Yes, I know I owe you all a post about how amazing Guitar Hero is. I'll be getting to that soon enough. Right now however, I want to talk a bit about Ubuntu Linux.
I believe I have mentioned many times in the past the bad experiences I have had with getting a proper Linux installation on my own PC. I tried a hard drive install of Knoppix, which turned out horribly. Configuring things was a pain, the way it set up a root and user account was confusing, it was filled with 5 different programs for every task, and somehow I managed to royally screw it up and never found a way to fix things. This experience burned me pretty bad, and ever since I've been hesitant to try toying with Linux on my own machine (especially when there are perfectly good machines in the computer lab).
At some point along the way, this feeling began to change. I realized I didn't always want to go to the lab (it is nice to be home for certain types of work). Other people I know with running Linux distros made srue to heckle me about my incompetence/fear. Finally, I simply realized that there was really no good reason for me not to try again. So I devised the Poor Man's plan to install Linux
Step 1 - don't buy CD R's. Downloading and burning a distro is long and error prone. Instead, apply for free Ubuntu Linux install discs. There is no cost, no shipping fee, and it is the most popular distro in the market.
Step 2 - wait a couple weeks. Remember, patience is a virtue.
Step 3 - get your Cd's and install. The trickiest part was being extra sure to only format my ext3 Linux partition and not screw up the Windows stuff. After that, the install was smooth as butter. Ubuntu configured everything, updated all the software, and even got me on the internet. Apt-get works perfectly for finding new software, and the distro is incredibly user firendly. I've finally got a stable, logical, working Linux distro on my computer, and the only thing I regret is not doing this earlier.
You see kids? You really can do it if you put your mind to it.
PS to all the Linux users I know - am I back in the club now?
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