Friday, November 18, 2011

Linux Ubuntu here I come...........

I have a Toshiba A300 laptop in which most of my blogging is done on. The only trouble it gave me was  for some reason the HD failed. Not a problem it was sent in for repairs and came back with a new HD and it's been fine ever since. The operating system is the 64 bit Vista. Now this is another story  I found it took forever to boot up. I am talking about 3-5 minutes to get to the point were I was able to use the laptop. It would also stop and think every so often and I would just have to sit and wait. Shutting down was no problem that was done in under 30 seconds. To remedy this problem I tried just about everything and it just did not seem to do the trick. On the home P.C I have WinXP and have had no troubles with it at all. It runs smooth and does not get hung up. These are the only two Windows operating systems I have had really any exposure too.  As for the Laptop I was either going to re-install Vista, try loading XP or do the radical and go with Linux!! I was not sure how XP was going to work out on the laptop and figured Vista was just going to act the same way.  So that idea was put  on the back burner, I noticed on the Internet that Linux Ubuntu
could be loaded on my laptop along side Windows. Kinda have two OS's on one machine. Now I am not a fan of doing this for the long term and I don't think it is meant for that. It was a way of  test driving Ubantu 11.10 and see how I liked it and how the laptop liked it. An installer called Wubi allows you to install Ubuntu on a Windows machine.  If  you don't care for Linux it can be removed also using Wubi. If you want to go ahead and install Linux Ubuntu using Wubi just follow the step by step instructions   found on the Internet. There was no need for any fancy computer whiz bong knowledge it was similar to installing any windows program. Before you know it Uantu was up and running and each time I started the laptop I was asked if I wanted to load Windows or Ubuntu?? The first thing I noticed was it sure did load  faster than Vista and that was a BIG plus. For a few days I gave Ubuntu a test drive. I had only done things the Windows way so the desktop and how programs were launched took some getting used to.  I kept reading "take time to get used to Ubuntu it's not Windows" I went to YouTube to check out some tutorials on the operating system to learn more. This was were I thought I ran into my first Ubuntu troubles. At YouTube I was greeted with the messages "Adobe flash is required to view YouTube" The flash upgrade was painless and was a matter of just clicking on a link. The needed update was downloaded and installed then YouTube was up and running.  After playing with Ubuntu for a weekend it was time to take the plunge and remove Vista and do a perminant install of Linux Ubuntu on my laptop. There are step by step instructions for this as well on the Internet.  So after a week what is my impression of Ubantu....it's loads in 20 seconds compared to Vista's 3-5 minutes. It comes complete with a word processing program, spread sheet, a power point type program, workspace switcher were you can have four windows going at once and switch between them. You can run windows programs by using a program called wine. I have not venture down this road yet. One thing I did notice was it eats up the laptop battery time but there is something out there in Linux land to help that along. As times goes on I will continue to learn more. Have not tried it yet with any ham radio programs but my laptop was never used for that.


13 comments:

Larry W2LJ said...

Hi Mike,

I've wanted to try Linux for the longest time; but have never taken the plunge as I am NOT the computer whiz. Thanks for this post - I think I'll try it on one of the laptops here.

Larry W2LJ

VE9KK said...

Good morning Larry, I took the plunge and never looked back. But again I have not tried any ham app's with Linux. This laptop is mainly for blogging but I would encourage you to download Wubi and give Lunix a go inside Windows. I will say it does take some time to get used to navigating your way around it's not Windows.

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Hello Mike, I sometimes use Linux Mint. A similair program but a tiny bit faster is my experience. If you're not using your computer for HAM radio but just do some word processing, internet and listening music or so it's a good choice (may be the best). There are HAMs that use Windows software with wine. Don't have any experience with it. But on my HAM radio computer I still prefer Windows. 73, Bas

VE9KK said...

Hi Bas, I am going to run the ham programs on my laptop along with my K3 and K2. If PowerSDR, Skimmer, k3 downloaded and LP-pan for starters. If I can get them to work with Wine then the desktop will be going to Ubuntu. This will take time and I will blog my progress.
Mike

Casey Bahr said...

Mike,

I've been using Ubuntu for a few years now. Nearly all my machines are dual boot. Ubuntu if probably the most painless Linux.

If you have a fast enough processor you can get a VM such as Virtual Box and run both at the same time. You did the correct install order, btw. Windows first then Linux (the other way is possible but requires messing with the boot loader).

You will find, however, that the world of Linux ham apps is much smaller than on Windoze (btw, Vista is just terrible). Even Wine won't help in all cases.

Even though there are hundreds (thousands?) of free apps in Linux I always end up migrating back to Windows because there are even more apps there and there are just some essentials that won't run on Linux.

Have fun.

ct1drb said...

Hello Mike,

nice to hear that you are giving a try to Linux, especialy to Ubuntu. I have been using Linux for more than 10 years, it is a nice OS. About logging software give a try to CQRlog in www.cqrlog.com, it works nicely with my K3 and has all that you want, I hope.

If you need additional help pse email me to ct1drb at iol.pt.

Best 73.

VE9KK said...

Good evening Casey, I used the dual boot until I kinda got used to Ubuntu. Yes the apps pool is much smaller with Ubuntu I am going to see what is out there and what I can use. Up to this point I have Windows XP on my desktop.
Have a great weekend Casey

CT1DRB good evening, I have to look into CQRlog it is a program I have not run into yet but will look into it. I will keep your email address and for sure I will be emailing you with questions.
Thanks for stopping by the blog and thanks very much for your offer of assistance.
Mike

Paul Stam PAØK said...

Hi Mike, I have no experiences with Linux. Too lazy, and because I am satisfied with Windows 7. Never change a winning team, they say. Have a nice weekend, 73 Paul

Hans PD0AC said...

I have been a Linux user for.... don't know how long. I used Fedora for a long time, but switched to Ubuntu recently. Boot time never exceeds 45 seconds on a single core AMD Sempron machine. Still it can't replace Windows completely, and two systems are fitted with XP and Windows 7.

I don't use it for ham purposes either, except maintaining my blog.

73, Hans

VE9KK said...

Good evening Paul, my wife has Window 7 on her net book and seems to work fine. As for a winner how about Linux is a tie or a close runner up...:)))

VE9KK said...

Hans very nice to hear from you, I too can"t replace windows and until I see what programs I can use with ham radio and Linux that will give me a better idea. I may end up settling for a dual boot on the desktop and full Linux on the laptop.
Thanks for stopping by Hans
Mike

KD2APS said...

I have been using Unix/Linux for at least 25 years, and being a ham, I am experimenting with some popular software under Linux, specifically Ubuntu. Here is a current post getting Bob Freeth's (G4HFQ) Yaesu radio programing software running at: http://kd2aps.blogspot.com/2011/11/radio-programming-software-under-linux.html

Jim
http://www.kd2aps.com

VE9KK said...

Good evening Jim, thanks for stopping by the blog and taking the time to comment. Thanks for the link I will be checking that out. It's good to know there are hams out there making Ubuntu ham friendly. Very nice blog and some very good reading...will be spending some time in the next little while looking it over.
Mike