K/Ubuntu releases 7.04!

The latest version of Kubuntu and Ubuntu can now be ordered through their shipit service.
Kubuntu disks for 7.04 can be ordered here:
http://www.shipit.kubuntu.org/
Ubuntu disks for 7.04 can be ordered here:
http://www.shipit.ubuntu.com

These are free to order, only requiring an account. -shrugs- I've never been known to turn down free stuff, and it is a very good system. Now what's this mean for the normal user? Not much. =) But if you are willing to try something in the realm of Linux, this is what I would suggest. Who knows, maybe someday you wake up and your computer doesn't boot Windows/Mac, LiveCD's are perfect for this very situation. I've saved installations several times using a LiveCD(though, usually using Knoppix).

Screenshots:
Kubuntu
Kubuntu 7.04
Ubuntu
Ubuntu 7.04

Introductions

Introductions

rootlinuxusr

I wish I could just write print hello world instead of trying to find the words to start this, but alas I cannot. Openings are not my thing, but I digress. This is publication one of the Linux help and discussion that can be found at Losers Paradise. There isn't much located there if you haven't noticed yet, but we're a growing community, similar to Linux.

I guess I should start with who I am and what I intend to do with this publication. You all can call me rootlinuxusr, my pseudonym of sorts, but most call me Stephan. My first usage of Linux can be traced back to the summer of 2004.

A friend of mine had just gotten permission a few weeks earlier to use the family van to get around occasionally. He would come over every now and then to show me this latest greatest thing he had found online, as if instant-messengers didn't exist or something. I jest, but this one day would change everything. After playing games he showed me this CD that he downloaded off the internet that ran on his laptop.

Now at first, I just figured it was some software he had 'acquired' as we would call it. I was quite wrong. As soon as he turned on his computer it started booting up a screen that I had not seen before and I could tell it definitely was not Windows XP.

About this time I was beginning to come to terms with Microsoft's licensing agreements and its burdens it put on students. It seemed if you didn't buy a new computer outright that it could cost you an arm and a leg to get anything running.

Anyway it finally finished spewing random non-sense text and brought me to a desktop interface. Now this looked semi-familiar, but it wasn't exactly the same. He was showing me some random features that this CD had on it and it seemed like a god-send. He said these things existed that in most cases you can just download and burn them to a CD, and you are free to do whatever you want with them.

This was beginning to sound like something that I could really use. I was only fourteen or fifteen at the time, and was not working, so I didn't have a whole lot of money to go around wasting. I asked my friend if he could spare ten minutes while I make a copy of that wonderful disk that he had.

That disk ladies and gentlemen was Knoppix, The very same thing that I use right now because of hard drive problems. From that brisk summer day I knew that this 'Linux' thing would be something that I could use and not have as many problems with it.

That's not to say Linux is without problems, but that is an issue for another issue if you will. I hope to outline some of Linux's strengths and weaknesses in coming weeks, and give some very basic step-by-step guides on learning how to do things in Linux.

I'll also include 'command line corner'. A small section dedicated to highlighting a command or two that can be useful or time-saving within the Linux console/terminal. I hope to also provide 'distributor's dealings' a section aimed at broadcasting some new flavors of Linux, or a program that I find handy and very effective. Lastly, I hope to produce the next wave of Linux users that are fully capable of being root. =).

So without further ado here’s this week’s command line corner:

Command Line Corner

Top five commands
ls – lists current directory contents. Usually different file extensions are distinguishable by different colors. This command can be thought of as a pretty version of what dir does in Windows®.

man – loads the manual page for that specific topic. Ex. man ls would display help information about the command ls.

pwd - This will display your current directory. Sometimes when coding or browsing directories you forget what your current location is, this will display where you are currently located.
For example, if I were busy moving files around and had several tabs in Terminal/Konsole open I could quickly print the directory that I am in. The usual output would look like this: $ pwd
/var/www/images

cd - This command is very similar to its Windows® command of the same name. It allows you to Change Directories.

cat – Takes the file(usually) and prints it out in standard view. In command line only systems this is the perfect way to view a file without having to FTP it to another location, open it up and view it there. Using the |more option you can have it only print one monitor screen at a time.

Distributor’s Dealings

This week’s review is of the distribution Ubuntu. About the same time my friend introduced me to Knoppix, I was given a link to this similar system where they would ship you a free CD just for being willing to test out their setup. Again this intrigued me so I sent away for five.

When they finally arrived four or five weeks later I tested them on my system and was surprised to see a somewhat different but still familiar setup. Menu’s looked different, but the same core utilities remained available. This was about the time Ubuntu was rising to power. Way back around release 5.04, this is the version I received in the mail.
Since then I’ve tested it on several setups, seen it progress to the top of everyone’s favorite list and seen it grow exponentially. It is to Linux as a tee-ball is to a young athlete. A very good beginner’s system, but still retaining usefulness for experienced users.

Who should use it? Those who want to try something new and are willing to try and mess around with their computer’s desktop environment are likely to favor Ubuntu. It is by no means hard to install, unlike other distributions such as Gentoo. Power users can also find some use in Ubuntu. It’s based on the Debian system, and as thus contains the majority of it’s program packages. There is always something new being spread around the community, and news sites such as Digg, Furl, and Slashdot have taken a liking to the little distro that could.

From humble beginnings as one man’s(Mark Shuttleworth) ideal dream of a system to world-wide adoption Ubuntu has seen a huge rise to power. As thus it has advanced the Linux name more than any other previous distribution in the history of Linux. With such a stable and user friendly computer operating system available now seems the time to try Linux.

Rootlinuxusr can be found either at the Loser's Paradise forums or on AIM under the user name rootlinuxusr.