Ubuntu diary

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by Syzygys, May 18, 2009.

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  1. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    So I downloaded a simple game and when I tried to install, well, first I see these never before seen file extensions, and there is no .exe !!!

    Then I got this:
    First, the following supporting Python libraries should be installed.

    - Python 2.4 or later
    - PyGame
    - PyOpenGL and a video card with recent OpenGL drivers
    - Python Imaging Library
    - numpy

    Allright, this is a showstoper right away. That's what I was afraid of, once it gets to installing programs or adding hardware, the pain starts.

    One thing I like is the resolution, in XP I couldn't get this good looking fonts.
     
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  3. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Well, I tried the Live CD on a 3rd computer what I considered basicly garbage, because it was left over from a friend without a HD. After tinkering with it a bit, Ubuntu and the internet was running smoothly on it and actually it got the best speed, 20 Mb/s, which is way more what the provider supposed to give.

    Anyhow, after testing it on 3 different computers, the internet seems to be a good 30-50% faster running on Ubuntu, then on XP. I don't really need this extra desktop, but I will probably throw a small HD in it, and this will be the linux experience machine....

    On Ebay they just closed an auction for a Intel Celeron D 3.46 GHz machine for $95 including shipping. Ubuntu 8 comes with it, for a websurfing extra computer, that is a sweet deal.
     
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  5. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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  7. przyk squishy Valued Senior Member

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    Hi. What file extensions? Depending on what you downloaded, extensions you might be seeing are:
    • .py (Python program)
    • .sh (shell script)
    • .deb (Debian software package)
    • .rpm (Red Hat package)
    • .tgz, .tar.gz, or .tar.bz2 (tarball, usually for source installs)
    • .c (C source file)
    • .h (C header file)
    • .so (shared library, you're also likely to see version info in the filename, eg. "libc.so.6")
    • .conf (usually a configuration file, could also end in "rc", as in ".skippyrc")

    Linux binary executables (as opposed to scripts and interpreted programs) usually don't have a filename extension. If they do, it'll probably be .bin, but I only remember seeing this in the case of a Java installer about five years ago. Another Linux convention worth knowing about is that filenames that begin with a single dot (eg ".bashrc") are usually treated as hidden files.

    The core Linux OS itself doesn't attach any real significance to filename extensions (they're just filenames that happen to end in a dot and a few characters, as far as the system is concerned), so extension use is mostly convention.

    How did you try to install your game? Under Linux there are usually several ways of installing an application. Roughly in order of decreasing convenience, the typical native installation methods are:

    1. Installing from a standard repository. This is by far the most convenient method: you use your system's package management software to browse for the application you want, and the software will take care of downloading and installing your application as well as any libraries it needs. I think the GUI frontend to this system is called "Synaptic" on Ubuntu. Usually you'll want to try this before downloading anything off the app developer's website, since you know you'll be getting a version specially compiled and tested for your particular Linux distro and it'll automagically install any other dependencies for you.
    2. Installing a binary package. Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distro and inherits its package management system, so you'll wan't a suitable *.deb package for your architecture. You may have to hunt for and install libraries (the easiest way to find out which ones you need is probably to try installing the package and seeing what the installer complains about). I'm not too familiar with Debian systems, but I've seen some websites that seem to offer to fire up your installer with a simple click on a hyperlink. There's also some support for converting RPM packages to the Debian format (alien).
    3. Installing from source. The usual procedure is to download the source tarball, run the configuration script if it exists ("./configure"), run make, and finally "make install" as root user to install. These are shell commands - most beginning Linux users would probably shy away from this, and should rarely need to do source installs anyway.
    4. Really doing everything by hand. This is where you either downloaded the binary in a simple Zip file or other archive format, or the Makefile for your source complilation doesn't take care of the installation for you. Then you have the joy of copying the application directory to some standard location (eg. /usr/local/), copying/creating a startup binary, script, or symbolic link in a directory listed in the PATH environment variable (eg. /usr/local/bin/ so you can easily start it up from the command line), manually setting any environment variables your application needs, and optionally creating shortcuts/startup icons and the like on your desktop. I've only had to descend to this level of fiddling to install Limewire and a few of the less commonly used compilers (the Intel C compiler and Digital Mars D).

    Anyway, hope that helped more than it smothered. I've never used a Live CD so I don't know how much you actually can install on a Linux system that doesn't have a permanent residence on your machine - where exactly are your downloads being saved?
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2009
  8. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    go to systems > administration > synaptic package manager, search for all these items (there all there as "python-") click the little box on the right, hit "mark to install" hit apply, it will warn you of other add ons that it wants to install with it - let it, done.
     
  9. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks for the help from both of you. Since Electric's advice is one sentence, I will try to follow that one...

    Well, the game was downloaded and unzipped, but after that it wasn't obvious what extension I need to click on or execute. Anyhow, I should get the HD today, and will try with a proper HD installation instead of using the Live CD.

    I also looked into installing Ubuntu on a laptop, and oh boy, that looks like a real pain, because of making the wireless to work.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2009
  10. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    HD has arrived, I am put it in the junk computer first and installing Ubuntu , takes about 15-20 minutes.

