Open-Source and Free Software

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

brahma — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:20:00 GMT

hi,
first of all thank u to one and all because this really very beautiful environment.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

kevinmeininger — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:33:00 GMT

I love the Ubuntus and have used them for years. On the desktop, I prefer Xubuntu because it has everything you need and no extra fluff. Plus its very snappy, even on older equipment.

We also run a major hosting operating and it all runs under Ubuntu server. We like to see how many days we can go without rebooting. It was up to 900-something one day and then the host moved some stuff around. Bottom line is we don't ever reboot.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

natrixgli — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:13:00 GMT

I think 'easy' is a matter of opinion - I have set up a few machines to auth via A/D and now it's easy since I've done it a handful of times.

Newer versions have likewise-open included which should simplify basic A/D functionality, but won't handle things like automatic user creation, etc.

FYI we currently have about 25 employees using Ubuntu 7.10 and the number increases each week. Our senior centers are beginning to use Ubuntu on public computers as well.

-n8

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

jacku — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:56:00 GMT

A quick note to those in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. There will be an Installfest and Ubuntu release party this Saturday, April 26, 2008.

More information can be found at the PenguinsUnbound website.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

hackertarget — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:38:00 GMT

There is a new version of Ubuntu due out in 6 days, I have been running the beta on my workstations and have found no significant problems.

Currently there are also rumours circulating about a Sun / Ubuntu partnership. I am not sure what I think of this yet. Ubuntu has been doing so much right that I would not want the momentum to be upset by a large corporate stakeholder. On the other hand maybe with some help from Sun, Ubuntu will really start to get the heads turning at Microsoft.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

Jesse — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:38:00 GMT

Regarding LiveCD: I was at the Southern California Linux Expo this weekend, and many distros (also including Solaris and Free BSD) are now available to test (and then, optionally, to install) on bootable CDs.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

NorthsideGuy — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:38:00 GMT

My non-profit with 30 workstations will be most likely moving to Ubuntu/Xubuntu in the next couple of years since we will not likely have the hardware resources to migrate to Vista. The hardware we DO have is all donated, and are approx 750 MHz-1 GHz systems with 256M RAM and 10-20 Gb hard drives. They *barely* can run Windows XP Pro, but would be quite suitable for Linux. I have played with several distros of Linux over the last 10 years or so. I was a Redhat fan early on, then moved to Mandrake (now Mandriva), then SuSE, and now Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.
There are several reasons I like Ubuntu, but probably foremost is that it recognized my wireless network cards out-of-the-box. I also liked that I could run a LiveCD version to see if it worked with my hardware before I was commited to installing it, and I could then install it from the LiveCD (*very* easy installation!). I'm also testing the server version on another system (Ubuntu comes in normal user or full LAMP server versions). We presently use ClarkConnect Community Version 4.2 (also open-source at http://www.clarkconnect.com) on an old system as our dedicated internet gateway/firewall/SPAM filter for our MS Small Business Server 2003. Another thing I like about Ubuntu is that there is a newsletter/tutorial on using various versions of Ubuntu and the applications included with the CD called Full Circle Magazine (http://www.fullcirclemagazine.org)
OpenOffice is one of the applications included, and it is more than capable for the sort of office work we do (we run a food bank, do job counselling, offer limited emergency funds, and do some limited job-related computer training). My main concern is our client/volunteer database that is currently running on Access 2003, but our database designer thinks it will migrate to MySQL without too much fuss. I've passed documents back and forth easily with OpenOffice and Office 2003 easily, and there is an add-on for OpenOffice so that it can save in the newer Office 2007 formats as well. My grandkids seem to be able to easily move from Ubuntu/OpenOffice/Firefox to Windows Vista/Office 2003/IE7 and back, so I think that's a pretty good endorsement that my office workers could do so too.
One of the options I may keep open also is the possibility of setting up thinclients on the workstations, since we might have a better chance of investing in the hardware for a server suitable to handle the workload. The educational version of Ubuntu (Edubuntu) comes with server software on the CD with the ability to quickly set up a computer lab using thinclients, so I shouldn't think it'd be too much of a stretch to set up the full Ubuntu that way as well.
At any rate, we are weighing our possibilities, and Ubuntu looks very promising. Now that Parallels is also being offered for virtual setups in Linux on the Ubuntu web site (http://www.ubuntu.com), it looks even MORE promising.

Best regards,
Phil Heberer
Northside Inter-Church Agency SysAdmin

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

jacku — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:54:00 GMT

Additional comments for Irish48 (and LarryA)

Ubuntu 7.10 is available for PowerPC Macs. It requires a Power5 chip so older PPC Macs won't work with this. Last weekend we had a user group meeting in St Paul where they where working on setting up an Mac to dual boot.

With respect to other people needing to use Linux, no they don't need to use Linux for you to interact with them. If you need to share files you just need to make sure that you are using compatabile file formats.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

LarryA — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:43:00 GMT

RE Irish48's POST:

> First, does this mean I can load Ubuntu onto my Mac?

