Ubuntu Linux Help

Some time ago I found myself looking at my PC monitor. The desktop had become bland, the applications had since become vague tools. It felt like my computer had become one of those old fixtures that everybody walks by, day in and day out, but nobody notices.

Quite frankly, I had become bored and the productivity of my PC had declined. For those who may be familiar, it may be an old story. Common Blue Screens, inconvenient reboots every time I needed to install something. Changing the desktop wallpaper (often), listening to audio, watching video had become weary.

It was time for a change. I’ll not go into detail about the motivations of switching to Ubuntu and Open Source software, however one pertinent point is costing. Why should I be paying for software when many other operating systems (including Ubuntu) are free? And I found is many cases the software is better quality and productivity.

This week, I’ll begin a guide “How to Install the Perfect Ubuntu Based Computer”.

For those who intend to follow the guide, Ubuntu can be obtained via download from the links below (They will open in separate windows/tabs).

Desktop Edition of Ubuntu 7.04 Standard CD (Live CD) - www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
Desktop Edition of Ubuntu 7.04 Alternate CD (Does not include Live CD) - help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
If you are unable to download the CD, you can order it here - shipit.ubuntu.com/login

For the installation, I will be using the Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn), x86 CD. (x86 just means it’s for most standard computers like Pentium^TM, Celeron^TM, Athlon^TM, Sempron^TM.)

The recommended minimum install requirements (for the standard CD) are:
500 MHz x86 processor, 192 MB RAM, At least 8 GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space), VGA graphics card capable of 1024×768 resolution, CDROM drive, Sound Card, Network Card/Connection.

One point of note is if your hardware does not meet the requirements, I’ve found it better to use the alternate (no live CD) version for the install - The software is the same, you just bypass the loading of the live CD.

This work by James House is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.