First time with Ubuntu

**Vikingod** · Mar 9, 2006, 11:37 AM

Well, I'm preparing for my first ever Linux install. I just printed some reading material for this evening to get a foot hold into this strange new world. I'm installing it no my lappy (see my sig). I found a guy with a detailed blog about how to install on a 5150, so things should at least start OK.

Anyone have any advice on what to do. I'm thinking of a dual boot, just so I can still use the lappy without problems at work. What sort of drivers should I get to get the ball rolling. I've DLed the latest ATI (6.3's). Give some some guidance if you have it, this is completely new to me.

UberLord · Mar 10, 2006, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

What sort of drivers should I get to get the ball rolling.

Normally you don't get the drivers as they're all in the kernel

It's only proprietry binary only drivers like ATI's and nVidia's that you need to download.

When you update your kernel you automagically get the latest and greatest for all your supported hardware. Which saves a lot of time trawling websites to find driver updates

RIV@NVX · Mar 11, 2006, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberLord

Normally you don't get the drivers as they're all in the kernel

It's only proprietry binary only drivers like ATI's and nVidia's that you need to download.

Actually, with Ubuntu, you don't need to build kernel modules.

Quote:

When you update your kernel you automagically get the latest and greatest for all your supported hardware. Which saves a lot of time trawling websites to find driver updates

This is actually what i like best

**Vikingod** · Mar 16, 2006, 03:12 PM

Well, I have it installed on my lappy. I can't believe how nice this OS is. Not only is it sleek and fast, but it is so freakin easy to use. I haven't done a ton yet, just sort of getting familiar with it. I wish they only made games for linux, it's all I would use. I'll be spending this weekend touching up on it.

**Vikingod** · Mar 16, 2006, 04:27 PM

Quick question...i hope

I know the default setting for the main account is just a user account, how do I set it to an admin account (root?) so I can install things without having to use the 'sudo' command. Security isn't a huge issue for this comp, its just for fun, nothign too important on it, I just want complete control.

RIV@NVX · Mar 18, 2006, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

Well, I have it installed on my lappy. I can't believe how nice this OS is. Not only is it sleek and fast, but it is so freakin easy to use. I haven't done a ton yet, just sort of getting familiar with it. I wish they only made games for linux, it's all I would use. I'll be spending this weekend touching up on it.

In the meantime (while you wait for people to start porting games to Linux), you can start with Icculus Quake 3 available here. I play it because I love Q3, but it also works very well for testing if OpenGL works properly.

You can use "sudo -s" to get into a root shell.

**Vikingod** · Mar 18, 2006, 10:30 AM

Thanks RIVA, I tooled around wiht it a bit last night, and I have to say I am confused. I can't seem to set a dial up connection corectly, so I'm trolling the support sections of the Ubuntu site. I you have any beginner material to share, I'm all ears.

Randomletters · Mar 18, 2006, 11:52 AM

Dial-up modems are hit/miss with linux in general. If its an onboard Winmodem(which it probibly is, your SOL) If youd like to read up more check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DialupModemHowto