Once my laptop was ready, it was time to try out the LiveCD. I’d contemplated waiting for Jaunty to be released just so I could have the latest release but then decided to go with Intrepid. After all, if things go well, I can always upgrade later.

I downloaded the .iso image from the official image, burned it and popped it into the laptop’s CD-ROM drive after changing the boot configuration so it would boot from the CD. In my first attempt, the CD failed to boot. At this point I’m not sure what the problem is so I put in an old version of the dyne:bolic LiveCD that I’d burned over a year ago.

This time the laptop booted from the CD so I figured that my Ubuntu CD wasn’t burned properly. Since I had already booted dyne:bolic, I decided to play around with it. Everything worked fine for five minutes and then my machine hung. Nothing I did would fix it so I just let the battery drain out. Note to self? Find ‘ctrl+alt+delete’ equivalent in Linux.

By this time, I re-burn my Ubuntu CD but I insert it into the CD-ROM with some trepidation. The CD takes a while to boot and for a few moments I think it’s hung again but then I get the welcome screen and I calm down. I select the ‘try Ubuntu without installing’ and wait for the CD to finish booting.

The first thing that greets me is the brown-toned screen that I’ve seen in most Ubuntu screenshots. Not that I have anything against it but I don’t think I could look at it day in and day out and not be able to change it. I fire up Rhythmbox and to my Winamp-accustomed eyes, it does not look like a great media player. However, I’m not complaining and I try to play a few songs through my attached pen-drive. Yes, I know mp3s are not supported out of the box but it was a bit of a rude awakening.

I decide to shut down my laptop and work on it later, But first, I need to disconnect the pen drive. In Windows, I’m used to the ‘Safely remove hardware’ option but I don’t see something similar here. So I right-click the drive and select ‘unmount’. It disappears from my screen but the drive light is still on. I do a quick search on the net and find that everything’s okay. Unmount is the right option and with some drives, the light stays on after that.

All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with my first Ubuntu run. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t a disaster either. I’m planning to experiment some more with the LiveCD over the weekend and see what else Ubuntu has to offer. Any tips for me?

Little do the unwashed masses know that installing Linux is actually a very simple process. In fact, installing Linux is far easier than installing any flavor of Windows. Let me walk you through the typical Linux installation from a LiveCD disk. There might be some minor variation on the order, depending upon which distribution you use.

NOTE: A LiveCD is a version of a Linux distribution that allows you to run the operating system from CD and RAM. No changes are made to your computer unless you start the installation process.

• Insert CD of Linux distribution
• Reboot Computer
• Let the LiveCD boot to the desktop
• Double click the Install icon
• Enter the basic information (location, time zone, keyboard layout, etc)
• Select how to appropriate space on disk (If you are not dual-booting you can select Use Entire Disk)
• Enter user information and password
• Read the installation summary and then, if all is correct, move on with the actual installation.

At this point the installation will be completely automatic. When the installation is complete you will want to reboot your computer (remember, you are running from the LiveCD still). When the reboot is finished you will be at the log in screen. Enter the username/password you supplied during install and your desktop will start up. Congratulations, you have successfully installed Linux!

But will all of my hardware work?

This is often one of the more often asked questions regarding Linux. Generally speaking, the answer is “yes”. There are, of course, some hardware that might have trouble. One area that can give you problems is your video card. Linux does a great job of detecting hardware, and most likely your video card will be detected. There are, unfortunately, cards that simply aren’t supported. For a good list of supported video cards take a look at this page for a fairly comprehensive listing. The next piece of hardware that can cause problems is wireless networking. I have found most modern distributions are outstanding at finding wireless cards. But just in case you need to know for sure, here is an extensive listing of how wireless cards fare with Linux support.

Most other hardware shouldn’t give you problems. But in case you have one particular piece that doesn’t work “out of the box” you can always try a different distribution. As far as I have discovered Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and Mandriva are the best as discovering and automatically configuring hardware.

Final Thoughts

Installing Linux is a piece of cake. Seriously. If youc an install a piece of software on a Windows machine, you can install Linux. It’s that easy.

Choose the right distribution.

Let me begin at the begining, or at least the best starting point. The Linux operating system is built with a number pieces. The most underlying piece is the kernel – that is the heart of Linux. On top of the kernel rests a ton of libraries, drivers, and system applications. Overlaying that is user-space console applications. The next layer is the X Windows system. X Windows is the piece that gives Linux a graphical environment. The final layer is the desktop.

Linux is separated into distributions. A distribution is, for all intents and purposes, a “brand” of Linux. There are many distributions: Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, Mandriva, PC/OS, gOS, SuSE, etc (hundreds of them in fact). Each distribution is based on a different base. There are five main bases: Debian, Slackware, BSD, RPM, and Gentoo. Each “base” is formed around a package-manager (a package manager is a system for installing, removing, and managing the software that is on the system.)

How a distribution puts together its version of Linux defines their audience. Some distributions are better suited for new users. These are:

• Ubuntu
• PCLinuxOS
• Mandriva
• Linspire

Some distributions are better suited for mid-level experience users:

• SuSE
• gOS
• Fedora
• Red Hat

And some distributions are better suited for advanced users:

• FreeBSD
• Debian
• Gentoo

NOTE: As gHacks user MrBuddha has already pointed out, BSD is not actually a Linux distribution but a variant of the BSD operating system. I do generally lump BSD in with Linux because they are both UNIX-derived operating systems and share a number of similarities.The lumping in of BSD is two-fold: 1) simplicity and 2) applications created for Linux generally can be used on BSD.

If you are a new user your choice of distribution should be limited to the top four listed. That will make your learning curve far more shallow. Distributions such as Ubuntu have done everything they can to make using Linux simple. From the installation to the desktop, you will find these distributions to be the easiest operating systems you have ever used.
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But what makes them easier?

Let’s take a look at the Linspire distribution. The Linspire mission has always been to make Linux the easiest operating system available. And many of the easier-to-use distributions are following suit. Linspire and Ubuntu can be found on many pre-installed computers. One of the aspects that makes these distributions so much easier is package management. Each of the easiest distributions have a centralized location for software installation. If you want to install something, you fire up Synaptic (or whatever opens when you click Add/Remove Software) and search for a package to install. It’s simple. But don’t think, for a second, that you’ll have your operating system up and running and have to install a bunch of software. A Linux operating system usually comes complete with everything you need. You could effectively install the operating system and never have to install another piece of software again.

Another piece of the puzzle that makes one distribution easier than another is choice of desktop. There are some Linux desktops that make the migration from Windows a no-brainer. Both KDE and GNOME can be made to mimic the look and feel of Windows so well some users wouldn’t know they are using Linux.

Freedom of Choice

Ultimately the choice is yours. Do you select a distribution that targets new users or do you go for a more advanced Linux? Don’t fret. Most modern Linux distributions offer Live versions of their operating systems. This means you can boot from the LiveCD and run the operating system without making any change to your computer. This allows you to test-drive Linux. Do this with the easiest distributions and I bet you’ll find one that meets your needs.