A Guide to Ubuntu Linux. **New**

[Finchwizard]

A Guide to Ubuntu Linux

So your new to Linux, and don’t know anything, or very little about it.
Hopefully by the end of this you’ll have a bit more of an idea.

This guide is for Ubuntu Linux, there are many distro’s out there, each having different ways of doing things and for a different target audience.

You can check out the great site Distrowatch (www.distrowatch.com)

We will start off with some FAQ’s.
(I’ll expand these as people ask.)

Q: Can I dual boot Linux with Windows?
A: Yes, most definitely.

Q: Does Linux have a GUI, if so, which is best?
A: Yes it does have a GUI, and there are many to choose from these days, the 2 mainstream and feature rich ones are KDE and Gnome.

Q: Can I play games on Linux?
A: Yes and No, you can play games on Linux with an Emulation program called WineX, which allows you to install Windows games. Remember DirectX games will be hard as DirectX is for Windows only, where as OpenGL games will have a much better chance of being played because OpenGL is Opensource.
So if your sole purpose is gaming, I suggest you stick to Windows.


Getting Started

What you will need:

- Internet Connection
- Blank CD
- CD Burner
- Copy of the latest ISO from www.ubuntulinux.org (Currently 6.06LTS Desktop)

Which ISO should you choose? Well, in most cases, the i386 version is fine.
If you have an AMD64 you’ll want the amd64 version.

After you have downloaded the ISO, burn it to a CD, place it in your CD drive and restart your computer.
Making sure you have set your BIOS to boot off the CD first.

If all go’s well, Linux will start to load and present you with a GUI desktop as shown in following screenshot.
Take note that this does not change anything on your computer and is running completely off the CD.

Feel free to test out the programs and see if it’s something you want to continue playing with.




Installation:

So you’ve decided to install Ubuntu?
Great stuff, all you need to do is double click on the “Install” Icon on the Desktop and it will start the installation process.

Below are the screenshots of each step, I am not installing this on a machine that already has Windows, if you are, it will have some extra steps when it comes to partitioning and allow you to make room for Ubuntu.
Please remember you should have a current working backup of Windows beforehand if you decided you want to Dual Boot.


Step 1 it asks for your language, English is the default language, you can choose from a wide range.



Step 2 asks your location, choose the closes place by clicking on the map or the City Drop down menu.
Also change the time if it is incorrect.



Step 3 you choose the layout of your keyboard, most people will be choosing American English here.



Step 4 asks for a Username and Password to use, as well as what you want to call your computer.



Step 5 is where you choose where you want to install Ubuntu, yours may look different if you are installing this as a Dual Boot system.

Mine I will be erasing the entire disk.



Step 6 is just a summary of what you have chosen, make sure you haven’t made any mistakes here, as it’s the last time you will have to correct something.



Ubuntu will now install itself to the hard drive and install the Boot record etc, total install time will be around 15-20min. (Depends on computer)

When installation is completed, you will be given the option to continue using the LiveCD or to restart into your new system.
Choose Restart Now unless you are planning on doing something else.