Comment Re:It's the Internet! (Score 2, Interesting) 852
I'm also converted to Kununtu.
Some time ago, I've also installed Ubuntu on my parents' computer. It used to run WindowsNT, but it was getting really sluggish. And having to solve problems every other weekend was no fun either. Once Ubuntu and all the software they needed (ooffice, skype, mail, photo manager, ...) were installed, I sat them down for a 20min introduction and they're using it ever since.
More recently, I bought a new notebook (HP Pavilion dv9000), and installed Kubuntu 6.10 next to the installed Windows XP media center.
Now, I hardly boot in Windows anymore, especially after I had installed Beryl (simple apt-get) which looks and acts great.
However, using it on a relatively new laptop, it still needs some special attention if you want to use all features.
In my case, these were:
- automatically connecting to wireless networks to WPA-protected networks. after browsing some forums, I installed wpa_supplicant + edited some conf-files
- built-in speakers/microphone do not work out of the box. First had to find out which was included (Conexant) and then downloaded latest ALSA drivers + a specific patch which I found on the ALSA forum. After compilation/installation all specific buttons and the speakers worked. unfortunately, the built-in microphone is still not working.
- built-in webcam. This is a Ricoh webcam and is not UVC-compliant (although the company itself claims it is). After finding and mailing with some people who had similar hardware, I got in touch with someone who was willing to write a new usb-driver specific for this camera. After a lot of back-and-forth (he did development, I did the testing), the webcam now works.
Other then these problems, everything else worked beautifully.
Over the last few years, I've really become a big Ubuntu-fan and when I buy a new desktop machine, it will run Ubuntu as well.
I feel it has grown substantially over the last year, and is already a good candidate OS for a lot of people. What's needed at this point is even more hardware support. Hopefully, the initiative of the Linux kernel community will give a boost in this area.
Some time ago, I've also installed Ubuntu on my parents' computer. It used to run WindowsNT, but it was getting really sluggish. And having to solve problems every other weekend was no fun either. Once Ubuntu and all the software they needed (ooffice, skype, mail, photo manager,
More recently, I bought a new notebook (HP Pavilion dv9000), and installed Kubuntu 6.10 next to the installed Windows XP media center.
Now, I hardly boot in Windows anymore, especially after I had installed Beryl (simple apt-get) which looks and acts great.
However, using it on a relatively new laptop, it still needs some special attention if you want to use all features.
In my case, these were:
- automatically connecting to wireless networks to WPA-protected networks. after browsing some forums, I installed wpa_supplicant + edited some conf-files
- built-in speakers/microphone do not work out of the box. First had to find out which was included (Conexant) and then downloaded latest ALSA drivers + a specific patch which I found on the ALSA forum. After compilation/installation all specific buttons and the speakers worked. unfortunately, the built-in microphone is still not working.
- built-in webcam. This is a Ricoh webcam and is not UVC-compliant (although the company itself claims it is). After finding and mailing with some people who had similar hardware, I got in touch with someone who was willing to write a new usb-driver specific for this camera. After a lot of back-and-forth (he did development, I did the testing), the webcam now works.
Other then these problems, everything else worked beautifully.
Over the last few years, I've really become a big Ubuntu-fan and when I buy a new desktop machine, it will run Ubuntu as well.
I feel it has grown substantially over the last year, and is already a good candidate OS for a lot of people. What's needed at this point is even more hardware support. Hopefully, the initiative of the Linux kernel community will give a boost in this area.
