[Tfug] ubuntu

[Jeff Breadner]

Andrew Ayre wrote:
> How can you say that linux is becoming more complex? I remember the 
> first time I tried it about 10 years ago (RedHat 6.x) and fighting for 
> two weeks to stop the desktop from wobbling and flickering before giving 
> up. Today I recommend it to family and friends that are not technically 
> inclined.

I agree, I have an old Slackware distro (1.2.13 kernel) that I had to
manually calculate modelines for before I could get X running optimally
with my monitor, and the little manual that came with it explicitly
warned that you could start your monitor on fire if X was incorrectly
configured.  When you installed you had to pick exactly the right
hardware from a list if you wanted to set up video, networking, etc, and
if your item wasn't in the list then you had a lot of work in front of
you to compile kernel modules from source (if there were any).  Even a
few years after that you still had to manually partition your hard drive
ahead of time, or else just wipe out everything and start from scratch;
not a good option for someone trying to set up a dual-boot box.

I recently had to get either Red Hat 5 or 6 running in a VMware image; I
couldn't get 5 to install, and barely got 6 working.  It made me keenly
aware of how far Linux has come -- it might have farther to go, but it's
installer(s) are at least as good as the Windows 2000/XP installer now
(I haven't seen Vista's yet).

If we need to do anything to get Linux more widely adopted, I think it's
to get systems with Linux pre-installed into stores.  Wal-mart has
helped here by carrying the Everex gPC2 desktop
(http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8304655), and Dell
has started providing Ubuntu pre-installed on select systems, but this
is the best avenue to get Linux adopted by the mainstream, not improving
an already superior installer.  Unfortunately, there's little the
community can do on this front except ask for products that aren't there.

If you can't figure out the Linux installer now with distros like Ubuntu
or Fedora, then you probably shouldn't be installing an OS, have someone
else help you out.  That said, I'm pretty unfamiliar with TFUG, have
there been any install parties lately?  Is that done in Tucson?

cheers
  Jeff