Beginning Ubuntu Linux

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f you’re an avid computer user, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Linux. You might have read about it, or perhaps you’ve seen TV ads that refer to it.

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inux is more than just software. It’s an entire community of users, and as such, there’s a detailed social history behind it. In this chapter, we’ll look at the origins of Linux, both in terms of where it came from and the people who make it.

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o now that you’ve learned about the politics, history, and personalities behind Linux, only one question remains: what’s Linux actually like when used day to day? What should the average user expect from the experience?

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he first part of this book discussed the pros and cons of using Linux as part of your day-today life. It was intended to help you evaluate Linux and understand what you’re buying into should you decide to make it your operating system of choice. Now, we move on to actually installing Linux and, specifically, Ubuntu, which is included with this book on a CD-ROM.

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t’s now time to install Linux. This chapter details how to install Ubuntu, the version of Linux supplied with this book. Ubuntu offers a special installation program for this purpose.

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hances are that your installation of Ubuntu will complete without a hitch, and you’ll find yourself with a first-rate operating system up and running within just a few minutes. However, if a problem rears its ugly head, you should be able to find the solution in this chapter, which addresses the most common installation problems. These problems are organized by when they occur: before you begin the installation, during the installation, and after the installation. The final section of the chapter describes how to configure the graphical subsystem with the X.org configuration utility, which can be useful if graphical glitches arise.

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ow that Ubuntu is installed, you’ll no doubt want to get started immediately, and that’s what Part 3 of this book is all about. In later chapters, we’ll examine specific details of using Ubuntu and getting essential hardware up and running. We’ll also look at personalizing Ubuntu so that it works in a way that’s best for you on a day-to-day basis. But right now, the goal of this chapter is to get you doing the same things you did under Windows as quickly as possible.

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his chapter guides you through setting up all the essential components of your Ubuntu installation. This includes hardware configuration, as well as setting up e-mail and online software repositories. It covers the post-installation steps necessary for getting your system up and running efficiently.

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inux is widely considered to be one of the most secure operating systems around. On a basic level, Linux is built from the ground up to be fundamentally sound, and it forces users to work with security in mind. For instance, it enforces the system of ordinary users who are limited in what they can do, thus making it harder for virus infections to occur.

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f you’ve read this book from Chapter 1, by this stage, you no doubt have become comfortable with Ubuntu. You’ve started to realize its advantages and are on the way to making it your operating system of choice.

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buntu is a thoroughly modern operating system and, as such, includes a comprehensive selection of software for just about every day-to-day task. Regardless of whether you want to write letters, edit images, or listen to music, Ubuntu offers something for you.

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iles are what make the world of Linux go round. They’re the currency of any kind of operating system, because every time you use your computer, you generate new files, even if they’re only temporary.

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s you learned in Chapter 1, strictly speaking, the word

Linux

refers to just the kernel, which is the fundamental, invisible program that runs your PC and lets everything happen. However, on its own, the kernel is completely useless. It needs programs to let users interact with the PC and do cool stuff, and it needs a lot of system files (also referred to as

libraries

) to provide vital functions.

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ost of us are used to dealing with files—the things that live on our hard disks, floppies, and CD-ROMs, and contain data and program code. It should come as no surprise that Linux has its own file structure, which is different from Windows, in terms of where data is stored and also the underlying technology.

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indows views text files as just another file type, but to Ubuntu, they can be essential components that make the system work. Configuration files are stored as plain text, and program documentation is also stored as text. This is clearly different from Windows, where it’s very likely any information you’re supposed to read will be contained in a Windows Help file, a rich text format (RTF) file, or even a Microsoft Word document.

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y now, you should be starting to realize that the shell offers an enormous amount of power when it comes to administering your PC. The BASH shell commands give you quick and efficient control over most aspects of your Linux setup. However, the shell truly excels in one area: controlling the processes on your system.

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he BASH shell is the product of many years of development work by a lot of people. It comes from the old days of Unix and was an important step in computer software evolution. It’s a program that retains complete simplicity, yet packs in more features than most users could ever hope to use.

Today’s PC is a multimedia powerhouse, and it’s hard to come across a home computer that doesn’t have at least a set of speakers attached. Some people take this to extremes and have surround-sound speakers on their computers, as well as large monitors for crystal-clear video playback.

Movie playback is becoming increasingly popular on computers. Modern PCs come equipped with DVD-ROM drives and, coupled to the right software, these can play DVD movie discs. In addition, many web sites feature streaming movie clips or offer them for download.

