file in more than one) plus you get an automatic backup.

[st0nes]

I'd wait a couple of months until 14.04.1 comes out.  It takes a while to fix the bugs that are always there when a new release comes out (I'm still using 12.04, the previous LTS version). 

Ubuntu is child's play to install, if you follow the instructions carefully.

You don't need to learn arcane command-line incantations to run Ubuntu.  Everything you need to do has a GUI pointy-clicky interface; sometimes it's just easier and quicker to type out the CLI command if you know it.

Don't get software directly off sourceforge.  Everything you are likely to need is in the Ubuntu repositories and can be downloaded and installed from the software centre with a single click.

[cr1t]

I think you can boot it from a usb to try.

I've tried to it once, The learning curve was a bit more than what I felt like to be honest in the end.
When you google help most of the time you get a set of command line instructions.

[The Vulcan]

Don't get software directly off sourceforge.  Everything you are likely to need is in the Ubuntu repositories and can be downloaded and installed from the software centre with a single click.

Ugh, yeah learnt that lesson, got a terrible PUP malware called linkey with a page hijacker "Search Here" search engine, had to download Iobit Uninstaller and Malware bytes to get rid of it all, took me some time to clean that linky out of my registry permanently.

Okay glad it's not overly complicated then, it's like a catch22, I won't know unless I try, but I don't want to try unless I know with at least 99% certainty tht I won't stuff up

[BoogieMonster]

So I'm a bit tired of windows 8, it eats the internet like you won't believe andjust yesterday I had to do a disk ceanup of almost a 100 GB!

You will find Linux distro's are quite a bit easier on your hard drive.

I feeling a bit anxious doing the dual boot set-up

Be careful. it'll probably require you to resize an existing windows partition and there be dragons there. Backup everything before you start (a small mistake here means data death), and install Linux on a new hard drive.

There's this virtual box thing you can download to try out various other OS

Works like a charm. I use it frequently.

Is it worth it to try Linux?

Yes. But it also depends on what you want to do with it. If it involves DTP or video manipulation, CAD, etc... it may not be worthwhile. If you just need web and office-like functionality, go for it.

... Linux distros and others like BSD and Debian

Just a point of clarification. Debian and Ubuntu are both Linux distros. BSD isn't, it's a different operating system, it's not Linux at all.

some say Debian is the best

There is no best, the different distros serve different needs. But I am in the camp that prefers Debian-based distro's. Like Ubuntu (which is actually based on Debian). I myself use Kubuntu, a slightly different version of Ubuntu based on KDE, a slightly different (and imho more snappy) destkop environment. It's all personal preference really.

and Linux is totally unreliable.

Bullshit. A huge chunk of the internet runs on Linux because it's rock solid. It doesn't do the "windows thing" of deciding at 12pm to shut down and install updates while you were running that critical data-analysis you need tomorrow. The PC I'm typing this on has been up, crash free, for just more than 25 days:

XXXXX@XXXXX:~$ uptime
 13:54:59 up 25 days,  4:13,  9 users,  load average: 0.24, 0.35, 0.36

That number has been in the 100's before, and that includes updating the software on the machine regularly.

As for the whole sourceforge thing... yeah, usually the Ubuntu repository will have everything you need. You don't NEED the command line, but you will never regret learning it and appreciating the power it gives you.

[The Vulcan]

Be careful. it'll probably require you to resize an existing windows partition and there be dragons there. Backup everything before you start (a small mistake here means data death), and install Linux on a new hard drive.

My hard drive has never been partitioned, it's a dell laptop and save a external usb hard drive I only have the one.

Yes. But it also depends on what you want to do with it. If it involves DTP or video manipulation, CAD, etc... it may not be worthwhile. If you just need web and office-like functionality, go for it.

Indeed, mainly word, excel internet, pdf and a couple accounting programmes like turbocash, gnucash so on, not terribly big into gaming or video editing etc

[BoogieMonster]

Be careful. it'll probably require you to resize an existing windows partition and there be dragons there. Backup everything before you start (a small mistake here means data death), and install Linux on a new hard drive.

My hard drive has never been partitioned, it's a dell laptop and save a external usb hard drive I only have the one.

K, look at GParted, specifically the LiveCD. This should allow you to resize your existing partition. I would be EXTREMELY cautious of resizing an NTFS partition, this is fraught with all kinds of danger.... but hey, it just might work. Make sure your battery is charged: Once the resizing operation starts it should not be stopped at all cost. I've done this (on FAT32) twice and succeeded. YMMV.

[The Vulcan]

Awesome thanks, I'll maybe do it soon, I just really want to feel I understand what I'm doing before I do it, so I'm just still trying to  do my homework

[st0nes]

The Ubuntu live CD has its own partitioner, but before you resize your windows partition remember to defrag it (if Windows still has that 'feature,' and back it up.  I dual-booted my PC (bought 2nd hand with Windows 7), shrunk the Windows partition to 25GB, created a root partition for Ubuntu (30GB), a 4GB swap partition, and the remaining 900-odd GB for /home.  If you're actually going to use Windows (not recommended), then you may want to give it a bit more space.

The Ubuntu installer has steadily improved over the years, and is now quite intuitive and easy to use.  Just read the instructions carefully...

[BoogieMonster]

Awesome thanks, I'll maybe do it soon, I just really want to feel I understand what I'm doing before I do it, so I'm just still trying to  do my homework

Virtualbox, it'll allow you to get fairly comfortable before you take the big plunge.