Ubuntu in action

Ubuntu in action

I downloaded both the latest Ubuntu 6.1.0 and the
"stable" 6.0.6 iso images and made a CD of the
latter. (I'm getting used to this -- making my own OS
CDs for free).

I popped the thing into the Dell, and after a couple
of minutes (it is loading from CD, after all), Ubuntu
Linux was running.

The only funny thing I noticed is that the screen is
slightly shifted to the left. Nothing that couldn't be
fixed with a slight adjustment in the monitor menu (and after awhile, the screen seemed to "auto adjust" itself during a screen-saver operation).

The workspace on screen in Ubuntu is purposefully clear. Nothing
crowding it up. Setting up network services is even
easier than in Knoppix. It doesn't prompt you to
write to a "terminal"-like window, as in Knoppix.
Instead, you go under System at the top of the screen,
mouse to Administration, then to Networking and set
the parameters for your Ethernet card. At least you
can see everything at once. It configures like any PC
would.

I got it right on the second try. I didn't need any
"broadcast" address, but I did need to click over to
the DNS tab and add my DNS server names to make it
work. Total time spent: about 1 minute.

The best thing about Ubuntu so far: Fonts on the
screen look terrific. Firefox runs great, and
everything in it looks great as well. Better than
Knoppix. It turns out that the difference between the Ubuntu and Knoppix varieties of Linux is that Ubuntu uses the Gnome graphical user interface, while Knoppix uses KDE. And there's a version of Ubuntu called Kubuntu that allows you to switch between the two GUIs. I am going to try it, but I need to get some more blank CD-Rs first.

Another great thing. With this very same CD, it's
possible to install Ubuntu to the hard drive.

Let's see ... I've tried two Linux distributions in
one day. Give me my Geek Merit Badge already.