Thing #47: Say hello to Linux

Most of us use Windows. Some of us use Macs. My question is, how many of us use the other option known as Linux?

As a brief introduction, here’s some relevant bits from the Wikipedia article:

Linux refers to the family of Unix-like computer operating systems using the Linux kernel. Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers. Linux is a leading server operating system, and runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world.
The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. Typically Linux is packaged in a format known as a Linux distribution for desktop and server use. Some popular mainstream Linux distributions include Debian (and its derivatives such as Ubuntu), Fedora and openSUSE. Linux distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting utilities and libraries to fulfill the distribution's intended use.
The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The main supporting user space system tools and libraries from the GNU Project (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman) are the basis for the Free Software Foundation's preferred name GNU/Linux.

For this month's Thing, we're going to take a look at one of the most commonly used Linux versions, Ubuntu. But, you may be wondering - what's it going to take to test a whole operating system? Well, here’s the three greatest things about most Linux distributions:

1. As previously mentioned, they work on some pretty old hardware. So, if you happen to have a spare old computer you thought wasn’t good for anything any more, you can probably use that.
   
2. You can actually try most Linux distributions without actually installing them by using something called a Live CD. (More on this in a minute.)
   
3. For Ubuntu, the distribution we’ll be trying, you can actually install it as a Windows application along side your current version of Windows.

I’ll get more specific about each of these options shortly.

For this lesson you can use the current version, Ubuntu 10.10, or try Ubuntu 11.04 Beta if you’re wondering what the next version will look like. (If you’re already feeling unsure, I’d stick with 10.10. If you’re going for the beta version, read the instructions I’ve linked to. Most of the rest of this article should be accurate but I’ll be writing from the point of view of 10.10.)

You have three options for trying Ubuntu: via Windows Installer, via the Live CD or USB drive, and installing it on a spare computer. Here’s the hows and whys of each:

Via the Windows Installer
Use this option if you would like to give your computer the option to boot either into Windows or Ubuntu when you turn it on. This option uses a lot of hard drive space and you will need to have full administrative access to your computer. DO NOT do this on a work computer without first talking to your IT folks. (Chances are they’ll tell you not to do it.) I’ve done this on a few computers and there’s nothing to be particularly scared of, but it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.

Head on over to http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/windows-installer, download the installer, and run it just like you would install any other Windows program. Once finished, reboot your computer and you should see a menu asking you which OS you’d like to use.

To uninstall Ubuntu, boot into Windows and uninstall it via the Control Panel as you would uninstall any other Windows program.

The benefit to this method is that you don’t need a spare computer and any changes you make on the Ubuntu side will keep past a reboot. However, please be aware of the issues with doing this that I previously mentioned.

Via a Live CD or USB drive
This is the most flexible of the three options. All you need to do is download the .ISO file from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download and then create a bootable CD or USB drive. (All the instructions are on that page. You will probably need to download and install an additional piece of software and have the ability to burn to a blank CD-R or a blank USB drive.)

Once finished with that process, reboot the computer with the newly burned CD in your CD-ROM drive, or USB drive plugged in. In most cases the computer will boot from the CD/USB instead of the hard drive. (If not, you may need to perform an extra step or two - contact your IT folks for that or leave a comment here and I might be able to help.)

Once the computer has successfully booted from the CD/USB, you should see an Ubuntu menu. Choose “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer” and press Enter.

At this point you’re running Ubuntu completely from the CD/USB and your hard drive isn’t being used in any way that will damage your Windows installation or files. When you’re done, shut down the computer and remove the CD/USB. Upon reboot, the computer will boot back to Windows.

This is a great way to play around with Ubuntu. The only down sides are that it’s a bit on the slow side due to CD/USB speeds, and anything you change will not keep. So, the next time you boot from the CD/USB, it’ll act like a fresh OS having forgotten anything you’ve previously done. You can find a more detailed explanation of the Live CD concept at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Installing it on a spare computer
If you’ve got an old computer please give this a try. Follow the same instructions for creating a Live CD but when you get to the first Ubuntu menu, instead choose “Install Ubuntu”. Follow all the prompts and in 15-20 minutes you should have a bootable Ubuntu OS installed on the hard drive. Don’t forget to plug the computer into your network so it can get all the needed updates from the Internet.

Ok, I’ve got Ubuntu running, now what?
Well, that’s up to you. The idea here is to give you the opportunity to play with this wonderful (in my opinion) alternative to Windows and Mac. Here are a few of the reasons I like to use it on some of my computers:

• It’s a more secure operating system.
• It updates faster and more often that Windows or MacOS.
• It allows me to run some older hardware that Windows no longer supports.
• It’s free!

Additionally, here’s just one idea that I had for using Ubuntu in a library setting. (Unfortunately, it’s a little late for this year.)

A Nebraska public library was concerned about the lack of printed tax forms this year. What I suggested was to take an old spare computer or two (I know they had some) and install Ubuntu, connect them to the network and a printer. Then (this bit would take some technical know-how) lock down the browser so that it only went to IRS.gov. Stick this computer in a corner and label it the “Tax Terminal” and treat it as a non-reserveable walk-up computer for printing out tax forms. Once you know what you’re doing, the whole setup might take 20-30 minutes. This plan has two significant benefits: First, not having to pay a license fee for the OS. Second, since it was just for printing forms from a browser, the fact that it isn’t Windows wouldn’t be that much of an issue for the patrons.

So, let me leave you with just a few ideas for where you can poke around in Ubuntu:

• Under Applications, see what software comes with Ubuntu. Maybe try playing with OpenOffice if it’s already there, if not…
  
• Look for the Ubuntu Software Center under Applications and see what’s available for download and installation.
  
• Look under System|Preferences and see how flexible the interface is.
  
• If you have accounts with Twitter, Facebook or other social sites, click on the speech bubble in the upper-right corner and select Broadcast Accounts.

For your blog post write about your experience with installing and playing around in Ubuntu. Did you find a neat feature I didn’t mention? Do you think you might consider extending the life of some of your old equipment for your patrons by installing Ubuntu? Let us know what you think.

Bonus:
For those of you that think you’ll never get away form Windows, try installing the Wine application via the Software Center. It allows you to install and run most Windows programs on the Ubuntu OS.