Ubuntu newbie with questions

[The_Fire]

Since I'm updating my system anyhows, I was thinking of switchin from WinBlows to Linux.

I wondered if some of you people out there could help me with some rather daft questions in relations to the Ubuntu distro.

Some of the stuff I need to run have either a Linux version or can be run under Wine (this includes my favorite games StarCraft and WarCraft as well as CelTx), but I worried about things like antivirus and firewalls.

On my WinBlows machines, I've run the Bullguard Internet Security Suite (pay for one, permission to run on 3), and it's kept me free of damage so far.

What would be an acceptable solution for Ubuntu (does anyone know if Bullguard is available for Ubuntu? Bullguard.com went "whaaa?" when I tried to find out)?

What about wireless networking? Is it a pain to setup? Can it network with a winblows machine?

How about running 64-bit (the Phenom2 I'm looking at is capable, but is the software?)?

How much performance gets lost when running wine?

If I later decides to change a piece of hardware, what's the pain involved? I recall it as a marathon of pain and recompiling everything from back when I ran a Red Hat distro for a week.

How bad is the installation of new software?

Do I still have to do a ******** of command prompt input to get things running?

There'll probably be more later, but those are the ones I've got on the forefront of my mind right now.

 

[Earthborn]

What would be an acceptable solution for Ubuntu (does anyone know if Bullguard is available for Ubuntu?

No, Bullguard is not available for Ubuntu, and it is unlikely to work under Wine. The same is true of other anti-virus and firewall software. The good news is: you probably won't need them.

What about wireless networking? Is it a pain to setup?

Possibly. Manufacturers of wireless network devices often only support Windows and maybe Mac. You'll have to make sure you use devices for which there are Linux drivers.

Can it network with a winblows machine?

Yes, once you have a working network you should be able to network with Windows computers.

How about running 64-bit (the Phenom2 I'm looking at is capable, but is the software?)?

There is a 64 bit version of Ubuntu.

How much performance gets lost when running wine?

If the Windows software you want to run under Linux runs with Wine, there shouldn't be too much loss of performance; it should run basically at the same speed as run under Windows. Note the "if"; it is not guaranteed that it works or remains stable.

If I later decides to change a piece of hardware, what's the pain involved?

Depends on the hardware. Lots will be recognised and run as soon as you plug it in. But a brand new device from a manufacturer who doesn't care about supporting Linux may cause lots and lots of pain.

How bad is the installation of new software?

Again, it depends. If you install software from the Add/Remove menu option it will be very easy, but if you install software downloaded from any random old place on the internet, you may have to do a ******** of command prompt input to get things running.

 

[The_Fire]

Cool.
*Makes a note to go looking for linux drivers for my wireless lan-card*

Another thing that I've wondered about is multimedia support, especially DVD, video codecs and Itunes.

I think, I've got the Itunes angle covered, if nothing else I should be able to run it under Wine, but is there anything I should remember when dealing with Videofiles? Any Codecs, that won't run? I'm thinking about stuff like DivX, Xvid, Matroska etc. And how about windows media files?
How about podcasting? I would love to keep as much as possible under KDE/Gnome, which ever GUI I end up with.

ETA: And then there's my external HDs. I know that there can be problems with certain FAT's. I would like to be able to use my externals on both my laptop (Vista) and my new box (which will then be Ubuntu). I thinking read/write on both systems. Any recommendations?

 

[nathan]

Since I'm updating my system anyhows, I was thinking of switchin from WinBlows to Linux.

I wondered if some of you people out there could help me with some rather daft questions in relations to the Ubuntu distro.

ok. FWIW, I've used linux since the mid '90s. I used to compile my own kernels, but now I just use Ubuntu because I can't be bothered fine tuning. Ubuntu is good enough to allow me to use it as a tool for the other things I want to do.

On my WinBlows machines, I've run the Bullguard Internet Security Suite (pay for one, permission to run on 3), and it's kept me free of damage so far.

I don't run any special software for this. I have a netgear router, and don't allow connections from outside the home LAN.

What about wireless networking? Is it a pain to setup? Can it network with a winblows machine?

It just works. It used to be that I'd need to compile or download special drivers. But Canonical have invested the effort to make it Just Work. I went to a series of Open-source conferences where the only wireless was WPA, and my assumption was that this was a subtle hint to people to just make it work. It used to be a PITA.

How much performance gets lost when running wine?

Sorry, I don't use it. A collegue of mine does play Wow using wine on a linux box.

If I later decides to change a piece of hardware, what's the pain involved? I recall it as a marathon of pain and recompiling everything from back when I ran a Red Hat distro for a week.

Was this before linux has loadable module support? What kind of HW are you considering? I've plugged new drives in and digital cameras, and it has Just Worked.

How bad is the installation of new software?

Depends on the SW I guess. Sorry, but what SW do you mean?

Do I still have to do a ******** of command prompt input to get things running?

