linux

linux aleph
a blog run by me about linux stuff - go there!

well, i’ve been messing around with linux since the mid 90s - redhat 6 was the first linux i touched. i always managed to get a system built, services like x and networking configured, then would sit there and go “so, what can i do with it?”

however, it’s gotten alot better in the last few years, and has gone from something you put on servers and left in a cupboard/datacenter to never break, to quite a reasonable desktop alternative. automatic hardware detection, varied hardware support, a large array of ported and natively-written applications and auto-installing package managers are making linux a viable alternative. i now happily use linux as a desktop os, and am quite loathe to touch windows

if you want to make the switch as well, here’s how i did it!

ubuntu

ubuntu is my distribution of choice. one cd, heaps of apps, good configurability but not overly confusing, gnome window manager, awesome support, it’s just all good. then again, it’s funny how far ahead you can get with a 10 million dollar organisation behind development :P

two very useful sites on how to do just about anything are ubuntuforums.org and ubuntuguide.org, or, if you get stuck just google something like “ubuntu static ip” or “ubuntu dual monitors”. with these two things, you’ll be well on your way to running linux in no time

software

one of the hardest things when switching over to linux is finding decent apps to do all the things you’re used to doing under windows. here’s what i use:

purpose windows linux
msn client windows live messenger emesene
web browser firefox firefox
email gmail / thunderbird gmail / thunderbird
image viewer acdsee 2.42 gqview / mirage
ssh sessions putty openssh
ssh file transfer winscp nautilus
bittorrent utorrent deluge-torrent / transmission
movie player wmp / vlc / wimpy mplayer / vlc
mp3 player winamp audacious + wa3 skin
mp3 tag manager mp3tag easytag
ipod music itunes rhythmbox
ipod video itunes gtkpod + vive (forums howto)
irc client mirc xchat
mount cd images daemon tools gisomount
convert cd images magic/ultra/power iso ccd, mdf, nrg 2iso, iat, + bchunk
edit cd images cdmage isomaster
burning cds & isos nero nautilus / gnomebaker / nerolinux
burning audio cds nero gnomebaker
ftp client smartftp / flashfxp gftp / filezilla
remote control tightvnc tightvnc
virtualisation vmware / virtualbox vmware / virtualbox
dvd backup dvdshrink k9copy / dvd95 (+ medibuntu)
photo editing photoshop gimp
simple paint ms paint gimp
download manager getright gwget
bulk file renamer bulk rename utility thunar bulk rename
system monitor conky
software dev rapidsvn
serial terminal tera term pro minicom (ser2net is interesting)
dns lookups dig, host, whois
office documents ms office openoffice.org

software sources

almost all of these are in apt, alot are even installed by default. if not, you can get them with synaptic, or i’ve linked to websites which provide deb packages for double-click installation. you can also find links to software in these places:

gnome themes

alot of people say linux looks crap out the box, and i’m inclined to agree. sorry human, tango & industrial - you suck. good places to get themes are art.gnome.org and gnome-look.org. here’s a few good ones:

theme idea
 gtk2 controls metacity window borders icons
Windows XP Clearlooks-Luna Clearlooks 2 GNOME
Mac OSX T-Ish T-Ish / Humanoid-OSX OSX (requires Tango)
Windows Vista Clearlooks VistaUltimate (by me!) Vista Inspirate (req nuoveXT)

openbox

after a while, i stopped using metacity as a window manager altogether, and have switched to openbox. it’s alot more configurable, powerful, minimalist, and lightweight. i’ve noticed a speed increase on all my machines

games

depending on what you want to play, linux is fine for games, or a massive disappointment. a few things i use for linux gaming are:

  • wine and winefix
  • xswitch
  • doom
  • quake 2
  • unreal tournament

things linux can’t do

  • connect to my Symbian v3 “Nokia E65″ mobile phone
  • run the shitty chinese software for my “EZ Flash IV” GameBoy Advance cart

useful support links

other distros

of course, ubuntu isn’t the be-all and end-all of linux distributions, here’s a few other toys i like to keep an eye on

  • slitaz
    as much as possible in the smallest space possible. check out all the stuff it has!
  • damn small linux
    this distro’s aim is run graphical apps on older PCs, inside a 50mb business card cd
  • geexbox
    media center in a livecd, loads to ram so you can still use your dvd drive. awesome
  • freenas
    handy server for sharing files across a LAN
  • ipcop
    firewall distro, very useful
  • pitux
    a serial console designed to run on the lowliest of hardware
  • gparted / partedmagic
    hard drive partitioning and testing livecds

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