Source: Ubuntu – Desktop Features

Using a LiveCD to demo Ubuntu

Before you start, if you haven’t tried Ubuntu you could always try a quick demo by using Ubuntu through a LiveCD session. Simply create a LiveCD, put the CD into your drive and reboot your computer. Then simply select the “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer option”. This will allow you to try it out without installing Ubuntu to your system. Just remember that nothing you do will be saved since you haven’t installed it yet. To try this option check out Ubuntu Documentation – LiveCD.

Wubi

Wubi is the easiest and fastest option since it installs Ubuntu like a Windows application. Once installed, your system will have a new option when you boot up. So you can choose whether you want to continue to Windows, or your newly created Ubuntu OS. Don’t like it? Simply uninstall it through Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs in Windows and you have nothing to worry about.

This is the method I’m currently using and recommend.



Pros: Easiest way to install and uninstall, Great for Beginners, Only takes about 3 clicks to get started
Cons: Installed as a file and not a partition but if you are new or trying it out it doesn’t matter too much.
References: Wubi – Ubuntu Installer for Windows

VirtualBox

Virtualbox is a powerful virtualization that runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, and OpenSolaris and supports running a large number of guest operation systems such as Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS).

Virtualbox is also another popular method which enables you to run Linux as a running application on Windows. If you have a decent computer, you’ll be able to run it fine. I also use this method but prefer on booting into Ubuntu rather than running it on top of Windows using the previous method.

Pros: Easy way to get started as well, Follow the installation procedure and it will guide you through the process, You can save your current state and load it at any time, You can open Ubuntu anytime you are on Windows without shutting down.
Cons: It may be slow if you don’t have enough processing power or RAM on your computer since you are running on top of Windows.
References: How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Dual-Boot

Dual-Booting Ubuntu is the last method and the most difficult but contains the most benefits. Since it installs as a partition, you will not have any performance hits. In reality, getting Ubuntu to dual-boot is not difficult at all, its just that many things may go wrong if you don’t follow the right steps.

Luckily, there is a document that explains every step of the way so you have nothing to worry about. Also, make sure to figure out how to uninstall Ubuntu, since simply removing it will corrupt your boot sequence. At this point using a Windows Recovery cd to Fix your MBR should do the trick. I’ll post a tutorial on how to do this later.

Pros: Most non-trivial, but not difficult. Best performance wise. Recommended if you are to become a frequent user
Cons: Lots of things may go wrong if you don’t follow instructions, non-trivial to uninstall
References: Chapter 4: Installing Ubuntu

Conclusion

Whichever method you try out will allow you to check out Ubuntu. So make sure to try out Ubuntu with a LiveCD for a demo. Then decide which option makes the most sense for you. If you are a beginner, sticking to using the Wubi method is your best option. Remember to follow all installation procedures correctly and you should be fine. Let us know what option you use and why.

So how does it work? Simply run the Wubi installer, enter a password for the account, choose some basic options, and click “Install”. Yes, it’s that simple. It’s not going to take any modifying of your partitions or boot loader. It just works like any other application. Yes, it’s that simple. If you don’t like it, simple uninstall it like any other application. Best of all, it’s free.

I’ve used it and to be honest, it’s great. Wubi is hassle free and extremely easy to use. Like mentioned, it’s extremely easy to uninstall and no need to worry about something going wrong.

What to know about Wubi

Below are somethings that you should know about Wubi before you try it out.

• Read the Wubi FAQ if you want to know how it works and answers to many of your questions
• To make it easier, pre-download the ISO and save it to the same directory where Wubi is extracted. That way, the installer doesn’t need to download it every time you run it.
• You can force Wubi to use a 32-bit verison of Ubuntu if you follow the previous step
• All you need is 256MB of RAM and an 1GHz or faster Intel/AMD processor is recommended for optimal performance. Installation requires 5GB. Bought your computer within the past 3 years? You should be fine.

