A Noob's Introduction to Ubuntu
By: Simon Griffin,
Staff Writer
By: Charles Simon Hill Griffin
Today, there are three major operating systems that run on home PCs; Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. While most people know about Mac and Windows already, not as many know about Linux, which is a serious contender in the battle of home OSes. In this article, I will walk you through the installation and usage of one of many Linux distributions, Ubuntu 14.04 Desktop. I have chosen this particular distribution because it is the easiest to use and install.
Linux is an open source operating system, which means the source code is publicly available, so you can modify the operating system to do specifically what you want, assuming you know enough about coding. It also is licensed in a way that, as long as you give credit to its original creator(s), you may modify and redistribute it. Another cool thing about Ubuntu is that it is free, efficient, and secure. For the most part, while you must be careful, you will not need anti-virus programs.
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Section One: Installation
Ubuntu's installation starts with making a bootable disk or formatting a thumb drive so that you can install it on a computer. While you can buy an Ubuntu 14.04 installation disk for around $7.50, it is cheaper to do it yourself, assuming you have a functioning computer with internet access, a DVD writer, and access to blank DVDs. I will not include instruction on how to do this on Linux, as that would mean you already have the operating system, and would be extremely redundant.
How to make a bootable DVD:
Mac OSX:
1.Download the 64bit operating system .iso file from this website:
2.Launch “Disk Utility”
3.Put your blank DVD into your disk drive.
4.Drag & Drop the .iso file you get in your Downloads folder to the left pane in disk utility. (If after this step both the blank disk and the .iso file are not visible in the left pane, you have done something wrong. Try again.)
5.Click on the .iso file, and then click the burn button in the toolbar.
6.Make sure the “Verify Burned Data” option is checked, then click burn.
Windows 7/8:
1.Download the 64bit operating system .iso file from this website:
2.Insert your blank DVD into your disk drive.
3.Right click on the .iso file and chose Open With > Windows Disk Image Burner
4.Select a disk burner, make sure that Verify disk after burning is checked, select a disk burner (drive) and click burn.
Assuming that you followed the tutorial above and things worked properly you now have a bootable install disk.
How to install the operating system:
Before you install the operating system, make sure the computer you are going to install Ubuntu on has at least the following:
At least one disk drive
A 64bit 700mhz or faster processor
At least 512mb of RAM, but at least 2gb is recommended.
At least 6.5gb HDD space
At least a 720p monitor (480p will work, but will require fiddling around with the drivers and system settings)
An ethernet internet connection is recommended, but is not required.
Now, here are the installation instructions:
Open the disk drive of the computer and insert the installation disk. Then close the drive.
Start up/ Reboot the computer with the disk in the drive. (You may have to set the bios, or built in os, to boot from the optical drive first.)
Follow the Ubuntu install wizard, then let the operating system install.
After installation is done, make sure the disk ejects. Otherwise, it will try to install the operating system again.
Login to the computer using your username and password.
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Section Two: Using Ubuntu
There will be multiple pre-installed applications on your machine at the left side of the screen. I will give you a basic rundown of each.
File Manager: A file browser much like Finder on a Mac, or Windows Explorer on Windows.
LibreOffice: A free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office. This program is 100% free and open source, and can do everything that Microsoft Office can do, including make .doc, .xmx, and .docx documents.
Ubuntu Software Center: A store much like the App Store on a Mac, or Windows Store on Windows; however, much of the content on the Ubuntu Software Center is free and open source.
Firefox: The Firefox web browser is pre-installed. I am sure than many of you are familiar with Firefox, so I will not go into much detail here.
Rythmbox: The default music player for Ubuntu. It works much like iTunes, and can have songs added by buying them from the Ubuntu store, or burning them from a CD.
As well as the desktop interface, you can open up terminals with control+f2 or the terminal application. This is useful for technical stuff that cannot be accomplished using the GUI, or graphical user interface (the technical term for the desktop).
You can open applications by double-clicking them much like on Mac or Windows.
Installing applications is very easy with Ubuntu. You can download programs from the store with a single click and a password, or you can get them from the internet, then unzip them and run the installer.
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Section 3: Outro
I hope that today I have at least convinced you to try Ubuntu as a fully featured alternative to Mac or Windows. It runs very well on most machines, and can run many popular programs, such as Minecraft, Steam, and Gimp (A free, open source Photoshop alternative). If a proprietary program does not run on Linux, you will generally be able to find an open-source equivalent that does.
Until next time,
Simon Griffin