Some questions about Ubuntu

[F-3582]

Hi, I just decided to try something new on my PC: Ubuntu Linux. Basically it's a great distribution for total beginners like myself, but there are some things that bother me:

1.) I tried to compile/install the ntfs-3g (pretty beta) driver that would enable me to write on my "leftover" partitions from Windows days (where I'm storing some precious data). However, when configuring the package according to the readme it complains that it couldn't find any suitable C compiler, although the GCC is present on my system. WTF?!?

2.) Which desktop environment would you suggest? Gnome or KDE? Is KDE hardware-accelerated? Gnome seems not. Is it possible to write KDE over Gnome, somehow, or would it mean to install the Kubuntu distribution instead?

3.) When looking at my device tab, it seems as if my gfx card (mobility Radeon 9700) had been recognized as PCI, only. The xorg.conf lets me change it, but I don't know what to do with the bus-id-values "PCI:1:0:0". Any clue? Or should I search the ATI site for linux drivers?

4.) Is it possible to migrate settings for Firefox and Thunderbird from Windows to Linux? I tried moving the profile folders, but it didn't work.


Thanks in advance for helping a clueless Linux newb.

__________________

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[lord_muad_dib]

1) what command do you use to compile the source?
2) desktop environments aren't accelerated on their own. it's the Xwindow system that must be accelerated instead. the default one isn't accelerated.. check infos about Xgl
3) type in a terminal: glxinfo | grep rendering
if it says direct rendering yes, you're ready
if not... use apt to install drivers... it should configure everything on itself
4) i dunno, never tried

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[Master Chief]

When I was considering putting Ubuntu on another PC I have, I read alot of this guide:

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper

Don't know if you've looked at it already...

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[F-3582]

Originally Posted by lord_muad_dib

1) what command do you use to compile the source?

The readme told me to run the "configure" executable (included in the package) first. Upon running, it told me that it couldn't find a suitable compiler.

Originally Posted by lord_muad_dib

2) desktop environments aren't accelerated on their own. it's the Xwindow system that must be accelerated instead. the default one isn't accelerated.. check infos about Xgl

Alright, thanks. A friend already told me about that. I'll definitely look at it.

Originally Posted by lord_muad_dib

3) type in a terminal: glxinfo | grep rendering
if it says direct rendering yes, you're ready

Could you please specify this a little more? I can't enter that phrase. I downloaded the drivers from the ATI site and it now seems to do something. The ATI Control Panel displays stuff and the fgl_glxgears, too... Let's see if I can get XGL to work.

Thanks a bunch.

__________________

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[darth sephiroth]

Originally Posted by F-3582

Hi, I just decided to try something new on my PC: Ubuntu Linux. Basically it's a great distribution for total beginners like myself, but there are some things that bother me:

1.) I tried to compile/install the ntfs-3g (pretty beta) driver that would enable me to write on my "leftover" partitions from Windows days (where I'm storing some precious data). However, when configuring the package according to the readme it complains that it couldn't find any suitable C compiler, although the GCC is present on my system. WTF?!?

I wouldn't recommend it. Reading what's there and copying it over to your ext3 (i hope) partition(s) and editing them from there is recommended as NTFS write support is unstable to this date.
But make sure you've compiled it correctly.

2.) Which desktop environment would you suggest? Gnome or KDE? Is KDE hardware-accelerated? Gnome seems not. Is it possible to write KDE over Gnome, somehow, or would it mean to install the Kubuntu distribution instead?

easy:
sudo apt-get install kde
now, log out and boot straight into the KDE

KDE is definately not any more HW accelerated than GNOME... if it was my laptop would get fried just from logging it

3.) When looking at my device tab, it seems as if my gfx card (mobility Radeon 9700) had been recognized as PCI, only. The xorg.conf lets me change it, but I don't know what to do with the bus-id-values "PCI:1:0:0". Any clue? Or should I search the ATI site for linux drivers?

go ask at the ubuntu.org forums. You often get response within the minute.

4.) Is it possible to migrate settings for Firefox and Thunderbird from Windows to Linux? I tried moving the profile folders, but it didn't work.

Perhaps someone has written a program/script that converts the coding but the ubuntu firefox uses a different coding and therefore transerring profiles is impossible.

Thanks in advance for helping a clueless Linux newb.

no problem.

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[Proto]

1.) I tried to compile/install the ntfs-3g (pretty beta) driver that would enable me to write on my "leftover" partitions from Windows days (where I'm storing some precious data). However, when configuring the package according to the readme it complains that it couldn't find any suitable C compiler, although the GCC is present on my system. WTF?!?