The PC has become an increasingly useful tool in the field of photography. In fact, these days it’s hard to imagine a professional photographer who doesn’t use a computer in some way, either to download digital camera images or to scan in images taken using traditional filmbased cameras.

You might be willing to believe that you can get a complete operating system for no cost. You might even be able to accept that this offers everything Windows does and much more. But one stumbling block many people have is in believing a Microsoft Office-compatible office suite comes as part of the zero-cost bundle. It’s a step too far. Office costs hundreds of dollars—are they expecting us to believe that there’s a rival product that is free?

All the programs in the OpenOffice.org suite rely on a common interface, and therefore look and operate in a similar way. They are also configured in an identical way, and all rely on central concepts such as wizards, which guide you through the creation of particular types of documents. In addition, many components within the suite are shared across the various programs. For example, the automatic chart creation tool within Calc can also be used within Writer.

The word processor is arguably the most popular element within any office suite. That said, you’ll be happy to know that OpenOffice.org’s Writer component doesn’t skimp on features. It offers full text-editing and formatting functionality, along with powerful higher-level features such as mail merge.

Calc is the spreadsheet component of OpenOffice.org. Like most modern spreadsheet programs, it contains hundreds of features, many of which few average users will ever use. However, it doesn’t abandon its user-friendliness in the process and remains very simple for those who want to work on modest calculations, such as home finances or mortgage interest payments. In many regards, Calc is practically a clone of Excel, and anyone who has used Microsoft’s spreadsheet program will be able to get started with it immediately.

Impress is the presentation package within OpenOffice.org. At first glance, it appears to be the simplest of the key OpenOffice.org components, and also the one that borrows most the look and feel from Microsoft Office. However, delving into its feature set reveals more than a few surprises, including sophisticated animation effects and drawing tools. Impress can also export presentations as Macromedia Flash-compatible files, which means that many Internet-enabled desktop computers around the world will be able to view the files, even if they don’t have Impress or PowerPoint installed on their computers.

OpenOffice.org includes a number of tools to both interface with database servers and perform tasks such as enter and edit data. However, for most day-to-day users who have humble needs, creating such a setup is rather complicated. It requires some knowledge of how databases work on a technical level. For this reason, a new component was added to OpenOffice.org 2.0: Base.

Evolution isn’t part of the OpenOffice.org suite. It was originally created by Ximian, an organization founded by the creators of the GNOME Desktop Project and acquired by Novell in August 2003. Even long after the acquisition, Evolution is still developed by many of the key GNOME desktop developers.

The title of this chapter might sound somewhat strange. How can a Windows program be run under Linux? The answer comes courtesy of the Wine project and the set of add-on programs it offers for Linux. Wine is an acronym for Wine Is Not an Emulator, which is a way of saying that the Wine software doesn’t emulate Windows but instead re-creates certain parts of it called the Application Programming Interface (API).

One of the fun aspects of running any operating system is the ability to expand it—to add in new software over time to improve your workflow or just for entertainment value.

Linux was designed from the ground up to be a multiuser system. When it is deployed on huge mainframe computers, it’s capable of serving hundreds, if not thousands, of users at the same time, provided there are enough terminal computers for them to log in. In a more domestic setting, such as when Ubuntu is installed on a desktop PC, it usually means that more than one family member can have their very own account on the PC. Any files users create will be private, and users will also get their own desktop environment that is separate from that of the other users.

One slight problem with Ubuntu (and all Linux distributions) is that they take a “one-sizefitsall” approach—the default installation attempts to provide services for the every kind of user. While this provides the widest range of compatibility, it doesn’t always ensure an optimized system.

Every computer user knows that backing up data is vital. This is usually because every computer user has lost data at some point, perhaps because of a corrupted file or accidental deletion.

In this book, you’ve learned about various tasks you can perform to keep Ubuntu running smoothly. You may decide that you want some of these tasks to occur on a regular basis. For example, perhaps you want your /home folder to be backed up every day, or perhaps you want to clean the /tmp folder to ensure that you always have enough free disk space. You could carry out each task individually, but human nature would no doubt step in, and you would forget, or you might perform the action twice, because you’ve forgotten that you’ve already done it.

One area where Linux particularly excels is in its support for networking, including the Internet. If you wish to learn about how networks operate on a fundamental level, then Linux is an ideal choice, because it puts you in virtually direct contact with the technology.