Although being a Windows veteran, I decided it was time to investigate the world of Linux.  While Linux has been around for some time, it has largely been the domain of Unix geeks and "propeller heads."  Recently, however, Dell announced that they will be offering Linux as a pre-installed OS option.  In particular, they have opted to go with the Ubuntu distribution.  Therefore, I thought that this would be a good Linux distribution to try out.

 

 

 

The first step was to obtain a copy of the Ubuntu installation CD.  Like many distributions of Linux, Ubuntu is free.  It can be downloaded from the Ubuntu site (www.ubuntu.com) or there is also an option to have CDs mailed to you.  Since the Ubuntu software is several hundred MBs, I decided against the download option.  And since it could take up to several weeks for the free CD to arrive, I decided against that option, as well.  I ended up going online to the Linux Store and ordering the installation CD from there.  It cost $19, but it arrived in about 3 days.  (OK, I couldn't wait.)

 

 

 

I have to say that the installation process was very easy.  I began with an older Dell OptiPlex system as my hardware platform.  With a cleanly formatted hard drive, I inserted the installation CD and rebooted the computer.  The installation CD supports a "Live" version of Ubuntu, which means that you can run an active X-Windows session of Ubuntu right from the CD.  Once Ubuntu finished booting, I had the option to install it on the hard drive.

 

The installation process, itself, was truly painless.  One of the key objectives of the Ubuntu distribution was to make it user friendly for those who are not familiar with Linux.  There were a few prompts for information to follow, but within a few minutes, Ubuntu was up and running.

 

 

 

Once installed, there really wasn't much else to do.  One of the first things I noticed was that Ubuntu automatically checked for software updates.  There were about 70 updates that were required.  However, the update manager handled the entire process from downloading to installation.  I was very impressed.  This is some very slick software.  About the only other thing that I needed to do was to create some user accounts so that a few other people could log on.  Again, this was a very simple process.

 

 

 

One of the other great plusses with most distributions of Linux is the inclusion of free OpenOffice software.  Ubuntu is no exception.  The setup process also included the installation of OpenOffice.  This is a suite of applications that includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications.  Interestingly, they have a very familiar interface so that those who are accustomed to Microsoft Office will have no trouble using OpenOffice.  In fact, you can even save OpenOffice documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access formats.  How cool is that?

 

 

 

Overall, I am very impressed with Ubuntu Linux.  Although I was not unfamiliar with Linux in general, I found that I really didn't need to know any Linux commands in order to install and use Ubuntu.  Of course, you always have the option of opening a terminal window and entering Linux commands.  In fact, that's probably a good way of getting your feet wet with this venerable operating system. 

 

I like Ubuntu.  It's easy to install and easy to use.  The fact that it is free and comes with additional free software makes it even more attractive.  For those who are interested in giving Linux a spin, I highly recommend Ubuntu. 

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