Everything you might ever need for building a package yourself is in the build-essential package. Just do a "apt-get install build-essential", or search in synaptic for it

2.) Which desktop environment would you suggest? Gnome or KDE? Is KDE hardware-accelerated? Gnome seems not. Is it possible to write KDE over Gnome, somehow, or would it mean to install the Kubuntu distribution instead?

3.) When looking at my device tab, it seems as if my gfx card (mobility Radeon 9700) had been recognized as PCI, only. The xorg.conf lets me change it, but I don't know what to do with the bus-id-values "PCI:1:0:0". Any clue? Or should I search the ATI site for linux drivers?

Although you can install kde the way sephirot instructed you, it is no more hardware accelerated than gnome. You have to install the drivers that your cards needs, but if its fairly new, just google for easyubuntu, install it and ask it to install the ATI drivers. after rebooting, run the command

glxinfo | grep direct

If it says yes, then your graphic card is correctly installed

edit: as lord had already told you

4.) Is it possible to migrate settings for Firefox and Thunderbird from Windows to Linux? I tried moving the profile folders, but it didn't work.

Well, the easiest way is to copy your whole account folder and edit the profiles.ini file telling that your recently copied folder is the default.

[Project Epsilon]

hrm.. i was getting the same 1 problem as you. never got it to work, but i'm reformatting my xp/linux pc right now so i'll have to see.

as for desktop environment, i use xfce/xubuntu... and strip it down with apps like bum and replace the gdm with xdm. i just couldn't put up with the insane bloat of gnome and kde... but out of the two, i'd choose kde...

i have sorta a love/hate relationship with linux... but its slowly creeping more to the love side as i use xubuntu more and more... i'm one that just hates to go into the terminal and type out commands... good think theres synaptic... just have to remember to enable the extra repositorites...

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[Nezzar]

As for the window manager thing: I prefer Gnome. Don't really know why, though. Probably, because it was the desktop environment I started with. But KDE has one killer app: Amarok. Only for this thing I installed the KDE-Libs and QT, which I tried avoid before (both take quite a while to compile).

Concerning ntfs-problem: You might want to try captive-ntfs. However, there are some problems that arise when using it. You need to have a Windows XP license to be allowed to use it, since it uses parts of windows (the ntfs.sys, iirc). Also, I'm not sure if it's in ubuntu package management thing because of the aforementioned reason.

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Bred for its skills in magic

[darth sephiroth]

Yeah Amarok beats everything within the world of media players

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"Going too far is going almost all the way around the world, then turn around to go back" - me
"He's not going too far, he's going around the world" - me
"They're looking for a factbook in the fiction section of the library." - me
"I find spam useless and fatally contradictive to its own existence." - me

[F-3582]

Thanks for your response, everyone. There were many really helpful suggestions. I finally got XGL+Compiz+CGWD running (and I can post some cool screenshots, if you want). A nice little tool called Automatix helped me a lot, too, because it installed a crapload of codecs and stuff which makes it even possible to view Realmedia and Quicktime videos in Swiftfox (Firefox - faster).

Now I can really start USING my computer.

In general I'm totally impressed by the easy usage of Ubuntu. It got a bunch of features Windows users have been aching for for years, now (and don't forget the eye-candy ). I can recommend it to everyone.

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In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[sims]

Originally Posted by F-3582

Now I can really start USING my computer.

Haha you're planning to do some hardcore websurfing or customizing your kernel now? Because when I installed Fedora Core5 that's about the only thing I did with it.

To be honest, Linux is not an OS for media/entertainment users. Can it do these things? Yes, but not as well as other especially Mac/Windows in this area.

What is there to do with Linux that you can't in windows? Nothing from what I've seen. The stablility is about the same in my opinion. I could make windows run rock stable if I was using a guest account. Which is what linux does anyway. Besides, there are hardly anything to gain from exploiting Linux users.

[Proto]

To be honest, Linux is not an OS for media/entertainment users.

As it has been said earlier, Amarok p0wnz everything else in the media player world, and that includes foobar. But yes, entertainment is one of the areas where it lacks the most, but it's getting there with more and more developers choosing OpenGL as their graphic development platfrom of choice.

What is there to do with Linux that you can't in windows? Nothing from what I've seen.

For the common user, it goy Xgl/Compiz. Windows XP got nothing that can even remotely approach it without being a massive hog in memory, and with Vista it will cost so much that it is not even remotely practical. Also, for the games that Linux can run, it has been seen that Linux's better resource managing has a direct impact on a better execution of these games.

