Hello, Linux.
The other day I finally decided to join the ever-popular world of Linux.
I’ve been a dedicated Windows user since the days of Windows 3.1, and right now my laptop is running Windows Vista while my other two computers are still using Windows XP.
And now, as of last night, my oldest computer has transitioned to Xubuntu 9.10 and I’ve begun the process of learning how to operate the new operating system. That computer was fine during college, but eight years later the 1.1ghz processor and whopping 256mb of memory just doesn’t cut it anymore. At some point I’ll throw more memory and a much bigger hard drive into the box and make it a movie server for my entertainment center, but for now it’s my “learning Linux & Ubuntu” machine.
So far the processing of learning Xubuntu 9.10 has been frustrating, but that was expected. Perhaps the biggest frustration has been the slow speed for doing anything on the operating system, but that’s primarily from having the minimum amount of memory. Otherwise, I don’t know if it’s just me, but last night and today it has been extremely slow downloading software applications from the Internet. I’ve got a 6mb DSL connection and normal web surfing is fast with Internet downloading speeds range from 330 kb/s up to 660 kb/s, depending if others in the house are also downloading.
The slow downloading speeds of the Linux applications aren’t a showstopper (we really can’t complain about free software now, can we?), but I am curious if other users experience the same problem.
As far as learning how to use Xubuntu, it’s been a slow process. This isn’t like you’re learning how to use a piece of software like Firefox or WordPress. No, this is learning a new operating system with a thousand or so different add-ons and millions of ways of customizing everything.
Thankfully, the Ubuntu support group is immense, and with a little bit of time and patience, this is going to be fun learning how to use the new operating system.
Here are a few useful links for those people also looking for newbie information:
Ubuntu forums – Absolute Beginner Talk
– New to Ubuntu? Start here . . . (thread)
Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference (free pdf download)