1. Installing through the terminal (easiest)
2. Installing through the Synaptic Package Manager

Installing Open in Terminal support to Nautilus in Ubuntu

The easiest method is to install it within the terminal window.

Method 1: Installing Open in Terminal Support through the Terminal

Simply enter this in your terminal.

sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal

Enter your password if prompted, and then restart Nautlius. You can do so using the following through the terminal as well.

killall nautlius

Once this is done, you should see this option within Nautilus. See above? I simply opened the current directory within the terminal. Didn’t that save some time?

Method 2: Installing Open in Terminal Support through Synaptic Packet Manager

1. Open the Synaptic Packet Manager

System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager

2. You can do a quick search for nautilus-open-terminal and mark it for installation by right clicking on the entry.

3. Apply the changes, then close Synaptic Package Manager, log off and then back on.

After logging in, you should see the option available when you right click in Nautilus.

Add Open Command Prompt Here Functionality To Nautilus In Ubuntu via Watching The Net

How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Today, we are going to teach you how to use VirtualBox to install Ubuntu using Windows. (This could easily be done on Linux, or a Mac too.) This is a great option for those of you who want to get a programming environment and those who want to avoid dual-booting your computer since it involves a great risk if done wrong. Virtualizing an OS is an easy task and it only takes a few steps. It should take a new user about five minutes to get going. So let’s get started.

What you need to virtualize Ubuntu on VirtualBox

Step 1: Create a new Virtual Machine

Step 2: Choose a name for your installation

Step 3: Allocate memory for your OS

Step 4: Create the virtual hard disk

Step 5: Selecting the Hard Disk Storage Type

Step 5: Virtual Disk Location and Size

Step 6: Welcome to the first run wizard!

Step 7: Select Installation Media

Step 8: Select the Ubuntu installation

Step 9: Congratulations, you did it.

Now get going and get some programming!

Useful resources

• How to write and Compile a C++ Program in Linux
• Hello World in C++
• Basic Linux Terminal Commands
• Start Programming in C++

This in turn increases productivity since Workspaces allows you to focus on things that you need to get done, instead of sifting through your applications on simply one screen.

Setting up Workspaces in Ubuntu

To set up a Workspace you can simply right click on a panel and choose Add to panel and select Workspace Switcher. This by default should add four Workspaces to wherever you clicked on your panel. To change this, simply right click your Workspace Switcher, and choose Preferences

So now that you have them you can switch to them by clicking on them, or preferably by pressing CTRL + ALT + RIGHT, or instead of RIGHT: LEFT, UP, or DOWN would be fine depending on how you set up your rows and columns and where you currently are.

Overall

Mac users should be very familiar with this and unfortunately, Windows users are missing out! This allows you to save time by having Workspaces that fulfill different functions such as coding, web browsing, instant messaging, the options are endless. If you use Linux, or Mac and haven’t tried this out. I recommend you to do so.

Workspaces

Setting the default Color Scheme in vim (gvim)

gvim ~/.gvimrc

Then after opening the file, add the following lines of code to the file if they don’t exist yet.

syntax on
colorscheme slate

Slate (left) and Evening(right)

But why Slate you must ask? Its the one mentioned on all the other tutorials. Yes, I know, but it simply rocks. Just check it out and you’ll understand. If not you can choose from any of these other themes.

List of vim ColorSchemes

• blue
• darkblue
• default
• desert
• elflord
• evening
• koehler
• morning
• murphy
• pablo
• peachpuff
• ron
• shine
• slate
• torte
• zellner

openSuSe is another Linux distribution worth looking at. It’s listed as the second Major Distribution at Distro Watch so it must be raising more eyebrows than you think. With an easy to use installation that requires little to no previous experience and a better visually appealing boot loading screen by defaut, OpenSuSe is something you should try out. I currently use it on my laptop to do some OpenGL programming, and to be honest, it’s great.

openSuSe at a glance

openSuSe at a light glance seems more driven towards eye candy with the more visually appealing boot loader, login screen, start menu, and ease of adding visual effects. It also has excellent management tool that lets you install software from large repositories, in other words; no need to hunt software down. You can also use YaST Control Center which lets you control Hardware, Network Devices, Network Services, Security, User, and as well control more type of options.