Yes, though if ytou have an older (PPC) mac there is not current PPC version of Ubuntu, IIRRc 6.10 is the last of the PPC versions to be distributed.

> And, if so, doesn't Ubuntu then replace my Mac OS?
Yu can set up your PC or Mac to be dual booting where you select the OS at startup, I think on the mac though you would be using BootCamp.

A better alternative which lets you run both at the same time would be to use Parallels which lets you run a virtual machine in a window in Mac OS.

> Second, can the Mac and Ubuntu OSs be partitioned and then move from one to the other?

Yes. see above.

> Third, can Ubuntu either be accessed VIA the web or placed on a server and be accessed by a Mac OS?

That would either be remote desktop to Terminal server, and both are very popular. Linux Terminal Server is a way to manage large linux installations in schools and such (search for linux terminal server project)

> Fourth, given all of the above questions would it not be easier to place Ubuntu on a laptop and not worry about my Mac OS?

Thats how I do it, the PC laptops are pretty cheap now and you can get one for under $500 and run Ubuntu comfortably. Though the Parallels option is also a gret alternative from my perspective.

> Finally, if I have to go to my fourth question, must all others we communicate with within the nonprofit as well as outside adopt Ubuntu?

The Mac is based on BSD Unix, and Linux is Posix compliant (which means it works like Unix as if it were Unix. ) So compared to Windows, the Mac and Linux are very much along the same lines they natively use the same protocols.and in some places the same libraries.

Do you NEED Linux? thats up yo what you want to do - many of the apps that are in Linux (open office, etc) are available as Mac versions (and Windows too). So if you are looking at Linux to use the programs you may not have to go that far. So if you create something say in Inkscape or Scribus, those other people don't need Ubuntu, though they will need Inkscape or Scribus (or whatever) and those versions are avialble for most other platforms as well (may vary on program but the most popular apps are usually cross-platform)

Where linux shines (for non-profits) is in the cost and licensing you can use it, you can put it on all the computers you want and also offer it to others without cost. (though as many say there is the configuration/training factor, but once th system is setup the system is pretty much the same as Windows or MacOS, same settings just different places, etc.

Hope that helps.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

EvilNetworkOverlord — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:44:00 GMT

On a vaguely related note:

I read this morning that The French gendarmerie (the paramilitary police force) has decided to dump Windows and switch 70,000 desktops over to Umbuntu Linux. A couple years ago it switched from IE to Firefox, and from MS Office to OpenOffice.

-ENO

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

natrixgli — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:32:00 GMT

My favorite way to install Ubuntu is to make a bootable USB drive, then configure it just how I like it and then install from USB.

This way you can customize it and rapidly roll it out in around 5-10 minutes per computer.

This assumes you're working with machines that can boot from USB.

You can learn how to make a persistent bootable USB drive at http://www.pendrivelinux.com

-n8

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

irish48 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:45:00 GMT

I have read through all of the Ubuntu materials posted and I think the open OS is wonderful; however, as a dedicated Mac OS user I have some questions. First, does this mean I can load Ubuntu onto my Mac? And, if so, doesn't Ubuntu then replace my Mac OS? Second, can the Mac and Ubuntu OSs be partitioned and then move from one to the other? Third, can Ubuntu either be accessed VIA the web or placed on a server and be accessed by a Mac OS? Fourth, given all of the above questions would it not be easier to place Ubuntu on a laptop and not worry about my Mac OS? Finally, if I have to go to my fourth question, must all others we communicate with within the nonprofit as well as outside adopt Ubuntu?

Thanks to you all!

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

LarryA — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:11:00 GMT

I started with the mind to implement Linux as a server years ago. and since then I've went through several distributions at home and a few at work. Currently my servers and home computers are running Ubuntu.

Some of the things that led me there.

Desktop: Got a few for a year, finally ended up installing Mandrake 9 (I like easy install), Mandrake was good but then Suse 9.2 was better, though in Suse you get that commercial (better pay us money) feeling everything you do when looking for help. Ubuntu was just getting popular then and with that they has WAY better package management then RPM (using Deb) installation was easier, support was better and less stress. Features and updates appeared faster. So I am here. I don't run the latest (Feisty Fawn), but it still is very up to date.

On the server: Red Hat was nice (bought it with the Dell Server) - I was using RH ES3 and could not afford 4, so I went to Centos 4.3 (an open-source derivative of RHEL), which had all the red had goodness (those admin tools on RH are sooo nice) But when I wanted to add some new project Centos was normally non-supported or poorly supported (i.e. in iFolder there was some dependency version problem in Centos, all the support forums offered was "oh well") So I went to Ubuntu because the community support is very active as well as quickly responsive to correcting issues or posting solutions.

So in general the reason I am with Ubuntu is the community is there and it is the happening place to be.

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

Hillie — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:01:00 GMT

It didn't look easy to me.

How about against a linux server? Has anyone done that?

RE: Ubuntu Operating System

sciurus — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:41:00 GMT

Unfortunately it isn't easy to make Ubuntu authenticate against a Windows domain yet. You can track the progress at of this feature at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/network-authentication