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By Brian, November 29, 2007 1:17 pm

As per yesterdays post, I’ve been working at getting a Ubuntu Linux system running with very particular requirements (detailed in the above referenced article).

First things first was the media – I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO, ran the checksum and copied it to a CD. Next step was to install an empty 60bg drive into the tower and boot from the CD.
Ubuntu 7.10 has a different installation system than most – the CD itself is a Live install, meaning that you actually can boot your computer and get to a usable Linux desktop to play with before installation. Being a past user of Linux, I didn’t spend too much time fiddling with this mode and jumped right into launching the installer. Here’s the beauty of Ubuntu – it did most of the configuration automatically, saving me from the tedious configuration prompts which can be daunting to the new user.

The only custom option I set was giving it carte-blanch on the 60gb drive and told it to leave the other NTFS drives alone, preserving the existing Windows XP environment. Otherwise, it was much like a Windows XP install – set the regional settings, and it hums away doing it’s thing. Actually, since it was a live install – it was a more pleasant experience than Windows XP – never dumping to text-only at any point including partitioning, and it took less time.

First things first – get the PC online and download / install patches and updates released since the CD image was created. This was tricky – I have a USB dongle that handles my wireless network. Checking settings from Windows, I find it runs on the RealTek rtl8187b chipset which after Googling for a while I discovered needed a slightly hacked set of Realtek drivers to get working. Although they worked just fine – I ended up having to disable WPA encryption on the network (not to enthused about that) to actually get a connection. In addition, connecting requires opening a terminal window and issuing two commands as super user to get online – every time I boot up.

After getting online, I configured the apt-get sources (essentially enabled the main ones) and ran the updater. Next step, I installed Wine to allow Windows integration with Linux. The good news? World of Warcraft runs and allowed me to get online. Performance was choppy and the audio stuttered – but it was working.
I installed the kdetv package and was able to start using my WinTV card immediately.
Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop already had a messenger program, and signing into MSN was no issue.
Just for kicks, I tried running Adobe Photoshop CS2 – and it appears to have worked! This actually surprised me, but it seems Wine has improved in leaps and bounds since I last used it. I say that Photoshop appears to have worked, because after loading and looking like it usually does it complained about not being properly licensed, so I will have to install it from scratch instead of just copying it over from the Windows partition.
No luck yet running Civilization, however.

In summary – everything looks quite positive for this set up. Most of what I want the system to do, it is doing, with further tweaking required to get it all operating smoothly. I’m confident I can get the wireless driver up and running automatically at boot up, hopefully with encryption enabled. The TV mode works perfectly already, and assuming I can run the installer – my beloved Photoshop will be available. My games will require some more tweaking, but look promising.

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By Brian, November 28, 2007 1:04 pm

I am not a Windows fan. Admittedly, I never have been. My first glimpses in the computer world came on a Heathkit home computer kit, and an Apple II running LOGO. My first hands-on real computer use was on the first Macintosh system, and everything I’ve seen from the Windows camp has paled in comparison to the subsequent years of Macintosh use.
I learned Photoshop using version 2.5 on a Macintosh IIx with a 24-bit video card. With a paltry few megabytes of RAM and a blazing 16Mhz processor it did more and did it faster than comparable PC systems at the time.

PC hardware is, and always has been, cheaper than what Apple produces. You get what you pay for, however. Due to economical factors, I’m immersed in a world of Windows based PCs nowadays, and in fact make a living supporting and developing on them.
This isn’t to say I like Windows. I accept that Windows XP is the best effort Microsoft has made to date, and Vista seems to be encroaching like the virus-with-a-GUI that it is. That doesn’t make either of them any good in comparison to Mac OS.

So, what’s a geek to do? I can’t afford a Mac, I’ve already got a PC that I’ve upgraded to the extent my finances will allow – but it won’t run Mac OS. Windows sucks. Enter Linux.
My current project is an experiment of sorts – can an alternate OS redeem the PC platform? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect it to turn my PC into a Mac. I’m more interested in discovering if I can do what I do with my computer, without running Microsoft’s operating system – and not compromising my core uses, or needing to change hardware configuration.

This means the system has to do the following:

1. Connect to my wireless network – I have on-board Ethernet but running cables is not an option I will consider.
2. World of Warcraft and Civilization 4 – I’m not a hardcore gamer, but I enjoy these two.
3. Adobe Photoshop – Sure, the GIMP is cute – and it might just be as powerful (some say it is) but I hate the GUI and don’t need to relearn 15 years of image editing experience.
4. Audio recording and editing – No worries here, I’m already using some tools under Windows that are available natively for Linux and my SB Live! has been supported by Linux for years.
5. Video input – My computer doubles as my TV. I have a WinTV tuner card which turns my 21″ monitor into an idiot box.
6. Text editing and the like – OpenOffice works just peachy for me, and I have an old version of WordPerfect for Linux if need be.
7. MSN Messenger, browsing etc. – This is fully supported under Linux, no worries there.

So here we have it. Some might say, well you can run GIMP instead of Photoshop, or FreeCIV instead of Civilization – but there’s only so many compromises I’m willing to make before it becomes easier to just stick with Windows.
My distro of choice at the moment is Ubuntu. I recently installed their server edition on an old Presario at work and turned it into a network fax server with relative ease. It’s based on Debian which I have a soft spot for since that was the first distro I used. I’ve played with Mandrake and Fedora, but was never fully satisfied.

As of last night, I had the basic operating system installed in a dual-boot fashion with my existing Windows configuration. The first snag was (and is) the wireless network. My wireless system uses a RealTek RTL8187b chipset which is, as it turns out, a chip that requires a little hacking and fiddling to operate under Linux.
Hacking and fiddling are no concern to me as long as it works in the end.
The best I managed to squeeze out of it last night was that it detected the network (and a neighboring one) but was unable to connect or obtain an IP address.

I hope to post further as I progress, and see if Ubuntu can do all that I require it to.

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