    Right now what I am curious about is the performance difference between running it from the Live CD and from the HD, specially if it affects the internetspeed. My guess is that loading the pages will be nearly the same, but scrolling the page and handling it should be faster.
     
  11. przyk squishy Valued Senior Member

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    The binary, if you actually downloaded a binary package, will most likely be in a file with either the game's name or an abbreviated version of it, in lowercase, and with no extension. But you could also have downloaded a Python game (*.py), or a source tarball. Do you mind linking to this Zip file? I'm becoming curious about what's inside it.

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    Personally, I've been using Linux for about 5 years now and, unlike under Windows, I rarely download executables in zip files and I can't remember ever running a program by double-clicking on the file icon in a file manager. I've always either clicked on a desktop shortcut/menu entry or simply run from the shell (not that I'm aware of any reason not to double click the executable - Linux is just a different operating system than Windows and this is one of the ways I'm accustomed to using it differently).

    Well if you're brave/patient enough to give it a shot, your best bet is probably Ndiswrapper (which allows you to use Windows XP Wireless drivers under Linux). It takes a bit of configuring, but it's what worked for me. Note that just a few years ago, getting your touchpad and power management to work on a laptop would have been something to worry about. Under Linux the one thing that never seems to work (for me, at least) is dialup "softmodems", but I don't expect to need my modem for more than another year or so.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2009
  12. przyk squishy Valued Senior Member

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    If you plan on dual-booting, be aware that Windows installers tend to wipe the HD master boot record, so you'd have to manually (re)install the Linux boot loader. The simplest way of avoiding this is to install Windows first, then Linux.
     
  13. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Works fine on my laptop, what kind of laptop though?
     
  14. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, I am aware, but I will play with this for a week or so just Ubuntu installed. If I like it, I just keep it and order another HD for the kid's machine.

    The game had a bunch of files with .py and .txt extensions. I will try to download it on this one and see how it goes.

    Right now I downloaded Miro (internet TV) and although I had to access the repository, it was easy, the website hadgood instructions and Miro seems to be running...
     
  15. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Acer Aspire 3100. Yes I heard about the Ndiswrapper, that will probably do the trick. I only use the laptop for surfing so the idea is to speed it up with Ubuntu....

    The measured internet speed now on the HD installed version is around 20 Mb/s, which is the same as using the Live CD, so I was right, the speed itself didn't increase. I am using 3-4 tabs music running from Youtube in the background and it is a bit slow, but that might be the effect of not much memory, 768 MB....
     
  16. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Yeah I get your problem now: there is no Linux driver for that one.
     
  17. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Well, since the bed is close to the router, I could use it wired without problem, so I might give it a try anyway. Now, can I use the same Live CD as for desktops or does it need a different CD?
     
  18. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Apparently, I can, although installing Adobe Flash took 2 tries. There was a serious increase in speed from 4.5 to 14.5 Mb/s using the Live CD (wired), so I might just put this on the laptop for websurfing purposes....
     
  19. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Since I wasn't sure which way it was going to install on the laptop, I looked around on the web and found Wubi. Now I know Wubi is already on the Live CD, but since there was no option for "Install with Windows intact", I didn't want to risk it and now I am installing it from here:

    www.wubi-installer.org

    The advantage is that no need for CD burning, anyone who got interested in my project can follow it and install it as a second OS if for nothing else but faster websurfing and being less vulnerable to viruses when visiting questionable websites.

    The installation takes about 25 mins, after that I will measure the speed and see if everything is going smooth. The movie site I visited using the Live CD was giving the movie without flickers or buffering problems....

    Edit: First try was unsuccessful. It almost got done, but at the very end I think it couldn't find enough partitioned space for 10 G, so let's try it again with only 7 G...
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2009
  20. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    OK, that was my fault, because I tried to install the desktop version on the laptop, altough it could have warned me.

    But! I tried the same Wubi download on the desktop and the error message froze, so as I expected the usual Linux pain presented itself.

    Now I am downloading the Laptop version, but instead of being an easy "put it on the USB drive, set it to boot from USB and enjoy", the installation guide makes me to learn to program and other bullshit. Again, Linux pain gallore!!!

    Here is the stupid guide, sure I won't follow it:

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromImgFiles
     
  21. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Eventually I managed to have a non-working Ubuntu on the laptop, which creates 2 problems:

    1. It probably prevents further installation attempts.
    2. Since it is not doing anything, it probably should be uninstalled.

    If anyone knows an easy step by step guide how to install Ubuntu on a laptop, I am listening, because each ones I found required loads of bullshit and milking a spermwhale....
     
  22. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Your problem is not laptops, its a specific laptop, it installed on mine without a problem but I have a Dell Inspirion 1420. If all developers made drivers for linux for all their hardware this would not be a problem, instead we have an assortment of hacked drivers in varying states of working order.
     
  23. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    I think it was partially my fault. The first installation started from the Live CD, but I didn't mean to do it, so I stoped it, thus I have the non-working version. Probably reinstalling it would fix it, I just want to make sure that no Windows or other programs get overwritten...

    Now on the other hand uninstalling it should be also easy...
     
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