You May Be Able to Get There From Here

Hyper-textual Readings and Writing about Books and Internet Culture. Authored by Steve Pepple

Jan 7, 2008 5

Window to a Window-less Existence: A Year with Linux

A Year of Linux
This year I have resolved to primarily use a Linux operating system for my day-to-day tasks, or really for all of my computing tasks. This will be a gradual process, but its already underway (and its been pretty painless so far).

While I would favor a clean transition to Linux, I’m still bound to Windows for a few reasons. Primarily, as a part-time web and graphic designer, I use Adobe products everyday. (While I’ve tried open-source alternatives, such as the GIMP, I’ve not found any programs that offer the sophistication of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign versions CS2-CS3.) Similarly, I’ve become attached to some newer, Vista-ready, applications, and I’ve really had a positive experience with Vista overall.

Plan of Attack
Ubuntu – Through one, we are many

I’ve be experimenting with both the Fedora and Ubuntu distributions of Linux, which I’ve been running as virtual machines, and at this point I’ve sided with Ubuntu. Both distributions seem well supported and both seem to work will with my computer’s hardware (I have a HP Pavilion dv9000). I’ve arbitrarily decided to go with Ubuntu because it seems more convenient to install along side Vista. (Hell, if the entire French government can go with it, why can’t I.) The Debian ancestry also seems handy.

Simple Installation of Ubuntu
An application, Wubi, makes it possible to run a Windows installer that handles the partition of the drive(s), dual-boot configuration, and even makes it simple to un-install/re-install Linux from within Windows. Using Wubi you can select from several variation of Ubuntu. I’ve selected a stable, standard build using the GNOME windows manager. The installation Ubuntu using Wubi took about an hour, but this also included about 30-some-minutes for downloading the latest Ubuntu release.

Getting Started
With the book Ubuntu Unleashed (and a few other generic Linux books) as my guide, I’m looking forward to getting dirty with Linux…

Although… 15 minutes after installation, I realize something that I’d read but didn’t quite believe– Ubuntu is pretty clean out-of-the-box. Without any customization of the system, my on-board wireless/network, blue tooth, and sound devices work; battery management works; and any USB device that I’ve have handy connects well. It looks like the only immediate drivers I need to install/configure are for my monitor (The Invidia drivers for my monitor are present, but must be explicitly enabled).

Related, but Not Safe for Work:

I noticed this bit of fan-art within the top 10 Google search results for “Ubuntu.” (Did the Art Director for American Apparel previously work for Ubuntu in the UK.)