About
Welcome to my little ubuntu guide! This is setup primarily for Dell 6400 users wanting to run Ubuntu 7.04. Why run Linux?
Ah, good question!
1. Security - Linux provides the best security, hands down, over any operating system on the planet. This is not just because of the fact that fewer users use it, it’s based on UNIX which was designed for the Internet and security. Windows, on the other hand, was originally designed for the home user back when the Internet was not highly used or accessible. It was designed without security in mind.
2. Stability - If you’ve ever found yourself with your mouth gaping open, tears forming, as you watch the Word document you hadn’t saved yet dissappear to a blue screen with white letters, you’ll appreciate this one. Linux doesn’t blue screen, period. Again, it’s design was originally meant for an environment where stability was key to success (the web). Therefore, it’s made to “fix itself” and not just crash. Oh, and OSX (Apple’s OS) is also based on UNIX! Hmm, interesting.
3. Power - Only Linux delivers the ability to run any application, open any file, and really do anything! Including being able to work with hardware that even Windows doesn’t have drivers for. While there are some complexities to making everything work and often times you need to tweak things to get all the hardware “talking” to the OS, once it’s working it doesn’t break and you’ve been educated in the process. And the fact that Linux is Open Source means it’s driven by a community of users, that means progress, support, and bug fixes happen a lot faster than in the Windows world. When a user is fixing something because he/she uses it, there’s more motivation to get it done and do it right! The OS is based on what’s called the “kernel” and this is constantly being updated and worked on to support all hardware out there! Talk about powerful.
So that’s a few of my main reasons. There’s a lot more, including the cool graphics and “eye candy” that Windows has tried to imitate, only on Linux you aren’t required to have the latest hardware to enjoy it. In fact, everything runs faster in the Linux environment, even Windows programs!
This guide is meant to be used only for my hardware config (see My Hardware). Keep in mind that I put this up as a way for me to reference and keep track of my installation process, etc. If you happen to screw up your system by following this guide, that’s your fault! However, your comments, questions, and suggestions are very welcome!
To begin you should visit my newest How To for installing and configuring your Dell Inspiron with Feisty Fawn 7.04:
Main Feisty How To
Or if you want to try out Edgy, visit my How To for installing and configuring your Dell Inspiron with Edgy Eft 6.10:
Edgy How To
I had been running edgy eft with my ATI x1300 mobility AND my broadcom 43xx wlan working nicely. It was a struggle to get them going but nonetheless they were working. I decided to upgrade to Feisty Fawn and it rendered my system unable to boot (I think it was a video problem probably with the xorg.conf but I couldnt figure it out. I even tried a clean install and tried using Envy to load the ATI drivers. NO LUCK
I found your script and instructions and decided to try it out on my Dell E1505. The first time I installed it and tried to login with Gnome and XGL my screen was unreadable, you could tell it launched into the desktop GUI but couldnt make out what was on the desktop. I then deleted my partitions and started over with a fresh install of Feisty’s Alternate CD. This time upon completion of the script 2x, things looked much better (the only difference was that I went with the novm the 2nd time). The wireless worked fine, Beryl worked fine and so did everything else.
Thanks for your hard work and for making your script public, this is what linux is all about! The only thing that I noticed that I was unable to do was change the theme. My windows have red borders and if they are the active window they are always red no matter what theme i invoke. If you know how to fix this let me know otherwise I can deal with it for now. Thanks again!
ph0neman