Unbuntu plunge

[patrisVII]

One of our computers is dying and rather than buy another Mac (basically a $1K minimum option) I was thinking of buying a relatively cheap Windows laptop and loading Unbuntu.

My main concern is compatibility with an Apple Airport network and third party apps; soft, hard and web.

Any users here? What's your opinion? Any recommendations/issues with things like streaming media, MP3 players, external hard disks?

General observations as well as specifics are welcome.


Thanks much in advance.

 

[soapbox]

Big Ubuntu fan here, with several others running around. Actually we're running through this same discussion over on the Linux Mint thread, if you'd care to join us?

 

[SepticTank]

Not sure what to say - pretty much everything worked out of the erm "box" (given it's a free download you know what I mean) - everything that didn't work by default was quickly fixed via your favorite search engine...

 

[chickpea]

patris, not specific enough about what you mean by "apple airport extreme network". Do you mean that you have a wireless router that is an apple airport extreme? Then yes, it should absolutely work with extremely little fuss.

If you mean that you have shared folders etc between computers that you would like to access, then maybe. Not sure if SAMBA (linux's file/print sharing service that interfaces with Windows SMB) will interface with apple's own file sharing protocols (or if apple just uses SMB). So read up on this or give us a little more info so we can help.


More to the point: if you buy a cheap pc notebook (netbook even) and load Ubuntu, you will not have any issues. BEFORE BUYING ONE WORD OF CAUTION: wireless cards. Please, please, please before you buy the laptop, find out which wireless card it uses and whether that card is well supported under linux. This is really the only achilles heel currently under linux. Most, but not all, wireless cards will work right out of the box.

Really, Ubuntu should be fine on any low end notebook without hitch.

Some manufacturers to be wary of Broadcomm. Other than that, it will work 98% OOTB. Some windows software may not work (check into WINE, it permits you to run windows programs in linux, to see if a specific program you need works with WINE). Also, check for linux equivalents of windows products (hint, nearly every windows software has an equal or better option under linux for free). If there are any programs that you simply cannot live without, and linux does not give you that functionality, there are ways (free, easy) to run windows as a virtual machine on a linux box.

 

[RichGem]

uh... what they all said.

 

[Ferannia]

I see there are people familiar with Ubuntu, please just a quick question.... Knowing Ubuntu is a cutting edge of a modern distribution trying to catch up with newest application releases and all that stuff, I suspect there are some restrictions in Ubuntu when it comes to installing on older hardware.

I am experienced with a plain vanilla Debian, running it from spring 1998, so it's more than ten years by now. And I know how hot to burn installation ISO files onto CDs and am familiar with all options. Yet, couple of days ago I picked up Xubuntu distribution in order to install it on my sister's computer. And no matter what installation options I choose, it simply won't install. The installation attempted on a several years old 30GB HD.
As soon as we finish choosing a language and begin the installation, it switches to a shell. It also brings me to a shell when I simply choose an option of trying xubuntu without actually installing it.
I burned the iso on a CD-R, and also on a CD-RW. It didn't work. Same thing with both CDs.

I tried my Debian burned CDs on the same HD, and it began the installation proccess without any problems.
That's why I suspect Xubuntu refuses to install on the old HD. Or maybe not, maybe there is something else, but as I say newer distros aren't my speciality.
If you suspect there are some issues, I am familiar with lingo, just tell what might be a problem. Thank you.

 

[patrisVII]

patris, not specific enough about what you mean by "apple airport extreme network". Do you mean that you have a wireless router that is an apple airport extreme? Then yes, it should absolutely work with extremely little fuss.

If you mean that you have shared folders etc between computers that you would like to access, then maybe. Not sure if SAMBA (linux's file/print sharing service that interfaces with Windows SMB) will interface with apple's own file sharing protocols (or if apple just uses SMB). So read up on this or give us a little more info so we can help.


More to the point: if you buy a cheap pc notebook (netbook even) and load Ubuntu, you will not have any issues. BEFORE BUYING ONE WORD OF CAUTION: wireless cards. Please, please, please before you buy the laptop, find out which wireless card it uses and whether that card is well supported under linux. This is really the only achilles heel currently under linux. Most, but not all, wireless cards will work right out of the box.

Really, Ubuntu should be fine on any low end notebook without hitch.

Some manufacturers to be wary of Broadcomm. Other than that, it will work 98% OOTB. Some windows software may not work (check into WINE, it permits you to run windows programs in linux, to see if a specific program you need works with WINE). Also, check for linux equivalents of windows products (hint, nearly every windows software has an equal or better option under linux for free). If there are any programs that you simply cannot live without, and linux does not give you that functionality, there are ways (free, easy) to run windows as a virtual machine on a linux box.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I will check in on the Linux thread.

You answered my question chickpea. I just wanted to know if there would be an issue with the linux box and an Aiport wireless network.

I was aware that some wireless cards did not support linux, but I did not know any specifics - I'll be sure to look at that detail when I buy.

My wife does run Windows apps for her sewing/embroidery machines but she runs all that on her Mac laptop with Parallel. No issues in that regard otherwise.

 

[soapbox]

I see there are people familiar with Ubuntu, please just a quick question.... Knowing Ubuntu is a cutting edge of a modern distribution trying to catch up with newest application releases and all that stuff, I suspect there are some restrictions in Ubuntu when it comes to installing on older hardware.

