Ubuntu newbie questions

[Billy Balthorpe]

Hi all

Expecting my NC10 to arrive early next week. One of the reasons I ended up taking the plunge is to learn what Linux is all about. I have a desktop PC at home running XP Pro and am fairly technical but no expert etc (just a normal user who bothers to learn stuff).

I have searched this and other forums and come to the conclusion that Ubuntu is probably the best place to start with linux but I have seen some stories about problems getting Ubuntu running on the NC10. However, I have also noticed quite a few people on here and elsewhere are running Ubuntu, albeit with some playing around.

So I have a couple of questions -

1. Is it really much of a drama to get Ubuntu running on the NC10 and is there any disadvantage to using it compared to other distros in regard to things that might not run properly (eg fn keys)?

2. Can I install by downloading an ISO and mounting that through Daemon Lite on XP to run it? (I want a dual boot with XP and Ubuntu)

3. Should I or is it a good idea to delete the XP recovery partition to free up the 6gb or so of space?

4. I read some references to Ubuntu possibly wearing the HDD through excessive loading (? I have no idea what that menas BTW). Is this a problem now and should I be aware of it and is it fixable?


Im sure Ill have more questions when I get it and start playing. Thanks for now.

[Alfihar]

1. It's not that much drama though it requires more configuring that some other distributions such as OpenSUSE Gnome which will work fully after installation or Fedora 10 which will work fully after updating it (all major functionality works after installation). If you haven't already read through this page on getting Ubuntu to work on the NC10: Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex 8.10 on the Samsung NC10.

2. No, you have to either use an external optical drive or run the installation off a usb memory stick (an SD card will not work). If you use a usb memory stick then you will need to use something like Unetbootin, instructions for using it with OpenSUSE are in this thread, you can do the same with Ubuntu or another distribution (the previous link has instructions for Ubuntu).

3. I would leave it alone for the moment, though it will not function correctly after you install Linux (or any other OS). So it's really up to you.

4. This is referring to the frequency which the hard drive parks it's heads, other OS's ignore the hard drives defaults whereas Linux uses them. It is debatable whether it is actually causing hard drive to fail though. Personally I'm not that worried, this has been a long running debate.

[TCMuffin]

[quote1235384339=Billy Balthorpe]
I have searched this and other forums and come to the conclusion that Ubuntu is probably the best place to start with linux but I have seen some stories about problems getting Ubuntu running on the NC10.
[/quote1235384339]
Ubuntu 8.10 does not install the correct wireless network adapter driver, but a work around is in this thread. You may still be interested in the Ubuntu Netbook Remix which is based on 8.10.

I've now moved on to Ubuntu 9.04 which may be downloaded here. This build correctly installs the wireless adapter and includes OpenOffice 3.0 rather than the older version included with 8.10.

[Billy Balthorpe]

Thanks TC

How stable is Ubuntu 9.04? Isn't it due for final release in April? As a newbie, am i better off installing 8.10 and playing around with the various fixes as a way to learning how ubuntu works or am i better off installing 9.04 with more stuff working out of the box?

Still waiting for my sammy and cant wait to start playing around.

[Alfihar]

[quote1235430967=Billy Balthorpe]How stable is Ubuntu 9.04? Isn't it due for final release in April? As a newbie, am i better off installing 8.10 and playing around with the various fixes as a way to learning how ubuntu works or am i better off installing 9.04 with more stuff working out of the box?[/quote1235430967]
It's currently in Alpha testing though the Beta should be out in a few days (final release should be 23rd April), stability wise it should be ok (haven't tried it on my NC10), but expect things to break. If you have to choose Ubuntu and you've not used Linux before it would probably be a good idea to go with 8.10 as you are more likely to get help/support and it's a lot less likely to break.

[Billy Balthorpe]

Thanks Alfihar (and thanks for the arlier post as well). Cant wait to get stuck in (my brother who works in IT security architecture would say I was sad!)

[TCMuffin]

I have found 9.04 to be stable, however, as Alfihar has said, if you haven't used Linux before, 8.10 may be a better way to get into Linux.