For the developers on the other hand the advantages are endless, and they start with the console. Up to XP, Window's console was nothing but a joke, and for those who know the console is an incredibly powerful tool. True, vista will have one itself, but we have yet to see how useful it will be. Things like the man, the OS and kernel source are incredibly useful for low level programmers. The list goes on

it is true, for many years Linux had been focused at the hardcore user. But things are finally starting to change

[Coolsvilleman]

Originally Posted by F-3582

Hi, I just decided to try something new on my PC: Ubuntu Linux. Basically it's a great distribution for total beginners like myself, but there are some things that bother me:

1.) I tried to compile/install the ntfs-3g (pretty beta) driver that would enable me to write on my "leftover" partitions from Windows days (where I'm storing some precious data). However, when configuring the package according to the readme it complains that it couldn't find any suitable C compiler, although the GCC is present on my system. WTF?!?

2.) Which desktop environment would you suggest? Gnome or KDE? Is KDE hardware-accelerated? Gnome seems not. Is it possible to write KDE over Gnome, somehow, or would it mean to install the Kubuntu distribution instead?

3.) When looking at my device tab, it seems as if my gfx card (mobility Radeon 9700) had been recognized as PCI, only. The xorg.conf lets me change it, but I don't know what to do with the bus-id-values "PCI:1:0:0". Any clue? Or should I search the ATI site for linux drivers?

4.) Is it possible to migrate settings for Firefox and Thunderbird from Windows to Linux? I tried moving the profile folders, but it didn't work.


Thanks in advance for helping a clueless Linux newb.

First off I would highly suggest backing up all your important data to another harddrive or DVD/CD. Then I would suggest removing all partitions and letting ubuntu create its own partitions. Also you've tried the LiveCD portion of ubuntu right?

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[F-3582]

Originally Posted by sims

What is there to do with Linux that you can't in windows? Nothing from what I've seen.

...this. Once you have seen that on your own Vista/Aero-uncapable PC...

Another thing is the incredibly powerful and easy-to-use software installation. Either copy a program into a folder of your choice or download it live from the numerous repositories. And if a program isn't supported by your distribution, you can compile its source in three minutes.

Furthermore, the setup process is awesome. Ubuntu comes on a Live CD giving you a good first impression of your OS AND FULL ADMINISTRATION CAPABILITIES (perfect for repairing messed-up Ubuntu installations ). The installation itself takes about half an hour and afterwards you have a fully configured Operating System and all your hardware recognized and working.

Linux supports almost every Audio/Video format in the world. The codecs are again easily downloaded via repositories.

And last, but not least, Linux is completely capable of running some of your most precious Windows apps via WINE.

Originally Posted by Proto

For the developers on the other hand the advantages are endless, and they start with the console. Up to XP, Window's console was nothing but a joke, and for those who know the console is an incredibly powerful tool. True, vista will have one itself, but we have yet to see how useful it will be. Things like the man, the OS and kernel source are incredibly useful for low level programmers. The list goes on

I second that. In the beginning I really hated Linux, because it seemed to be soo impractical for non-hardcore users. Especially when trying to mount a partition and actually using the data that's on it. But once you get the hang of using the console and all its capabilities in administrative control, you'll start loving it (Ch0wn ).

Originally Posted by Coolsvilleman

First off I would highly suggest backing up all your important data to another harddrive or DVD/CD. Then I would suggest removing all partitions and letting ubuntu create its own partitions. Also you've tried the LiveCD portion of ubuntu right?

Thanks for those hints. I already converted my entire HD to ext3. My NTFS problem is no more.

__________________

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[Shin_Gouki]

check this:
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/t...aks-195437.php

<< und da du deutscher bist >>
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_dapper_de
http://www.ubuntuusers.de/
have fun with ubuntu!
i wait till 6.10 , the new "upstart" will just rule
wbr Shin Gouki

[F-3582]

Thanks for that stuff. I used Easyubuntu and Automatix (the english one - version 6 or something) to get most of my programs.

I heard about upstart, but what exactly is it?

__________________

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[Shin_Gouki]

since i suck at explainations:
http://www.netsplit.com/blog/work/ca...l/upstart.html

but i can try-> to put it a bit more practically(my view-opinion):
upstart is the new start system of ubuntu, the nice thing is:
- later it (dont know if with 6.10 or 7.10 ) it will offer u nearly( completly?) hardware abstraction
example:
u install ubuntu on a USB-Stick or USB-HD on ur PC.. u install all config all ur system is ready
u go to ur friend, plug ur USB-HD into his PC and "it will JUST work"!!
with 6.10 there might be X issues but they are workin on this as well, its just amazing
wbr Shin Gouki

[F-3582]

I'm still hoping for a truly hw-accelerated X similar to Mac. And better WLAN support.

__________________

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?

[Shin_Gouki]

yes i did some research on wlan.. will be better in 6.10 but i don't know if it will be perfect
about hw accelerated X, its coming for sure i think AIGLX i think is the one there to watch out.
But beside those its dman nice to see that mono will be included by default!
wbr Shin Gouki