My openSuSe experience

As for every linux distribution, getting your system’s hardware to work seamlessly with the distro can be a pain. Luckily, I have an ATI card on my Toshiba laptop, and openSuSe had an excellent ATI How To Documentation that got my video card drivers installed with a simple click.

I then got some visual effects and have windows exploding when I exit, have them wobble when I move them, be able to use a cube, and so much more. Hit F9, F10, and F11 and you’ll get that nice task switcher visualization that is notable on Mac these days.

So far I haven’t gotten my Atheros Wireless Chipset to work. Why? Simply lazy. I’ve gotten around by simply using an ethernet cable but I plan on fixing this in the future. I’ve tried it but it hasn’t worked as of yet.

Programming is simply great. With the ability to switch Desk Spaces with CTRL+ALT+LEFT or CTRL+ALT+RIGHT, working on large programming files is easy. I simply loved it.

This is so far my distribution as of yet. I haven’t found a need to get rid of it. So for awhile I’ll be sticking with openSuSe.

Your openSuSe experience

YouTube is a good resource for finding videos of a linux distribution and what can be done with it. Check the following one out and see for yourself. There are hundreds of different things you can do. Don’t ask me how its done. I don’t know. :)

So please, don’t tell me you’ve only tried Windows! If you don’t, then tell us what you’ve tried on our forums! If you have a video, why don’t you share it?

Check List

1. Yellow Dog Linux Image: Terra Soft Download Section

2. A blank DVD to Burn the image.

3. Some Sort of External Media to Back-up Game Saves, Music, Pics, and Vids.

4. A High Definition TV

The next step is to Run through the install process and your done!

Below I’ll list a few examples with comments denoted by #

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#Displays contents in folder
ls 
 
# Changes Directory 
cd FOLDERNAME
 
# Go up one directory
cd ..
 
# Go to your home directory
cd
 
# Make directory
mkdir FOLDERNAME
 
# Remove a file
rm -- FILENAME
 
# Copy a file
cp ORIGINALFILE NEWFILE
 
# Move a file
mv SOURCE DESTINATION
 
# Install Program in Ubuntu and other Linux Distros
sudo apt-get install PROGRAMNAME
 
# To run a program you usually specify the name, 
# if text editor, its usually name of program and 
# text file to create, if no file is specified, the text editor still opens.
firefox
emacs hello_world.cpp
 
# Compile a program using g++ 
g++ hello_world.cpp
 
# Execute program 
./PROGRAMNAME

An example of finding help for a certain command is the following:

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man mkdir

The man command will give you the manual page for a given command.

Example using the terminal

Let’s say we want to view the contents of a folder, create a folder called Example, create a text file using emacs, compile it, run it, and go back to our home directory. To do this, we would simply do the following.

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ls
mkdir C++
cd C++
emacs hello_world.cpp
g++ hello_world.cpp
./a.out 
cd

Yes there are numerous ways to achieve this, its just a matter of how you want to navigate the terminal.

What now?

If you feel another basic command needs to be here or need more help, simply drop in a line in the comments box! I’ll be sure to put it down.

Expect advanced terminal commands in the near future.

Installing Ubuntu

5. On the following screen choose Install Ubuntu. If you really want, you can Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer so you can test it out and see if you like it. For this tutorial, I’ll go with the Install Ubuntu option.


If the following boot screen doesn’t show up, your BIOS probably doesn’t check your cd-drive. When your computer starts, go into your BIOS and change the appropriate settings.

What now?

If for some reason, you want to remove Ubuntu, don’t do it without reading any appropriate guides! It will provide terrible headache as you might not be able to boot into XP anymore! I’ll post the best solution in awhile.



Why not try learning How to write and compile a C++ program in Linux?