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An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

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Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#51

Post by nailer »

petercooper wrote: post #3

This wasn't a bad article to read, although it doesn't really get anywhere. A reasonably novice Mac user tries out Ubuntu, finds some pros and cons.. the end. Quite well written though but some of his insights don't quite make sense.. > I had heard that Linux users still use a command line. Instead of pointing and clicking, they actually type in obscure commands – a series of numbers, letters, and squiggly things. It…

Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing wrote a much better article about switching to Linux from a Mac a couple of years ago. GIYF.

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#52

Post by nailer »

petercooper wrote: post #3

This wasn't a bad article to read, although it doesn't really get anywhere. A reasonably novice Mac user tries out Ubuntu, finds some pros and cons.. the end. Quite well written though but some of his insights don't quite make sense.. > I had heard that Linux users still use a command line. Instead of pointing and clicking, they actually type in obscure commands – a series of numbers, letters, and squiggly things. It…

> Linux's command line offers no benefits over OS X's.

Oh cmon. The rarely updated BSD tools versus GNU? Massive amounts of packaged command line software available at the click of a button? Commands available for more stuff, to automate admin tasks? A tabbed terminal out of the box?

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#53

Post by nailer »

Angostura wrote: post #8

Another Mac user here. I gave Ubuntu a spin the other week, running in Virtualbox on my main machine. I thought it looked slick and was very usable. Then I tried downloading and installing Firefox 3. I grabbed it, unarchived it and then.... then what? Where's the bloody installer.

The Mozilla organization doesn't properly package Firefox, nor do they link to packages for Linux OSs created by other people.

Since there's very little work involved in the latter, AFAICT this is because they suck.

In Ubuntu 8.04, FF3 is installed by default, but if you missed it, look for 'Firefox' in Add/Remove.

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#54

Post by nailer »

Tichy wrote: post #45
hs wrote: post #40

ubuntu-desktop stays true to its name ... an OS for average users only for desktoping you know a unix OS is broken when you google "how do i compile / patch vim in ubuntu?" or when you can't ssh to ubuntu-desktop machine Ubuntu is an OS designed by committee ... it's secure by being weak The only thing good about ubuntu is its supports for new hardwares; however, quality is questionable.

Well on OS X I googled for "how to rename a file" and "how to copy a file" (OS X file manager doesn't support cut+paste). On the other hand, I just installed vim on Ubuntu the other day with synaptic, no problems whatsoever.

I still don't get how 'Get Info' on a file would be used to change the program it opens with.

And OS X software installs freaked the hell out of me the first time I tried (ran the app from the package dir, and it didn't work properly).

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#55

Post by convolver »

pavelludiq wrote: post #48
rplevy wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget the lightweight xubuntu distribution, which uses the xfce window manager. It is nice and fast. It works nicely on older machines with less resources.

I like fluxbuntu better than xubuntu. It's not an official canonical distro, but i have a pretty old pc with only 64 mb of ram and fluxbox runs far better than xfce on it. I think xubuntu is a waste of time anyway, but i can't i8magine using gnome either, im kubuntu till death(mine, or theirs) Viva KDE. Anyway, a friend of mine can get me a cheap mac(prices are unbearable outside of the us because of shipping and res…

I've been using Fluxbuntu for quite a while now, I second your recommendation, it's pretty impressive and worth a shot for ubuntu linux users interested in an alternative to xubuntu.

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#56

Post by hs »

Tichy wrote: post #45
hs wrote: post #40

ubuntu-desktop stays true to its name ... an OS for average users only for desktoping you know a unix OS is broken when you google "how do i compile / patch vim in ubuntu?" or when you can't ssh to ubuntu-desktop machine Ubuntu is an OS designed by committee ... it's secure by being weak The only thing good about ubuntu is its supports for new hardwares; however, quality is questionable.

Well on OS X I googled for "how to rename a file" and "how to copy a file" (OS X file manager doesn't support cut+paste). On the other hand, I just installed vim on Ubuntu the other day with synaptic, no problems whatsoever.

"apt-get install" is not the same as compile from source

you are at the mercy of repositories

"make install" on the other hand, gives you more freedom

vim patching problem was kinda solved by using intrepid repo instead of hardy's ... but also gave birth to other problems

To me, a unix system that is unable to compile from source (only binaries) is on the same level as windows

even on mac, i can use port, it fetches the sources and dependencies, compiles everything, beautiful!

NB: yes i did apt-get dev-compilers & libraries & dependencies

shrug I guess Ubuntu is not there yet

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#57

Post by Angostura »

cstejerean wrote: post #16
Angostura wrote: post #8

Another Mac user here. I gave Ubuntu a spin the other week, running in Virtualbox on my main machine. I thought it looked slick and was very usable. Then I tried downloading and installing Firefox 3. I grabbed it, unarchived it and then.... then what? Where's the bloody installer.

ubuntu hardy comes with FF3 installed, and typically you can install most software you need using Synaptic (from the GUI, apt-get from the command line). You might also be able to find a binary version on the site where you downloaded from (look for .deb files). If that's not an option (which is possible with FF3 if you're using an older version of Ubuntu) then chances are you need to build the software you downloade…

Many thanks for the explanation. Much appreciated.

Re: An Apple User Tries Ubuntu

#58

Post by Angostura »

there wrote: post #18
Angostura wrote: post #8

Another Mac user here. I gave Ubuntu a spin the other week, running in Virtualbox on my main machine. I thought it looked slick and was very usable. Then I tried downloading and installing Firefox 3. I grabbed it, unarchived it and then.... then what? Where's the bloody installer.

you installed it wrong. on mac os or windows, you download a program from /its/ website and run /its/ installer. on ubuntu (or pretty much any linux distribution or *bsd), you look to your vendor for pre-compiled packages of this software (linux distributions using dpkg, rpm, whatever, bsds using ports/pkgsrc/packages). so on ubuntu you run whatever package management utility comes with it and tell it you want to ins…

Got it. many thanks.
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