My Views

When running Breezy Ubuntu on my P2 366 Dell Latitude Cpi Laptop, I find that most things do pretty good with the exception of a few things, like running a web browser or something graphically heavy. When you want something like Blender, A 3D rendering program to come up or Open Office to come up, be prepared for a wait. It really isn't that big of a deal, just frustrating when you are trying to convert a customer over to Linux and they ask “does it always take this long”? My answer is always yes, when you have an old machine such as this. But the important thing is to remember that when running any distribution of Linux is that most of the software is FREE! The reason for the word most is the plain and simple fact is this, there are programs out there like Vmware, or Cedega, that charge for their programs. I understand why they charge but this is the reason I say that all important word most when showing off Linux.

I also enjoy watching peoples mouths water when I show them how easy it is to go between wireless connections and configuring most of the software out there for Ubuntu. The Ubuntu team has made the right choices and I will never put someone down for an honest effort, unless of course I have told them different. When we sit and listen to all of the showings in the LUG meetings that I can attend, my laptop is never far away because I keep short notes seeing as I type like an ape! I kid you not, if there was a contest on typing, a 5 yr old child could beat me, but I am still learning.

My favorite thing to do with Ubuntu is to open a terminal window and type sudo apt-get update, and then sudo apt-get upgrade. What these 2 commands do is update the computer I am sitting at, I love it. The main reason I don't let the updater do this for me is because I don't have time to waste for any of it waiting for it to decide if there is an update.

There are more commands that are good and great and I will cover them in this Blog. When you see me putting another entry in, it is because I have had the good fortune to find out more. There are a few more commands that I would like to show you and they would be

1)This is for when you switch from a wired network card to a wireless card. sudo ifdown eth0 and press enter.

2)Then when it is done you will type in sudo ifup ath0 or whatever the name of the connection is.

These 2 commands should bring up the wireless connection and make your computer communicate rather nicely and make you happy with everything else.