Synaptic is very easy to use to install stuff. Plus the 'System' menu has a lot of bit in it to configure stuff. I use a text editor to edit /etc/hosts for my lan addresses (because that's the easiest way for me to do it). I'm sure a Sytem menu tool will allow it.

You mention using Redhat before. One oddity with Ubuntu, that confused me the first time, is that there is no root account. You do everything via sudo. (You can enable a root account if you really want to.)

 

[nathan]

Another thing that I've wondered about is multimedia support, especially DVD, video codecs and Itunes.

there's a package for legally restricted bits of software. It contains libdvdcss, which you need for playing encrypted DVDs. Again, this was something that one used to have to go and hunt for, but now is packaged nicely. Same for MP3 codecs.

I've not used itunes.

 

[Genesius]

Your best bet is to pay a visit to www.ubuntuforums.org. The forum is very newbie-friendly. Been using Ubuntu since 2005, and there's only been one time I had a problem that couldn't be solved by a trip to the forum.

This pretty much says it all:

For playing DVDs, etc. - install "Ubuntu Restricted Extras" from Synaptic Package Manager. It'll install video & audio codecs, DVD support, Flash player, MS True Type core fonts, and a few other things I can't recall at the moment.

 

[Earthborn]

Any Codecs, that won't run? I'm thinking about stuff like DivX, Xvid, Matroska etc. And how about windows media files?
How about podcasting?

I think you'll find that the videoplayers that come with Ubuntu will play pretty much everything you can throw at them, including stuff that Windows chokes on, or demands that you install loads of codec and packages and stuff. The only problem you might have is with files that are somehow "protected". This is not uncommon with Real and QuickTime files. Also you may have to say goodbye to PayPerView Windows Media Streams... if you ever bothered to even say "hello" to those.

And then there's my external HDs. I know that there can be problems with certain FAT's. I would like to be able to use my externals on both my laptop (Vista) and my new box (which will then be Ubuntu). I thinking read/write on both systems. Any recommendations?

If those harddisks are USB, I don't expect any problems. To ensure its own survival, Linux had to adapt to a world in which most drives have a Windows filesystem, it usually can read them all.

 

[The_Fire]

Tried pay-per-view once....Weren't impressed.

This is looking better and better by the post.

This means that the only thing I need to worry about is Itunes, and as posted earlier, I've got Wine for that if push comes to show.

Thanks gang. I'm going to bookmark this thread for use when the new box lands.

 

[moopet]

You're going to have trouble with itunes. The only versions that run reliably through WINE are old ones. Even when it does work, unfortunately, Apple did not chose to use the host operating system's API correctly, so, for example, CD writing is internally driven, windows can't be themed, drag-and-drop is internally handled, etc. Which can't help.

There are plenty of websites devoted to giving you the "Linux equivalent" of Windows software, but I'd suggest you don't fall into this way of thinking. When iTunes came along, you thought "that's cool", and you didn't think "hey! That's not winamp", right? There are plenty of other media managers/players available. If you particularly like the itunes interface (I do) then I suggest using Songbird which can be configured to look almost identical or it can be configured to look and act a million times better

 

[The_Fire]

It's not as much the GUI with Itunes, I'm looking at, it's using the files I've already bought as well as buying new ones.

Personally, I prefer Winamp myself for music and VCLan or Gomplayer for video.

 

[moopet]

Imagine a world where the decisions of a corporation whose only interaction with you is to distribute music. Then imagine that corporation ultimately limiting your choice of word processor, because they won't let you listen to your music on an operating system that also supports your word processor.
Welcome to the world of DRM, have a nice stay.

 

[grmcdorman]

Most of your questions have already been covered. However, here's a couple of extra items:

• You can try before installing with live CDs (that's where you boot off the CD). Since this will be a brand new system, that may not be as applicable, but you can certainly check the wireless card operation if it's in a currently running machine.
• ITunes: I do not know if, under Wine, it can manage your IPod. However, there are quite a number of Linux applications that can manage the IPod.
• External USB hard drives: Not a problem. Plug it, a window pops up saying "What do you want do with this?". Windows file systems - both FAT and NTFS - are handled read/write with no problems these days. You can even create a Linux partition on the drive and boot from the USB drive (as an alternative to booting from CD, say, if you need to fix a friend's hosed system).
• Command prompt: Probably not. However, if it becomes necessary the folks on the Ubuntu forums will be happy to help you out with step-by-step instructions (and in many cases those already exist).
• Antivirus: As mentioned, no evidence of any need for it in Linux. There are anti-virus scanners for Windows software that run in Linux, including a free open-source one called ClamAV. Depending on how much you do in Wine, you could scan the Wine directories with it.
• Another option for Windows is a virtual machine, such as VMWare or VirtualBox. It runs as a full machine inside a window; you'd need to install Windows inside it, though.

 

[Ducky]

iTunes under wine is bags of fail. Also, if you migrate to something other than iTunes, you should realize that you'll need to strip Apple's DRM from purchased content.

