Korean Job Discussion Forums

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I'm considering installing Ubuntu onto an unused partition. I've heard a lot of talk about Linux, but have never used it myself. Anyone have experience with it? Are there any major advantages over XP Pro?

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

I was gonna do the same on my old PC at home but I ran out of time on my vacation.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

I ran Ubuntu on my old laptop for over a year and rarely had a problem.

It will take some setting up early on to get it running smoothly and doing what you want it to do but there's loads of online documentation and very busy forums willing to help.

The only reason I run windows on my new computer is for my girlfriend and to run some audio editing apps (Linux comes up a bit short in this department I find).

Definitely recommended.

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

No to Ubuntu.

Yes to SuSE 10.2/3

Ubuntu drove me mad with not allowing me to setup my wireless networking.

SuSE just worked.

I have tried dozens of distros and found SuSE to be the easiest for me. It has a nice support forum as well.

However each to their own.

hanguker · Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Location: Korea

Is there any practical reason for installing and taking the time to learn Linux?

That's been my biggest hurdle in deciding to make the effort. I just don't see the point if you already have a copy of Windows XP, which works fine on almost any computer made in the last 5 years.

This is not a flame...I'm just really curious about if there are any real advantages.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

Definitely. Linux, in my experience, is at least 100 times more stable than windows and infinitely more virus free.

That and more and more people are using and developing for it, you can do anything in Linux you can do in Windows, though some select things not as well (ie audio editing, but if you're really serious you're running pro-tools anyway)

and it's free.

I tried SuSE for a while as well and found it a bit more, uhh, intensive than Ubuntu. Ubuntu is definitely a beginner's linux.

mrsquirrel: one of the few problems I had with Ubuntu was with the wireless networking as well. Maybe the problem has been addressed with the newest version (7.? Edgy)

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

^ still causing problems.

A few others that I know that tried it gave up after the wireless problems.

SuSE certainly isn't as friendly at first and takes a bit of wrestling but once you get things rolling it was easy to do.

I recommend it as a learning experience for people anyway. It's good to be able to tackle problems and can teach you how your computer works.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Linux has an extremely high learning curve. Something as simple as changing your desktop resolution to widescreen can become a cumbersome trek through pages of various forums.

If you got the time and the patience then I guess Linux could be fun.

I gave up on Linux. I used LinuxMint and it was great until they started pumping out newer versions. Of course, you couldn't just upgrade. You had to do clean installs of each one. And every time I did a clean install, I had to spend hours tracking down drivers, scripts, etc....

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Never had that problem.

Set a separate partition for home and when you reinstall things were always there for me.

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I tried and I tried, but I just couldn't figure out how to install it. All I want is to install it on the empty partition, but that is turning out to be incredibly difficult. How the f**k do I set this up?

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Is it a blank disk or does it already have windows on it?

Zutronius · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Location: Suncheon

I switched my laptop and two desktops over to Ubuntu around a year ago. It's very true Linux has a steep learning curve, but with time, it becomes a pretty solid and useful OS. I would do what some other posters recommend and keep XP on a separate partition because Linux is like riding a bike, you're going to fall quite a few times before you get the hang of it.

My only gripe about Ubuntu is the lack of good dvd burning software.

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I have 3 hard drives in my system (1 IDE and 2 SATA). The first SATA is split into 3 partitions. C is for Windows XP, D is the intended Linux slot and E has some stuff saved from Windows. The D drive is 40GB so it's bige enough for the install and for further partitions. I just can't figure out how to do it.

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Download Acronis DiskDirector.

Partition keep the XP partition.

Make an ext3 partition about 5GB's
Make a second one for your home directory
Make a 1.5GB linux swap file partition as well.

Put Ubuntu in and boot up.

It will run the paritioning program. You should then be able to point it to the newly created drives.

However, I have just remembered a problem with Kubuntu that stopped me installing it. Something to do with the way it was looking at my drives.

If you can be bothered I would go with SuSE since I have installed that a few times and I know the above works for Suse.