From Windows To Ubuntu

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

For about more than a year, I have been trying to shift from windows ecosystem to linux ecosystem. I have made three or four attempts but for one reason or the other, I have had to go back to windows. The main issues that forced me to go back to windows included inability to effeciently use the UI, huge issues with multi-monitor setup, inability to properly use the terminal, and so many more.During this period, I have tried a number of linux distros to see which one suits me best. I started with ubuntu 11.10, but I left it because it had serious issues with multi-monitor support that I use alot. I also had issues with playing multimedia content on it which appeared to be very laggy, especially when playing high resolution movies. Then I tried openSuse (KDE), which for some reason was very very slow. Then fedora, the interface of which didn't suit me and I left it because I wasted most of my time in navigation. Then I tried linux mint, lubuntu, xubuntu but couldn't stick to them as well. And finally I tried the openSuse(genome) where I always missed a dock from where I can quickly open my applications.Finally I gave a try to ubuntu 12.04, which gave me a great first impression but somehow I managed to crash it to the point that I got frustrated and returned back to the Windows 7.But this time I gave ubuntu 12.04 another try and now I am more than satisfied with it. I have not repeated the mistakes I made previously and the system is stable and fluent and I am happy with it. The multi-monitor support is awesome (I have ATI video card) and I am very impressed. There is one single little glitch, that I will discuss later, but other than that I am very impressed by how it handles two displays.Under this topic I will try to describe the difficulties I am having while using the ubuntu 12.04, based on my background in windows operating systems and hopefully, I may help other people to decide whether transition to linux is good for them or not.

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

Issue # 01

 

Partitioning during Installation:

 

As the topic is about shifting from windows to ubuntu, most people, including me, will have windows already installed on their system. And they would want that their windows OS be left undisturbed. In my case, I have once (during my first install of ubuntu) made a huge mistake. I did have some idea about the file systems but I didn't know what "Mount point" means so I experimented with it. The mistake I made was that I didn't backup my hard disk prior to the installaiton process, and I ended up with a computer with no windows 7 and all other partitions wiped too.

 

(( Image taken from blog.ibeentoubuntu.com))

 

I am not saying that options in teh mount point did the damage, because they are not responsible for the data loss. But when you experiment with something that you don't know, bad things are likely to happen. I paid the heavy price of losing my Operating system, all my data, all my collection of software, movies, songs and all my very important documents. Indeed a very heavy price I have paid, but I am sure that I won't repeat the mistake in my life again.

 

Advice:

 

So if you are installing ubuntu on a computer that already has microsft windows (or any other OS for that matter) installed on it, and you want to create a dual-boot system, where you will have the choice of either booting into the windows or ubuntu, you need to do the following things.

Create a backup of your entire hard disk if possible, and keep it on a storage device other than your hard disk. If backing up entire hard disk is not feasible than you should definitely definitely bakcup the necessary stuff and keep it on an external storage space. Ubuntu installaiton, if done properly, doesn't cause any harm to your data, but who knows an accident might happen. It is always better to be safe.

Make sure you have one partition with no data on it. This partition should be at least 10 gb. This is the partition that you would use to install Ubuntu on.

Ubuntu uses one additional partition as swap area. Make sure you have a small, spearate partition for it (about 250mb), but it is an optional thing and you can live without it. Just make sure that you don't select a partition with data on it to be used as swap. or you will lose all your data.

((Image taken from opensource-sidh.blogspot.com))

And finally, make sure that you have the basic knowledge before you perform the installation. There are lots of useful resources online and you can search for them. Or you can watch installation videos on youtube. This will help you avoid mistakes.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Ahsaniqbal111 (see edit history)

[manuleka 0]

great stuff :)like you i have struggles shifting to Linux... a few years back i decided the quickest way to learn Linux is to totally have no Windows on my PC, it was a good move which accelerated my knowledge of Linux but then that problem hit back when i upgraded my machine (especially Graphics)!with a good grahpics card and cpu, i decided to test it with some games and after installing a few good games i decided i should always have Windows Available for entertainment... eventually my Xubuntu was deleted for more space and i ended up running Xubuntu on VM only and set Windows XP as my default OS...

