LINUX, ready for the masses? (a newby guide)

hello everybody, this is the new and improved first post of this thread. the original first post you can find somewhereon page two.

if you don't know anything about linux yet, read the linux Wiki for the basics.

if you are thinking of trying Linux, you might consider "(K)Ubuntu". it's the distro I'm using and it's supposed to be relatively easy to switch to from Windows. it's a 'Debian' based Linux system and it comes in 2 main flavours: Ubuntu and Kubuntu. the difference between the two is the Desktop Manager. Ubuntu uses "Gnome", Kubuntu uses "KDE". which uses more eye-candy, so is more windows like. for this reason I chose Kubuntu, to make the switch easier. read about (K)Ubuntu here

CONS TO USING LINUX: not all hardware (like printers) have drivers for Linux. But for most things, the community comes up with their own drivers. Check https://linuxprinting.org
for a list compatible printers.

almost anything you want to know you can find in the Ubuntu guide, but here is the easiest way I can think of to get Kubuntu running smoothly from scratch without reading the whole guide:

-INSTALLING KUBUNTU-

to install Kubuntu, I present to you the 5 step plan.

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step 1: download a version of Kubuntu here. this will give you a LIVE CD. a live cd is the whole operating sustem running from just the CD, you don't need a hard-drive for this. this might come in handy when you are trying to rescue other systems.

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step 2: burn the .iso image onto a CD and make sure you have some free, unpartitioned space on your computer (7GB or more is preferred)

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step 3: boot from CD and run Kubuntu. click on the Install button on your desktop and it will start.

the installer is quite self-explanatory, but when you get to the partitioner you need to know the following:

you need to create 2 partitions: a SWAP partition (called swap, sized: 1-2 GB) and a root partition (called / , sized 6 GB and up).

after this, the basic system is installed.

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step 4: installing some handy programs through the console

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start Kubuntu.

click the blue K logo, bottom left of the screen, which will open your program-list.

from the list select: System > Konsole

in this console type step by step, followed by 'enter':

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sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list_backup

sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

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this will open a text editor with a long file, replace that file with this blue one and click 'safe': close file.

deb https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy main restricted universe multiverse

deb-src https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy main restricted universe multiverse

deb https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-proposed main restricted universe multiverse

## MAJOR BUG FIX UPDATES produced after the final release

deb https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-updates main restricted universe multiverse

deb-src https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-updates main restricted universe multiverse

## UBUNTU SECURITY UPDATES

deb https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-security main restricted universe multiverse

deb-src https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-security main restricted universe multiverse

## BACKPORTS REPOSITORY (Unsupported. May contain illegal packages. Use at own risk.)

deb https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb-src https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## PLF REPOSITORY (Unsupported. May contain illegal packages. Use at own risk.)

deb https://packages.freecontrib.org/plf
edgy-plf free non-free

deb-src https://packages.freecontrib.org/plf
edgy-plf free non-free

## CANONICAL COMMERCIAL REPOSITORY (Hosted on Canonical servers, not Ubuntu

## servers. RealPlayer10, Opera, DesktopSecure and more to come.)

deb https://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu
edgy-commercial main

## Listen

#deb https://theli.free.fr/packages/
edgy listen

## Automatix repo

deb https://www.getautomatix.com/apt
edgy main

#AUTOMATIX REPOS START

deb https://wine.lowvoice.nl/apt
dapper main

deb https://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu
dapper-commercial main

deb https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
edgy-security main restricted universe multiverse

#AUTOMATIX REPOS END

go back to Konsole type step by step, followed by 'enter':

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sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install synaptic gedit

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after this you can install any program you like through the just installed “synaptic”.

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step 5: tweaking:

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now we are going to use a program called automatix to install all the non-free formats like mp3 and flash:

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open synaptic: K-menu > System > Synaptic Package Manager and install automatix2.

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open Automatix2 K-menu > System > Automatix and install all you need

anything else you need to install you can find in the synaptic program, in the K menu.

anything more you need to do to have things work, you can find in the Ubuntu Edgy Guide

if questions are still unanswered, or if you run into any problem, the very helpful Ubuntu Forums are there to help. any problem you can have, has been met and solved by somebody else before you...

that's it.

here are all the links I used:

https://www.kubuntu.org/

https://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

https://www.linuxprinting.org

https://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy

https://wiki.kubuntu.org/RestrictedFormats

https://www.ubuntuforums.org/search.php

eRic.

I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!

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