I am experienced with a plain vanilla Debian, running it from spring 1998, so it's more than ten years by now. And I know how hot to burn installation ISO files onto CDs and am familiar with all options. Yet, couple of days ago I picked up Xubuntu distribution in order to install it on my sister's computer. And no matter what installation options I choose, it simply won't install. The installation attempted on a several years old 30GB HD.
As soon as we finish choosing a language and begin the installation, it switches to a shell. It also brings me to a shell when I simply choose an option of trying xubuntu without actually installing it.
I burned the iso on a CD-R, and also on a CD-RW. It didn't work. Same thing with both CDs.

I tried my Debian burned CDs on the same HD, and it began the installation proccess without any problems.
That's why I suspect Xubuntu refuses to install on the old HD. Or maybe not, maybe there is something else, but as I say newer distros aren't my speciality.
If you suspect there are some issues, I am familiar with lingo, just tell what might be a problem. Thank you.

Ferannia,

I think Xubuntu is a good choice for older hardware, but would you try installing plain Ubuntu first and see how it goes? I don't think you're doing anything wrong at this point, so let's see if it is a Xubuntu issue, an Ubuntu issue, or something specific to your laptop.

 

[Dharion]

Ubuntu's 8.04 is a bliss to *work* with. I've installed it on my notebook (dual-boot with Vista). The 'new human' theme looks and feels quite good. Take the plunge,

streaming media, MP3 players, external hard disks?

shouldn't be a concern.

 

[RichGem]

How about a merge with the Linux thread? Mods? Anyone?

 

[chickpea]

I see there are people familiar with Ubuntu, please just a quick question.... Knowing Ubuntu is a cutting edge of a modern distribution trying to catch up with newest application releases and all that stuff, I suspect there are some restrictions in Ubuntu when it comes to installing on older hardware.

I am experienced with a plain vanilla Debian, running it from spring 1998, so it's more than ten years by now. And I know how hot to burn installation ISO files onto CDs and am familiar with all options. Yet, couple of days ago I picked up Xubuntu distribution in order to install it on my sister's computer. And no matter what installation options I choose, it simply won't install. The installation attempted on a several years old 30GB HD.
As soon as we finish choosing a language and begin the installation, it switches to a shell. It also brings me to a shell when I simply choose an option of trying xubuntu without actually installing it.
I burned the iso on a CD-R, and also on a CD-RW. It didn't work. Same thing with both CDs.

I tried my Debian burned CDs on the same HD, and it began the installation proccess without any problems.
That's why I suspect Xubuntu refuses to install on the old HD. Or maybe not, maybe there is something else, but as I say newer distros aren't my speciality.
If you suspect there are some issues, I am familiar with lingo, just tell what might be a problem. Thank you.

Smells like video card troubles. If I were you, I would try to find out which video card the computer has. On linux command line this is

sudo lspci

that command means "list (ls) all pci (pci) devices".

Then I would search (x)ubuntu's forums for that video card and problems others have experienced installing. It may be that the livecd needs certain boot parameters to boot with video)

 

[chickpea]

Ferannia,

I think Xubuntu is a good choice for older hardware, but would you try installing plain Ubuntu first and see how it goes? I don't think you're doing anything wrong at this point, so let's see if it is a Xubuntu issue, an Ubuntu issue, or something specific to your laptop.

Hmm, what brand of media are you using? Sometimes the brand of media (cheap) will affect livecds and how they perform. I would see if perhaps changing the media helps (HP media is very good).

 

[stevensj2]

Another option to consider (even to those already running Ubuntu) is Zenwalk.

Rather than being based on Debian, as Ubuntu is, it is based on Slackware (an already bullet-proof and solid OS known for its stability). It is then slimmed down further with the idea of 1 app for 1 task, to remove bloat. It uses XFCE for the deskop environment, which is very lightweight, stable, and fast as can be.

Installation, media, uprgrades, installing packages, etc is all very much like Ubuntu in ease. The processes used are slightly different, but the effort is just as little (it was actually far easier installing (and keeping) my NVIDIA driver w/ Zenwalk - something that is a notorious pain w/ Ubuntu).

For older hardware, it is a perfect choice.

For any hardware, it's an awesome choice.

But in any respect, Ubuntu, Mint, Zenwalk, Fedora - they're all Linux and they're all good

 

[OldSaw]

I have Ubuntu installed as the sole OS on one of my laptops. I needed a little help with the wireless card, but outside of that it has been great. It works fine for everything I do with that machine (internet, word processing, etc.).

I use my other machines for AutoCAD, since this is one area that it does not support well. Since most people don't use CAD, you should be good to go with Ubuntu for nearly everything else.

 

[gugi]

i'd pick up one of dell's ubuntu laptops, you'll save about $50 on the windows license but more importantly (1) don't have to worry about hardware compatibility with linux (pretty ok these days) (2) i believe you get 30 days no restocking fee return policy.
of course, none of the proprietary stuff will work with the macs, i.e. the time machine/time capsule, but other than that you should be fine.
haven't tried vnc lately, but last time i had to use a specific client since os x had very specific protocol that wasn't supported everywhere.
other than that printing is cups, you can share files with samba. Since itunes7 daap is restricted to among macs only, so if you want to share your music you've got to use something else instead of itunes.
bonjour is not too bad.

i'd give it a go