[yordan 10]

Ubuntu uses one additional partition as swap area. Make sure you have a small, spearate partition for it (about 250mb),

Nice point, and nicely said.Nevertheless, keep in mind that the swap partition is not necessarily "small", and I would say that 250 Megs is definitively too small.
One very simple rule for the swap file size, is that the swap area is about twice and a half the main memory.
So, if your hardware has 2 gigs memory, the swap space should be about 5 gigs.
You feel this far too much? Simply have a look at your current paging space on your Crosoft Windows. Usually you don't choose this size, but it's often 7 gigs if you have 3 gigs main memory.
If you do not have enough main memory on a Linux system, everything slows down because you start using the swap space. And what happens if your swap space is full? The Linux system simply crashes! That's the reason of the two-and-a-half rule. Of course, you can monitor that, and shrink it if you measure that it's too large, but usually it's not!

[manuleka 0]

Nice point, and nicely said. Nevertheless, keep in mind that the swap partition is not necessarily "small", and I would say that 250 Megs is definitively too small. ...

i agree... a standard for SWAP space i stick to is to assign twice the amount of Physical RAM... for instance if i have 1GB RAM i would add a 2GB Swap space

[yordan 10]

i agree... a standard for SWAP space i stick to is to assign twice the amount of Physical RAM... for instance if i have 1GB RAM i would add a 2GB Swap space

OK, we are completely in-phase. The mentionned 256 megs swap space is really too small!

[manuleka 0]

OK, we are completely in-phase. The mentionned 256 megs swap space is really too small!

but with large physical rams... would SWAP size be important or necessary? for example if i'm running a 64bit Linux on a 8/16GB RAM? Edited July 22, 2012 by manuleka (see edit history)

[yordan 10]

You have to monitor the swap space, twice the memory is the rule-of-thumbs for beginners, skilled admins monitor the swap space when they want to save space but want to avoid crashes. When your swap space is 1% used, don't worry. When it comes to 60% used, with used space increasing, you have to urgently do something, stop some processes or add swap space.

[manuleka 0]

You have to monitor the swap space, twice the memory is the rule-of-thumbs for beginners, skilled admins monitor the swap space when they want to save space but want to avoid crashes. When your swap space is 1% used, don't worry. When it comes to 60% used, with used space increasing, you have to urgently do something, stop some processes or add swap space.

i've never used up much of my SWAP space in my experience... but i guess as a standard user i probably wouldn't really be using much of it anyways....

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

ISSUE # 02

 

Inability to install other things during update process:

 

Once the installation is complete, you will be taken to a fantastic looking environment that you would find considerable different from the windows environment. The first thing you would want to do is to update your system. The process of updating is quite simple (though it takes some time).

 

In fact, the issue is not the actual process of updating. It is the inability to install other stuff while the system is being updated. Normally when you install a fresh OS, you would definitely want to install software of extensive use as immediately as possible. In linux, most of the software are already installed but everyone has his own likings and there are always things that need to be added. For instance, although firefox is already installed, some people might not be huge fans of firefox and they might like something else. But they will have to wait until their updates are finished, or alternatively they will have to wait to update their system until their other installs have finished (which in my opinion is a bad idea).

 

For people who are ok with firefox, there is another issue --- flash. They will have to wait for their updates to finish before they can install flash and enjoy sites like youtube.

 

Similar theory goes for other software as well.

 

The thing that annoys me the most is that installtion of other stuff is halted even when the updates are only being downloaded (not actually installed). Waiting would have been much reasonable during the actual installation process of updates. Waiting during downloading process increases the waiting-time for people on slow connections.

[manuleka 0]

yes i do notice that too... i think its more to do with apt-get being in control of downloading/installing updates and packages it gets locked