Ubuntu

[luna_manar]

For the last several days I've been playing with two flavors of Ubuntu Linux: the "normal" Ubuntu with the modern dock interface and Kubuntu, which is more Windows-like in its appearance and uses fewer resources (so it works well with my old ThinkPad).

So far the experience has been great. A lot of frills I tend to dislike in modern OSes are gone (the forever "HEY UPDATE ME" dialogs for example), and you can use the command like (excuse me, terminal interface) to issue direct, specific instructions to the kernel. Pretty much everything is fully modal, and just a little research will go a long way towards getting everything to look and act the way you want. I'm also enjoying the multiple workspaces, something both Windows and Mac have always had a hard time with for some reason.

I haven't tried WinE yet, but I plan to if I come across a Windows application I just can't live without. So far most of the things I use that don't have Linux versions are games, but that's expected, and honestly I'm impressed with the number of Linux games out there. The one big disappointment has been no Winamp, but with WinE and a few tweaks I'm under the impression that can be resolved. We'll see.

Dreamwidth looks and works beautifully under both Firefox and Rekonq, the default browser for Kubuntu. Pretty much no issues with web-based anything, which is important since most software is run from the cloud nowadays.

Installing new drivers and software feels very retro to me, and this is a good thing; it might be more work, but I have more direct control over it and I can see what I'm doing, so if I break stuff, I have a better chance of un-breaking it. The process reminds me more of Windows 3.1 than anything; there's a rudimentary installer that works most of the time, but some software requires other software to be installed first (and doesn't just download it automatically), and some drivers require specific commands to be run from the terminal to get them working. Thankfully Ubuntu makes this easier by giving specific, non-obtuse messages when it needs something from you.

So far, so good. If you hate the direction Windows 8 and OSX are headed (like I do), I recommend giving Ubuntu a shot. It's not scary, really.

Comments

[quicksilver_ink]

I forget which media player it is, but one of the Ubuntu-available media players looks a lot like Winamp 2.9 and can use those skins.

I love how easy it is to find safe utility programs for Ubuntu (eg, PDF annotation or concatenation), compared to Windows. Whenever I download a new application for Windows I always have to do some internet research to see if anyone's got any warnings about the site. For Ubuntu, I know everything I install is open-source and if it's approved by Canonical.

Which desktop environment are you using with Ubuntu? I tried Unity for about 30 minutes while I was installing the new LTS version, and it made me shed tears in frustration because I couldn't find anything.

[luna_manar]

I'll have to look for that player. I don't really care what it is as long as I can use the playlists library and plugins.

I have two setups on two different laptops: one is Unity and the other (Kubuntu) is Plasma. I like them both for different reasons, but I find Plasma to be easier to find things in, coming from Windows.

[quicksilver_ink]

The WinAMP clone I have at work is Qmmp. I found it by searching for WinAMP in the Ubuntu Software Center. If it doesn't have what you want the other search results might.

Prior to Unity's release, I was using the Gnome desktop environment in Ubuntu, which is very Windows-like. When Unity first came out it was easy to switch back to Gnome Classic, but I had to jump through some hoops to get Gnome Classic/Gnome Fallback on 12.04LTS. (Unity looks like crap on my desktop at work, and makes me cry because I cannot find anything, from how to open a terminal console to the systems settings to the Ubuntu Software Center.) Next LTS release I may have to switch to Kubuntu.

[luna_manar]

If you specifically prefer Gnome, there is an Ubuntu Remix version with Gnome available here. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/ReleaseNotes/12.10 Although I think I prefer plasma to Gnome, personally.

[luna_manar]

Oh, and Qmmp was the Winamp-like application. Unfortunately, it does not have support for Winamp plugins, which is really what I need. I listen to .spc, .ogg, MOD-XM-S3M, .2sf and .SMS files, and as far as I know, there aren't any other media players that offer support for all of those. ^^;