ClamAV is not just for windows, though the benefit is specifically to windows users. It wouldn't be unheard of to run ClamAV to make sure network mounted media isn't carrying malicious files. There is not much of a need for a windows style AV scanner for linux, however, as security problems for linux offer a completely different set of obstacles.

To secure your ubuntu install, you may want to google around, there are several articles on that. My suggestion is to enable UFW, ubuntu's fairly easy to use firewall wrapper for iptables. sudo ufw enable shoudl do the trick. if you need specific services to allow then sudo ufw enable ssh or sudo ufw allow (port #) will do the trick.

 

[Ducky]

OK Re-reading your post, I missed the games under wine. WoWiki has great tutorials, but be aware that wine has some limitations. Specifically it is a huge memory hog as it preloads memory reservations (to reproduce aspects of the windows API.) If you're going to seriously game under it, get yourself a boatload of ram, and use a 64bit version of linux to actually use that ram (over 4gb is wasted on 32 bit systems.)

Also, be careful of the video card you select. Make sure it is natively supported, or supported well enough like the nVidia cards are. Remember that running WoW under wine means that you may need to dump things like compiz as OpenGL games/videos may not play nice with compiz. (This is done by turning off desktop effects under the preferences --> appearance menu.)

I run WoW under wine on a phenom x4 with an nvidia card, and it runs fine, but that's because the box has 16g of ram. My wife's 2g of ram linux machine (with similar processor) would see application crashes due to memory collides. While this can be tweaked to some extent, my suggestion is to also load up on that ram.

 

[RussDill]

You mention using Redhat before. One oddity with Ubuntu, that confused me the first time, is that there is no root account. You do everything via sudo. (You can enable a root account if you really want to.)

sudo su

 

[RussDill]

Cool.
*Makes a note to go looking for linux drivers for my wireless lan-card*

http://linuxwireless.org/ is an excellent resource. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported is ok, but a bit disorganized. Avoid unsupported hardware or hardware that only works with "ndiswrapper". ndiswrapper is a last resort type of thing.

I think, I've got the Itunes angle covered

I use http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/ to sync with my ipod-nano. I think you'll have quite a bit of trouble linking up with the i-tunes store and/or using DRM music files you've previously downloaded. http://banshee-project.org/ is also a popular choice.

if nothing else I should be able to run it under Wine, but is there anything I should remember when dealing with Videofiles? Any Codecs, that won't run? I'm thinking about stuff like DivX, Xvid, Matroska etc. And how about windows media files?

Installing ubuntu-restricted-extras is a good start: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/

Medibuntu, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu completes the job and has other goodies such as prepackaged versions of Google Earth and Skype.

How about podcasting? I would love to keep as much as possible under KDE/Gnome, which ever GUI I end up with.

rhythmbox, banshee, and probably a dozen other music players have excellent support for podcasts.

ETA: And then there's my external HDs. I know that there can be problems with certain FAT's. I would like to be able to use my externals on both my laptop (Vista) and my new box (which will then be Ubuntu). I thinking read/write on both systems. Any recommendations?

You should be ok. I think by "certain FAT's" you mean NTFS. The NTFS-3G driver does an excellent job (And is included in the default 9.04 install):

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MountingWindowsPartitions/ThirdPartyNTFS3G
http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

I'm really impressed with the way Canonical (and of course the debian team) pulls things together.

 

[The_Fire]

OK, the new box lands monday at the post office, which means I'll probably not get it untill tuesday since packages gets delivered while I'm at work and I'll have to pick it up the next day.

I'll keep you updated on progress.....

As for Itunes....If I can't get the store to work on the ubuntu machine, I'll work something out using the laptop which, due to flash professionel cs4, will still be running winblows (bleaugh). It's a work thing.......

 

[moopet]

If you're going with a mostly-free OS, why not bite the bullet and give up your DRMtastic music? Get music from somewhere other than the itunes store, I mean, because it's generally not a very friendly thing.

 

[AgeGap]

If you're going with a mostly-free OS, why not bite the bullet and give up your DRMtastic music? Get music from somewhere other than the itunes store, I mean, because it's generally not a very friendly thing.

Here is a much linked to page about iTunes alternatives. http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/08/10-alternatives-to-itunes-for-managing-your-ipod/


Has anyone tried Linux Mint. It is based on Ubuntu but comes ready to play videos from various sites such as YouTube. It can do this from a live CD. Wow!*

 

[The_Fire]

*walks arround with a big, goofy smile on her face*

My box arrived yesterday. Setup the 64-bit version of Ubuntu in less than an hour. And that was with all the native software I needed.

In comparison I generally use 2-3 day setting up my Winblows machines.....

Today is Wine-day.

As for Itunes, they have stopped using DRM on their tracks which means that I can use the Linux mediaplayers no problem. After I upgrade the ones bought before the removal of DRM to socalled "plus" status. And that's not free. Bastards.